Liyongo Poems with Notes and Correspondence (MS 210013a)
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Material Information

Title:
Liyongo Poems with Notes and Correspondence (MS 210013a)
Series Title:
Hichens Collection
Creator:
[s.n.]
Publication Date:
Language:
Swahili
Materials:
Paper ( medium )
Technique:
Handwritten and typescript manuscript : Handwritten and typed in black and red ink on thin paper

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Swahili poetry ( LCSH )
Oral literature
Songs ( LCSH )
Legends ( LCSH )
Correspondence
Kiswahili mashairi
Oral tradition in literature ( LCSH )
Letters ( LCSH )
Liongo Fumo ( DNB )
Fumo Liyongo
Genre:
Shairi
Wimbo
Shayari
Nyimbo
Spatial Coverage:
Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Eastern Africa -- Shanga -- Pate Island -- Shanga Ruins
Coordinates:
-2.135 x 41.06467

Notes

Abstract:
This manuscript contains similar material to MS 205000, MS 53492, MS 53493, but with additional notes and correspondence. Also, this manuscript has scattered pages, and the volume is not bound. The first part contains chapter 3 and part of chapter 4 of Hichens’ ‘History of Swahili Literature’, dealing with the history of Liyongo Fumo. The title of the chapter is ‘Liongo, the Spearlord’ and the table of contents is divided into 10 small chapters. These sub-sections provide historical information and sources on Liyongo about his literary production (poems and songs), as well as biographical information, with maps of Lamu archipelago, showing Shanga. This part is written in English most probably by Hichens himself and it is followed by 75 pages of footnotes. This section, of 75 pages, is followed by an incomplete copy of the epic story ‘Hadithi ya Liongo’, in Swahili verses (170 stanzas), with translation, in English, attached. The translation of the Hadithi has some errors. For instance, verse 6 (kipande 4) is ‘…,na haiba kaongea’, which should be rendered as ‘…a man with high prestige’, rather than ‘…nobler ever growing’ as shown in the translation. Verse 12 (vipande 3 and 4) is also mistranslated, as instead than ‘ …though a hundred men press on him, ne’er to flight would be turning’, it should be ‘..he can attack 100 men, and they cannot win but run away’. This Hadithi has another incomplete copy attached to the main version. The Hadithi is followed by the Takhmisa ya Mashairi ya Liongo Fumo, by Sayyid Abdallah bin Ali bin Nassir. Afterward, the MS contains a large collection of short poems, with notes. This section begins with the poem ‘Liongo na Mmanga’. AnOther copy of this poem with an almost complete translation, and with verse by verse description in the field ‘Scope and Content’, can be found in MS 205000e. Probably Hichens was given this copy of the poem by Alice Werner, who had the poem scribed for her by Muhammad Kijumwa. Other poems, referred as Qala (meaning ‘he/she said’), have translation attached, while some are simply handwritten, with notes. This section is very disorganized and seems to be Hichens’s notebook. Many of the poems in this collection were given to Hichens by Alice Werner. Here, we find also notes by Alice Werner, and a poem taken from Taylor’s notebook, entitled ‘Kingozi Halisi’, with explanation of words, as well as a note from Taylor. This section includes a collection of Love songs. This section is followed by two letters from the British Museum regarding the holdings of the MS of Liyongo, a part of a letter to Mbarak Hinawy, and a letter to Alice Werner with issues relating to Liyongo poems, Al-Inkishafi and Hamziyya. Hichens thanks Alice Werner for having sent him Taylor’s notebook. The final section is a miscellaneous of unsorted loose pages, which did not seem to belong to any of the above sections. ( en )
General Note:
Biographical information: Fumo Liyongo is a mythical Swahili poet and hero, and it is tought that he composed many oral songs and poems narrating about his life time, which is around the 12th and 13th century. For more information on Liyongo, see the field ‘relevant publication’.
General Note:
Date of Composition is unknown
General Note:
Languages: Swahili (Roman script)
General Note:
Dialects: Old KiAmu
General Note:
Poetic Form: Shairi - nyimbo (wimbo [singular], a song form of verse)
General Note:
Extent: 1 unbound volume
General Note:
Incipit: (History of Swahili Literature), Chapters III amd IV. Liongo the Spearlord.
General Note:
See also SOAS University of London manuscripts MS 205000, MS 53492, MS 53493
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Shanga -- Shanga Ruins -- Pate Island
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Lamu -- Lamu Island
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Tanzania -- Manyara Region -- Siu District
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Pate -- Pate Island
General Note:
The Hichens Papers were donated to SOAS on 17 July 1967
General Note:
Publication information: Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Kijumwa. 196-?. Utenzi wa Fumo Liongo. Dar es Salaam: East African Swahili Committee.
General Note:
Publication information: Mbele, Joseph L. 1986. The Liongo Fumo epic and the scholars. Kiswahili 53 (1-2): 128-145.
General Note:
Publication information: Werner, Alice. 1928. The Swahili saga of Liyongo Fumo. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 4: 247-255.
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1987. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London. pp. 66-101
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1983. Epic Poetry in Swahili and Other African Languages. Ch 6. E.J. Brill, Leiden. pp.142-168

Record Information

Source Institution:
SOAS University of London
Holding Location:
Archives and Special Collections
Rights Management:
This item may be in the public domain. Its status has yet to be assessed.
Resource Identifier:
MS 210013 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 210013a ( SOAS manuscript number )