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The Concise Guide to the Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon by Richard Boyle - Part 31
A pinch of everyone in us
Concluding the words concerning ethnicity, language and identity associated with Sri Lanka included in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED2) and Hobson-Jobson (H-J2).

Vedda (1681). The OED2 states: "(Sinhalese vedda, archer, hunter.) A member of an aboriginal people inhabiting the forest districts of Sri Lanka." Other forms found in English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka are Vaddah, Veaddah, Veddah, Veddha, Vedah, Veda, Vellah, Weddah, Wedah, Bedah, Beda. I have found that Veddah is the predominant form rather than the OED headword Vedda.

The earliest reference given in the entry is by Robert Knox from An Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681:61): "In this Land are many of these wild men, they call them Vaddahs."

One of the advantages of Knox for researchers is that he wrote about most things from first-hand experience. This was not the case with the Veddas, for they did not inhabit the areas to which Knox was confined. As a result Knox was compelled to draw on the reports of others. Nevertheless the Veddas did travel to Kandy to pay tribute to the king, and it was on such an occasion that Knox caught a glimpse of them. In his interleaved copy Knox (1713[1989]: III.190) writes: "I once saw a great many of these Veaddahs in the Kings City carrying theire presents... to the King Gobadah or store house, which was soone received and they soone dismissed with markes of the Kings bounty."

All the interdating references given in the OED2 entry are from anthropological works, the first dated as late as 1851. Yet there are many earlier interdating references in English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka. Robert Percival provides the first example in An Account of the Island of Ceylon (1803:271): "The origin of the Bedahs, or Vaddahs, who inhabit the deepest recesses of the Ceylonese forests, has never been traced, as no other race can be found in the eastern world which corresponds with them."

James Cordiner remarks in A Description of Ceylon (1807[1983]:53): "The tribe of wild people, called Bedahs, or Vedahs, who inhabit the mountains in the vicinity of Batticalo, is a description of natives distinct both from the subjects of Candy and those of Great Britain."

John Davy comments in An Account of the Interior of Ceylon (1821:115-6): "That singular and savage people the Weddahs, who inhabit the extensive forests on the south-eastern side of the island, between the mountains and the sea... They may, with propriety, be divided into the village Weddahs and the forest Weddahs; the one, having a fixed abode and living in society; the other, having no fixed habitation, being rather solitary animals than social, and resembling more beasts of prey, in their habits, than men."

De Butts relates an incident in which some Veddas were ejected from a court of justice due to their attire in Rambles in Ceylon (1841:148): "In a few minutes the Veddahs, headed by their 'ancient,' re-entered the hall of justice in a variety of rather grotesque costumes. Some were swathed, like Egyptian mummies, in immense rolls of country cloth, which enveloped their entire persons, arms and all, and effectually prevented any further objections on the score of insufficiency of dress."

Charles Pridham notes in A Historical, Political and Statistical Account of Ceylon and its Dependencies (1849:I.22): "On the eastern coast are yet to be found the wild Veddahs, indisputably the autocthones of the country. From the bearing of the Cingalese towards them, even in the present day, we cannot fail to comprehend the terms under which they were permitted to occupy the corner of the island in which they are now alone found."

Edward Sullivan is perhaps the first to demonstrate enlightenment about the Veddas in The Bungalow and the Tent, Or A Visit to Ceylon (1854:180): "There is another and even a wilder race, of whom we met two one day, called Veddahs, and most extraordinary stories are circulated respecting them, such as their living in trees, having tails, and being in fact, half monkey in habits. All these reports regarding the Veddahs are imaginary; they are much the same as other species of the human race..."

Horatio Suckling comments on the Vedda's shy nature in Ceylon, A General Description of the Island, Historical, Physical, Statistical (1876:I.407): "The chief peculiarity of the wild Veddah used to be an extraordinary unwillingness to allow a stranger to get near them, especially Europeans."

Gordon Cumming explains in Two Happy Years in Ceylon (1892[1901]:373): "The Veddahs never eat elephant, buffalo, or bear, though squirrels, mongooses, and tortoises, kites and crows, owls, rats and bats are highly esteemed, while a roast monkey or a huge hideous iguana-lizard is an ideal dainty."

Harry Williams claims that Vedda wives live in equality with their husbands in Ceylon: Pearl of the East (1950[1963]:103): "Veddhas are probably the best husbands in the world, for they reverence their women in the most practical way known to man, by living on an absolute and complete equality with them."

Romesh Gunesekera provides the postdating reference, which is from fiction, in Sandglass (1998:80): "We have a pinch of everyone in us, from the Veddah to the Scot, like most people."

There is a corresponding entry in H-J2 that states: "Veddas. An aboriginal - or at least a forest - people of Ceylon. The word is said to mean 'hunter,' (Tamil vedu, 'hunting.)'"

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