Article Published: Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Members of the Charles Town Maroon cultural group in the 'spirit' .
The Editor of the Oxford University Press has issued a letter of apology to the people of Jamaica, in relation to the meaning and definition that is now posted in the Concise Oxford Dictionary for the word ‘Maroon’.
When my tour guide announced that he'd never been here before, I wasn't sure whether to get excited or worried. Having ditched the car by the roadside, we were about to wade across a river and head uphill into dense rainforest, on the promise of finding the ruins of a coffee plantation. But from where I was standing there was no sign of a trail.
Luckily, one of our group knew where he was going. With his shoes in one hand and a machete in the other, Colonel Lumsden was already halfway across the river, spouting tidbits of local history as he went. At this stage I should point out that Frank is not your average Colonel. He may have a moustache and a khaki shirt but he has no military background; in Jamaica, a "Colonel" is the title given to the head of a Maroon community - and in Charles Town, Frank is commander-in-chief.
One place where Rampin' Shop is also not getting much love is in the Charles Town Maroons village. Following a discussion last Thursday between men from the village and The Sunday Gleaner, the general view is that Rampin' Shop and other songs containing blatant sexual content are not welcome.
Esther Fuller-Simms never dreamed that she would get a watery grave, and that 12 years after she had made the transition, the earth that surrounded her tomb would have been eaten away by the Pear River, which runs behind the Maroon Cemetery in Charles Town, Portland.
