LOOK Behind! Quickstep! Far Enough!

These are not instructions barked across the brittle air by some spittle-spewing squadron master. Rather, these are the names of some Jamaican communities, where you’ll never find residents hurrying anywhere – unless it’s to catch a bus – or constantly looking over their shoulders.

Residents of Quickstep, tucked away deep in St Elizabeth’s Cockpit Country, told the Sunday Observer that they have no idea how their district got its unusual name. But one thing is certain: the name could not refer to the speed of walking in the district because the precipitous and stony terrain dictates that, in moving around, one has to take painfully slow steps.

“I born come an’ hear the name,” was the common response from residents. But they will quickly tell why Accompong, a few miles to the west in the rugged terrain, is so named.

“It is an African name,” they say.

“That was Captain Cudjoe’s village, and he named this settlement for his younger brother Accompong,” tour guide Mark Wright said.

Both villages are located in an area straddling the St Elizabeth and Trelawny border named ‘The District of Look Behind’, the origin of which is rife with speculation.

Most people, however, contend that the name is somehow connected to the Maroon legacy of the hilly area. To its north-west is another area of equal intrigue – Mi no sen, you no come – which is also attributed to the exploits of the Maroons who, centuries ago, were wary of visitors.

All across the island there are interesting place names, some of which the origins are clear, often based on the terrain, vegetation, or some distinct characteristic – White Shop, Macca Tree or Lookout.

At White Shop in Clarendon, just across the Manchester border, 44-year-old businessman Kenny Graham said the small district may have been so named because the shop that dominates the village square had once been painted white. The old shop – now painted beige – was originally owned by his grandfather and passed down through generations, Graham explained.

“I am not exactly sure how the name came, about, but I am going to repaint it (the shop) white,” said a smiling Graham.

There are a number of districts across the island named Lookout, which all provide panoramic views of valleys below.

The names of many other villages may, at first, appear obvious, but on closer investigation folk tales and documented history tell varying stories.

Save Rent, a district in Westmoreland for example, has nothing to do with shelter or free accommodation. According to the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ), the name is a corruption of that of a French colonist, M Saverent, who once lived there.

Likewise, the name Far Enough leads to all sorts of speculation, especially since the Clarendon district is relatively remote. The district, the Sunday Observer was told, got its name after a Scotsman, who settled at the location, declared that it was far enough from the Courts and Kings back in Britain.

Meanwhile, Porus, a small Manchester town known for its roadside fruit stalls, did not reflect the economic status of the residents. According to the NLJ, there are two possible reasons given for the name. One is that Porus is probably a confusion of the Spanish Las Pocas (the pits) and should be called Pocos. The other is that Porus was referred to by the Spaniards as ‘the district of Porras’, and might have been named after the Porras brothers who were marooned for over a year with Columbus at St Ann’s Bay. The brothers finally mutinied against Columbus.

But 60-odd-year-old Porus resident, Ralph Douglas, has a completely different story, one that he says is “well-known”.

According to Douglas, market vendors who were travelling before the days of the motor car rested under a guinep tree in the village, remarking ‘poor us’ as they removed the loads from their heads. “A so it go,” Douglas insisted, dismissing any other theory.

Folk tales are again at odds with documented history in the case of Mosquito Cove in Hanover, where it is said the name originated because of the prevalence of mosquitos. Historians insist, however, that the name is ‘Miskito’ Cove, for a tribe of Indians that once inhabited the island.

Folk tales, however, aptly explain the peculiar name Corn Puss Gap, a district in St Thomas.

“It is so named because long ago some hikers, lost in the hills and getting hungry, caught a stray cat, ‘corned’ it and ate it.”

Putogether Corner, a village near Mandeville, is said to have gotten its name from a street corner where it was said that market women used to stop to put their goods – and their dresses – in order before proceeding to town.

There is no definite explanation for Time and Patience in St Catherine, but we gather it could be connected to the type of crops past residents chose to grow.

Many village names have been passed on to us from our colonisers and their exploits – first the Spanish, then the British. Even the French and German also had their influence, according to data from the NLJ.

Combine this with our African retention and contemporary values and the result becomes a unique mix of interesting derivatives.

St Catherine’s Bog Walk, for example, was originally the Boca d’agua (water’s mouth) of the Spaniards, corrupted to Bog Walk by the English after their occupation of the island in 1655.

August Town in the St Andrew hills is said to have been so named after slaves received freedom in August 1838.

Danks in Clarendon, according to reports, was the name given to a property the infamous pirate Sir Henry Morgan deeded to his German wife, who responded, ‘danke’ meaning ‘thank you’.

The funny sounding Auchtembeddie, a north Manchester village, is of German retention, Stevien Williams, principal of the Auchtembeddie Primary School told the Sunday Observer. Whether it is named for a person or a place in Germany is, however, unclear.

Districts the length and breath of Jamaica also gained their names directly from the original owners of the property, hence Sanguinetti in Clarendon or Guy’s Hill in St Catherine. Temple Hall, for instance, was owned by John Temple and has nothing to do with religion.

A German settler and landowner, Henry Bleinheim, even got caught in the mix, having Berlin, a district near Munro College, named for him in recognition of his European birthplace. Bleinheim, the Hanover district and birthplace of Alexander Bustamante is said to have received its name from the German town. And German Town or Seafort Town in Westmoreland, where blond-haired, blue-eyed Jamaicans offer tangible meaning to the country’s motto, was established to accommodate German migrant workers after slavery was abolished.

The European church also had strong influence in district names, and the strange sounding Lititz is one such. According to NLJ sources, the name is found in Moravia and was used by Moravian missionaries to name a church they established on the south St Elizabeth plains in 1754.