Hello aksel
Thanks for the interesting question!
Histories of Francis Drake discuss the "Cimaroons", but runaway slaves
in the Americas are also called "cimarrons" or "maroons".
". . . the Cimaroons (a black people, which about eighty years past
[i.e. 1512] fled from the Spaniards their masters, by reason of their
cruelty, and are since grown to a Nation, under two Kings of their
own: the one inhabiteth to the West, and the other to the East of the
Way from Nombre de Dios to Panama) which had nearly surprised it [i.
e., Nombre de Dios], about six weeks before [i.e. about 10th June,
1572]. "
from: "Sir Francis Drake Revived"
http://www.bartleby.com/33/34.html
"It was here on the coast of Darien that Drake began to receive help
from escaped black slaves who lived in loose tribes throughout the
jungle. These former slaves, known as Cimaroons, were adept at
harassing their hated Spanish "masters" with hit and run guerrilla
raids. They were happy to exchange their labor and knowledge in
exchange for weapons, clothing, utensils, shoes, etc. The Cimaroons
were to prove crucial in keeping Drake and his men alive, and
providing valuable intelligence."
http://www.global-travel.co.uk/drake.htm
-------
Looking up "cimarrón" in an online Spanish-English dictionary leads to
definitions including:
~ wild; untamed
~ runaway slave; maroon
http://wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=cimarr%F3n
This online dictionary says:
" Maroon
1. A fugitive Black slave in the West Indies in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
2. A descendant of such a slave.
[...]
From French marron, fugitive slave, from American Spanish cimarrón,
wild, runaway, perhaps from cima, summit (from runaways' fleeing to
the mountains)"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=maroon
-------
"...the Caribbean model of the fugitive is the runaway slave, the
cimarrón... The adjective cimarrón, which was used to designate wild
cattle, was applied first to the Indian and then to the Negro."
http://www.autumnleaf.com/el.htm
"The Maroons were escaped African slaves with communities in North,
Central, and South America. The term Maroon derives from the Spanish
word Cimarron. This word was first put on runaway cattle before it
came to signify escaped African slaves."
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1989/Maroons_sign_treadty_with_England
An encyclopedia in 1911 includes the version symaron:
"A nčgre marron is defined by Littré as a fugitive slave who betakes
himself to the woods; a similar definition of cimarron (apparently
from cima, a mountain top) is given in the Dictionary of the Spanish
Academy. The old English form of the word is symaron (see Hawkins’s
Voyage, 68). The term “Maroons” is applied almost as a proper name to
the descendants of those negroes in Jamaica who at the first English
occupation in the 17th century fled to the mountains."
http://83.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MAROONS.htm
--------
More references to Cimaroons and Sir Francis Drake:
http://www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/sitesearch?FILTER=colHC&query=cimaroons&x=16&y=12
I hope these excerpts and links will provide all the information you
need but please feel free to ask for clarification if you have a query
about this answer.
Best Wishes - Leli
search terms:
cimaroons
Drake
cimarrón
maroons |
