WE live in a spectacular age that in many ways inform us of the sinister and also of the useful. This is a giant leap from the ordinary of yesterday. What I refer to is the custom that is now ignored. We reflect on childhood; on a time when we were taught to care.

There were the eccentrics and the ‘sagiwangs’; men and women who had fallen through the social cracks through alcoholism. Then there were always the odd ones; the characters that were off. They had issues, but each issue was represented in their dialogue of the day.

‘Law and Order’ was a colonial whose frequent shout was, “We are British People while.” ‘Walker the Nigger’, as he was sometimes called, was a social reformer who was himself a WWII veteran, judging from the medals he wore, and from the utterances of seniors. Then there was ‘Grey Puss’, who was violent, and hated his false name. Call him and run! The story behind the name, I never knew.

One of Law and Order’s favourite spots was at the Water Street entrance of the then Bettencourt’s store. There he sat on a stool, in a worn-out but clean suit, and his medals. His display was a miniature gallows and a hanging figure. Law and Order would address the traversing human Water Street traffic with a focus on specific members of the passing crowd, “Calling all choke and robbers, gather around; keep yuh hands in yuh own pockets.” When he was satisfied that an interested audience was within earshot, he would say prose on the sins of the purse snatchers and their pickpocket brethren. Then he would comment on the greedy rural millionaires, eager to buy the splendid colonial buildings of Georgetown. “One of them was caught in the sweet promises of a confidence trickster’s proposal to sell him the Town Hall, Oh! What a price the fool paid!” He would name the con man, who is now diseased.

Flashback to these characters do present an analogy of the then and the now, in the context of the mythic slogan of “The good old days.” Were those times more lenient than today, or the same? One down on today is the fact of having a serious national cocaine/marijuana/etc. drug problem, and of course, we must include our alcohol contribution. In the context of human honesty, I can use a character from old Wellington Street from the 70s, an age of sign artists, street fighters, gamblers, con men and mystics.

‘BILLY MOORE’ AND HIS SIDEKICK

One character was the musician, ‘Billy Moore’ and his fellow believer, Roydon Hinckson. These were seekers who believed in their having access to the Kosmic chronicles. Billy Moore and the ‘Four Lords’ sang the popular Christmas song, “Church Bells are Ringing”. I actually thought that it was his song all these years. It was only recently that Shaw (Cyril’s son) enlightened me differently. Billy, however, did have something to do with it that entailed royalties. I can remember Billy Moore in that youthful time, commissioning a banner for a show that he was producing.

The sign artist was Gordon Critchlow, and the banner was the talk of the area and of all active entertainment folk. It was called, according to Randy, an old ‘One Ten’ brethren, ‘THE GRAND SHOW’. The weird thing was that all the singers that were to appear in Billy’s show were dead Jazz and Blues musicians the likes of Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and others. Those who were aware just stood and looked on in amazement. Others mockingly commented. Billy Moore had lost it, possibly for a long time. I knew his friend, Royden, well. These were not the only believers trapped in that mystic world. But who had gained? Up to recently, the sanest person was his lawyer. That esteemed gentleman passed this year. He is credited with benefitting from Billy Moore’s mysticism back then more than anyone else.

The irony of that age, forty-odd years ago, is that the idols may change, but the quest demands more today. A world exists outside of one’s own talents, skills, abilities and income. The faith may be in a new-age mystic, a drug dealer, some super-rich personality, or with a smooth politician. We can’t condemn it, because, being servile is less difficult than selling an idea. First, whoever you’re talking to must be listening and have the aptitude to understand because it’s your idea. And you are motivated every time you turn on your smartphone. You see ideas blooming, but you don’t see the path covered to the finished product. Today, like yesterday, requires knowledge of the quest rather than just faith in a smiling face. The characters in this article, we don’t know the process they experienced to embrace what we then and now may smile at in flashback mood. Let’s learn from their possibilities.