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My Jamaican Experience
My Personal Experience of the Good Old Days, the Days of Wrath and a Look at Our Future Challenges
By Wilberforce Reid AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2014 Wilberforce Reid
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-4508-2
CHAPTER 1
The Good Old Days
Good Old School Days
This was another school day. We woke up before the sun came over the horizon. Our parents had the unpleasant task of waking my brother, my sister and me. The two younger siblings enjoyed the privilege and pleasure of staying in bed, while we three got things started. After a lot of yawning and stretching, we finally made it to the kitchen. Kitchen in those days was detached from the living quarters.
Starting a fire was the first order of the day. This operation began the previous day when embers and 'live fire sticks' were buried in the ashes of the fireplace. If this operation was done properly, the fire would basically hibernate. It wouldn't burn out, but would stay alive until the ashes were cleared away. So in the mornings, we cleared the ashes and added new firewood. Very soon, we had a roaring fire.
At this point, my mother would join my sister in the kitchen, and my brother and I would start the outside chores. It was time to 'tie out' goats and sheep and milk the cows. This meant that we had to venture out to face the 'jew-water'. This is how we referred to the dew which collected on the shrubs and grass, which we had to navigate through, to get to the animals. In the hills of Manchester, the temperature can drop significantly in the early morning, precipitating a heavy deposit of cold 'jew-water' on the shrubs. There was always a cat and mouse game between us to establish who would lead and who would follow. Those were the few occasions where the leader was the loser because he was the one who had to brush off the 'jew-water' for the person who followed. Added to the wetness and coldness of the 'jew-water' was the misery of being stung by 'cowitch' (nettles) – which were everywhere.
We milked the cows. This isn't usually the pleasant experience you see on TV. These milking cows were 'tied out' with long chains in a grassy area. To 'tie out' means to put them on a long leash and tether them to a tree in a clear spot where they can feed. They were not in pastures or barns. Unfortunately, their calves had to be 'tied out' as well, so that they could not suck the mother's milk overnight. After milking the mother, the calves were let go, and were free to suck for the rest of the day.
The cows did not regard this as a pleasant experience either – they were quite resentful, especially the younger inexperienced ones. We had to tie their heads close to a tree. If they were the aggressive type, we also had to tie their lower leg with a rope and have someone hold the rope. Usually after going through many of these tantrums, the ordeal became easier as the cows resigned themselves to their fate. Even then, sometimes they bolted and kicked over the bucket of milk.
One of the things we could not teach those cows, was not to lay down in their excrement. To get around that problem, we had to carry water and wash-rags with us to wash off the udder before milking the cows. Some of this milk we took to the milk depot two miles away before we went to school. One of the rich rewards of having to milk these cows was that we often drank a half pint to a pint of the milk - warm and sweet, straight from the cow.
Next thing on the agenda was to 'tie out' the goats and sheep. These animals tend to stay together, so if we tied out a few of the adults, the whole flock would stay together.
Our parents made breakfast and supervised our getting ready for school. Now at last, it was time to start our three-mile walk to school. All these morning pre-school activities and our three-mile walk to school, were not seen as work or chores in a negative sense. They were just a part of life, like breathing.
The school bell, which was the church bell, was the time chime for everyone, and could be heard for miles away. Back then, primary schools were usually housed in churches, and were partially administered by the church. Our church bell was used as a time signal, since most people did not have clocks. The first bell was at eight o'clock to alert those within air shot to start getting ready for school. The final bell was about fifteen minutes before nine o'clock. At nine o'clock the hand bell was rung. We all had to line up before the school's main door and at the appropriate cue from the teacher in charge, we all marched single file to our class. At this point if you were late, you had to wait outside until devotion was complete. While you were out there, it would behoove you to come up with a good excuse why you were late.
Devotion
At this time, the Principal gave the cue to start the devotional hymn. These hymns, and indeed, most of our non-academic activities at primary school, were steeped in religion and morality. Was this bad or good? It certainly could not be done in the United States these days. I find though, that they did provide a moral grounding for those who were exposed to it.
The teaching of religion in school is sometimes referred to as brainwashing to pacify the slaves. But at least, some of the religious organizations that were operating these schools were also in the vanguard of opposing slavery. Maybe they were just doing the best they could.
Religious Knowledge, or 'Scripture', as we called it then, was a required subject in school. Sometimes I look back at the stories we were taught from the Bible, and wonder: 'Are these stories just mythology of the same order as Zeus the great Greek god who controlled thunder and lightning from his abode on Mount Olympus?' That question is still being debated, but the social and moral Christian teachings that were taught to us, built a strong and cohesive social foundation.
Religious teaching in schools was not a problem, since Christianity was, and still is pervasive in Jamaica. It is a common opinion in Jamaica that, per capita, there are more churches there, than anywhere else in the world.
At school, before breaking for lunch, we had to stand, clasp our hands, shut our eyes and sing our 'grace': 'For health and strength and daily food, we praise Thy name oh Lord. Amen.'
Before going to bed, we all had to 'kneel down' and say our prayers. The older children would say the 'Lord's Prayer' – 'Our Father which art in Heaven ......' You know the rest. Younger children were guided through their prayer by their parents.
Their prayer was:
Pray mama,
pray papa,
pray to God,
to bless me,
And make me a good child.
Amen.
Our National Anthem is a prayer:
Eternal Father, Bless our Land,
Guide us with thy mighty hand
Keep us free from evil powers
Be our light through countless hours ...
One of the more popular devotional hymns which we sang at school was, 'Awake My Soul And With The Sun'. Usually, we did not sing the whole hymn; we sang a few selected verses. Here are the three verses which we sang:
Awake, My Soul, And With The Sun
Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.
In conversation be sincere;
Keep conscience as the noontide clear;
Think how all-seeing God thy ways
And all thy secret thoughts surveys.
Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.
(By Thomas Ken: 1791)
* * *
Another of our devotional hymns was, 'New Every Morning Is The Love'. Here are the three' verses that we sang:
New Every Morning Is The Love
New every morning is the love
Our wakening and uprising prove;
Through sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restored to life and power and thought.
New mercies, each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray;
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If, on our daily course, our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
(By John Keble: 1782)
* * *
We also sang hymns at the end of the day, just before school was dismissed. One typical hymn was 'Now The Day Is Over'. Here are the three verses which we sang:
Now the Day Is Over
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh;
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.
Now the darkness gathers,
Stars begin to peep,
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.
Jesus, give the weary
Calm and sweet repose;
With Thy tend'rest blessing
May mine eyelids close.
(By Sabine Baring-Gould: 1867)
* * *
I can only remember us singing one stanza of some hymns. These are the hymns and the stanzas.
Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing
1. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing;
Fill our hearts with joy and peace.
Let us each, thy love possessing,
Triumph in redeeming grace.
Oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us,
Trav'ling thru this wilderness.
Oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us,
Trav'ling thru this wilderness.
(Attributed to John Fawsett: 1791)
* * *
Day Is Dying in the West
Day is dying in the west;
Heav'n is touching earth with rest;
Kneel and worship while the night
Sets the evening lamps alight ...
* * *
Inspirer and hearer of prayer
Inspirer and hearer of prayer,
Thou shepherd and guardian of Thine,
My all to Thy covenant care
I sleeping and waking resign.
If Thou art my shield and my sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to Thee
If thou art my Shield and my Sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And, fast as my minutes roll on,
They bring me but nearer to thee.
(By Agustus Toplady: 1871)
Late-Coming and Other Punishment
After devotion, it was time to deal with latecomers. A teacher, usually the Principal, would ask each latecomer, "What's your excuse?" If you had a good one, then lucky you; if not, the next command would be: "Hold out your hand." You would be struck several times in the palm of your hand, with what was usually a leather strap, then, you would tearfully find your place in your class.
Teachers administered corporal punishment indiscriminately. Children were sometimes beaten by teachers, for trivial things, and nothing was done about it.
One incident that stands out in my mind was in a reading class. We were reading about the gondolas, which operate on the waterways in Venice. It was John's turn to read, (John is not his real name). John had a speech impediment and could not pronounce the word "gondola" the way the teacher, who in this case was the Principal, wanted. The teacher came up to him with his strap. "Say 'gond-o-la'," he demanded, rounding his mouth, and spiking the second "o" with a lot more air and a lot more decibels than normal, to emphasize it. John tried as hard as he could, nervous and shaking, but could not pronounce it the way the teacher wanted. He struck John across his back with his strap repeatedly. The boy was petrified, he could not say the word. The more he tried, the more nervous he became, and the more the teacher beat him. This heartless so-called Principal kept beating this poor boy for pronouncing this unfamiliar word, until he fainted.
John was taken home. His father came back and gave the Principal 'a piece of his mind', but the Principal was still quite pompous and unrepentant. "If I can't beat him, I won't teach him," he said. I believe John went to another school, but that meant several additional miles of walking every day.
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
Looking back on my time in elementary school in rural Jamaica, I would give the academic standard an 'A' grade. There were no calculators then. One example of what we were required to do was to find the square root of numbers, using the old-fashioned method - pencil and paper. This did not just involve integers, but all rational numbers. Students were required to have a column ruled off on the right side of the pages of their arithmetic exercise books labeled 'RWC' for rough work column. In this column there had to be proof of how you arrived at your answers. It was not good enough to show the process of your work, you also had to show the rough work.
There was usually a short period after lunch designated for mental arithmetic. Teachers would pick any student and drop a problem in his or her lap, such as; "£10. s14. 6d (ten pounds, 14 shillings and 6 pence) is shared equally between seven persons. How much will each one get?" Pound, shilling and pence, (£sd), where £1 = s20 and s1 = 12d, was the currency standard used by the British before they changed to the decimal system with only two units - £1 = 100p. The '£sd' system was also used in Jamaica before we went metric. Well, did you figure out how much each person would get?
In our "English" (grammar) classes, we would be given a sentence to analyze and parse. This sentence had to be broken down and tabulated in columns to show subject, predicate, main verb, auxiliary verb, etc. Students had to show why a particular clause in a sentence would be an adverbial clause, a noun clause or any other type of clause. Such a structured grammar is much less haphazard than what is taught these days. If, for instance, I answered someone's question with "It is I". I can explain why I use "I" instead of "me". My reason is that the verb 'is' does not have an object, it has a complement instead. Therefore, the objective form of the pronoun, cannot be used. One may argue that if the written words convey the intentions of the writer, the grammar does not matter. I disagree, structure is important. Without structure in grammar, (as in life,) it is difficult to build confidence and discipline, which is very important, especially to young minds. The uncertainty of not having a foundation to build on, having to wait for, or find a cue from someone who you think knows better, destroys confidence in one's ability to learn and act responsibly.
Great Songs and Poems
It was not all work and no play. "Recess" time was simply ecstatic. However, before taking recess, let's look at some of the songs and poems that we enjoyed in school. There was one Principal in particular, who was just great at teaching songs. Obviously, he also enjoyed them. He taught us the tranquil melodies of the following songs:
1) Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes.
2) I pass by your window when the morning was red.
3) Floating along on the glistening tide.
4) Down yonder green where streamlets meander.
5) Juanita ...
6) Oh Danny Boy ...
Our class teachers made the following contributions to our repertoire of what I would call cute little songs. Here are some extracts from these songs.
1) Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslips bed I lie; There I crouch when owls do fly On the bat's back I do fly After summer merrily, merrily, After summer I do fly.
(William Shakespeare: 1564-1616)
* * *
'Little Sir Echo' is another one of those cute little songs that you remember all your life. I call each of them my 'pretty little ditty'. Little Sir Echo is invited to come over and play. We all know him by his voice, but he is always so 'f-a-r a-w-a-y'.
Little Sir Echo, how do you do?
Hello! Hello! Hello!
Won't you come over and play?
And play? And play? ...
(John Fearis & Laure Smith: 1917)
* * *
I was not able to locate the author of this other 'pretty little ditty'. The lines, which are quoted, invite the carpenter to build a cottage for mommy, daddy and me. In the same 'pretty little ditty' style, it goes on to instruct the carpenter to hammer down the floor while 'I' am swinging on the door. The instruction continues until the cottage is 'ready for mommy and daddy and me.'
Carpenter, carpenter, how do you do,
Build me a cottage just big enough for two,
Or maybe I like it just big enough for three,
Big enough for Mommy and Daddy and Me.
* * *
We also indulged in songs that bore no relevance to us. You should hear us sing with great passion:
Now melts the snow, the blossoms blow, the sweet birds sing a ring-a-ding ding ...
We sang songs that only demonstrated how brainwashed we were – singing to the glory of our colonial masters and the glorification of war. We sang with great 'patriotism':
Rule Britannia (two of three stanzas)
Britannia, the pride of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of the patriot's devotion,
No land can compare unto thee:
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
With garlands of glory in view,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the Red, White and Blue.
Refrain:
Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue,
Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue,
Three cheers for the Army and Navy,
Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue,
When war spread its wide desolation,
And threaten'd our land to deform,
The ark, then of freedom's foundation,
Britannia rode safe through the storm:
With the garlands of vict'ry around her,
So nobly she bore her brave crew,
Her flag floating proudly before her,
The flag of the Red, White and Blue.
(By Thomas A. Becket, ~1750)
* * *
Then there were patriotic songs that we borrowed from the British and when we sang them, we were not sure whether we were singing to the glory of Britain or Jamaica. Songs such as:
Land of my Birth, we pledge to thee,
Our hope and toils in the years to be ...
Also
I vow to thee my country,
All earthly things above.
Entire and whole and perfect,
The service of my love....
(Continues...)
Excerpted from My Jamaican Experience by Wilberforce Reid. Copyright © 2014 Wilberforce Reid. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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