That suggestion was made by the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Professor Pedro Welch as he delivered yesterday’s lecture “Duppies, Hags and Steel Donkeys: The Coming of Light: The Disappearance of Myths in Barbados” at the Holetown Methodist Church.
“In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Barbados Light and Power, we acknowledge that the coming of light and other electricity-based technologies would have had a tremendous impact on the folk culture,” said Professor Welch.
“The artificial extension of daylight met new possibilities of learning and development for the population ... Notwithstanding this positive outcome, we might bemoan the loss of some traditions that add to the tapestry of our literary and recreational landscape that perhaps our playwrights and authors might turn again to the superstitions to further develop a Barbadian literary tradition,” he continued.
The historian traced the development of technological advances in Barbados to look at the question of how the coming of technology such as the telegraph, telephone and electricity impacted on the Barbadian literary folk tradition, in particular on the telling of the tale.
He noted that the ethos of technology has pushed people away from the stories of duppies, steel donkeys, hags, and LaDiablesse or La jah-bless.
However, he pointed out that these stories which still survive today and date back to the period of African enslavement are part of our tradition that we need to preserve. “Not that you necessarily should believe in them, but they should be preserved as part of our folk history,” he said.
Professor Welch explained that the steel donkey was a recreation in the Barbadian context of what Jamaicans call a rolling calf. It is basically the appearance of a creature or animal which has certain features such as eyes like fire and a chain.
“Steel donkeys came out of a tradition that people would set a curse on you. It was associated with stone throwing, stones landing on houses without a visible hand throwing them,” he explained.
“LaDiablesse is a more Francophone Caribbean variation on an old theme, a devil in a female form. The hag was a German word which meant witch, but in our context they were spirits that shed their skin. If the skin was found and rubbed with pepper or salt, the hag would be unable to re-enter it and that would get rid of that particular apparition,” said Professor Welch.
He further noted that in Barbados it was believed that sprinkling sand or marl in front of the doorway kept away duppies because they had to count each grain. Usually, they were unable to do so before daylight, therefore, they had to return to the grave.
“In Jamaica, you could use pebbles or rice to get rid of duppies. In Jamaica, the view was that duppies could not count beyond three and when they reached three, they had to start over. So they could never finish counting and would have to return to the grave,” he stated.
Another tradition he noted was the belief of walking backward into the house which was based on the belief that the duppy walked in the footsteps of the intended victim and by walking backwards could be tricked into leaving rather than entering the house.
According to him, these stories grew throughout the Caribbean because of the persistence of African myths and traditions. “These stories are part of our family traditions which helped to bind communities together in a shared belief system,” he stated.
Mama Glow or Mama Dlo or Mama Dglo
"Mama Glow" or "Mama Dlo" or "Mama Dglo" whose name is derived from the French "maman de l' eau" which means "mother of the water" is one of the lesser known personalities of Trinidad and Tobago folklore. A half woman, half snake with long flowing hairwhich she combs constantly. Her upper torso is a naked, beautiful woman, the lower part coils into a large form of an anaconda snake that is hidden beneath the water. She is sometimes thought to be the lover of Papa Bois, and old hunters tell stories of coming upon them in the 'High Woods'. They also tell of hearing a loud, cracking sound which is said to be the sound made by her tail as she snaps it on the surface of a mountain pool or a still lagoon. Mortal men who commit crimes against the forest, like burning down trees or indiscriminately putting animals to death or fouling the rivers could find themselves married to her for life, both this one and the one to follow. Sometimes she takes the form of a beautiful woman 'singing silent songs on still afternoons, sitting at the water's edge in the sunlight, lingering for a golden moment, a flash of green - gone. Nothing but a big Morte Bleu, rising in the sun beams.
Old people talk: "Did you see a fish jump?" "Yes, but it did not go back in again!" If you were to meet Mama Dlo in the forest and wish to escape her, take off your left shoe, turn it upside down and immediately leave the scene, walking backwards until you reach home.
By Allison Ramsay
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