Yumʹboes (2 syl.)

Fairies of African mythology, about two feet high, of a white colour, and dressed like the people of Jaloff. Their favourite haunt is the range of hills called The Paps.

“When evening’s shades oʹer Goree’s isle extend,

The nimble Yumboes from The Paps descend,

Slily approach the nativesʹ huts, and steal

With secret hand the pounded coos-coos meal.”

Keightley: Fairy Mythology

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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