Negroes: Further sentences upon "dress"--Sunday transformations
--The black cook and his metamorphosis--Christmas waits--Negro
houses--The mode of building upon estates--Town negro houses--
Architecture--The mode of moving houses.
I have in so many places made reference to the style of dress
adopted by the negroes, that to bring it under a particular head
may be deemed superfluous. And yet I cannot let it pass without
saying something more upon this subject.
I must own I was very much surprised, on first arriving in
Antigua, at the style of dress adopted by these people. That the
negroes were very fond of adorning themselves I was well aware,
but I thought it consisted in a display of what we should term
_trumpery_, such as the worn-out garments of their superiors
which had once been smart; but I was soon undeceived. It was
during the jovial season of Christmas I first made my appearance
in this island, a time of all others devoted by the negroes to
the purpose of exhibiting the contents of their wardrobes.
Christmas-day, and the two succeeding days, are, in this country,
exclusively termed "Christmas;" and poor indeed must be the negro
who does not sport a new dress upon that occasion, even if they
have to wear nothing but rags for the rest of the year. Those of
the _fair sex_ who can afford it, generally purchase three
dresses; one to wear each day, and formed of various materials,
such as silks, (figured and plain,) satins, mousseline de laines,
challis, crapes of different names and textures, or handsome
white muslin robes variously embroidered. The fashion now in
vogue among these _ladies_ is, to have the skirt of their dresses
dropping on the ground for about a quarter of a yard in length,
the bottom terminated by two rows of flounces, _demi-bishop_
sleeves, and pointed corsages. But the great novelty is in the
arrangement of the different tints, most of them thinking they
are not sufficiently well-dressed if they leave out any of the
prismatic colours. The bonnets are worn just at the back of their
heads, and often present a singular appearance. A negress lately
presented herself to my notice, whose dress deserves particular
attention. Her daily business is to work in the cane-field, and
for some time past I had been used to see her bringing grass for
the use of our horses in a state approximating to nudity. Upon
the Sunday she honoured me with a call the case was, however,
very different. Her dress of figured white muslin was profusely
ornamented with pink ribbon and fringe of the same gay tint, her
silk stockings were "ditto to match," and her shoes yellow, with
white sandals. But her bonnet struck me as most particular; it
was formed of that material called "Tuscan," lined with green,
trimmed with pink, and further decorated with a prodigy among
flowers, a blue rose with silver leaves!
Another very favourite article of dress amongst these black
belles, is what they term "a Victoria cloak," which is nothing
more or less than a square of coarse net, tamboured, in the
commonest manner, in large flowers; but which, like everything
else of the present day, is named after the queen. I am sure, did
her majesty but know how her name is applied to all kinds of
articles, from a steam-coach in England, to a lap-dog here, she
must think herself greatly honoured! I have already spoken of
their splendid jewellery, and therefore it only remains for me to
mention, that elaborately worked collars, with three rows of
cotton lace round them, fancy reticules, coloured boots and
shoes, and parasols, are to be found composing a part of their
attire. The latter mentioned articles are unfurled, and twirled
about by the young ladies with peculiar grace; but those who are
less modish in their manners generally close them, and carry them
over the right shoulder, with the end sticking up like the point
of a bayonet. A few years ago, the negroes were accustomed to tie
their heads with Madras handkerchiefs of the brightest dyes, or
else wear large leghorn or silk hats, covered with flowers and
ribands; but since emancipation, bonnets are most generally worn,
particularly among the young, although some still prefer the use
of the hat.
The gentlemen negroes present also a most _dandified_ appearance.
Surtouts or coats of different colour, with velvet collars,
splendid waistcoats, white or coloured trousers, with very
high-heeled boots, are most in vogue. It is customary with these
beaux, when they order a pair of boots, to give particular
injunctions to the cordwainer, to make them in such a manner that
they may "stamp and creak well," when they wear them. To these
specified articles of dress, must be added broad-brimmed hats,
silk umbrellas, (if they can get them, if not, cotton suffices;
but a negro never thinks himself well arrayed without this
article,) and pocket handkerchiefs, one end making its appearance
from the coat pocket. The persons who dress in this manner are
generally coblers, tinkers, carpenters, bricklayers, and
servants. It is almost impossible to know your own domestics, so
great are their metamorphoses.
In the ship which conveyed us hither, was a black man, who
officiated as cook. Our first place of destination, after leaving
England, was British America, where we arrived in the beginning
of a very severe winter. Sincerely did I pity this poor man, for
his scant and tattered clothing was no protection from the
pitiless blast, and excessive cold of that hyperborean clime.
Being a native of so warm a country as the West Indies, and
having never before experienced the rigours of winter, it was
with some difficulty he could bear up against this (to him)
accumulation of ills. His custom was to remain in the steerage of
the ship, and when any of his messmates tried to arouse him, and
invite him to visit the deck, his only answer was, "I brought all
my fingers and toes from Antigua, and please God, I must try and
carry them back again." After remaining in America for some time,
(suffering _hot aches_, and I know not what beside,) until the
ship had discharged her cargo of _interesting_ emigrants, and
re-loaded with that necessary article "lumber," (_alias_ timber,)
we took our departure, with many a favour of "King Frost's"
hanging about our vessel, in the shape of huge blocks of ice. A
pretty fair wind soon carried us into warmer latitudes, and I
used frequently to remark, how delighted that _poor half-clothed_
man must be. "Oh! oh!" was the answer, "that poor half-clothed
man, as you call him, is a very respectable and dashing fellow, I
do assure you, in his own country." I thought this assertion
bordering upon the burlesque, but I made no reply, wisely
remembering the old saying, "Time will shew all things."
At length, after encountering, as every other mortal must, calms
as well as storms, one bright morning brought us to the shores of
fair Antigua. This, as I have before remarked, was during the
season of Christmas, the time for fun and dress among the
negroes. The morning after we landed, I early shook off "tired
nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," and hurried over the
duties of the toilet in order that I might look about me, and see
what kind of _bipeds_ I had fallen in with. I had not long left
my apartment when I saw a very dashing-looking gentleman enter
the back gate, and approach the door near which I was standing,
admiring the bright sun and blue sky of this December morning. It
certainly struck me as rather surprising, that a gentleman of his
appearance should enter by that part of the house usually
appropriated to the servants, but I supposed it was one of "the
customs" of the country. Not wishing to be in that disagreeable
situation of having to introduce myself, I retired into an inner
apartment; but ere long I learnt, to my great surprise, that the
"_exquisite_," whose appearance caused my sudden departure, was
no less a personage than the black cook from on board the ship.
Christmas is also the season here, as in England, for roast-beef,
plum-pudding, and plum-cake; most of the negroes endeavour to get
_one_ of these articles, should they not be able to procure them
all; but if their pockets are too low to do this, they purchase a
few raisins to treat their friends with. "Christmas day" is
ushered in with the sound of fiddles and drums; parties of
negroes going round the town about four o'clock in the morning,
playing upon these instruments for the purpose of breaking
people's rest, (for I am sure it cannot amuse;) and then they
have the assurance to call at the different houses during the day
for payment. At the conclusion of this serenade, or _waits_, or
whatever else they choose to term it, the musicians generally
raise their voices to the highest pitch, and call out, "Good
morning to you, massa; good morning to you, missis; good morning
to you, ladies and gentlemen _all!_" a flourish is then given
with fiddle and drum, and they march off to disturb another quiet
household.
The next point to be considered is the dwellings of the negroes.
The generality of negro houses upon estates contain two
apartments, and are built of stone, cemented by a rough mortar.
The roofs are composed of _trash_ (the dry leaves of the
sugar-cane), loosely piled on, which gives them an untidy
appearance. Some of the industrious people, however, greatly add
to the look of the interior, by neatly ceiling them with the
split boughs of the cocoa-nut, formed into a kind of basket-work.
The best huts have the hall, or sitting-room, paved with bricks,
or a kind of smooth cement, and the sleeping-apartment boarded.
Among the articles of furniture may be found sofas, sideboards of
manchineel, (or some other species of native wood,) mahogany and
deal tables, and a large cedar chest. Besides these articles,
some of them possess decanters, tumblers, wine-glasses, and a
large bowl to make their punch in, with plates and dishes,
tea-cups, and various other kinds of gaudy crockeryware. These
are the residences of the head negroes; the next kind have their
stone-houses unceiled, and only the bare earth for their floor;
they contain but little furniture, two or three chairs of the
country make, a deal table, and a wooden box or two being their
principal stock. Some estates have fallen into a plan of building
their negro-houses entirely of wood, as it has been found that
the negroes prefer hiring themselves where such dwellings have
been provided for them.
Since emancipation, many proprietors have disposed of part of
their uncultivated lands to the negroes, which are divided into
lots, measuring 30 feet one way, and 40 the other, at 30 dollars,
or 6l. sterling per lot. Upon these spots of ground, the
purchasers have erected houses, some of them very neatly
finished, and containing two rooms, a hall, and chamber; and here
they reside, supporting themselves by working upon different
estates, (where they obtain higher wages than the resident
labourers, on account of not being provided with houses or negro
grounds;) huckstering, or else working their own land. In some
parts of the island, whole villages are formed in this manner;
and from the similarity of the dwellings, and their several
little patches of ground, laid out in rows of different luxuriant
edibles, present, altogether, a very pleasing appearance. Some of
the poorer negroes build their houses in the following manner. A
sufficient number of stakes are firmly driven into the ground at
regular distances; these are interwoven with the branches of the
"black cherry," (a native wood,) stript of their leaves, and the
interstices filled up with clay. The roofs are composed of a
species of coarse grass (called by the negroes, "hurricane
grass," on account of its wild growth,) fastened on with the bark
of the "soursop tree." I cannot speak much for the apparent
comfort of these last-mentioned dwellings; there is one thing,
however, to be considered, warmth is not necessary in this
climate, yet, I should think, the heavy rains which fall at times
must penetrate them, and render their clayey floors still more
unpleasant. The fire with which the negroes cook their victuals
is always made in the open air, unless they fence in a small
portion of ground, and loosely throw a bundle of dry cane-leaves
on the top, in which case it frequently answers for stable and
kitchen.
Those negroes who reside in the capital invariably have their
houses built of wood; they seldom consist of more than one room,
in which a whole family, of perhaps six or eight persons, eat,
sleep, and live; and from whence issue, upon a Sunday, those
_ladies_ and _gentlemen_ who equal in splendour of dress the
habitants of princely halls. The form of architecture is very
simple; four sides, of equal length, breadth, and height, are
first erected, and the whole surmounted by what is called a
_pitched_ roof, which also consists of four uniform sides,
meeting at the top in a pyramidical form. For further protection
from the weather, this roof is covered thickly over with
"shingles," (flat pieces of board, manufactured in America, for
that purpose, from the wood of the cypress, or cedar,) which are
put on in the same manner as slates. Some of these dwellings have
doors facing to each of the cardinal points, besides a window or
two; so that, when agreeable, they can have a free circulation of
air. When I speak of windows, it must not be understood I mean
such as contain any portion of glass; but simply what Dr. Johnson
calls them, "an opening in a house for light and air." These
houses are generally left destitute of any outward colouring,
except what they acquire from exposure to the weather, but when
paint is made use of, the favourite tints are yellow for the
sides, and red for the roof and doors. As I have before hinted,
many of these small houses are built by pilfering a board or a
plank at a time, or now and then a few shingles. It often
happens, that dwellings which are erected upon this plan, take
some time before they are completed. To assure myself of this
assertion, I need only raise my eyes from my paper, and one of
these _contributory_ edifices greets my view. It was commenced
before I came to the island; and after remaining here for about
two years, and returning to England for near the same period,
upon my second visit to Antigua, I found the house not quite
finished. I could not help observing this house during its tardy
erection; a stroke or two of the hammer now and then broke upon
the silent ear of night, and in the morning it might be perceived
that another board had been added to the side, or a few more
shingles nailed upon the roof. It most frequently happens, that
the possessors of these small tenements have no land of their
own, but pay a small ground-rent for the space occupied by their
habitations. When they are wishful of removing to another part of
the town, like the snail, they carry their houses with them,
which, from the manner of construction, is no difficult matter.
These buildings are always raised a little way from the ground,
and have a step or two at the principal entrance. Sometimes the
space between the ground and the house is entirely filled up with
loose bricks or stones; others have only an empty barrel, or a
few stones piled up at each corner, just sufficient to support
the fabric.
When a removal is agreed upon, their first care is to hire a few
porters, and an accompaniment of trucks. These "four-wheeled"
carriages are firmly fastened together, and placed under the
house, the slight foundation pulled away, and strong ropes being
attached to the first truck, the porters (with the assistance of
other men, women, and children) commence pulling with all their
might, and the house moves off to the song and chorus adapted to
the occasion. To preserve its equilibrium, two men march on each
side of the house with long poles, which they place against the
side; one of these commences the song, (which is of their own
composition,) and the whole tribe join in the chorus of "Pull
away, my hearties," or similar phrases. In former times, when the
negroes had only the Sunday allowed them to perform any of their
own work, that day was used to execute these removals; but the
noise it occasioned during the period of Divine service was such,
that the legislature found it necessary to prohibit this practice
at the same time they abolished the Sunday markets.
It is particularly disagreeable to be in the vicinity of these
houses when their owners take it into their heads to remove them.
The negroes are always noisy; but when such deeds are in
contemplation, they are more so than ever; the songs they sing,
the quarrels they have, and the language they use, would tire the
patience of the most stoical. Sometimes a sudden crash is heard,
and the whole edifice comes tumbling to the ground; this leads to
another "wordy war,"--the goddess Discord again waves aloft her
arm,--the whole neighbourhood is in commotion,--and poor I (who,
alas! am a most _unwilling_, but compulsory listener) cannot help
exclaiming--"Oh! that I were in dear old England, where at least
the houses are not moved."