The Jeff Cumberbatch Column – Humpty Dumpty Comes to Town
Jeff Cumberbatch – New Chairman of the FTC
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory’ “, Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t -till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you’!”
“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’ “, Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean –neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master -that’s all.”
Alice was much too puzzled to say anything… Through the Looking Glass… -Lewis Carroll (1871)
Language, especially the English language, is notoriously imprecise. And, therefore, it is highly likely to confuse, bemuse and sometimes amuse when employed in its principal function -that of communication. This need for clarity might partly explain why lawyers and scriveners of old were much given to the use of the doublet expression (or the pleonasm as they are sometimes pejoratively called nowadays). These are phrases such as “to have and to hold”, “cease and desist”, “let or hindrance”, “aid and abet” and “null and void”.
A more mercenary and hence more popular explanation though is that since lawyers were then remunerated according to the number of words in a drafted document, the legal doublet became de rigueur in order for the attorney to earn a sizeable fee.
Of course, the relatively recent thrust towards the “plain English” mode of drafting legal documents has now rendered this style largely superfluous (no pun) and, too besides, the degree of difficulty in draftsmanship of the document has significantly replaced the number of words in it as the principal tariff of the attorney’s fee.
Even with plain English however, imprecision persists and the hoary principles of the interpretation of deeds and statutes yet maintain contemporary relevance. Imagine then, the bedlam that may ensue in lay communication when a speaker or writer attempts to convey information to the public. And add to that the Barbadian context whereby the identities of the speaker (especially if a politician) and of the reader or listener assume major relevance. More so, where the topic is one as sensitive as race relations or of what should be considered preservable local heritage; two matters that are swiftly becoming indistinguishable here.
In parenthesis, it should be recalled that Barbadians are rather ambivalent about communication. While English is the official lingua franca, and the use of more popularly spoken dialect is frowned on at times by some, it is nevertheless seemingly accepted in the media so long as there is a perception that the writer or speaker is, I suppose, otherwise proficient in the use of Standard English and simply being light-hearted or engaging in mimicry on the occasion.
For those of us writing in Standard English however, we are often enjoined to write for “the common man”, a fiat that entails using a range of words and expressions that should be familiar to the average third form student at secondary school. Thus, any usage that may not be grasped without using a dictionary (!) is considered as gratuitous ostentation or “showing off” by the author, although to be fair, there are some who have remarked favourably on the periodic additions to their vocabulary.
Both of the phenomena referred to two paragraphs earlier have entered the public domain in recent weeks. First, Mr Ralph “Bizzy” Williams, a lighter-coloured national, took umbrage at the Prime Minister’s public reference to Barbados as being the “freest black nation in the world”. Second, the historian, Mr Trevor Marshall, is reported as having expressed displeasure at an official reference to the late and eccentric public character “King Dyal” (aka “Hog Food” in my youth) as a “leading cricketing icon” and a “legend in his own right”.
With regard to the first issue, Mr Williams’s objection appears to be primarily based on the fact that it is a misnomer to describe Barbados as a “black” nation, given the presence and contribution of many whitish Barbadians over the years. I read a later clarification where he would have preferred a description of modern Barbados as “multi-racial”.
On the simplistic point of the various races present in the nation, Mr Williams is of course right, although I do not think that the Prime Minister was making a racial reference, erroneous or at all, by his description. In any event, it does seem particularly useless nowadays to refer to a country by reference to the races of its citizens. Indeed, given the incidence of forced and voluntary migration, there are currently very few nation states that may not be referred to as “multi-racial” by Mr Williams’s token.
However, while I thought that the Prime Minister’s statement was merely a harmless repetition of one of those idle jingoistic boasts that that we so much adore in this region –“a nation that punches above its weight” and “ the best beaches in the world” come readily to mind-, the geopolitical reality is that for those few individuals who may still want to describe a nation by reference to a colour, the principal cosmetic indicators are the race of the overwhelming majority of its citizens and the colour of those who hold economic and legislative power. An examination of apartheid South Africa provides a clear example; the majority race was African, although Whites controlled the laws and the chief economic indicators. How should one describe South Africa then? And now? How should the US or UK be described today ? Are we really a “monarchy”? A “Christian” society?
It is indeed remarkable that none chose rather to challenge the accuracy of Mr Stuart’s superlative.
Mr Trevor Marshall’s objection does carry some weight at first blush. To my mind, to describe King Dyal as “a leading cricket icon” oversteps hyperbole and “legend” [except perhaps in his own mind] is clearly a stretch. I have not seen the calendar to which Trevor refers, but his objection, from the press report, appears to be based on the odium that the late character displayed towards black people. If true, perhaps this is more to be pitied than anything else. My support for the assertion is based rather on the fact that the self-styled “King” was merely another local character, no more memorable for all that than “Gear Box”, “Bulldog” or “Town Man” and “Town Woman”, for examples.
Barbados Underground 
How ironic a black man is charged ten thousand dollars for telling a white woman she is beautiful.another black man is giving iconic status after years of hurling derorgatory insults at black people. The world is surely upside down
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In the same place where one black man was charged thousands of dollars, the other black man given iconic status, would have also been given iconic status there.
Remember that the real bad dog in the plantation yard had no pedigree, but kept the right noises.
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Yeap the same ole system is alive and well the goal post has been push a little higher to fool and convince tge masses.
Also reading Professor Fraisers response was almost as punishing as the merit given to Hog Food ( King Dyall)
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Donna,
I dont disagree with your points there is certainly validity to Bajan whites keeping to themselves far too often. Forgive me for poking some fun at you as I know you like to be hot as fire pun hey so! You did handle the situation well.
Artax and Donna,
What is interesting is that from my experience living in 2 Student Hostels in London in the mid 1970s is that the vast majority of sub groups interacted very well. Exception was some Africaner Sth Africans. There was trouble between Indians probably based on religion. At the time Muslims were not yet acting out their Fundamentalism, but some were very hypocritical and that pissed off the non muslim Indians.
Interesting that more recently at UWI there is still same race segregation.
SHADISM is a massive problem in the Cbean, India, Sth Africa, most of Asia especially Phillipines/ Thailand. It is not all due to White Imperialism as Thailand, Japan and China were never dominated by White outsiders. In these countries lighter skins are seen in Adverts etc most likeley because Darker skins were field workers.
At least part of the reality is that people like to be with their own skin colour ie people like themselves. I have spent much of my life being with black friends at school and home, Indian in London UK/ Toronto Cricket Teams and Orientals by Marriage and work. There is definitely good and bad in every skin tone from my experience.
Bajan Whites are generally trained to segregate as a defense mechanism as it is a minority community, please note the more recent actions of Muslim Indians in Bim. In Toronto this is true of other communities ie Chinatown, predominately Black ares etc. The Japs dont do this because they were too easily rounded up in WW2. Many Japs married whites, both genders.
Race is a massive problem and of course the Pols love to stir that pot. I had girlfriends of all shades and types, the mixes were generally the better looking, maybe for a reason?
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Smooth chocolate MoneyB……your favorite, lol.
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Moneybrain,
Got to admit that the mixes are usually the best looking. They seem to access all the best features of the races. I realized that a while ago.
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@Artax
I lived in Antigua for 3 years. Since you had used the interview, I did too. Having been in ear shot of him some days, when a wicket fell he was sure to let those around him know which of his recent actions had contributed to the batsman’s downfall, or the bowler had finally listened to him and yorked the batsman. Don’t mind he was calling for every delivery possible. But yes, he was entertaining. And unlike Dyall he could work a crowd. Nearly every cricket ground in Bim had a ‘team supporter’, whose job beyond amusing other supporters was to heckle the opponents. Most of it was “shiite talk” but it was entertaining.
You are mostly very articulate, so the nitpick was a joke.
I place both Gravy and King as entertainers, who were so notorious as to become well known beyond their shores. While the King has a cricket association, he could be found around the Garrison many Saturdays, and at other major public events.
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@ Northern Observer
Point taken…….
I also lived and worked in Antigua for a few years and I would visit the island from time to time. However, the new PM Gaston Browne seems to have a problem with Barbados and this has caused me to lose interest in travelling there.
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i find it ,,very concerning that a man (king Dyall) who had self hatred of himself and his race is now allowed to fly under the racist radar and be honored as an “entertainer who is well deserving of high merit
If his words were put on paper (today) the laughter would cease and there would be nothing entertaining about them
it is amazing that although as a society most boast of high intelligence have become unaware are not sophisticated enough to understand when people are making fools of us.
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@ ac January 25, 2016 at 1:54 PM #
“How ironic a black man is charged ten thousand dollars for telling a white woman she is beautiful.another black man is giving iconic status after years of hurling derorgatory insults at black people. The world is surely upside down”
Who is giving ‘another black man iconic status’? If you are referring King Dyal, aka Hog Food, you must ask who are the people behind the promotion of the dead man?
Which organization or movement are they representing in this ‘upside down world’?
King Dyal was just a comic character on the tapestry of the game that was institutionalized by the very ‘race of people’ publicly despised but privately admired by the likes of Hilary Beckles and Trevor Marshall both worshippers of the game of cricket.
Maybe King Dyal was a bit ahead of his time and a possible precursor to BU’s own Bushie. He fell down badly in his political correctness and ‘language’ etiquette by referring to Bajan black people as “Cattle” in a rather derogatory fashion. He could have been referring to their docility as a brainwashed and dominated people; much unlike black monkeys as seen through the eyes of local whites some of whom “mistakenly” shot a few.
Apologetically, he should have been more sophisticatedly euphemistic and refer to them as the “Bajan Brass Bowls”.
Now Bushie would not have been able to lay claim to its coinage
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AC
I wid U on Dyal, he was just a Bridgetown Character, totally screwed up Psyche.
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LOL @ Miller
Are you suggesting that Hog Food was like John the Baptist,.. preparing the way with ‘cattle’ …for Bushie ‘brass bowls’?
Perish the thought….
Also, Bushie lays no claim to the coinage of ‘Bajan Brass Bowls’. That distinction probably goes to those responsible for our ‘great’ education system…
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Yes, King Dyal may have loathed his own Negro brothers and sisters. But how different was he to those many self-loathing middle-class Bajan Negros?……who detest their African ancestry, who have detached themselves from the suffering of their Negro ancestors whilst at the same time have clung on to the coat tails of their white Bajan ancestry.
We should be aiming our ammunition at the William’s boy. After all he is still alive and represents a real threat to the livelihood of Bajan Negros?
We Bajan Negros are a screwed up people. We stand for nothing.
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ac January 25, 2016 at 6:40 PM #
“i find it,, very concerning that a man (king Dyall) who had self hatred of himself and his race is now allowed to fly under the racist radar and be honored as an “entertainer who is well deserving of high merit
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Perhaps you should address your concerns to Fruendel, chairperson and deputy chairperson of the 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, Maxine McClean and Esther Byer respectively.
YES, many of us are intelligent enough to be aware that these yearlong activities are in actuality, politically motivated events and campaign strategies, which were designed under the guise of 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, and we are sophisticated enough to understand (and recognize) when people are making fools of us.
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@ Bush Tea January 25, 2016 at 9:23 PM #
“Are you suggesting that Hog Food was like John the Baptist,.. preparing the way with ‘cattle’ …for Bushie ‘brass bowls’?
LOl!!
As a matter o fact I was thinking along those lines. But I didn’t want to elevate either Hog Food or Bushie to any state of apotheosis; maybe iconoclastic to the concept of political correctness.
King Dyal may have been a virgin (he always bragged of never having sex) but certainly not a saint.
Bushie, every Court has its jester. Hog Food was Cricket’s king of buffoonery.
Denis Kellman is the Crown prince of stupidity in Parliament. And BU has its own twin Ac’s (ace of intellectual clowns).
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Bro wid all that fancy intellectual talk yuh gonna have to wait one and a half year to show how sophisticated u are. ..Not..
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And to u lick mout miller ac Twin have already purchased a couple hundred of the callenders for patriotic bajans libing overseas in return for the monies benefiting a worthy cause cause .To you i say ..Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country
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“Donna, I know what you wrote about well. When I was at BCC and UWI the whites and Indians used to congregate in their own groups. There is not anything wrong with that……. to each his own……. “birds of a feather flock together.” The same thing occurs at these institutions to this day.
However, what really annoyed me was when the blacks of a fairer complexion (who were under some misguided opinion that they should be considered white) and those of darker complexion, who wanted to “infiltrate” those groups so as to give themselves a sense of “belonging” or notion of identity.
This usually creates a situation whereby one or two “token blacks” may be invited to a party, resulting in them telling their black counterparts, (with pride and some semblance of superiority); they were invited to “Susan’s party”
Trying to lay low for now but I am in agreement Arta with your comments similar to those posted by me which have largely gone unnoticed. Until black people respect and assert their own identity like the other races do and stop begging the white man for recognition the white man would continue to treat us as second class and all we would continue to do is blame our shortcomings on slavery. This stupidity about reparations and removing Lord Nelson statue while promoting George Washington is not the answer. With all these black governments in power over the years and so-called radicals like Mr Marshall in charge of higher learning;by now we should have been exposed to a vigorous programme of cultural indoctrination to tackle our seemingly mental inferiority complex vis a vis our obeisance to things white. In fifty years time Cuba have been able to indoctrinate a traditional religious or should I say catholic people to the notion that Fidel and not God is the answer. Perhaps we black people might have been better off culturally if Garveyism had been rammed down our throats as children instead of King Henry and Ann Boleyn.
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imer January 25, 2016 at 9:25 PM #
Yes, King Dyal may have loathed his own Negro brothers and sisters. But how different was he to those many self-loathing middle-class Bajan Negros?……who detest their African ancestry, who have detached themselves from the suffering of their Negro ancestors whilst at the same time have clung on to the coat tails of their white Bajan ancestry.
Insightful post. On another note, the mere fact that Mr Dyall is the subject of discussion elevates him to some kind of legendary status for good or ill but as you rightly say Exclaimer, the problem is with those blacks who loathe their own skin colour and by extension their identity not with Mr Dyall poor fool that he was.
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Balance….that is exactly what Bizzy with his ‘honorary’ pretencious degree is trying to shove down the throats of a black majority nation…
“who detest their African ancestry, who have detached themselves from the suffering of their Negro ancestors whilst at the same time have clung on to the coat tails of their white Bajan ancestry.”
He believes a degree that he did not earn gives him the right to decide how blacks on the island should view themselves, their ancestry and decendancy.
I am surprised it has not yet occurred to Cow and Bizzy to have themselves carried around by black males in that demeaning to blacks ritual still practiced by the British in Africa, if it finally occurs to them, none other than the politicians should be chosen as beasts of burden, with AC holding the back end.
Dyall was negatively socialized as was the intent back then, he went to his grave not knowing that he knew not…..there are still many black people with the same mindset existing today. That is what the Bizzys are trying to preserve, it’s in their best interest.
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@ Well Well
Dyall was negatively socialized as was the intent back then, he went to his grave not knowing that he knew not…..there are still many black people with the same mindset existing today.
++++++++++++++++++++++
That is the understatement of the blog.
Even those of us who THINK that they are enlightened ..know not how much they know not.
The REALITY is too stunning and revolutionary for brass bowls to even contemplate, so we continue to give credence to albino-generated fairy tales concocted by greed-driven devils.
Imagine being made in the very IMAGE (and the very temperament) of BBE …and allowing oneself to be sidetracked by lower-order jokers into considerations of ‘inferiority’….
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This post by Jeff Cumberbatch illustrates beautifully the main tenet proposed by the author. Even he, himself, did not appear to see what a beautiful demonstration it was, perhaps even rising to the class of a “teachable moment”.
Jeff started out his article by saying.
Language, especially the English language, is notoriously imprecise. And, therefore, it is highly likely to confuse, bemuse and sometimes amuse when employed in its principal function -that of communication.
That’s exactly what many of the arguments in this post, aided and abetted by Jeff himself, demonstrate.
The majority of posters seem to be unwilling to accept that an icon is a symbol of some aspect of human life and not necessarily of a positive aspect. They therefore tumbled headlong into a rabbit hole, similar to Alice’s, in focusing on the negative aspects (and there were many) of King Dyal by emphasizing the weary shibboleths of his characteristic reaction to the taunts of “hog food” by his usually juvenile detractors.
So what if King Dyal’s typical reaction was a knee jerk reference to black people as human cattle. His taunters knew that they were not human cattle and were actually making fun of someone who could defend himself only in that way. Many of the posters here are still offended by that epithet coming out of the mind of a man that was not totally stable and reading a lot more into it than is necessary.
He was a demonstrably eccentric man but I think that that eccentricity does not negate any suggestion that he was an icon of cricket here or of a characteristic “sartorial” style or even of the pantheon of bajan eccentric characters. He was not an icon of great cricket players or administrators or the various other recognized aspects of the game. He could never be considered to be an icon or representative of Bajans. He was not a hero in any sense. He was just the highly recognizable King Dyal who some might consider an icon of a long gone Barbados.
There are obviously many aspects of his “reign” that might gall some of the new defenders of blackness who were probably never near the front lines when the fight to establish the bona fides of the black situation was being waged in the USA and here to some extent also by the likes of Elombe Mottley, another Barbadian Icon in his own right.
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Bush Tea January 26, 2016 at 7:51 AM #
Chuckle……..let me help you,as this truth maybe what you are reffering to.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1534754223428459/permalink/1727103164193563/
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balance January 26, 2016 at 5:16 AM #
“Until black people respect and assert their own identity like the other races do and stop begging the white man for recognition the white man would continue to treat us as second class and all we would continue to do is blame our shortcomings on slavery.”
Excellent point, balance.
On a different note, I read in today’s newspaper that, after all these years of the Trinidadian Stag Beer being the official sponsor of CBC’s “Q in the Community,” where that brand of beer was only one to be sold at those events, effective February 4, 2016 Banks Beer becomes the official beer of “Q.”
We had to wait on AmBev to negotiate this sponsorship, which in its current form was detrimental to Banks, and it is amazing that it took the South Americans a few weeks to recognize this.
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Question : for theintelligent minds..How does a race of people assert their own”true” identity after years of adapting /adopting another identity that was forced upon them?
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Education AC….and stop sucking up to Cow and acting as though ya’ll will die without his jobs when he threatens to shut shop when he knows, but obviously you don’t, that he cannot survive without the workers, man up and woman up, stand on your own two feet, that’s what they are there for, be truly independent for once in your enslaved lives.
Allow small business people to achieve financial freedom, allow the brilliant young people to take the island forward. Redirect the million dollar contracts and distribute them evenly, the politicians can forego bribes and extortion to get the country back on track……AC, according to the Bushman, you sure you ain’t got microcephaly. ..lol
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And since your brain does not seem to function like those of normal people….that is just a first step, rreview the changes that may occur within five years of doing something different and embrace the positives while working on reducing the negatives….it’s not brain surgery, but being practical.
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I am sure you noticed in all of that, race or skin color was not mentioned once, it’s called doing things differently to achive desired positive results. When Cow dies of old age, what ya’ll going to do, die too….the next Cow might be worse than Cow-an.
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Well at least u tried lol..
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AWTY,
We are well aware of all you say but maintain that Hog food whether icon, hero or street character should not be placed on an official brochure on the same page as a hero whom he used to demean. A note in a cricket history book would be acceptable but if this is a celebration of national pride then he has no place among the persons of whom we are proud.
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Donna absolutely correct—just an ignoramus spectacle to be derided.
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Donna;
Okay. I agree with how you put it.
MoneyBrain;
Its the derision that probably created the man.
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AWTY,
You are a rare breed!
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are-we-there-yet January 26, 2016 at 9:13 AM #
Well said and put,especially your last paragraph,as I was part of that era.
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Whatever King Dyall was he definitely did not earned a pass to be mentioned in the same breath and placed along side such luminaries as Sir Garfield Sober
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Still waiting for an intellectual to explain how a race of people can transformed an identity given for hundred of years through assertiveness and self respectac
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The late Captain Peter Short delivered the eulogy at King Dyal’s funeral.
King Dyal
http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/334963.html
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What colour was Peter Short? Don’t think Hog Food ever called him a black cattle! That only proves my point.
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black cattle
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For that matter- who produces Wisden?
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Is that Wisden Cricketers Almanack this blurb is posted?
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King Dyall was loved by whites he was fondly appreciated by them to do their bidding of nasty attacks on blacks. No wonder they endorse him so much.
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I know who publishes Wisden, David! Just wondered if YOU did.
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King Dyal, a legend
Barbados Museum & Historical Society
November 29, 2013 ·
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How entertaining for WHITE men to hear black men speak of THEIR SUPERIORITY! Must WE buy into it because THEY SAID SO?
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David,
We mustn’t follow like the sheep in the picture you just posted.
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That’s what the house niggas do.
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David, King Dyal was NOT LOVED BY ALL BARBADOS! You keep posting a lot of crap! Did not the history books say that Columbus discovered the Caribbean? Do you believe EVERYTHING YOU READ? He could have changed his suit a hundred times. I was too busy watching Lawrence Rowe, Alvin Kallicharran, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge etc. He died in poverty? Fitting like a dirty suit!
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Barbadians reference to Dyall as king was done with a sense of mock sport. If only back then barbadians knew that this illustrious title would be mounted on the head of a man also called Hog food they would have dead with laughter.
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Smoking Joe and Joel Garner etc. etc. etc.
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I repeat,” Do you believe EVERYTHING you read and hear? “King Dyall said……”
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” I was solely responsible for the riots.”
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David
Thanks for putting the issue in perspective…..he was a man of his times,just as EWB was.
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@Donna
Relax!
We are discussion King Dyal and all BU has done is to pull info on the Internet to BU for others to read and form opinions.
Relax!
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David;
Thanks for the archival information on KIng Dyal that you posted.
I, for one did not know, that He played a role (a speaking one, no less) in the Clement Payne riots of 1937.
I wonder how many of the posters on this topic knew that. I wonder if our eminent Historian knew it.
But then Donna might be right in considering that episode ( that was corroborated in one of your extracts) as a figment of a fertile imagination.
Anyone out there can authoritatively confirm that King Dyal was or was not involved in the Riots and indeed jailed as one article claims?
Any historians out there who could research it and let us know the truth? Sir Hilary and several other Historians researched that event and there should be some one out there who could point us in the right direction.
If King Dyal was indeed involved in the riots as he and the other article you posted claimed it suggests that someone did not do his research properly.
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I wasn’t born but me grandpa told me how we had riots here in this country. My grandpa, a born rebel, an avid cricket fan, a very active supporter of Grantley Adams, and an enthralling storyteller told me stories of Wynter Crawford, D.D. Garner and many other memorable political figures and events including a particularly intriguing account of the uprising and the events leading up to it. Never once did he mention a word about King Dyal. This is a relatively recent occurrence. Evidence should not have been too hard to find.
At any rate, what would have changed him from a trail-blaizing activist for the poor and downtrodden blacks to a hater of all things black? Ingratitude from those he helped? Well in that case my same grandfather could have been excused for being a black hater. But you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and do it all over again because good or bad they are YOUR PEOPLE!
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David,
It was the timing of your posts directly after mine, I guess. Relaxing………
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are-we-there-yet January 26, 2016 at 7:54 PM #
Our problem lies with Historians as we have a hero created from a sentence with all sorts of attributes that cannot be verified.
We must do our own research.
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Vincent Haynes;
If I can find some time, I might just do my own research.
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