the golden age of george town characters

8/3/2019 The Golden Age of George Town Characters

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"THE GOLDEN AGE OF GEORGETOWN CHARACTERS

1930-1960"

By Bernard Heydorn"

The Caribbean is known not only for its sunny climate, but also its street people:Colourful characters who paraded daily through town and country, providingspontaneous street theatre.

Whether driven to the streets by mental, emotional or social derailment, or "dropping outand turning on" by free choice, they remain indelible in memory, symbolic of the life andtimes. Like the politicians of the day, street characters had the ability to attract attention.

In Georgetown, Guyana, names like Bertie Vaughn, Law And Order, Cato, Pussy In TheMoonlight, Pele, Mad John, Saul, Walker The British, Cow Manure, Oscar The Paper Man,

Tunus, Daddy Ben, Mary Bruk Iron, Bicycle Jack, and others, were standouts during thatgolden age of theatre of the absurd (1930 - -1960), providing year round side shows, acharacter for every reason and season.

It is interesting to note that many of these characters found a place to rest at night, be itthe Palms, Dharm Shala, a Mental Home, a back room, or underneath a shop bridge.However, back then, as now, their illnesses, be they mental or physical, theiridiosyncrasies and eccentricities, were crying out for healing hands.

Mad John was a man who walked up and down Regent Street in Georgetown, beating upon himself, complaining, "a woman tek all meh money!" Mad John seemed to possess asplit personality which I shall call "He" and "Himself" for clarity sake.

Now, "He" and "Himself" were always fighting each other but never producing a clearwinner. One day "He" would be on top and "Himself" would retreat from the blows; andon another day, the tide would turn and "Himself" would be top dog.

The state of affairs continued for a while until one morning, "Himself" caught "He" half-asleep on Camp Street by the Blue Light Store, and like a dog chasing its own tail, gavechase and delivered a solid knockout punch! From that day on, people said that MadJohn never slept properly, being constantly on guard against another sneak attack by theother side of himself.

Christmas in Georgetown was noted as much for 'Cow Manure' as for its ginger beer.

'Cow Manure' was an East Indian man who sold cow manure as a fertiliser, from a basketon his head, and who was perpetually drunk. He belted out his favourite Christmas Carol,"While shepherds wash their flocks and socks at night, all seated on the ground" to alland sundry, slurring the words and composing his own, as he walked the streets.

Another well known character was 'Saul' . A man for all seasons, he dressed for everyoccasion, depicting the daily news. His outfits and placards gave a running commentaryto the events of the day, for if a condemned murderer was being hung at the jail on CampStreet, Saul was the first to show and tell. Saul was also the first to coin the saying, "Why



get sober if you have to get drunk all over again?" During a cricket test match, Saul ranaround the ground at Bourda, dressed as a cricketer with paper gloves and cardboardpads, bringing the game to a halt and getting more attention than the Governor!

Another Bourda character was 'Daddy Ben' , who the M.C.C. press called 'Daddy Bell'.'Daddy Ben' had a permanent bird ticket up a tall tree at Bourda, on the eastern side of

the ground by the Georgetown Football Club during a Test Match. From that vantagepoint, whenever he got bored or he wanted a wicket to fall, he would ring a big bellloudly, and sure enough, wickets would start to tumble, to the amusement of the crowdand the amazement of the players.

'Oscar' , the blind paper man, walked up and down the streets of Georgetown beforedawn and cock crow, shouting the headlines and selling newspapers, "Argasy! Agasy!"Although he was blind, he know his coins well and anyone who tried to cheat him wouldbe cussed out.

Horse racing at Durban Park would not be complete without the appearance of 'Pele', anEast Indian man who walked around, dressed up in a suit, smoking two cigarettes at the

same time! He gave a running commentary on the races and every other subjectimaginable. He was also a passionate suitor, for if he liked a young lady, he would findout where she lived and go and sing loudly outside her bedroom window, from midnightto dawn!

'Pussy In The Moonlight' , alias 'Pussy Foot', was a bearded Portuguese man who wore ajacket and plaid shorts. He sold sweepstake tickets in between drinks, and was reputedto live in Albouystown with many children, some of whom walked around with him.School children were sometimes cruel to Pussy Foot, taunting him with a verse, "Pussyin the moonlight, pussy in the dew, pussy never come home till half past four".

Another Portuguese character was 'Tunus', a strong, hard-drinking man whose favourite

haunt was the Red Coconut Tree rum shop at Cummings and Second Street. Tunusapparently went to jail for stabbing a policeman, but he was better known for playing amouth organ with one hand and doing the unmentionable with the other!.

An icon among Guyanese characters would be Bertie Vaughn , a black man.. Bertieapparently came from a "good" family, and was himself once a school teacher, and it issaid, a candidate for the Guiana Scholarship before "too much studiation sent him off hispins". From then on, his station in life was to sit on a parapet by the main Post Office,shaving his head and other parts of his anatomy clean, clean, with a broken "grassbottle" in a fashion that would make Gillette both envious and anxious about thecompetition.

In between picking a sore in his scalp and begging, he also drank iodine, miraculouslywithout poisoning himself, having built up a tolerance over the years. If he begged for asix cents piece and you gave him a bit (an eight cents piece), he would return it saying,"ah want six cents". At one time he had a Raleigh bicycle, replacing the bell with a horn,saying "school children gun listen to the horn". Later for no apparent reason, he ran hisRaleigh bicycle into the Demerara River.

'Walker The British' was a mixed-race (Mulatto) man, who sold sweepstake tickets aroundWater Street, armed with two bricks. Apparently, he came from an educated family, and



then, like Bertie Vaughn, "went 'round duh bend". He was an ardent supporter of Britishsuperiority, shouting "British yuh fool! Highest hair and colour!" People taunted him,calling him "Walker the nigger" and so he retaliated with his two bricks, sometimesdrawing blood from his tormentors. He slept at the Palms, letting himself out daily on hisrounds.

Another Post office character was 'Telegraph George', who used to work at the PostOffice as a telegraph messenger before he "went off". He could then be found, makingsigns with his fingers, looking at the heavens saying "ah gun talk to God".

One character I had some fear of as a schoolboy was 'Cato' , a somewhat deranged blackman who wore short pants and rags and often exposed himself to bystanders for money,saying, "Ah want a penny tuh buy a panty fuh me sister". 'Cato' also had a weakness forrubber, devouring pencil erasers and chewing on the rubber seals of bottles. Once on anindecency exposure charge in court, he saw Forbes Burnham and shouted "UncleForbes, get up an' talk fuh me maan. Yuh gun leh dis coolie magistrate do dis tuh meh?"Apparently, this was one of the rare occasions when Burnham was at a loss for words.

And who can ever forget 'Law And Order' who staged an execution in his push carteveryday, every hour on the hour. During the executions of his rag doll, he gave anaddress on the evils of crime and the benefits of the British Empire, of laws and order. Hewas always sole judge, jury and executioner. Curious crowds always gathered around'Law And Order' at Bourda Market and the Public Buildings where he was a regular showstopper. 'Law And Order' and his push cart also marched proudly in the Armistice Dayparade on November 11, each year, getting loud applause and holding his own with theveterans of many campaigns.

One of my favourite characters was 'Bicycle Jack' a museum on wheels. 'Bicycle Jack'rode a bicycle all day long in the Georgetown sun, with every object imaginable attachedto the bike - clips, wires, bells, horns, lights, decorations, flags, the most prominent

being the Union Jack, homemade toys, and spinning windmills, to name a few. Thewheels were also gaily decorated, all in all, a sight to behold. His only problem was whenrain fell, when he had to peddle fast to find shelter.

There were other characters too, like 'Bubble Up' , the white woman with 'big foot', whocursed like hell; and 'Mary Bruck Iron' , a prostitute, who had established a reputation for'brucking iron' in Tiger Bay.

Be it 'Monkey', 'Sharkey', 'Live Wire', 'Dribbly Joe' or the legendary 'bag men' used byparents to develop fear in children, street characters were always around. Some times inretrospect, I wonder if the colonial powers allowed these characters to roam free in orderto provide distraction for the local people, while they exploited the country.

There were a few other names also, "Spungdown." A short stocky and elderly black manworked with a Lykin Funeral Home. He bathed the dead and informed families when theirloved ones died, particularly from the Public Hospital. It was known that he carried adead man on his cycle from Vreeden Hoop to Georgetown. He made it appeared as if theman was drunk, slapping the man several times and talking to him on the way to G/T.

The other was "Bastiannie." A short Indian man worked with Bastinannie Funeral Homein Albertown. He also bathe the dead and slept in coffins at the parlor. It was said the



people would be scared to death, when they went to the Parlor to make funeralarrangements, he would be seen coming out of a coffin as if he was dead.

"Bertie Sammon." A short and stocky strong handy man from the Village. A bit retarded,but he had his own kind of sense. He ran errands for people in the neighborhood, andlived around John and Durban Street Lodge. He had an infectious laugh, which you can

hear him blocks away, when the night is still, even as you stood in Hadfield Street. Afterthe end of each race day at Durban Park, he would go into the Stands to search everydraw to for money hopefully left by ticket sellers or anyone dropping a shilling. He had abig appetite. He would eat 12 tennis rolls, many large cups of mauby or swank andanything in sight. He loved going to Indian weddings in the Village, where he would eatseveral plates of food (rice and doll). and wash down with more food, when he is in themood. He was the Gallon of the area.

The next person was Jamesie Moore . A one time Amateur Boxer. He become mentallydisturbed, due to some woman. He ran around the D'urban Park, each day ShadowBoxing, always training for a fight that never came off. He liked drawing a horse on apiece of paper that he said must be printed into his own currency. He brought the paper

to the Argosy News Paper Company in Belair Park each day to be printed. He ranerrands, and also lived near John and Durban Streets in Lodge. He sang to the top of hisvoice, when he sat on St Sidwells school stepts. I believed he was a member of the Chior,years before he became ill. It is sad that some of our best brains ended up that way.

Mental Health is big social problem which needs to be addressed. We took the problemas entertainment and an individual problem.

the golden age of george town characters

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