The Bullroarer Atlas

SAFR-004 - ethnographic attestation

|Xam Bushmen

South Africa - Northern Cape - |Xam Bushman source region - Southern Africa

Weather / fertility magic

Two |Xam !goin !goin blades with the short handle and measured cord, Bleek and Lloyd 1911, plate 19.
Two |Xam !goin !goin blades with the short handle and measured cord, Bleek and Lloyd 1911, plate 19. W. H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd, Specimens of Bushman Folklore (1911), plate 19; drawing by H. Werdelmann Public domain Image source
A San Schwirrholz photographed with its cord and winding stick: an oval blade carved with a central leaf-like spine and a drilled hole near the...
Representative image. A San Schwirrholz photographed with its cord and winding stick: an oval blade carved with a central leaf-like spine and a drilled hole near the point — shown for the |Xam !goin !goin practice documented here, not an object from the |Xam region itself. Weltmuseum Wien (VO 85397) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Image source

!goin !goin English

Source term: bullroarer

!goin !goin (|Xam): a bullroarer — a blade of wood on a little stick, whirled in the hand to produce a buzzing sound likened to bees.

The |Xam beat the !goin !goin — a wooden blade on a little stick, whirled to a low whirring likened to swarming bees — so bees would grow abundant and move into other people's places, leaving honey to be cut, bagged, carried home, and shared. Its buzzing opened into a dance: the men danced, one woman drummed, and the other women clapped.

the bees may go into the other people's places, that the people may eat honey

Bleek and Lloyd 1911:353-359, quoted in Rusch et al. (Doring River bullroarers); cf. Kumbani et al. 2019
Object
Two measured wooden !goin !goin blades, 32.3 and 34 cm long, attached by a once-twisted 40.5 cm cord to a short hand-held stick; the exact |Xam plate preserves the complete rig.
Function
Whirled so bees would move elsewhere, leaving honey to cut, bag, carry home, and share; a separately sourced tradition also links it with rain.
Map confidence
medium_high - representative coordinate; archaeological/ethnographic source does not warrant a precise ritual locality
Source location
Lloyd 1889 item 191, p. 18; Bleek and Lloyd 1911:353–359, plate 19

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