A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The anonymous Mico College contributor designated A describes Three-foot Horse as a duppy with three legs, able to gallop faster than any ordinary horse. It goes abroad on moonlit nights and kills a person by blowing upon them. The account says it never attacks in darkness and cannot harm a person who is on a tree. It does not identify which leg is absent, supply a coat colour or explain how the horse first became a spirit.
The adjoining paragraph names Whooping-boy as its rider and describes the rider’s humanlike whoop and danger in thick woods, where such beings may be seen dancing on twigs. This is an association within the student’s account, not a narrated pursuit with a named victim. The two beings are retained together here rather than expanding a few lines into separate invented life stories.
Beckwith repeats the moonlight, speed and fatal-breath account in1929 but expressly says she heard nothing of Three-foot Horse, Whooping-boy or Long-bubby Susan herself. Her suspicion that George Parkes’s returning, bad-breathed Rolling-calf blends two figures remains her conjecture. The1896 student witness and the1929 synthesis are therefore related stages of documentation, not two independent encounter reports.
Origins & earliest records
Paper A written in1896 by an unnamed Mico College student training as an elementary teacher; communicated by Frank Cundall and published in Folk-Lore15(1904),87–94. Editorial introduction87 suppresses personal names; closing94 credits assistance from a teacher and his mother without identifying them.
Records & interpretation
Complete Three-foot Horse/Whooping-boy paragraphs91 and preceding Duppy section90 read, with original editorial provenance87 and closing attribution94. Beckwith’s complete98–103 comparison was separately read. Other sections of the1904 instalment were inspected except88, so no complete87–94 reading is claimed.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica, paper A
Complete relevant Duppy90 and Three-foot Horse/Whooping-boy91 sections; editorial introduction87 dates student papers1896, closing94 identifies anonymized assistance. Printed88 remains unread.
- 02
Black Roadways: A Study of Jamaican Folk Life
Complete98–103 discussion, especially98–100; Beckwith expressly says she heard nothing of Three-foot Horse herself.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textFolk-Lore15(1904),91: original published student accountResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textBeckwith1929 original edition, University of North Carolina library scanResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.