Echoes Across Southern Africa: Comparing Ngoni Songs with Ancient Nguni Traditions — A Critical Reassessment of Margaret Read’s 1937 Translations

 

Echoes Across Southern Africa: Ngoni Songs Compared with Zulu and Xhosa Traditions

A source-based comparison of Margaret Read’s 1937 Ngoni collection with independently documented songs and praises in other Nguni languages.

When Margaret Read recorded Ngoni songs in Nyasaland, she wondered whether songs brought north in the nineteenth century might survive among descendants who had long lived apart from their southern homeland. The best way to explore that question is not to translate every Ngoni song into modern isiZulu and call it a match. It is to place Read’s actual texts beside independently recorded isiZulu, isiXhosa and other Nguni compositions—and say precisely what they share.

A note on evidence: “Close wording” means distinctive words or phrases resemble one another; “shared genre” means songs or recitations serve a similar role; “thematic parallel” does not imply the tunes or texts are historically the same. The examples below are not all equally old. Zulu izibongo are praise recitations rather than ordinary strophic songs; they are included because Read herself compared those traditions.

1. Hushing a child: Ngoni Binda mntanami and a recorded Zulu lullaby

Ngoni — Margaret Read (1937)

Binda mntanami
Eya eya
Binda mntanami

Read: “Hush my child ... Never mind, never mind.”

Read, Section I.A, lullaby no. 1.

isiZulu — lullaby cited by Dhlomo (1947)

Thula, thula, thula, mntanami
Ukhalelani na?

Sense: “Be still, my child; why are you crying?”

Quoted in Ruth Finnegan, Oral Literature in Africa, chapter on children’s songs (citing Dhlomo 1947).

What a Zulu speaker might notice. Mntanami (“my child”) is unmistakably shared, and both songs rely on repeated soothing imperatives. Binda should not simply be overwritten with thula: the Ngoni verb as Read heard it deserves local linguistic investigation. These are two documented lullabies with overlapping wording and function, not proof of a single inherited melody. Read’s “Never mind” captures reassurance but cannot convey the actual sound of the refrain.

Reviewing Read’s translation: Read’s “Hush my child” is sensible, but binda should not automatically be rendered as standard isiZulu thula. Her “Never mind” for eya eya assigns a semantic meaning to what may chiefly be a soothing vocal refrain. Preferred English presentation: “Quiet, my child; eya, eya [soothing refrain].” The further words about gossip and harvesting should be translated separately, not treated as part of a simple hush formula.

2. Another lullaby: Ngoni domestic reassurance and an isiXhosa Thula sana

Ngoni — Read

Binda mntanami
Eya eya

The song combines soothing sounds with additional lines about a person gossiping and the work of reaping maize.

isiXhosa — Thula Thula Sana (documented modern performance)

Thula sana
Thul’ umam’ uzobuya ekuseni

Sense: “Quiet, baby; mother will return in the morning.”

Xhosa Kids, recorded/uploaded 2020; this dates the source used here, not the age of the song.

Comparison. Both use repetitions of a calming instruction followed by domestic imagery. The isiXhosa version explicitly promises a parent’s return; Read’s Ngoni song also contains commentary on relationships within the household. We cannot assume the same historical date for either version. What survives across these examples is a shared Nguni way of making nursery song part of ordinary family conversation.

Reviewing Read’s translation: There is no established error in Read’s “Hush my child.” The isiXhosa song is an independent thematic parallel, not evidence that Read misunderstood the Ngoni text. The important distinction is that the Ngoni lullaby adds teasing or social commentary, whereas this Xhosa lyric promises the mother’s return.

3. The cattle are going: Ngoni war song and a famous isiXhosa phrase

Ngoni — Zemuka inkomo magwala-ndini

Zemuka inkomo magwala-ndini
Naziya zemuka magwala-ndini
Ubujaha buphelile na?

Read: Cattle are running off; the men are called cowards and asked whether their young manhood is finished.

Read, Section II.C, war song no. 8.

isiXhosa — Zemk’ Inkomo Magwalandini

Zemk’ Inkomo Magwalandini

Sense: “There go the cattle, you cowards!”

Title of W. B. Rubusana’s Xhosa literary anthology, first published in 1906 and enlarged in 1911—not verified here as a separate song.

Why this is extraordinary. Unlike a loose thematic comparison, this is nearly the same memorable phrase: the animals leave while the audience is castigated as cowards. In Read’s Ngoni example the situation is a war taunt, reportedly sung by women to rouse the men. In the Xhosa anthology title, the cattle can function metaphorically as heritage or cultural wealth slipping away. Because one item is a song and the other is a book title, this is a remarkable phrase parallel—not yet proof that a particular Xhosa war song crossed the continent with the Ngoni. Read’s word “cowards” is accurate but the vocative magwala-ndini has a biting public-shaming force.

Reviewing Read’s translation: Read correctly recognizes both the escaping cattle and the accusation of cowardice. A more idiomatic and emotionally direct rendering is: “The cattle are getting away, you cowards! There they go, you cowards! Has your courage as young men deserted you?” Here magwala-ndini is a sharp, contemptuous address; ubujaha can suggest young manhood and its expected courage, rather than merely an age category. Her wording is not wrong; its rhetorical force is understated.

4. Praising a chief with dazzling images: Zwangendaba and Shaka

Ngoni — Izibongo zikaZwangendaba

UZwangendaba omnyama ngamabomu ...

Read’s longer praise describes shining wings, blood, clearing obstacles, and Zwangendaba’s crossing of the Zambezi.

Read, Section II.B, praises of Zwangendaba kaHlatshwayo.

isiZulu — Izibongo zikaShaka

UNodumehlezi kaMenzi
USishaka kasishayeki

Sense: A formidable ruler whose power or renown is expressed through concentrated praise-names.

Traditional praises in edited Zulu collections; also quoted in UNISA African Languages study materials.

Comparison. These are not matching lines: the relationship is in the literary technique. Both praise-poets compress a ruler’s biography into paradox, genealogy, strong verbal images and remembered achievements. Read’s translation offers clues but sometimes makes metaphor sound unusually literal. An isiZulu listener might expect an image to carry several meanings at once—glory, danger, criticism or humor. Read also recorded apparently sarcastic elements in praise poems, an observation worth preserving rather than dismissing.

Reviewing Read’s translation: Read’s “whose intention it is to be black” for omnyama ngamabomu makes an idiomatic expression overly literal. Ngamabomu is naturally heard in isiZulu as “deliberately/on purpose,” so a closer phrasing is “Zwangendaba, dark by deliberate choice, who denies that daylight has come.” This is still metaphorical; whether it alludes to complexion, defiance, personal character, or an inherited praise-name cannot be decided from the English alone. Elsewhere in the praise, Read explicitly admits that ukudabuka might mean “originate from” or “break away from”; for migration history those senses must remain alternatives, not be silently collapsed into one.

5. Hearing Shaka from different sides of history

Ngoni — historical migration song

Ngilele ngingalalanga

Read records the singer as unable to sleep and identifies an accompanying line about Shaka scattering people into the forests.

Read, Section I.B, umsindo song no. 6.

isiZulu — Shaka’s royal praises

UDlungwana kaNdaba
UDlungwana woMbelebele

Shaka is evoked through a praise-name emphasizing ferocity and royal lineage.

Traditional izibongo zikaShaka, recorded in multiple versions.

Comparison. Both traditions remember the same southern political landscape, yet from different positions. The Ngoni composition voices unease and disruption; Zulu royal praises put Shaka’s greatness at the center. It would be misleading to suggest that this is the same song. It is instead a rare chance to read two historically connected perspectives side by side.

Reviewing Read’s translation: Read’s “Though I lie down I cannot sleep” for ngilele ngingalalanga is essentially accurate. A natural rendering is “I lie down, but sleep will not come.” The line powerfully expresses distress, and the historical verses associate that distress with Shaka’s campaigns. It would be unjustified to claim the verb itself proves fear of Shaka; the context supplies that interpretation.

6. When everyone gathers against us: a marriage song or a war lament?

Ngoni — Zizwe zonke zimemelene thina

Zizwe zonke
Zimemelene thina
Siyakulwa sithini?
Siyakulimemaphi?

Read’s wording: “All the nations are called together against us ... How shall we fight? Whence shall we summon help?”

Read, Section I.B, umsindo song no. 4. The journal spelling is uneven; lines are lightly normalized here for reading.

Comparative Nguni song-language

The song’s own vocabulary is strikingly close to isiZulu: izizwe (peoples/nations), ukulwa (to fight), and ukumema (to summon/invite).

Documented parallel: Zulu and other Nguni military praises frequently use the imagery of enemies and collective confrontation; no independently attested identical lyric is asserted here.

Correcting the interpretation, not forcing the text. Read says the song was explained locally as a lament about tensions in polygynous households, and notes that ministers later used it when criticizing polygyny. That is valuable evidence of its performance history, but it does not make the military words a straightforward allegory. Preferred reading: “All the peoples have rallied against us. How are we to fight? Where shall we call for help?” Its immediate imagery is military and collective. It may have been adapted to domestic troubles, or listeners may have heard both meanings. Neither an original battlefield setting nor an original marriage setting is conclusively established.

7. Earth that is never satisfied: a song of mortality

Ngoni — Umhlaba kawunoni

Umhlaba kawunoni
Uqed' amakhosi-khosi
Siyakufel' emhlabeni na?

Read: “The earth does not get fat. It makes an end of the chiefs. Shall we all die on the earth?”

Read, Section I.C, mthimba song no. 8.

Wider Nguni oral-poetic comparison

The underlying vocabulary is familiar in isiZulu: umhlaba (earth), ukunona (to become fat, grow rich or full), amakhosi (chiefs), ukufa (to die).

Zulu izibongo likewise answer human mortality by keeping the names and deeds of deceased rulers in public memory. This is a thematic comparison, not a claim of matching verses.

Translation refinement: Read’s literal “the earth does not get fat” is a sound starting point and preserves the metaphor. In context, however, the earth is imagined as never filled or satisfied however many it consumes. A more evocative translation is: “The earth is never satisfied; it takes even the chiefs. Must we all die and go into the earth?” The last line is a rhetorical lament, not a request for factual information. The local poetic explanation should accompany—not replace—the literal image.

8. The bride leaves home: the emotion behind mthimba

Ngoni — wedding song

... yobaba ungidele

Read’s interpretation: The singer is lost or wandering because her father has given her up.

Read, Section I.C, marriage song no. 1. The reproduced fragment has uncertain 1937 spelling.

Zulu and other Nguni wedding song tradition

Traditions of umthimba, the bridal party, include expressions of departure, family ties and transition into a new household.

Evidence status: shared wedding genre and sentiment; a matching separately published lyric has not been verified for this particular verse.

Translation caution: In isiZulu, ukungidela can convey “to give me up,” “forsake me,” or “let me go,” with painful emotional force. Read’s “my father has given me up” therefore makes sense, but “my father has let me go / abandoned me” better leaves open the bride’s feeling of rejection. Her “I shall wander to the wild country” may be an expression of estrangement from familiar kin rather than literal travel into wilderness. Because the old printed line is difficult to read, this is a cautious clarification, not a definitive retranscription.

9. Where further Nguni song matches are still needed

Read also printed striking Ngoni texts for mthimba (marriage), inqwala (ritual renewal), and mourning. They are ideal candidates for comparison with documented wedding songs and ritual repertoires in isiZulu, siSwati, isiNdebele and isiXhosa. But a general similarity between two ceremonies does not justify inventing an accompanying lyric. For example, Ngoni inqwala and emaSwati incwala are an important cultural parallel; a responsible word-for-word song comparison must first identify a reliably recorded siSwati text.

10. Revisiting Margaret Read: what she understood, and what deserves a second hearing

Read deserves credit for recording and comparing songs while acknowledging difficulties of transcription and translation. Her strongest observation may be that some war songs persisted in both the Jere and Maseko Ngoni communities. She also heard that a song could be sung on different occasions, acquiring new uses over time.

At the same time, a modern comparison suggests three cautions. First, a literal translation does not always preserve the force of a form such as magwala-ndini. Second, songs using war language should not automatically be interpreted as allegories about domestic jealousy, even when singers later apply them to married life. Third, Ngoni lyrics should not automatically be respelled into modern isiZulu: distinct regional forms and local understandings matter.

Most importantly, the Ngoni should not be described simply as “Zulu abroad.” Their repertoire belongs to the broader southern Nguni world, and their oral traditions also commemorate generations of new experiences north of the Zambezi.

Conclusion

Side-by-side comparison reveals both continuity and change. The lullabies share the intimate language of comforting children. The war song and Xhosa book title share an unusually distinctive cry about disappearing cattle and cowardice. The praise poetry shares a highly developed art of creating historical memory through dense verbal images. These are different kinds of evidence; none should be flattened into a claim that every song had one common origin.

The next task for Ngoni and southern Nguni researchers is to record living performers, preserve full lyrics and melodies, and annotate what singers themselves say the words mean. That is the best way to distinguish borrowed songs, shared older inheritances, and striking expressions that developed independently.

Sources and listening

1. Margaret Read, “Songs of the Ngoni People,” Bantu Studies 11:1 (1937), 1–35. Original publication.
2. Ruth Finnegan, Oral Literature in Africa, chapter “Children’s Songs and Rhymes,” citing Dhlomo (1947) on the Zulu lullaby. Read the study.
3. Xhosa Kids, “Thula Thula Sana,” isiXhosa lullaby performance (2020). Listen.
4. W. B. Rubusana, Zemk’ Inkomo Magwalandini, 1906 / second edition 1911. Discussed in scholarship on Xhosa print literature: SOAS study.
5. James Stuart and A. T. Cope (eds.), Izibongo: Zulu Praise-Poems (1968). Bibliographic details.
6. Zulu praises of Shaka, with translation and notes. Comparative text.

Editorial note: Short quoted excerpts are used for comparison. Read’s 1937 spellings and the later printed Zulu/Xhosa texts may differ from present-day pronunciation and local oral variants. Song texts, literary titles and praise recitations are identified separately.

Language note: Revised English interpretations are editorial readings based on Nguni lexical and contextual parallels. They are not asserted as authenticated translations by native-speaking Ngoni custodians. Where only a thematic parallel is available, it has not been represented as a separately documented matching song.