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Return-path: <[log in to unmask]> From: [log in to unmask] Full-name: HRHeron Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 10:37:15 EDT Subject: Re: Walter Jekyll To: [log in to unmask] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 100 Dear Amanda, I never took notice of the significance of Walter Jekyll. The only place I have read of him is in McKay's My Green Hills of Jamaica. You sent me running to withdraw the book from my shelf. I hope what I am going to tell you, you have not already read! McKay describes Jekyll a "highly educated Englishman." He knew many languages, was a good judge of art in general. While Mackay was apprenticed, Jekyll came to get the spoke of his carriage wheel fixed and "Brenga", McKay's boss, told Jekyll that Mc wrote poetry. J showed interest and Mc sent him his poetry at his address in St Andrew. This exchange took place in Brown's Town, St Ann. (Jamaica Song and Story is a collection of Ananncy stories put together by Jekyll.) It was J who encouraged Mc to write use Jamaican Creole in his work an idea that Mc resisted at first but realised that so much of our songs work were not in the standard. Eventually Mc visited J at his cottage in the Blue Mountains and according to Mc he became obsessed with the notion of going to live in Kingston just to be near him. Here I should add that J was about 50 and Mc a tender 18. I don't know Amanda! After working in Kgn for some time, Mc joined the Constabulary (hence his Constab Ballads). He kept his relationship with J quiet. He did not say why but we can always speculate -- race, class, age, or guilty conscience or all! But in order for him "to be educated by Mr Jekyll we had to be together often, but I did not know how to approach any of the officials on such a delicate subject." Anyway one day J appears at the Constab. gate, speaks to the lieutenant colonel and story come to bump as we say. Everyone then knew that he wrote poerty and he was able to get time off to visit J. During this time his poetry writing took off and he learnt French. Mc described J as a free thinker, translated Schopenhauer and introduced Mc to dreary Goethe, Schiller and Heine. Mc said that J. hated the British Empire but J wondered what would take its place for the Germans were too "young and arrogant." Politically, he was not a liberal or socialist or any other radical and he had friends and relatives in high places. His eldest brother was a governor in India, and other members of his family were in government. Now comes the famous story. The Governor, Lord Oliver came to the cottage for dinner. He wanted to stay the night and J. told him no because there was no room for him. To which Oliver replied pointing at Mc "but he stays here." "But he is my special freind",said J. After the Gov. left J was angry and said "That's English middle class bad manners. No person of my class would ever say that to me. We just cannot stand them because they never know when to say the right thing." Mc replied, "But Mr. Jekyll, how can you tolerate me? I am merely the son of a peasant." "Oh", said he, "English gentlemen have always liked their peasants, it's the ambitious middle class that we cannot tolerate." McKay did not seem to mind or maybe it did not strike him or maybe ambition blinded him. I have read elsewhere that he became difficult and notoriously ungrateful for patronage and help he received later in his life. Sorry that's all I can give you. Now you have me curious about this man. We need to find out more. Love, Haidee.