This book is intended for persons living in Antigua in general but more particularly for those living in All Saints at present and to give some historical background of the All Saints I knew growing up there during the nineteen forties to the late sixties. The vast developments which have taken place on all sides since then have changed the features of the village altogether. It should not be regarded as a complete history of All Saints of the Forties and Sixties, but recollections only, of this Author. I trust that it will trigger some interest, arouse curiosity to the extent that it will encourage someone to do some research and pick up from where I have left off.

During the masquerades common during carnival time, jumbies (ghosts or ancestral spirits) are set free to roam the streets of Caribbean nations, turning the world topsy-turvy. Modern carnivals, which evolved from earlier ritual celebrations featuring disguised performers, are important cultural andeconomic events throughout the Caribbean, a direct link to a multilayered history. This work explores the evolutionary connections in function, garb, and behavior between Afro-Creole masquerades and precursors from West Africa, the British Isles, and Western Europe. Robert Wyndham Nicholls utilizes a concept of play derived from Africa to describe a range of lighthearted and ritualistic activities. Along with Old World seeds, he studies the evolution of Afro- Creole prototypes that emerged in the Eastern Caribbean--bush masquerades, stilt dancers, animal disguises, she-males, female masquerades, and carnival clowns. Masquerades enact social, political, and spiritual roles within recurring festivals, initiations, wakes, skimmingtons, and weddings. The author explores performance in terms of abstraction in costume-disguise and the aesthetics of music, songs, drum rhythms, dance, and licentiousness. He reveals masquerades as transformative agent, ancestral endorser, behavior manager, informal educator, and luck conferrer.

Recollections of life on the British West Indies island of Antigua between 1920 and 1943.