Title: The Chieftainess - Glimpses of Grandy Nanny

Author: Col C. L. G. Harris

Publisher: Publishing Designs, Inc

Reviewer: Paul H. Williams

Nanny, the only heroine among the pantheon of seven Jamaican 'deities', is regarded in some intellectual circles as a mere product of folklore, nothing but a myth. Her alleged supernatural powers, especially those of catching bullets with her backside, give credence to her mythical existence. The argument is that there are no primary documents to prove her existence, no historical records of her exploits. In essence, there is not much that can be used to verify all the stories about her.

This perspective does not go down well with the Maroons in this country, and perhaps this is why Col C. G. L. Harris, who was leader of the Moore Town Maroons, in Portland, from 1964-1995, has brought memories of her to life in his ballad, a book-length poem of delightful verses, transporting you back to a time when Colonel Harris, who regards himself as a descendant of Nanny, was not even a figment.

Copies of the books, 'The Chieftainess' and 'Teacha', written by Col C.L.G. Harris. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Colonel Charles L. G. Harris is an educator, a Distinguished Graduate of Mico College, and former senator. He is the holder of a Badge of Honour for meritorious service and was bestowed with the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of the West Indies in 2006. Nanny, widely regarded as a great warrior, was given the highest honour in the land because of actions initiated by then Senator Harris in the 1970s.

His forceful presentations led then Prime Minister Michael Manley to order cultural and historical research - spearheaded by Professor Kamau Brathwaite, a reader at the University of the West Indies, Mona, at the time - of Nanny and her exploits. Brathwaite's findings were convincing and in 1976, Grandy Nanny of the Maroons became the seventh person to be given the Order of National Hero.

Brathwaite, fittingly, in his preface to this book, refers to Nanny as the only "sheroe". He also says, "Colonel C. L. G. Harris is one of the most crossroads of Caribbeans. By that I mean that at an active 92, he's at the centre of our current time ... and walks within himself that wisdom. He's Maroon ... which places him at crossroads (the Blue Mountains) of our geography; and as a Maroon, at the very centre of our history."

In reference to the book itself, Brathwaite says, "Colonel Harris' enthralling verse allows us to follow this psychic crossroads across the mountain crossroads of the Caribbean with all the elegance, care, accuracy and knowledge that only a Maroon leader, himself in this crossroads freedom tradition, could endow to our literature."

Dr Mark Harris, Colonel Harris' son and editor of The Chieftainess, in seeking to rationalise why the story is told in verses and not prose says, "By choosing to communicate through poetry, the author reveals a belief that the exploits of the chieftainess require a medium of expression commensurate with her high achievements."

He says further, "This singular work of history, literature, and culture establishes the author's knowledge of Nanny the chieftainess as the soundest, widest, and deepest of any living individual. The reader is therefore invited to sit back, relax, and enjoy a thrilling excursion to hitherto hidden aspects of 18th-century Jamaica."

twelve parts

The Chieftainess has 12 parts, each relating a different episode of Nanny's illustrious life. It also contains an epilogue, two illustrative maps, the poem, 'Invictus', by William Ernest Henley, and an excerpt of the minutes, from The Senate, of Colonel Harris placing on records his gratitude for the official recognition of Grandy Nanny's heroine status.

In addressing the president of the Senate, Colonel Harris said, inter alia, "I specially would like, Sir, and I think it is my duty and a very pleasant one, to say a thank you, a very special thank you, to our prime minister for the fact that Nanny of the Maroons has been elevated to the Order of National Hero. The Maroons are truly pleased and theirs is the desire not to be parsimonious in their expression of gratitude."

The story continues and ends with segments looking at the situations as they were, 'After the Chietainess' was gone - 'Charles Harris - New Leader of the Clan', 'Encounter with Ma Endora', 'Maroons Respond to Tackey's Rebellion', and 'Three finger Jack'.

It might not be a poem that you can memorise, but it is replete with beautiful imageries that readers should find delightful, such as this gem on page 64:

"That very night a limpid moon looked down/With somewhat sombre gaze upon the vale/and might have wondered ling'ringly how soon/War's brood again would thunder at the gate ..."