pHistory
Giving rise to pan
The Carnival Institute
is researching and pro-
ducing pamphlets on
Carnival history. The
first of these
'distributed at a
breakfast meeting of the
Institute arid the
National Carnival
Commission last week
deals with an early
Carnival patron
Ignacio Jose Bodu,
JOM THE late 1880s,ie street Carnival inrinid?id was dominat-^ by bands that
engaged in stick fighting.
When, in 1081, the police
attempted to stop the proces-
sion of bands, they united
against the police, giving rise
to the Canboulay Riots. The
commissioner, RCG Hamilton,
who investigated the causes
and circumstances of the riot
reported:
"...since-1868 certain bands
of ruffians have come into
existence, who take advantage
of the Carnival to muster in
force to fight with each other,
and to carry riot and disorder
throughout the town.
"These bands, which are
composed of persons of the
lowest character, many of
them immigrants from other
islands, appear to exist for no
other purpose than fighting
each other, and of creating riot
and disorder." (Fair Play and
Evening News, November 16,
1881, p. 1)
The genesis of these bands
dates well before 1868 and,
while they were constituted as
fighting bands, their activities
were far more organised and
elaborate than Hamilton
made them out to be.
These were the kalinda
bands whose organisation,
order, procession and person-
nel contained the blueprint for
the carnival, steelbands and
the calypso of the 20th centu-
ry. There was the Pierrot (the
king of the band), the
chantwell (the calypsonian),
the chorus, the drummer and
other percussion musicians,
each occupying a particular
position that was organised by
leading figures in the barrack
yards of Port of Spain.
These bands were anathe-
ma to the ruling British elite
and in the years before the
riots, there were several
Orders in Council aimed at
curbing their activities. For
others, the bands were part of
a tradition that they appreci-
ated and encouraged.
One such person was Jose
Bodu.
Papa Bodu, as he was affec-
tionately called, was a mer-
Sb. JAY EXPRESS Section 2 August 13, 2000 Page 19
'5
? in x? -y.
Street) which were
generally the scenes
of these encounters,
so that the Burgesses
of the town could
amuse themselves in
their Ancient and
Honourable method."
(Letter to the Argos,
1920).
I n 1884, thePeace Preser-vation Actbecame law,
driving kalinda bands
out of the city to
remote parts of the
countryside where
the police presence
was not as vigilant.
The merchant
class, among them
Papa Bodu became
important in reshap-
ing Carnival by chan-
nelling the violence of
the kalinda era into
tamer competitions.
"...at stated times,
fixed by the Carnival
officials, all the bands
meet in the park and
go through the same
manoeuvres in friend-
ly competition. Mer-
chants and public-
spirited individuals
organisations offer
prizes for excellence
in such matters as
costume, theme, exe-
cution of theme, cho-
ruses, and brilliance
of performance of
chantwells." (Letter to
the Argos, 1920).
It is here that the
20th century score-
sheet for the Calypso
Monarch, Parade of
the Bands and Pano-
rama competitions^
find their origins.
From the late
1920s, the calypson-
ian gradually became
separated from the
carnival bands and
began performing in
tents, sponsored by
merchants in
exchange for adver-
tisement in song.
According to Atilla,
the first tent organ-
ised by calypsonians
was the Toddy
Syndicate, from 1929.
Among calypsoni-
ans involved in this
venture were Lord
Executor, Modern
Inventor, Trafalgar,
Mentor, Persecutor
and Atilla himself
(Atilla's Kaiso, 39).
It is believed that
Papa Bodu was the
distributor of the
chocolate milk Toddy,
for which the syndi-
cate was named.
Either way, he was
one of the great
patrons of the calypso
in the early 20th cen-
tury.
Atilla also recalls
that on one occasion,
a calypsonian, called
upon to pay extem-
pore homage to Papa
Bodu, had failed to
give a creditable
account of himself
and was upbraided by
Inventor as follows:
I intended to give you
a castigation
But instead you will
get my compassion
You have demonstrat-
ed your inability and
you have failed miser-
ably
You can't sing on
Papa Bodu, whom we
all know,
The friend and patron
ofcaliso
You can't give satis-
faction
You are a mock
kaisonian.
Atilla's Kaiso, 20-20