Meaning
A large, hard, glossy brown sea-bean with a dark band around it, like a big eye — the seed of a climbing vine, often washed up on beaches or found in the bush. Children polish them as toys or good-luck charms, and the seeds have folk uses. Named for their resemblance to a donkey's (or horse's) eye.
Examples
-
Him polish up a donkey-eye fi luck.
He polished up a horse-eye bean for luck.
-
Wi find donkey-eye pon di beach.
We found sea-beans on the beach.
-
Di donkey-eye smooth an hard.
The horse-eye bean is smooth and hard.
Origin
Named for the seed's eye-like look; the horse-eye bean (Mucuna). See [[duppy-gun]], [[shame-mi-lady]].
How it’s used
The large glossy horse-eye/sea-bean, used as a toy or charm. See [[duppy-gun]], [[donkey]].