Pitchy Patchy

Pitchy Patchy is a costume character in Jamaican Jankunu festival figure. Other characters include: King and Queen, Cow Head, Horse Head, Red Indians and Belly Woman.^[1]

One of the original figures of Jamaican Jankunu character, Pitchy Patchy is usually represented by a suit made of tattered, colorful pieces of cloth. Pitchy Patchy's role in the carnival is to keep masqueraders and the surrounding crowd in order by cracking a cattle whip.^[2] According to Edward Long, the character originated from Akan festivals in celebration of John Canoe; the Ashanti commander became Pitchy Patchy, wearing battledress with what would resemble charms, referred to as a "Batakari".^[3]