9. 7/18/02 Conaree. Noel Lake. M. 75. POB: L. Ed. None. cane labor/musician. YA: 0/short visits to islands. Ancestry: L. unmarried. Interview: 18 July, 2002 Initial Transcript: 03 August, 2003 Conaree, St. Kitts Lee XXX: (P: prompter) Noel XXX (R: primary respondent) Museum proprietor (secondary informant) G(A): Grunt, affirmation G(N): Grunt, negation G(Q): Grunt, question, (Is that right?(; (You don(t say( G(V) Grunt, seeking verification. (Say what?( U(C): Utterance, cough U(F): Utterance, false start U(H): Utterance, hesitation U(I): Utterance, interruption U(L): Utterance, laughter U(M) Utterance muffled, inaudible. U(S) Utterance of surprise ( ) Deleted phoneme, word, or phrase P: Your name? R: Noel XXX. P: G(A). And where were you born? R: Conaree. P: Cannery. R: Conaree. P: On Nevis? R: No. P: G(A). And how old are you? R:: Seventy-five. P: OK. And how long have you been in Basseterre? R: I just come down some. P: How do you pronounce that? S: N-O-E-L Noel; XXX. Just take your time., enjoy it. P: OK. Sure. I(ll tell you what I(d like you to tel me about, yourself. S: Tell you about yourself, just talk. R: How much you got there? S: Sixty-five years that you start a book. A little boy, when your papa carry all your stuff.. Tell him your whole life where you went to. P: Yeah. P: Tell me about your travels. R: Went to Guinea and Tortuga and Antigua. P: G(A). How much time did you spend in those places. R: I spent two weeks in each places [sic]. P: G(A). R: Two weeks. P: But you(ve lived here all your life, on St. Kitts, G(Q)? R: Yes P: U(F). How about your education? Did you go to school? R: No, no. Me mother dead when me small NB P: G(A). R: I just about can read, don(t see so good. P: I see. OK What kind of work did you do? R: I aint working now,; I on pension. P: OK. What kind of work did you used to do? R: Cut cane, worked cattle cart. P: G(A). R: Cook rum. P: G(A). R: Make rum. P: G(A). R: Burn coal. P: G(A) R: Tend cane and after you hold it behind you. P: G(A). R: Chop that. P: G(A). R: Work cattle cart with a knife[?] [night?]. P: G(A). R: Work mule cart, haul cane. P: G(A). Was this for the St. Kitts distillery. R: Yes. And used to hand cane too. P: G(A) Oh, tell me about the work you did with the cane. R: Cut them. P: G(A). R: I used to hand them and throw them up. P: G(A). R: For the factory, the cart. P: G(A). I see. How about your music. R: Well, I play many pieces from different countries. P: How long have you been doing that? R: For sixty-five. P: A musician for sixty-five years. R: Yes. I play masker; I play a bull. P: G(A). R: Jack ribbon [?] P: G(A). R: Mokojumbie actor. P: G(A). R: And masquerade. P: What(s a macajumby? R: A long stick, put a long stock up in the air. P: Oh, the stick. I see. R: G(A). P: And does it have a string on it? R: It for going it by the foot. P: G(A). R: A long stick. P: G(A). R: See, up in the air. P: Yeah. R: And they dance. P: I see. R: G(A). P: Did you play a guitar? R: No, I used to practice in one, but it too much. So I stopped. P: G(A). R: So I play this. P: Oh, a flute. Play something for me. R: G(Q)? P: Play a little something. R: [brief flouting] P: That(s nice. So you play that thing. R: Yes. P: And you play that bass. R: The marimba. P: You play that bass too. R: Yeah. P: That bass in a box. R: G(A). P: I(ve never seen anything like that before. That(s interesting. R: Yeah. P: Where do you play? R: Spanish Street [?] on different places on the park. P: G(A). R: Wherever he gets a job, we go there. P: G(A). R: G(A). P: At parties and things like that? R: Yes. P: G(A). I see. And when you do that, you play for several hours. What kind of music do you play? What kind of songs do you play? R: Any kind that they want. P: Reggae music? R: Yes. But especially clown at the masquerade. P: Oh, I see, you played in the old sport. R: Yeah. We would. P: G(A). R: And we be asked. P: What was the sports like? R: You just in different groups. P: G(A). And then what did they do? R: They dance. P: G(A). R: And thy let them do things. P: G(A). And traveled around the island. R Yes. P: Oh, is this the marimba? [brought over my S]. OK. All right. R: i got it there. [plays marimba]. P: G(A). I see. I can get the sound. It does sound kind of like a xylophone. It has that same kind of tone, but there(s just for pieces of. strips of steel. Looks almost like banding. R: Yes, steel. P: Now, tell me again about your travel. R: South America. P: You went to South America. Where did you go in South America? R: Up in [inaud] play music there P: G(A). R:Antigua, Montserrat. P: G(A). R: And Tortola. And steel show. P: G(A). Trinidad? R: No we aint reach Trinidad yet. P: G(A). But when you were in South America, did you. R: With him [Elvette XXX inf. #10]. P: Oh, for music. R: Yeah, exactly. P: G(A). R: Playing this. P: Oh, the flute, I see. What country was that in? R: Country? P: Was that in Venezuela? R: No. South America. P: South America. R: Yeah. P: OK. Did you like it? R: Yeah, spent two weeks in each of them several time. So we play two week, then we come back home. P:G(A). And that(s the only time you(ve ever been off the island? R: Yes. P: G(A). What did you do when you were a boy? When you were a little boy, do you remember how you played when you were a little boy? R: I used to practice this here. P: You started practicing then. R: Yes. My father used to play. I used to watch him. P: G(A). R: And then catch on to play. P: I see. I see. R: Yeah. P: What did your father do? R: He used to work, cut cane too. P: G(A). Where was he born? R: He born in St. Kitts. P: Where? Where in St. Kitts? R: Same Conaree. P: G(A). R: And was soon cut cane too. P: G(A). How about your mother? R: I don(t know me mother. P: G(A). R: Mother dead, left me small NB P: I see. R: Yes. P: Do you know where she was born? R: Conaree. P: She was born in Conaree also. [I didn(t know the town, pronunced it (can-a-ree(] R: Yes. P: I see. Do you have any brothers and sisters, R: Yeah. P: Tell me about them. R: One in Nevis. P: G(A). R: One named Suma, live in [inaud], dead. P: G(A). R: Some Bella still alive. P: And what do they do? R: They work too. P: What kind of work? R: [inaud] P: U(L) Your brother OK? S: You don(t know me. R: You look after the car. P: U(L) S: And you no know me. U(L). R: G(A). P: Are you married. R: G(Q)? P: Are you married? R: No, single. P: Were you ever married? R: No, no, never married. P: Do you have any children? R: Yes, ten. P: Ten children? Y: Yes, six girl and four boy. P: OK. Tell me about them. R: Well, they working different places. P: G(A). R: I got one working here. P: Do you remember their names? R: Yeah. P: Tell me their names. R: Tamiko. P: Yeah. R: [inaud.] P: G(A). R: One them Gladys. One name Silvy P: G(A). R: Yes. P: G(A). Do they all live in St. Kitts? R: Yes. P: All of them. R: Around Conaree. P: Around Conaree [still mispronouncing it], G(Q)? R: Yes. P: I see. R: [inaud] Conaree [inaud]. P: G(A). What church do you go to? R: Roman. P: G(A). Where is that? R: Back up by the square. P: And do you go to other things in the church beside the Sunday service? R: I go to different church with him [DeCosta]. P: Oh, you play in churches too; that(s nice. R: Yeah. P: That(s excellent. What rivers are there around Conaree. P: G(Q)? P: Rivers. R: No, no. P: No rivers. R: No. P: How far in Conaree from the coast? Is it on he coast? R Close to the main road. P: Close to the main road. R: Yeah. P: And what towns are near it? R: G(Q)? P: What town are near Conaree. R: This one [Basseterre]. P: OK.. What else. Is Conaree on the way to Challenger? R: No. That way. P: It(s going the other way? R: Yeah. P: OK, on the way to Cayon. R: Cayon, yes. P: OK. It(s on the way to Cayon. Do you remember the kinds of games you used to play when you were a child? Games. R: Bat and ball. P: OK. What kind of bat and ball? R: A long piece of wood. P: G(A). R: Throw the ball and you knock it. P: Not cricket. R: Not cricket. P: Not cricket, just bat and ball. Did you ever play cricket? R: No, no. P: What kind of a ball did you use. R: Sponge ball. P: Sponge ball. R: Yeah. P: G(A). Did they call that a wind ball? R: Or wind ball. P: Wind ball. R:[inaud] P: That(s different from a sponge ball? R: Yeah, yeah. P: OK. Well, can you describe the game of bat and ball, how you played it? R: Yeah, well that ball, you knock it. P:OK. R: You make a run. P: Where do you run? R: You run over to where the ball come back, the stump. P: G(A). I see. Oh, to the stump. R: Yeah. P: U(F). But you don(t run around bases? R: No. P: You just run up and back. R: Yeah. P: Just up and back, R: G(A). P: So it(s kind of like cricket, isn(t it? R: Yeah. P: With the stump and, yeah. R: Yeah. P: You have somebody pitching? R:Yeah. P: What do you call the person who throws the ball? R: The bowler. P: OK. R:He(s the bowler. P: The bowler. R: Yes, yes. P: OK. What does the bat look like? R: The batman? P: Yeah, no. First, what does the bat look like? The bat itself. R: Well, the bat. P: Is the bat round or is it flat? R: It flat, flat. P: Flat. I see. R: Flat. And it got the handle. P: And it has a handle on it. And the guy who(s hitting the ball, the he(s called the batsman. R: Yeah. P: The batsman and the bowler. R: Bowler, the one bowl the ball to. P: G(A). Right. R: Yes. P: Were there any other names for other players in the game? R: No. P: No. OK. Did you play any other games besides bat and ball? R: No, no no, no, no. P: No? R: No. P: OK. When you lived down on the U(H), did you ever do any fishing? R: Used to do that. P: OK. Tell me about it. R: I used to fish at a fish spot by the rock then. P: G(A). R: I wait [inaud]. [a wide hole?] P: G(A). R: I used to fish. P: G(A). R: I get fish all the day. P: G(A) What kind of fish did you catch? R: Thumb fish [tungue?], swordfish, and angel fish. P: G(A) R: Doctor fish. P: G(A). R: Yes. Welshman. P: G(A). I see. And did you have any animals around your. R: I [inaud] cattle, sheep, and goat. P: Sheep and goat. R: G(A) and I have, P: Did you raise those on your U(I). R: I aint got no now. P: No. R: I cannot see [inaud]. P: Used to though. R: Yeah. P: I see. Do you remember when you were little, they used to tell jumbie stories? R: Jumbie? P: Jumbie. R: This have all disappeared, don(t talk about them.: P: Yes, tell me what they used to say. R: They say something; they see jumbie. P: G(A). R: Come out at night. P: Yeah. R: Yeah. Or see them in their sleep. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: Did the jumbie do anything to them? R: No, no, no. P: No. Did you ever hear of a jumbie crab? R: The balc crab. P: The black crab is the jummie crab. R: They call him jumbie; he back on them [?]. Yeah. P: There(s also a jumbie bean, isn(t there? R: Yeah. P: What(s that? R: Bean? Jumbie bean? P: Yeah. R: Oh, them, you call so. P: G(A). Right. How about a jumbie fire? R: I see that three time. P: You(ve sen them. Tell me about them. R: When the house catch a fire. P: Yeah. R: When the fire truck out it. P: G(A). R: Catch back up all time. P: G(A). R: I see the house burn flat. G(A). R: Three time I see that. in Conaree. P: G(A). Is that right? R: Yeah. P: And it just burned the things that. R: Burn down till everything. P: Burned everything. R: Everybody can go. P: G(A). R: Flat. P: G(A). And why does that happen? R: Well, people thieve things P: G(A). R: And they do that to them. P: I see. R: They also catch a fire. P: I see. R: Yeah. P: The jumbie comes and starts the fire? R: I aint see nothing. P: U(L). You don(t know who? R: No, I see the fire. P: G(A). Oh you don(t even see the fire? R: See the fire, can(t see nothing else. P: G(A). R: Till the house burn flat. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: I see,. R: House. P: G(A). Did you ever hear any Nancy stories? R: No, no. P: Nancy, that(s a spider. R: No, no, no. P: Trick spider, a trickster. Do you remember when you were small, the kinds of tings tey would give when you were sick? R: Boil bush and thing. P: G(Q)? R: Different set of bush they give me. P: G(Q)? R: Me to drink. P: What kinds of things? R: With water. I drink the water from the bush. P: G(A). R: Find other bush then. P: What? R: They got the jumbie bean. P: G(A). R: [inaud], lemon grass. P: G(A). R: They got lime [lion] bush. P: G(A)). And those were all good for U(I). R: Cattle tongue. P: Is that right? How did that work? R: They boil it, P: G(A). R: They pick and they boil it. P: G(A). R: Then give it to drink. P: G(A). R: And that good for cold, P: G(A). What was the lemon bush good for? R: That for a cold too. P: OK. How about the jumbie bean? R: All them good for cold. P: They(re all good for colds, G(Q)? R: Yeah. P: Do you remember things they give you like for rheumatism or U(I). R: No, no. P: Or stomach trouble. R: No, no. P: OK. R: No. P: Were there any people around in Conaree, when you were small, who used to help people when they were sick? R: Grandmother. P: Is that right? R: Yeah. P: What did she do? R: She work in the cane field, starting. P: But she helped people when they were sick. R: Yeah. P: G(A). R: She boil something. P: G(A). R: And get them to drink, P: I see. R: Yeah. P: U(F). How about when babies were born? What did they call the woman who helped when babies were born? R: A midwife. P: What did she do. R: She take the child and clean it off. P: Yeah. I see. How long did she stay with the mother? R: She aint have a special time.. P: No. R: When she have done, she go. P: I see. OK. Now can you tell me what a weddings ceremony, well, you(ve never bee married, but can you tell me, have you ever been to a wedding? Have you ever played at a wedding? I(ll bet you guys play at weddings. R: Yeah, we play wedding. P: Tell me what the wedding(s like. R: You enjoy yourself. P: Yeah. R: And the people dance and thing like that. P: Yeah. R: Send you can drink. P: Yeah. R: Eat and drink. P: Yeah. R: And the dance. P: Yeah. R: Until the time up. P: G(A). R: Going to go. Got us to leave then. P: Yeah. What holidays were there? R: G(Q)? P: You know, holidays, celebrations. When you got a day off from work. R: Sunday. P:Sunday, you got off Sunday. How about August Monday? R: Any holiday, you get that off. P: G(A). R: You don(t work them kind of time. P When. R: You stop work. P: For what? R: For going in with music people. P: G(A). And what(s that called? That holiday? R: That holiday. P: Do you remember any other ones? R: No more. P: OK. Can you tell me, do you play at the carnivals? R: Just play this or that. P: G(A). R: That work for the show though. P: G(A). R: That mostly [inaud] P: Do you have to carry that with you when you play it? R: Long time. Have it. P: Oh, boy, that(s heavy, isn(t it? R: Yeah. Heavy. P: U(L). R: But mostly carry it. P: I see. But what did you do when you play that at the carnivals, what(s the carnival like? R: Well, you(re up and down in the streets, playing all different people. P: G(A). R: Who want to stop you and they pay you/happen.. P: G(A). R: They say what they have to say and they start you. P: G(A). Do they ask you to play certain songs? R: Yes. P: Sometimes. Do you do any singing? Does your band do any singing too? R: No, they don(t do sing. P: Just instrumental. OK. Do you dress up for these carnivals? R: You put on the suit for the band. P: G(A). R: Everybody dress alike. P: The band uniform. R: Yeah P: The band uniform, I see. R: G(A) P: OK. But the carnival has changed, hasn(t it, from when you were young. R: Yeah, yeah. P: From when you were small, the carnival when you were small. R: Well, we walk on the street and play, from house to house. P: G(A). R: Who want to stop you.. P: Do you remember when they used to have the, I mean the sports. You remember when they used to have the sports. They would have the David and Goliath. R: Yeah. P: And those things. R: All them used to fill the road. P: Yeah. R: So who want them to play for them. P: G(A). R: And they give them something to drink or eat. P: G(A). R: So that the way. P: G(A). R: They out the street. P: G(A). R: But that still happen. P: No, I meant when they had, remember the mummies. R: All of that. Of them on the road. P: Who were the mummies? R: Them from the country. P: G(A). R: They live in the country. P: G(A). R: High in the country. P: G(A). R: There(s some left of them too. P: G(A). U(F) Would you travel all the way around the island? R: They go through the island. The next time they go through here, they go through land. P: G(A). But you(d go all around the island? R: Yeah, through the island P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: Now would that be like one day you(d do this? R: One day. P: One day. R: And then you come back. P: Well, could you tell me about one of those days, how you started out in the morning and what you did all day long. R: We start in the morning. P: Yeah. R: At night you start to come home. P: G(A). R: Yes. P: G(A). OK, well let(s just take an ordinary day in your life. What do you do. What do you have for breakfast? R: Anything, anything what you want. P: Well, for example. U(L). R: Rice or chicken or anything. P: You have chicken for breakfast? R: Yes, or something, rice. P: Hot or cold? R: Yes, cold. P: G(A). R: That something we have too. P: G(A). Well, what do you drink? R: Well, anything you want to. They give you what you want to drink. P: G(A). R: Or something strong, rice, something. P: G(A). For breakfast though. R: Yeah. P: Do you drink coffee? R: Sometimes. P: Tea. R: Yeah, and bread. P:G(A). R: What do you have for lunch. Anything you want to do. Anything you want to eat, they give you. P: OK, But what kinds of things? I know. R: Butter rice, dumpling, P: G(A). R: What they call it?. P: G(A) R: Goat water. P: G(A) Goat water, you like goat water? R: Yes. P: Do you ever make goat water. R: No, no, no. P: Never prepared it yourself. R: No P: U(F). OK, could we talk some more about your work with the sugar. R: Cut cane. P: Tell me about that. R I hand cane. P: Yeah. R: Stack them. P: G(A). R: Work cattle cart. P: G(A). R: Work mule cart. P: All right. R: Carry, carry, carry to line. P: G(A). R: Bring back to factory. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: Do you know what magasse is? R: Yeah. P: What is it? R: The magasse from the cane. P: But you didn(t work with that. You didn(t take that up. R: G(N). P: What did you call the stuff that you took off the cane? R: I used to work them, carry them, take them out of the tractor, and the empty drum. P: Yeah. R: To the line. P: G(A). R: Carry that and empty that. P: G(A). R: In the cane field. P: G(A). R: Yes. P: G(A).. R:: I tell you I used to work on a cattle cart. P: G(A). And this is when they used carts and mules? R: Yes, and mules, cart and cattle cart. P: What was the cattle, oxen? R: They got rid of them. They aint got any more. P: Yeah, they got rid of them, but were they oxen? R: Yeah. P: The big things, those great big ones. As yoke. R: Yeah, put everything in there. P: Yoke, yeah. R: Yeah. P: G(A). And they would pull the stuff around. R: Yeah. P: OK. What about after the cane was removed, the cane was carted off, after the cane was carted off, what did you do with the field? Did you do anything? Did you clean the field up? R: Yeah. P: How did you do that? R: Weed them, weed the grass. P: G(A). R: Get the cane and rub will come with it.. P: G(A). Did you ever burn the field? R: Sometimes? P: When was that? R: [inaud] men(ll do that. P: G(A). R: If they go any cow weed, they(ll do that. P: Yeah. R: They burn it: then, you cut it. P: G(A). I see. G(A). R: Yes. P: Do you remember when they brought the mongoose to the island? R: No, no, no ,no, no. P: That was before your time. R: Yeah. P: Yeah. There never were any snakes here when you were U(I). R: No, no, no, no. P: I see. R: No, no. P: Because that(s, what I understand, why they sued to burn the fields to kill the snakes, but U(I). R: Yeah. P: You didn(t U(I). R: They burn it where we [inaud: stock? stook?]. P: Yeah. R: Aint get close to your skin; they burn it. P: G(A). I see. Did you make any rum? Did you ever distill rum, work in the rum U(I). R: Yeah, used to make it. P: OK, tell me how you do that. R: You get a coil, a glass pipe. P: All right. R: And you put it in the sun. Then you bend it a round tree. P: G(A). R: Put it in the drum. P: G(A). R: And then we start. P: G(A). R: Then you put them in the cooler. P: G(A). R: Then when you put the fire under it and it boil up. P: G(A). R: You test the pipe. P: G(A). R: And then you test the pipe and you reach [inaud] and [inaud] the wood. P: G(A). R: And then you put a [inaud=butt line] in. P: G(A). R: To catch the rum. P: What do you call that? Do you call those things anything? Do you have names for any of that U(I)? R: An old [inaud], a coil and cooler and a boiler. P: G(A). How long does it take to boil it? R: Well, it depends on how you get your fire. P: G(A). R: If you get the fire to well to boil it up.. P: G(A). R: And when you boil it, and it reach to the pipe. P: G(A). R: It reach the [inaud], you took out the fire. P: I see. R: Aint going to come out too fast. P: G(A). R: And you get fire put out. P: I see. R: And the you run the rum in the bottle.. P: I see. R: How I used to do. P: You put it right into the bottles, G(Q)? R: Yeah, the rum run in the bottle. P: I see. And did you make a lot? R: Yeah, sometime. P: And did you sell it then. R: Sometime, two gallon. P: About two gallons would you make in a U(I), did you call that a run? R: Yeah, yeah. P: Is that a run? R: A run. P: A run of the rum. R: With the molasses. P: Yeah. R: Sometime get two gallon. P: OK. R: According to the mood [moon?] P: So you boil the molasses? Is that it? R: You boil it and you mix the water. P: U(F). Just water and molasses? R: Yeah, molasses and that. P: Just water and molasses. R: And you got to stop to work the fire there. P: Yeah. R: And you work the fire, P: G(A). R: And when you right, you stop. P: Yeah. R: And then you turn it to the boiler. P: OK. R: And the you put the fire under it. P: G(A). Fine. R: Yeah. P: Tell me about that process, how you put the water. How much water do you put it. R: You full the drum. P: G(A). R: You mix up molasses; you full the drum. P:G(A). How much molasses do you put into the drum? R: Five gallon. P: Five gallons of molasses. Is it a fifty gallon drum? R: Just about [indicates with hands] P: Oh, just a small drum. R: G(A). P: Maybe a twenty gallon drum? R: Yeah. P: So you put five gallons of molasses in and then U(I). R: Yeah. P: Fill it up with water. R: Yes. P: And stir it up. R: Stir it up. P: G(A). R: And you stay about the fire here. P: G(A). R: And then you settle down. P: G(A). R: And then you skim out the stuff on top, P: G(A). R: And then threw it on the boiler. P: What do you call that stuff you skim off on the top? R: The muck; we don(t call it the molasses. P: G(A). OK. You skim that off, and how long do you boil it?. R: That just depends on how much fire I did. P: G(A). R: You boil it [for] some time. P: G(A). R: Counts how much wood you put on there. P: G(A) You make it pretty fast then, G(Q)? R: Yeah. P: So then it drips through. R: Drips. P: It boils up and distills then. R: In the coil. And then it come in the bottle. P: G(A). R: Yeah, drip, drip, drip. P: G(A). How much coil do you use? R: Only one, one coil. P: How long? How big is the coil? R: Long enough to bend it. P: G(A), R: Long in the cooler. P: Where do you get the coil? R: From U(I). P: Do you make it or do you buy it? R: No, you buy it in town. P: In town. R: In town. P: And it(s perfectly OK to make rum? There(s no U(I). R:Not against it. P: There(s no law against it. R: Yeah, yeah. P: They won(t let you do it anymore? R: They stop it long time. P: I see. R: Long time. P: U(L). That(s too bad because you had a good situation, But that five gallons R: Of molasses P: Of molasses and the water. R: Yes. P: Would make about two gallons of U(I).. R: Of liquor. P: Two gallons of rum. R: Yeah. P: What was the proof? R: Well. P: How strong was it? R: Well, you mix it. P: Yeah, R: When the last of the run, then you slap everything together. P: Yes. R: And then you get everything out, P: G(A). Is it almost grain alcohol when you finish? R: G(A). P: So you cut it with water. R: Yes, you drink it some. P: You drink it just the way it comes through? R: Yes. And then you drink water. P: OK. U(L) You drink water, G(Q). R: Kind of strong. P: U(L). OK. You don(t cut the stuff; you just drink water. U(L). R: Yes. P: That(s terrific. OK. That(s good. That makes good sense. R: Yes. P: What kinds of bushes were there around Conaree that you can think of? Just name some for me, will you? R: Horse rubdown. P: Yeah. R: Pine needle [point?] P: G(A). R: And U(H) cattle tongue. P: G(A). R:And used to have them, cattle tongue. P: Yeah. R: lemon grass. P: G(A). R: And lime bush. P: Yeah. How about trees? R: G(V)? P: Trees. R: The three of them? P: No, trees. R:They grow in the bush. P: What kinds of trees are there? Like, for instance, the mango. R: They(re different shape. P: Yeah, the mango. R: Yeah, the mango bush to. P: G(A). R: Mix up everything. P: Did you ever hear of something called the flamboyant? R: Oh, yeah. P: Can you explain that? R: They suppose to be them too. P: What(s that? R: The flamboyant. P: OK. And how about U(I). R: Them good for fever. P: G(A). R: Them kind of bush for fever. P: G(A). R: I see people boil them. P: G(A). R: Grandmother used to boil them for her. P: G(A). For fever? R: R: Yes. P: I see. How about breadfruit? R: No, don(t use them. P: You don(t have any. R: They don(t use the breadfruit bush. P: There(s no breadfruit around? R: No, breadfruit is still a plants. P: OK. What about the kinds of UH) bird you have? R: Mountain owl. P: Yeah. R: And ground owl. P: G(A). R: Chicken leg [?] Yeah.. P: OK. How about seabirds? R: Oh, they go along the [inaud] P: OK. R: White bird. Yeah. P: How about the one some call the pelican. What do you call that? R:Got them too. P: What do you call them? R: They at water. P: What else do you call them beside pelican? R: The bird them? P: Yeah. R: They are both fish [?] P: Call them boobies?( R: Boobies, yeah, got boobies too. P: Boobies too, that(s different from that. R: Yeah, big birds. P: OK. What about the birds that walk along the sand? R: Them is clean out cattle. Pick out, pick out of cattle. P: Right, R: Yeah. P: Ever hear them called egrets? R: Well, I really don(t know what they call them. P: OK. R: I don(t know; some kind of white bird. P: White bird, I se, sure. R: White bird. P: Sure that makes sense. All right. How old were you when you left Conaree? R: I still live there. P: Still live there. Oh, you still live there? R: Yes. P: You live there now? R: Yeah. P: Do you live by yourself. R: Yeah, me want to live. P: G(A). R:: The house is here better than the house the government give me a house. P: I see. Tell me about your house. R: I Wall House settlement there. [?] [a community?] P: G(A). R: Right now, there I live. P: G(A). And so, what(s the house like? R: A four-corner thing, a jack shed. P: I see. Go ahead. Do you have a yard? R: Yeah, yeah, yeah. P: Yeah. S: Are you getting to him? R: Yeah, yea. P: Doing fine. S: All right? P: Getting along pretty good. S: U(L). R: Yeah, P: U(F). How close are you to the sea? R: It drop right up on the sea. P: P: G(A). R: About a mile from where I am. P: About a mile. Are you up on a hill? R: Up on a hill, yes, by the quarry. P: By the quarry. R: Yes. P: OK. What(s the name of the road that you live on? R: It aint got no name. P: G(A). R: No. It aint get no name. P: G(A). Are there a lot of people? R: Lots a people there on toad.. P: Tell me about some of the people who live near you. R: Will I track by name? P: Yeah. R: Some my daughter, Silvy, I see now. P: Your daughter? R: Yeah, Gladys. P: G(A). R: Children. P: They live near you? R:Yeah, yeah, yeah. They near by here. P: G(A). R: There Sortin, they(re Samuels. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: What do those people do for a living? Or did they do. R: They work, do one thing. P: All of them worked the cane? R: Work in store. P: Store? R: Yeah. P: What(s the name of the store? R: I really don(t know. P: All right. But there were people in Conaree who worked in the cane, right? R: Yeah, lots a people over there. P: OK. What estate is that? What(s the name of U(I) R: [inaud]. P: The what? R: The Nevis, Conaree, and Pan. P: G(A). Those were all three different estates. R: Yes. P:And all three of those estates had, were each one separate, or did they work together? R: Nevis and Pan worked together. P: I see. R: And Conaree work by itself. P:I see. R: Canaree worked by itself. P: Did you have stores that were run by the company? R: No. P: By the estates? R: No, no. P: Had to buy your food and things in town R: Have to come town Buy your food.. P: G(A). R: Or come to Conaree too. P: G(A). R: You could buy all that. P: G(A) R: You come to town and buy your own then. P: I see. R: G(A). P: How far is it from Conaree to Basseterre? R: Two miles. P: Two miles R: Yes. P: Two miles from where you live to right here [in downtonw Basseterre]. R: Yes. P: How do you do you come in? R: Well, you catch a bus. P: Come in on a bus, G(Q)? R: Yes. You catch one, go back. P: G(A). R: Wish I had the money to pay them to take me. P: G(A). R: They come. P: I see, That(s nice. That(s good. R: Sometimes you have to walk. P: Sometimes you have to walk, G(Q)? R: Especially, a Sunday. The don(t run much n Sunday. P: Isn(t that a pretty steep hill? R: No, flat P: Oh, it(s flat. R: Level road. P: So you can walk flat, G(Q)? R: Yeah. P: I was thinking over there near Timothy, you know, where that big hill is. R: Yeah. That(s the quarry. P: Yeah, that(s the quarry? R: Across up there I live. P: Yeah. I see, so you live right there. R: Yeah, right past the big hill. P: G(A). R: Yeah, there I live, right down there. P: I see. R: Yeah. P: Tell me about some things that have changed, that you think have really changed a lot in Basseterre from when you were young. R: There lots a thing. Lots a things change up, shop different price of food. P: G(A). R: Different shop, different U(I). P: Right. R: Price. P: G(A). R: You just got to go and find out the price. P: G(A). R: What you want, you call it, and they check it. P: Yeah. R: Yeah. P: In the stores, sure. U)F). What did you do during World War II? R: I don(t remember. P: You don(t remember? R: No, no, no, no. P: You were probably about twenty years old. What were you doing when you were about twenty, oh, just working in the cane, G(Q)? R: Yeah, yeah. P: I see. U(F). When was electricity put all over the island? R: Well, I don(t remember. P: But you remember when it wasn(t there. R: Yeah. P: What did you do about lighting then? R: G(V)? P: What did you do about lighting before you had electricity? R: Well, you know, the lamp; you use a lamp. P: G(A). And what did the lamp rub on? R: A candle; lamp run on candle. P: G(A). OK, It ran on what? R: A candle lamp. P: Candle or a lamp. U(F) What kind of fuel did you use in the lamp? R: Oil. P: G(A). R: Kerosene oil. P: Kerosene oil, I see. R: Yeah. P: And you had to go buy that at the stores? R: No, they got a station for that. P: G(A). I see. R: G(A). P: And they still have those stations for the U(I). R: For the prapa [propane?] P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: I see, so. Do the children seem any different to you now from when you were young? R: Yeah, they badder. P: They(re bad. R: Yeah P: Tell me about that. R: They doing it; they say too much. P: G(A). R And they don(t go to hear their parents. P: G(A). They don(t mind their parents? R: They don(t study their parents. They just goes their life, yeah. P: G(A). R: They absent now. P: G(A). R: You get them all in the road. Yeah. P: Have you have some bad experiences with them? R: Yeah. . P: Tell em about it.. R: They just say too much. P: G(A). R: When they want to help them , they gone out working this. 557 P: G(A) They use bad language. R: Yeah, yeah. P: And do whatever they want. R: That(s right. P: G(A). R: G(A). P: How about the government and the life? Is life better now that it was when you were young? More comfortable? R: Yeah. Was so. When you was small, you get fard/fod/fat [?], fard butter, fard this and fard that [?]. Now. P: Yeah. R: Everything expensive noun. P: I see. It(s too expensive, OK. R: Everything gone up. P: G(A). R: Time are harder now. P: G(A). Is that right? Things are harder now than when you were U(I). R: Harder now than then. Yeah. P: G(A). And it(s hard to grow things for yourself too, isn(t it? R: G(A). I did one plant full fine sugar [?] P: G(A). R: Once in while you plant food and thing. P: G(A). R: Not now. P: G(A). R: Can(t always put in ground. P: G(A). R: Casaba. P: G(A). R: Sand pumpkin and thing. P: Yeah. R: But they grow, haven(t space now. P: Can(t do that now? R: No. P: G(A). There isn(t opportunity for that. R: Yeah. P: U(F). And you don(t raise animals any longer? R: No, no. Don(t do that now. P: Your eyesight, is that why? R: Yeah, my eyes.. P: Too hard to see what you(re doing there. R: Don(t need that long time. P: G(A) Yeah. U(F). When you did raise hogs, U(F), tel me about that. R: You got to give them food to eat. P: G(A). R: [inaud], hot water, [inaud] P: Yeah. R: I forgot potato and put in grain. P: G(A) R: Tamarack, the bush. P: Yeah. R: G(A). P: And how about slaughtering them? R: In molasses water? [misundertands] P: G(A). R: Some of them use it for your water., P: G(A). R: And some of them use water. P: I see. You like molasses water. R: G(A). P: What about when you killed them? U(F). Did you take them to a butcher? R: Used to butcher them. P: G(A), You butchered them yourself? R: Yeah. P: Well, tell me about that. How did you do it? R: You put your water to boil, an oil pan. P: Yeah. R: Then you get the water pretty hot to a certain. Then you get the hog and cut its throat. P: Yeah, R: Then you put a back [hook?] on it. P: G(A). R: Then you throw the water on the back of the hog. P: G(A). R: Then you take out with a spoon and you strip off everything. P: G(A). R: Then you take a razor and you strip down good. P: G(A). R: Then you bust open the belly P: G(A). R: Take out the belly. P: G(A). R: Cut up your meat. P: Yeah. What do you call. R: The chest. P: The insides. Tell me some of the different things inside a hog. R: The belly. P: The belly. R: And the liver, and the light, and the heart. P: OK. What else. R: Nothing else in there. P: What about the intestines? R: Yeah, the strand. [?] P: Do you ever call the chitterlings? R: No. P: Did you evert hear that word? R: The strand in them? P: Strand. R: Strand P: G(A). R: OK. P: Strand, I(m talking about the intestines,. You know, the intestines. The thing that is really long. R: Yeah. The strand, that(s the strand. P: G(A). R: You pull it and it come out. P: G(A). OK. How many of you did that? When you slaughtered hogs, you always had to have somebody helping you, didn(t you? R: G(V). Helping? P: Helping you. R: Yes, some people. P: How big were these hogs? Do you know how much they weighed? R: Yeah, they big. P: About a year old? R: Yeah, sometime, they grow fast. P: But over a hundred pounds? Couple hundred pounds? R: Yeah. More than that. P: More than a couple hundred? R: Sometime Two hundred. P: Two hundred pounds? R: Yes. P: You certainly had somebody help you to pick them up and oil them. R: Somebody. P: G(A). R: Somebody help. Get them out. P: Did you hang them up and bleed them first. R: Wash them down. P: And bleed them. R: Yeah. P: When the blood was out. R: The blood go out. P: Is that when you put them in the pot? R: Yes. Yes in the water. P: And that was so that you could get the skin off, right? R: Yeah, you take the hair. P: The hair, yeah. R: Get skin come clean. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: And then you cut it into U(I). R: Cut it up; you cut it up in four, yeah.. P: Quarters, yeah. R: Quarter it. P: All right. And then what did you do with it? R: Well, you keep it from the collar or you cut it any way you want. P: G(A). R: Or do what they want. P: G(A). R: And you cut off and wait. P: Oh, so you sold this meat. R: Yeah. P: You didn(t have any way of storing it, did you? R: No. P: Didn(t have any refrigeration. R: No, no. no, no, no. If any left, you corn it. P: You really had U(I). How did you corn it? R: You put salt on it and you corn it.. P: Just salt? R: Yeah, put it in some pan of zinc. P: G(A). R: G(A). About this. P: How long can you keep it that way, corned? R: Well, it keep long. P: Yeah. R:Especially if you take it in the sun to dry. P:G(A). R: Keep longer still. P: G(A). So how long, maybe, would you say? A month or two? R: A month, yeah. P: A month or so. R: If you do it, a length of time. P: Yeah. R: Yes, and it won(t spoil.. P: G(A). So when anybody in the neighborhood slaughtered a hog, everybody would come around and buy parts of it. Was that the way? R: Yeah, yeah, they buy. P: That(s it. R: Different people come and call and buy. P: G(A). Buy different parts. R: Buy and gone. P: Did you sell parts smaller that the quarters? Or dis you just sell it by the quarter? R:All cut ut up. P: Cut it up. R: Cut it up. P: A ham maybe. R: Yeah, what they want. Cut it off. P: A ham that would be OK. R: Yeah. P: Or ribs. R: Yeah. They tell you what they want. P: G(A). I see. R: And you cut it off the way they want. P: What did you do with the liver and lights and the strands. R: They clean it. P: G(A). R: And pour this stuff on it. P: Yeah. R: And turn it.. P: Yeah. R: And they take the liver and the lights in hot water. P: G(A). R: And scald it. P: I see. R: Yes. P: I see. And then you cook that? R: Yeah, you cook it or cut it up and cut it up. You cut it up. You cut it up. P: Did you ever make souse? R: Yeah, with the belly. P: OK. Tell me about that. R: You put it in, cut it up, and put it to boil. P: G(A). R: And then you throw in whatever whatever you want, potatoes, apple. And you cook it. P: Would potatoes and things like that? R: Yeah, put it in. P: And some spices. R: Yeah. To boil. P: Yeah. Yeah. So how long does that cook. R: Well, depend on how much fire you use. P: G(A).. But generally speaking you(d say, you don(t cook it for a really long time. R: No, no, no, no, no. P: The souse. R: No, don(t cook so long. P: G(A). R: Especially if you cook if from soft. P: G(A). Did you ever slaughter anything besides hogs? R: Cattle. P: Cattle. Well, tell me about that. R:Well. P: You do that the same way? R: You have to skin it. P: Yeah, How do you kill it. R: Hang it up. Cut his throat. P: Cut the throat. R: Yeah. And then we hang it up. P: G(A). R: Then you skin it. Partly skin. P: G(A). R: Then you take off the belly off the ground. And put it to hang up. P: Yeah. R: And then you brush it down. Take all the belly off. P: G(A). R: And then you take out the heart and the light, for sell. P: Yeah. R: And then you quarter it the same way. P: G(A). Do you have a kind of ghut or thing for the blood to drain? R: If you want it. P: Yes. R: If you want he blood, you catch it. P: OK. R: Yes. P: Then what might you do with blod. R: Black pudding. P: Black pudding. R: Yeah. P: Yeah. R: You stuff the strand with rice and the blood. P: G(A). R: And wait, and then you boil it. P: I see. G(A). OK, but you do have to get it. Otherwise, you just let it go in the ground? R: Yeah. P: If you didn(t want to save it. R: You catch it there if you want it. 685 P: G(A). Did you used to save yours? R: Yes, I would try to. Save it. P: G(A). R: There be somebody who want it. P: G(A). Oh, I see, so you(d sell it to somebody who wanted the blood. R: Yes, sell the blood. P: Sell the blood. So the hogs were treated the same way. R: Yes. . P: You(d just U(I). R:You(d have. P: Cattle, I mean,, I(m sorry. R: Yes. Them too. P: G(A). U(F). So much bigger though. R: Yes, cattle be bigger. P: Were these full-grown cows or steers R: Most of them small. P: Calves. R: Yeah, bull. P: The bull, G(Q)? Y: G(A). P: Did you ever cook bull foot? R: Yes. P: Tell me about that. R: You out the hot water upon it. P: Yes. R: And you scrape out the heel and you take off the hoof. P: Yeah. R: Then you cut it up and put it on to boil. P: G(A). R: When it boil, it come clean. You take it off. P: Does the meat come off the hoof then? R: It don(t come off. P: It doesn(t come off. R: You take it to boil. P: It(s pretty tough, isn(t it(? R: You have to take it off yourself. P: G(A). Is it good? R: Yeah, eat good [=it eats good]. P: I imagine it(s the kind of seasoning you have, right? R: Yes. You put sage in there, sweet oleander butter P: I see. R: And pepper. P: G(A). Do you use a lot of hot pepper? R: Yeah, the hot pepper. P: G(A). R: Yeah. P: Use that for a seasoning for this sort of thing. R: For souse. P: U(F). What about goats. R: the same thing with goats. Yeah. P: Yes. R: Same thing in cattle, same thing in goat. P: G(A). R: Same thing in hog. P: G(A). R: All them the same thing. P: G(A). Goat(s pretty small, isn(t it? . R: Yeah, small. END OF SIDE A P: About the goats. R: Them the same thing. P: G(A). R: Just the same, you bust them down, take out their belly, take out the liver and the lights. P: Are these full-grown goats? R: Yes. P: Full-sized, male and females? R: Same thing, yes. The ram and the sheep. P: Yeah. R: All whichever there is.. P: What do you call the female? R: A woman. P: A woman? R: Yes. P: OK. You don(t call it a ewe or yoe. R: Yes. And the man a ram goat.. P: A ram goat. R: Yes, a ram goat. P: OK. What(s the female called. R: I do know what they call them. A goat. P: U(L). OK. OK. R: Yeah, P: U(F) When you eat goat meat, what kind of, how is it? R: You cut it up the way you want it as you cook. P: You cook it the same way as U(I). R: Yes. P: And sheep? R: Yeah, the same, same thing for cattle, same thing for hog. P: G(A). Did you ever eat monkey? R: Yeah. P: All right, how did you happen to eat monkey? Where did? R: You skin the same thing. P: What do you catch them? R: You catch and then you skin them? P: G(A). R: In the kettle, just like the sheep and the goat. P: Right. R: And bust them down the same way. P: OK. How much of the monkey do you eat? R: G(V)? P: How much of the monkey can you? R: Not much. You don(t eat much. P: Just the legs and back. R: Eat anywhere you want to eat. P: G(A). R: But I think the back.. P: Is it mainly the back and the legs. R: Yes. What you want to eat, yeah. P: OK. I got you. OK. That(s fine. Now what I(d like you to do for me, I want you to count just to get your pronunciation, OK? R: Yeah. P: It(s not a test. I want you to go from one to fourteen. Say it. Count. R: One, two, three, P: Louder. R: Four five six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, [sic],.fourteen. P: And R: Thirteen, fourteen. P: All right. And the number after nineteen. R: Nineteen, twenty. P: Sand the number after twenty-nine. R: Thirty. P: Yep. And the number after thirty-nine. R: Forty. P: And the number after ninbety-nine. R: G(Q)? P: It(s R: A hundred. P: Then nine hundred and ninety-nine would be a thou-. R: Yeah. P: A thousand. R: thousand. P: Would you say the days of the week. R: Yeah. Seven days of the week. P: Yes. R: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. P: OK. Now would you say the moths of the year? R: January, February, March, April, May, Jne, July, August, September, November, December. P: OK. And you forgot Oct-. After September is Oct-. R: October, November, December. P: OK. Today, I think, is the eighteenth. R: Yeah. P: OK. What was in the beginning of the month, it(s th what. It wouldn(t be the eighteenth, it(s the, the beginning. R: Eighteenth, nineteenth. P: The beginning. R: Beginning of the month? P: Yeah, it(d be fir- R: November. P: It(d be the first. The month begins with the first. R: The first. P: And then. R: Number one. P: First is right, then. R: Number two, number three, number four. P: Or second. R: Number fur, number five, number six. P: Second. R: Number seven, number eight, number nine, number ten. P: OK Do you ever say second? R: Yeah. P: Say that. R: Second. P: Then third. R: Third. P: Then. R: Fourth. P: Yep. R: The fifth, the sixth, the seventh, the eight, the nine, the ten. P: Thank you, thank you very much, Mr, Lake. That(s great. That(s all I want. R: G(A). 42