Grave yard

noun GRAVE-yaad

Also spelled graveyard, burying ground

A graveyard — the burial ground or cemetery. In Jamaican folk belief it is heavy with duppy (ghost) lore: a place to pass carefully, especially at night, and tied to nine-night and set-up customs around the dead. The hearse that carries the coffin there is the 'dead wagon'.

  • Dem bury him a di grave yard pon di hill.

    They buried him at the graveyard on the hill.

  • Nuh whistle a grave yard a night time.

    Don't whistle at a graveyard at night.

    A duppy superstition.

'grave' + 'yard'. See [[dead-wagon]], [[duppy]], [[nine-night]].

Cemetery; heavy with duppy lore in folk belief.