If you drive via the A1 between Ocho Rios and the south side of the island, you can take a small detour and pass through the town of Linstead in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, which was made famous for its products. lively cool. marketed and popularized in Jamaican folk song, Linstead Market.
Jamaica’s most famous and largest produce market is the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston. But Linstead developed as a market in the 19th century when coffee and chili wholesalers did business here. Farmers from the surrounding rural communities came to this central location to sell their produce. It was once one of the most popular markets on the whole island and the town of Linstead has grown around it.
This region is very rural and the difficulties of the farmers gave birth to the folk song. Linstead Market. “Take mi ackee go to Linstead Market, not a quattie for sale, wat wat one night, not a bite, wat on a Saturday night.” Today we sing it at a frantic pace without really understanding that it was a sad lament from a mother who couldn’t sell enough in the market to feed her children. This market lady was not making any money because not even the value of a quattie of her produce had sold (a quattie was the British penny ha’penny, a small copper coin of very low value) and she came home empty-handed after selling everything on Saturday night. . This Jamaican folk song would be in the up-tempo category Dinki which are designed to boost morale and get the most out of a bad situation (such as following a death).
While Linstead Market has lost its importance because many Jamaican towns and villages have their own markets today, it still has a reputation as one of the best places to get farm-fresh produce. You can find hawker vendors of all types of produce that grow in Jamaica, but nowadays there is a wide variety of other items like herbs, spices, clothes, shoes, soap, etc.
So go to the market in Linstead and, while you’re there, check out the beautiful churches in the city. Most have been devastated over time by several hurricanes and an earthquake but have been repaired or rebuilt. The original Anglican Church was built in the 1600s. The Jericho Baptist Church dates from 1835.
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