10.7/18/02 Newton/Basseterre, Elvette XXX . M. 46 POB: Nevis. Occ: cane labor/musician; YA: 15 (birth to age 15 in Nevis). Ancestry: P: SK/M Nevis. Divorced. Interview: 18 July, 2002 Initial Transcript: 07 August, 2003/completed 11 August, 2003 Newton/Basseterre, St. Kitts Lee XXX: (P: prompter) Elvette 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 R: Ready P: Go ahead. R: (If I Had the Wings of a Dove( Tune #1 P: That(s great. P: Let(s put the guitar up. Let(s talk a while I would like you to play some more if you will. Tell me your name. R: Elvette. P: Your full name. R: Elvette XXX P: OK. How do you spell your last name. E: E-L-V-E-double T-E. P: G(A). R: That(s the Christian name. P: G(A). R: Title. XXX P: OK. And how old are you? R: Forty-six. P: Forty-six and where were you born? R: Brown Hill Village, Nevis. P: G(A). And how long have you been St. Kitts? R: About thirty years. P: You came here when you were about ten or so? R: No. I come here when I was about fifteen, somewhere. P: Oh, fifteen OK. Where is that village in Nevis? R: In the south. P: G(A). R: You leave Charlestown, the capital. P: Yeah. R: And when you reach about two mile on the main road/ P: G(A). R: You go off the main road to your right. P: Yeah. R In the south. The village is of the main road. P: I see, I(ve been over there several times to Nevis. But have a friend over there, drives a taxi cab, calls herself Ras-Della. Do you know her? R: Yeah. P: You know Ras-Della. R: Yeah. P: U(L). She used to work in the library. R: Yeah. P: U(L). She(s funny, a funny person. R: G(A). P: Tell me, the whole purpose of this is to hear you pronounce words and what you remember about them things and about life. Are you married? R: Yeah, but I divorced. P: OK . Do you have any children? R: One daughter and two grandchildren. P: OK. Where does your daughter live? R: She(s at work right now. P: G(A). R: But she live ay New Road Housing Project. P: G(A). R: She has two children, a boy and a girl. P: G(A). I see. And what kind of work have you done beside the music. R: Well, I used to work at the sugar industry. P: G(A). R: But sure injured, injured in my right arm. P: I see. R: So I had five weeks sickness. P: G(A). R: And then I went back to work but we didn(t have effect. P: G(A). R: So I quit the work, just a little. P: G(A). Yeah. R: A couple of weeks before the crop finished. P: I see. R: So right now, I at home. P: G(A). R: Just aint doing nothing, just the arm, the band call to play, I play in a string band. P: G(A). That(s wonderful. R: By the name of the Jingle Bell String Band. P: Jingle Bell String band. R: Yes. P: Yes. R: And I also play with Mr. XXX. P: What kind of work did you do, I was going to ask you, what kind of work did you do in the cane, sugar? R: I work in the factory section, in the building. P: Yeah. R: After the cane is grind. P: Yeah. R: The husks from the cane NB huks P: Yeah. R: After the juice come out the husks. P: G(A). P: G(A). R: It run down in a carrier. P: G(A). R: And we store it up in a building. P: G(A) R: So when the furnace need more husks of the cane. P: G(A). R: We feed in the carrier. P: G(A). R: And it go back to the furnace. P: G(A). R: The furnace is what boil the cane juice. P: G(A). R: To get the sugar. P: Yeah. R: And sometime we press them. We have a machine. P: G(A). R: Press the same husks from the cane. P: G(A). R: And they shape like blocks. P: G(A). R: You know? P: Yeah. R: And we just throw them a place, throw them asid. P: G(A). R: And some people use them for manure. P: G(A). R: And other purposes. P: Is that the bagasse? R: Yes, yes. Bagasse. P: You call it magasse or bagasse? R: Bagasse. P: Yeah. What other kind of work is done beside what you did? R: Well. P: Did you ever work in the field? R: No, I never did, but in the building itself. P: G(A). R: You have people who dump the cane. P: Yeah. R: You have other people who shove this bagasse when the juice is out, squeezing out. P: G(A). R: You got people who attend at the furnace. P: Yeah. R: You got people who are catching the cane juice. P: Yeah. R: You got people who boiling, the cane juice into sugar.. P: G(A). R: And take it. Other, lots a different work up here. P: I see. Where do you live now? R: I live at New Town in Basseterre. P: Newton Grounds? R: New Town P: Not Newton Ground.. R: No, just about a mile from here. P: Is that going up toward U(I). R: Where the Shell is, the Shell Bottlers. P: I(m just not sure. R: On th Bay Road. You know where the Bay Road is? P: Is that past Frigate Bay? R: No, no, no. A lot before you meet (make) Frigate Bay. P: OK. It(s really a suburb of Basseterre? R: yes. It(s about a mile from Basseterre. P: G(A). R: It(s down by the fire station. P: G(A). R: it(s down there. P: Yeah. But U(F) going in the direction of Cayon and Sadler(s. I know it(s not that far, but going in that direction. R: Not that far, yes. P: Rather than toward Challenger(s. R: Yes. P: I got you. OK. U(F). I understand that. Have you always lived there? R: Yes, from the time I came to St. Kitts I been living there. P: What year was it when you came here, do you remember? R: Seventy-three or something like that. P: How did you happen to come to St. Kitts. R: Well, I have been call to sail on a boat P: G(A). R: And after the sailing of the boat. P: G(A) R: I stay in St. Kitts. P: How old were you?. R: .Fifteen. P: What did you do on the boat? R: Used to cook. P: Oh, I see, you(re a cook. R: Yeah. P: Tell me about that. R: Well, I was the chef. P: G(A). R: n the boat; I had to get breakfast. P: G(A). R: Lunch and supper. P: Yeah. How big a boat was it? R: Oh, it was a vessel. P: G(A). R: Made from wood.. P: Yeah. R: Had a cabin. P: Yeah. R: And we had sails and an engine. P: G(A). R: And we transfer cargo. P: G(A). R: Like from Anguilla, St. Martin, Sabo, St. Eustatius. P: Oh, is that right. R: Yeah. P: U(F). How many men were in the crew?. R: Five. P: Five. OK. Was that all you had to do was cook or did you have other duties. R: Well, I had to help with the cargo. P: U(L). Load and unload. R: But when cooking time, I cook. P: I see. R: And then I join the defense force the reserve, and I got a job in harbor, later. P: G(A). R: Because at that time we didn(t have deep water port. P: G(A). R: The ship didn(t come in the harbor, only lighter one go. P: I see. R: We took the cargo into shore, and I get a job here.. P. The lighter, it(s called. R: Yes, the small boats. P: That(s like a flat boat? R: Yeah. We took the cargo and them to shore. P: I see. R: Also the sugar. P: G(A). R: Used to ship sugar also. P: Yeah. R: But these barge, these iron barge. P: G(Q). R: We took the sugar from the pier, the factory pier [passerby says: excuse me] and transport the sugar to the ship. P: G(A). R: At that time, I still in the reserve. P: G(A). R: Then I went on a course. P: G(A). R: To Antigua, two week(s course. P: G(A). R: With the British Marines. P: Oh, really. R: Yes. P: How was that? Was it good? R: Yeah. Hey were rough, but I passed the course. P: U(L). Good for you. R:And then. 1975, December, I went in the Regular Army. P: G(A). R: And I stood there until 1978. P: G(A). Did you travel anywhere? Where did you U(I). R: Guiana. P: G(A). R: Where we had a two months( training there. P: G(A). R: In the jungle. P: Oh, boy. R: And then back to St. Kitts and didn(t went nowheres. [NB] P: G(A). R: I stayed here for three years. P: G(A). R: In the army. P: G(A). R: I also cook there too. P: G(A). Why didn(t you stay on that boat? R: Oh, well, the boat had sold. P: Oh, I see. R: They had sold it so. P: G(A). R: U(F). The new person that bought it got a new crew. P: I see. R: So. P: You did that for about a year? R: Yeah. P: And just those two ports, Anguilla and St. Martin. R: St. Martin, St, Bart(s, St. Eustatius. P: G(A). Oh, I see. Yes. R: And here, St. Kitts P:G(A). Right. R: Sabo. P: Those two Dutch islands right off Sandy Point. R: Yes. P: You did that for a year, and then when you got off the boat you came to St. Kitts. R: Yes, stayed. P: Started your life here in St. Kitts. And you didn(t start working in the sugar business until U(I). R: No. Not at that time. I started the sugar business nineteen eighty seven. P G(A). R: And after the crop eighty-seven, I went to Tortola,. P: G(A). R: And then I went over in Virgin Islands. P: Yeah. R: I work with a construction company. P: Yeah. R: Then I came back for the Christmas. P: Yeah. R: And then I wait, January, eighty-eight. I went back to the sugar factory. P: I see. R: And then after the crop. P: Yeah. R: I finish with the sugar factory. P: Yeah. R: And I went to Cockleshell Bay. P: G(A). P: G(A). R: That(s south peninsula. P: G(A). Yeah. R: And I work there in a hotel, Cockleshell Bay Hotel. P: G (A). R: And Banana Bay Hotel. P: G(A). R: And then U(I). P: That(s down in the small part of the U(I). R: Yes. P: What is it called Duck? [thinking of Turtle Beach] R: Peninsula. P: There(s a beach down there. R: Cockleshell Beach. It(s past Frigate Bay. P: G(A). Yeah. And there(s a beach down there where they always take the people on the tour ships. R: Major(s Bay? P: No, it(s some kind of Duck Bay or Goose Bay. R: Banana Bay? Cockleshell Bay. You have Friar(s Bay. You have Frigate Bay. P: I never remember it. Well, anyway, when did you start playing the guitar? R: I start around fourteen years. P: G(A). R: Me first instrument, that was in Nevis P: Right. R: First instrument I play in a string band was the baho [Nevis term for bass pipe] The pipe. P: G(A). R: You know they have a pipe to give the background. P: Yeah, G(A).. R: And after that I knock the triangle. P: G(A). R: And scrape the grill [?]. P: U(L). You came right through the ranks, G(A)?. R: I decided I want to play the strings. P: Yeah. R: I learn the banjo. P: G(A). R: Not the tenor banjo, the small ukelele banjo. P: Yeah, OK. R: The four strings. P: Yeah. R: Then I learn the quattro. P: Yeah. R: With four strings. And then I U(I). P: What(s a quattro? R: A four string, just a little smaller than this. [his guitar] P: Oh, like a small guitar. R: Yes. P: Kind of like a ukelele. R: Bigger than a ukelele. P: OK. R: But both quattro and ukelele banjo use four strings. P: I see. Yeah. R: And then I get on the guitar and I come out great, on guitar. So I start to buy my own guitar. P: Tell me some of the things you play, the songs you sing. R: I sing calypso, I sung a lot of country and western. P: G(A). R: And I sung folk songs. P: What kind of country and western do you sing. Tell me some titles. R: Like Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, George Jones.. P: U(L). Those are my favorites. R: Jim Reeves. P: My real favorite, though, is Bob Marley. Do you play reggae? R: Oh, I don(t really do that reggae stuff. P: But that(s great, the calypso. R: I heard him, I listened to him. P: What Kenny Rogers songs do you sing? R: The Gambler. P: How about Lucille. R: Coward of the County. You Pick a Fine Time to Leave me, Lucille? P: Do you sing that? R: Yeah. P: Maybe I(ll have you sing that for me. Tell me about some of the calypso songs you sing. R: Well, I used to compose my own calypso. P: G(A). R: Like Helena.. P: Would you sing a calypso song for me? R: Sure. P: Right now, go ahead. Great. R: (Helena( Tune #2 P: Great. That(s terrific. Are calypso songs often stories like that? I thought. R: Yeah. P: I never thought of calypso songs as stories; that(s really good. R: I sung that nineteen eighty. P: That(s wonderful. Could you sing a folk song? R: Sure. P: The first one you sang. R: Yeah P: Kind of reminded me of R: OK. P: Yeah, that was great. R: (Brown Girl in the Ring: Tune #3 P: That(s great. That(s a play song, right? Like a kid song. R: Folk song. P: Where the kids could be sitting in the ring. R: Yeah. P: U(L). Show me a motion. The little girl in the middle, she puts a move on them. R: U(L). P: That(s cute. Play anything. I(d like to hear another calypso, if you got one, or a folk song. That(s absolutely terrific. R: . (Rum Fever( Tune #4 P: Oh, that is great; that is just terrific. Man, you(re good. Is that strand, he(s talking about, is that the intestines? R: No. Well. P: What is that strand insde? R: Your belly. P: it(s not the intestines. R: Yes, your intestines. P: Yes, because I was asking Mr. Lake about that. R: G(A). P: That(s just terrific. Do you mind playing some more? R: Sure P: Play some more calypso. R: Dress in Uniform Tune #5 P: That(s terrific. Is it hard on you to keep playing, one song after another? Would you you rather talk for a while? R: Oh, we could talk for a while. P: OK. Let(s talk for a while. That(s great, terrific, I really enjoy it. Let me ask you this: do you know these questions seem so silly to me now after listen to y U(L) play. I(d rather, I(d kick myself when I get home. I wasted my time talking to you. R: U(L). P: Should just let you play. How about these songs, the kind of songs you(ve just played, these calypso songs, where did you pick them up? R: I made them myself. P: You made them up. R: Yeah, I compose them. P: Is that right? R: Yeah. P: (Rum Fever( is one of yours?. R: U(L) Yes. P: Is that what you call the song? R: Yeah, (Rum Fever.( P: What did you call this one?. R: (Dress in Uniform.( P: (Dress in Uniform,( G(A). R: And before that was :Helena,( at first. P: (Helena.( R: Yes. P: That was great. You made that up? R: Yeah, I made them. I(s a composer. P: You sure are. They(re wonderful R: yes. P: There a lot better than, I wouldn(t waste my time with those American rednecks. R: U(L). P: Those hillbillies. R: U(L). P: I wouldn(t bother with them. I(d concentrate on your own work. That(s wonderful. That(s just great. So, do you do a lot of. do you get a lot of work. R: Well, when the string band P: G(A). R: Like the international string band. P: Yes. R: I the vocalist. The other string band, which is the Jingle Bell String Band, the leading instrument is a steel pan, but. P: G(A). R: Sometime I sing. P: Yeah. R: Sometime, like I vocalist for the band too. P: Yeah. R: I come in between the song. 2P: Is it just one pan? R: One pan. P: It(s like a steel drum. R: Yeah, a first pan. P: G(A). R: A first pan. P: G(A). R: A leading pan. P: I see. R: Yes. P: How many are there in, are there a lot of steel bands on the island? R; Well. P: A lot of people do that? R: Yes. We have quite a lot of steel bands here. P: G(A). R: School bands. P: G(A). R: Senior people. P: Yeah. Yeah. I see. Could you tell me a little bit about school, when you were going? R: Well. P: In Nevis. R: I went to a primary school. P: G(A). R: I start seven standard, that was the last class in the school.. P: G(A). R: And then you have to sit an exam to go to the high school. P: G(A). R: But I didn(t [NB] went to the high school. P: G(A). R: After you reach the top class. P: Yeah. R: Why, you come out. P: Is that when you went to sea? R: Primary school. P: Is that when you began sailing? R: Yes. P: You had no experience as a cook, though. How did you? R: Well, I learn it from home, from my family. P: Oh, I see. I see. R: Yeah, I didn(t have none training for cooking, P: G(A). R: But I get back from my family were in [inaud?]. P: Yeah. Were your mother and father both from Nevis? R: My father from here. P: From St. Kitts. R: Yeah, but my mother from Nevis. P: G(A). R: But my father died in England. P: G(A). When was that? R: That was about five years ago. P: Oh, I see. How long had he been in England. R: My father? P: Yeah. R: Since I was a child.. P: Oh, I see. R: I only saw him one time. P: G(A). R: When he came over and went back. P: G(A). How about your mother? R: Well, she live in Basseterre. P: She(s over here now. R: Yes, but she and she [NB] husband live, I live by myself. P: G(A). R: Yes. P: I see. OK. I also want to ask you, do you remember the kinds of games you played as a child? R: Yes. P: Tell me a little about that. R: Pitching. P: Yeah. R: Marbles. P: Yeah. R: Bat and ball cricket. P: Tell me about, OK, bat and ball was a cricket. R: Yeah. P: Tell me about that. R: The bat and ball? P: Yeah. R: Well, we used to make the bat from palm, these coconut thing. P: G(A). R: And we used to get either wind ball. P: G(A). Yes. R: Or we get a bicycle tube. P: G(A). R: And cut the tube small. P: Pretty hard, G(Q)? R: Yeah. P: U(L). R: And we wrap it around a ball of paper so it come to a ball.. P: G(A). That(s pretty hard. U(L). R: Yeah. P: That(s a hard ball, yeah. R: Used to play cricket.. P: Yeah. R: And we pitch. I used to skip. We go in the bush and pull long the whist. P: G(A) R: Some whist P: Yeah. R: And we skip. P: G(A). R: And different games, Roller. P: G(A). R: You know, we make carts. P: Yeah. Tell me about that. R: Roller? P: Yeah. The carts. R: We got a tree they call sandbox tree. P: G(A). R: They be a some seeds. P: G(A). R: About that big. P: G(A). R: So we husk them out. P: Yeah. R: They like a wheel, and we get a little, build a little box. P: Yeah. R: From board. P: G(A). R: Put on two axle. P: Yeah. R: And we get the four wheels. P: G(A). R: So we get a pan go on a treadwheel. P: G(A). R: With a long stick. P: OK. R: On the cart., and we get handle. P: G(A). R: A piece of tin, make a handle so you could steer. P: Oh, I see. R: Yeah. P: I see. R: So you could steer. The stick is what(s shoving the box. P: G)A). R: And the cart on this axle and the cart on that axle, so they band around the tread wheel P: G(A). R: So when you steer. P: U(L) R: Like a truck. P: Like a truck, yeah. R: Pick-up truck. P: Right. That(s good. Did you ever play anything with a top? R: Yeah, yeah. I used to made them. P: Is that right?. R: Yeah, you take, you get you point. P: G(A). R: Cut off a nail head. P: Yeah. R: Put it in. P: Yeah. R: And you get your cord, and it spin. P: Yeah. R: And we used to make, like a group of us, one fellow put his top in the ring. P: Yeah. R: And we see if we could boil. P: Oh, knock it out, I see. R: Yeah. P: Did you every do anything where you put a P and an N and U. R: Yeah. P: And try to, part or nothing or half? R Yeah. P: Play with cherries, cashew nuts. R: Yeah, yeah. P: Used to do that? Now I want to ask you about [passerrby: Good morning, good morning] if you remember about old folks used to talk about jumbies. R: Sure. P: Tell me what you remember about them. R: When I was small, well, we in a group, and the old folks tell. P: Yes. R: Ghost. P: Yeah U(L).. R: Jumbie and P: G(A). R: Then I was afeared to go home. P: G(A). U(L). R: I want somebody to follow me home. P: Yeah. R: There be a ghost. P: G(A). R: And you be in a group and you hear this ghost bawling. P: G(A). R: And you got to stay in (be)cause you can(t out. P: Yeah. R: So then you say sometime the ghost run at him. P: G(A). R: He got to bend corner because the ghost got to go straight corner him.. P: G(A). R: He can(t turn a corner. P: Yeah. R: And then, you know, we as children get us frightened. P: Sure, sure. R: We got to follow against a. wall. P: G(A). R: At the corner, U(L). P: Yeah, sure. That(s great. Did you ever hear of a jumbie crab? R: No. P: Did you ever hear of a jumbie fire? R:Yeah. P: Tell me what that is. R: Well, it just like, if you stole something. P: Yeah. R: Whatever you stole, them is what going be burning. P: G(A). R: If you stole a box of clothes. P: G(A). R: And the clothes come to St. Kitts, you adjust to the clothes and start burning. P: Is that right. R: You have the clothes to sell, they burn off of you. P: Is that right. R: Yeah, but you body same not one. P: G(A). Just the clothes. R: Just the clothes, won(t burn up. P: That(s interesting. R:They had one in Old Road one time. P: G(A). R: And they had hells to get it out. P: G(A). R: And they had just what somebody stole from. P Is that right. R: They had one in Conaree. P: G(A). R: Last year, girl in from Nevis stole ring and so. P: G(A). R: And it set fire there. P: Yeah. R: Fire. P: It just starts, the fire by itself?. R: Yeah. P: G(A). R: Truck, fire brigade went in. P: G(A). R: And when they going ack to town, they had to call them back again. P: G(A). U(L). R: It start again. P: Is that right. U(L). R: And the girl have to return the ring. P:Is that right. R: Yes. P: So they can get the fire out.. R: Yes, the fire cease. P: Then the fire stops. Is that right. That(s interesting. R: G(A), P: Another thing I want to ask you about, because I(m sure you have a lot of experience with this, and that is the carnival, he old style carnival. Do you remember when that was called sports or the sport? R: Yes.. P: What can you tell me about that? R: Well, I was a part of that. P: Yeah, I(ll bet you were. R: I used to work as Indian Chief. P: G(A). R: And a group of guys would hit me. P: G(A). R: I(s the captain; I wear the long feathers. P: G(A). R: Face paint. P: G(A). R: And dress up, and we had string band. P: Yeah. R: String band was our music. P: G(A). R: Along with clowns, you have masquerade, mackajumbie and stuff. P: Yeah. R: You had bull all the time. P: Yeah. R: You had Gent or Spear [?]. You had mummies. P: G(A). R: All kind of sport. P: These are all different groups, right? R: Yes, different, but they bring in the carnival. P: The regular carnival, G(Q)?. R: And then after the carnival, we still still continue withe the old mask. P: G(A). R: Because about ten years (a) back, U(H) I perform the same Indian Chief. P: G(A). R: Sometime cowboy with us. P: Is that right? R: Yes, P: This last carnival, did you do that? R: No. P: It(s been about ten years. R: Yeah, but right now I spoke to some guys which old time fellows used to play with me P: yes. R: And we want to make a start again. P: Well, that(s nice; that(s nice. R: Yeah. P: G(A). R: Which is very good and I like it. P: G(A). R: I always be the captain. P: U(L) You U(I). R: Indian chief. P: It(s good to be the boss, G(Q)? R: I don(t have a picture. P: It(s good to be the king. U(L). R: Yes. P: That(s good. R: I used to get a lot of credit. P: G(A). R: (Be)cause we, when we play here on Boxing Morning. P: Yeah. R: We play two days in Basseterre and then we go to the country. P: G(A). R: We go right through. P: U(F) They still did that, like ten years ago? R: Yeah. P: Go around the island, the villages. R: We sleep. P: Yeah. R: We sleep in villages, P: G(A). R:Get up the next morning we play P: G(A). R: Sleep in the next village. P: G(A). R: We get up we play, until we reach Basseterre.. P: G(A). Well, that(s nice. I know that(s the way they used to do it. R: Yes, P: They used to go on these long train of U(I).But when you did it, was it just you and your band? R: Yes. Me and the guys who played. P: U(F). It wasn(t like a whole troupe of different U(I). R: No, no. P: Performers. R: No, we just me and U(I). P: Because that(s the way it used to be, years ago. R: Yes, yes. I plan to start it again. P: Well, that sounds great. R: Even though the troupe of carnival I still am, we still go through the land. P: G(A). Well, that(s nice. R: But the troupe(s only parade on New Year(s Day and the second day. P: Yeah. R: They do the parading. P: Yeah. R: But with me, I bring on me troupe the first day. P: Yeah. R: The twenty-six, Boxing Day. P: Yeah. R: And I play straight until the last day. P: Of carnival, which is when? About the third of January? R: The second. P: Yeah, you(re right. R: Yes. P: U(F). Why did they stop the old style and go to this, it(s kind of like a beauty pageant now, isn(t it? RR: I just don(t know, don(t know why. P: Yeah. Isn(t like that, like a beauty pageant. Here, by the way is a map, what I was talking about is down here, Turtle Bay. That(s where it was, Turtle bay. R: Oh, yes, Turtle Bay. The beach. P: Turtle Bay. R: I know t is something there. P: But those places you are talking about, are they down there on that? R: Yes. P: On St, Thomas Lowland? R: G(A). P: Is it down that way. R: That(s Banana Bay. P: Banana Bay. R: And that(s where the Cockleshell is. P: And there are hotels down there? R: Yeah, two hotels. P: I see. R: But they not in operation right now. P: This reminds me. I see something here called Shitten Bay. R: Shitten Bay P: Shitten Bay. R: Yeah, Shitten Bay. That was a beach, but right now it wash up, full of rocks. P: G(A). R: Full of rocks. P: Yeah. R: I like. We catch fish there. P: Is that right. Did you fish? Did you work as a fisherman? R: Yeah. I do fishing. P: You do that? Well, tell me about that R: With a nets. P: You work with a group of U(I). R: About five or six of us. P: G(A). R: In one boat. With nets. P: Yeah. R: You know what you call. P: Sure. R: So, when we go, when we see the fish, we throw the net around. P: G(A). R: And we pull, pull back the net. P: Yeah. R: Catch the fish. P: What do you call that? Do you call that a shoot? R: Yeah, we call it a shoot. P: That(s U(I). R: When you throw the net, you say the shoot. P: Yeah, yeah. OK, yeah. R: When they on the grass, but the nets could touch. P: Yeah. R: You catch them. P: Yeah. R: But if the net drift off. P: G(A). R: You will lose them. P: G(A). R: Fish that can dive like clover leaf, snapper, bonita. P: G(A). R: Skipjacks. You know, them can dive. P: G(A). R: So you net got to be touching. P: G(A). R: To catch those. P: I see. R: But then you have fish that float. P: G(A). R: Call them floating fish. P: G(A). R: Like gars, with the long beak. P: Yeah. R: And ballyhoo. You catch them U(I). P: Ballyhoo are pretty small, aren(t they? R: Yes, small. P: How about sprat? R: We does pick up, the net does pick up sprat. P: G(A). R: But we don(t really catch them now. P: G(A). R: We use to catch them once ago NB P: G(A). R: When people used to buy it. P: Yeah. R: But nobody studies that now NB P: U(L). R: And when they had fish in trawlers. P: G)A). R: They use to buy a lot of sprat. P: G(A). R: But we don(t have no fishing trawlers now. P: U(F). When you fished, you always fished down there in that St. Thomas area, down on the peninsula? R: No, no, no. I always fish here. P: Where? R: Here in Basseterre. P: Right off of Basseterre? R: Yeah, you see the boats, up the bay P: Let(s see on the map. You fished around here. I mean right U(I). R: Yeah. P: G(A). R: We fished down at Camp Bay. P: Is it as good there as at Sandy Point? R: Yes. Direction. P: Yeah. R: Going to Sandy Point. P: Yeah. R: You fish, you go all the way down. P: G(A). But the fishing here is just as good as in Sandy Point. R: Yes, yes. P: Is that right? Because U(F) a lot of people up there al they do is fishing. R: Fishing. P: Yeah. R: So Well, you see, so how the sugar crop is. P: Yeah, yeah. R: I do fishing, now and again. P: G(A). R: But soon as the crop finish really, not fishing right now. P: What do you do END OF SIDE A P: A boatload, one shoot. Then what would you do? R: Come home. P: Yeah. R: Haul up the boat. P: G(A). R: We sell and all don(t sell out, we get a pick up. P: G(A). R: And we go on Cayon side and sell this. P: G(A). What do you put them in? You just have them flat, in the boat? R: Just in. P: Just in the flatbed of the pickup truck. R: We put them in a pick up. P G(A). R: Just put them in a pickup. P: Just put them on the floor. R: Yeah, on a piece of plastic. P: OK. R: Or canvas. P: Yeah. R: And we drive Cayon side.to sell. P: G(A). And do you do pretty well? R: Well, some the time, some the time. P: G(A). R: Some the times, and sometime we go away and catch nothing. P: G(A). R: You know fishing by the moon? P: Yeah, signs of the moon, tell me about that I know about planting by he signs of the moon, but I didn(t know about fishing. Tell me about it. R: You see, the fish work them different. Sometime they come on the ful moon. P: G(A). R: Sometime, a day before. P: G(A). R: Or sometime a day after.. P: G(A). R: Like ballyhoo and gar. P: Just certain fish? R: Yeah. And even the skip jacks and bonita. P: G(A). R: Sometime they come up a day before the moon. P: G(A). R: Sometime after. P: G(A). R: By the moon. P: You just call it, what parts of the moon do you are relevant? R: Well, full moon. P: Full moon. R: First quarter. P: G(A). R: Sometime last quarter. P: You call it by the quarters. R: Yes, but you got a book. P: You don(t cal the dark of the moon. You se that term? R: You got a book tell you. P: G(A). R: Which are best for fishing. P: I see. R: Which moon. P: And it really works? R: Yes. P: It really works. R: Yes. P: Skip jacks are really there. R: Yes. P: At certain times at certain kinds of moon. R: Yeah. You know the fish they work by the moon. P: Yeah, R: Moon control, even plants. P: Yeah. How does it work with plants? R: Well, the books direct you to, when to. P: Yeah. R: Sow seed. P: Yeah. R: When to harvest. P: Yeah. R: When to, you know. P: Yeah,. Yeah, also planting. R: Yeah. P: I(ve heard of planting by the signs of the moon, yeah. R: Yeah. P: Yeah. That(s very common in America in the South. R: Yes. Well, these books come from America. P: Yeah. R: Or a lot about them. P: Right. R: We use them. P: I see. U(F). Let(s say a typical good day of fishing, you(ve gt a good boatload of fish. R: Yes. P: How much could you make on that. R: Well. P: If you sold everything. R: Like gars. P: Yeah. R: If you get a boatload of gar, you make up to three hundred dollars. P: Is that right? R: Yeah. P: G(A). R: For yourself. P: G(A). R: And then you find the owner of the net and boat. P: G(A). Might get an extra share. R: Half the money goes to him. P: Oh, he gets half. R: Yes. P: U(L). R: The other half part for you. P: U(L). Better ger your own boat, man. R: That fine advice. P: Should get your own boat. Yeah, that(s interesting. R: Yeah. P: I didn(t know you did that. R: You see, when you really catch fish with a net, you really make out. P: G(A). R: But not all time. P G(A). R: Sign say every day fishing not catching. P: Yeah. U(L). That(s good, and how about your arm? Is that getting better? R: Sure. It(s better right now. P: OK. So you(re going to be able to go back to work again. R: Sure. P:Has it stopped you from fishing? R: No, no, no, no P: You can fish, but U(I). R: Really. P: How did you hurt it? R: At the factory, we was packing this magasse NB that I tell you. P: Right. Right. R: But you know we still got the wire on the top. P: G(A). R: And a wire on the bottom. P: G(A). R: So the points of the wire. P: G(A). R: Broke this elbow. P: G(A). R: And so I went hospital with it. P: G(A). R: I couldn(t eat. P: U(F) You couldn(t raise your arm? R: G(A). P: You couldn(t raise it. R: No. Couldn(t do nothing. Just had it in a sling. P: Yeah. Was it numb? R: Yeah, And so they give me some medicine. P: G(A). R: Tablets. P: Yeah. R: Spend one week in the hospital. P: G(A). R: And told me when I come out. P: G(A). R: You massage it with warm water. P: G(A). R: And then take the tablets. P: G(A). R: And exercise it. P: G(A). R: Do exercise with it. P: And that really helps. R: Yeah, and it just got better. P: Well, that(s great. I sure hope it continues. R: Black doctors. P: They(re really good. R: G(A). African doctors. P: But they don(t do anything different though? R: They got two of them that surgeon. P: G(A). Do they do acupuncture, that kid of stuff? R: Just surgeon. P: Where were they trained? Were they trained in England? The US? R: African they came from, so I don(t know. P: G(A). R: Where they trained if in US. P: That(s great. I just wondered if they had any medical school in Africa yet. . R: Yeah, Africa, they got some of them. P: Yeah. U(F). A lot of Africans are very patriotic and they want the money to go back there. R: G(A), P: You know, to their homeland. Would you sing a couple more songs for me? R: I sing a Western P: I(d rather hear calypso, but sing one, sing whatever you want. You(re the boss. R: You like calypso? P: I like calypso. R: Let me think about one. Tune #6 (Nickname: Alias Sing( (Donkey, Old and Gray( P: Very good. R: A nickname. P: G(A) R: Alias song. P: I see. That(s cute. Something else you write yourself. R: Yeah, all I sing I wrote myself. Tune #7 (Morning and evening( P: That(s great. That(s just terrific. Is this the kind f stuff you play with U(I) R: String band? P Yes, when you have a gig or a show. R: Yeah. P: That(s terrific. I don(t want t wear you out. I really appreciate this. You got one more. Tune #8 (Jump, Jump, Jump Up, Everybody( P: That(s terrific. You thing is you(re not only a good musician, you(ve got a great sense of humr. That(s really funny. Tune #9 (Ring of Fire( P: Hey, I(m glad you played that. I like that better than Johnny Cash. I really do. It(s got kind of a calypso rock, you know. How about, do you know Lucille? R: I will try it. Tune #10 (Lucille( P: U(L). That is beautiful, really great.. You are terrific, absolutely great. I(m really glad you did this. Go ahead. Tune #11 (The Gambler( P: That(s just great. What kind of music do they like the best? Your audiences. :R: Calypso. P: They like the calypso the best. R: G(A). And country and western. The like folk song. They love reggae too, but i don(t really specialize in that.. P: No. That(s OK. The calypso is just great. R: U(L). P: Go ahead Tune #12 (The Coward of the County( P: That is just great. That is just terrific, man. U(F) I(ll tell you, you know, I(m so glad you sang those country/western songs because you really sing them with a St. Kitts touch. You don(t want to play another, do you. Would you just a soon stop U(L). Would you like to stop. R: G(Q)? P: Would you like to stop? Are you tired from playing. R: Not really tired. What(s now? P: Anything you want. R: Erik [inaud] sang this: Tune #13 (Oh, Cherry( P: That(s a nice rocking tune. That(s really good: Tune #14 (It Just Can(t Happen This Way/Sweet Jamaica( P: That(s nice That is really nice. R: That song [inaud] is from Jamaica. P: Did you think of something? R: Jim Reeves P: G(Q)? R: Jim Reeves Tune #15 (He(ll Have to Go( P: Jim Reeves. I haven(t heard that in a long time. That(s a great tune. R: Yeah. P: Do you sing any gospel songs? R: Yeah. P: Can you think of one? R: (A Joyous Night/This Train( P: OK R: Tune #16: P: Very good. You know that(s the song Woody Guthrie used, you know Woody Guthrie. R: G(A). P: Wrote (This Land Is Your Land.( American folk poet. His autobiography is called Bound for Glory. R: Oh, P: There(s another stanza in there, (This train don(t carry no gamblers.( R: G(A) P: Something (midnight ramblers.( Well, that(s just terrific. You know, really, I want to get your address, I(ll be here right after carnival, I(m too old for that. R: U(L) P: But the week after canival, I(d like to get a hold of you, and see if your band(s playing. I would like to come and record them and just. R: The string band? P: Yeah, yeah. And if not, just you. I(m telling you, this has been a real treat for me, and a lot more than I expected.. R: OK. END OF INTERVIEW 54