The local entertainment industry is mourning the loss of one of the first females to perform calypso in Barbados. Phyllis Collymore, also known as ‘Froggy’, passed away peacefully this morning, aged 82, at Gordon Cummins Hospital in St Thomas after a short illness.

Froggy performed at Club Morgan throughout the 1950s and will be best remembered for songs like “Ada Sow Pig”, “Mama had two Dumplings in de Pot” and “Doin’ it Bad, Bad, Bad till the Mornin”, all of which she wrote herself.

She also participated in many Crop over Festivals, appearing at Kensington Oval, and performing in tents such as House of Soca and Alien Forces, as well as making numerous appearances on CBC Television.

She combined satire, wit, humour and double entendre, and would often make up songs on the spot, based on the characteristics of other performers or people in the audience.

During Crop over 2011, Celebration Time Tent invited Froggy to return to the stage and give what would be her last public performance of “Mama had two Dumplings in de Pot”, bringing the packed audience to its feet. Together with BATMAN President St. Clair Gittens, Celebration Time’s Peter Boyce then presented Phylis “Froggy” Collymore with an award in recognition of her sterling contribution to the Barbados Calypso art form.