A fancy sailor’s tales

Story and photos by Lara Pickford-Gordon

snrwriter.camsel@catholictt.org

“I love Carnival; I could eat Carnival and pan. I started to play pan in 1969 as a 19-year-old. This fancy sailor thing, it really held on to me and I just watch the other old guys how they dancing and I try to dance, because it have no school to go and learn how to dance,” said Keith Simpson at his Diego Martin home.

During the interview on January 22, steelband and Carnival history and stories flowed effortlessly as he tapped into lived experience and information collected over the years. I had gone to interview Simpson, who is the Vice-President of Pan Trinbago, on his portrayal of the fancy sailor traditional mas character.

Simpson is a member of D’BESS—Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors. They are playing ‘From Dusk to Dawn’ this year. The presentation will comprise the “moon, the characters out there, a little folklore…we also have individual portrayals, we participate in all competitions; Savannah [Queen’s Park Savannah], round the bridge [Piccadilly Greens], downtown [South Quay],” Simpson said.

At the time of the interview, he was thinking of what his character would be.  Simpson’s costume concept will be executed by Glendon Morris, the son of Carnival master craftsman Ken Morris.

He recalled Morris’ “meticulously made” Tower of London which adorned his headpiece one year. For the portrayal, one side of the Tower was leaning and Simpson’s script for narration by the emcees gave some controversial “things that happened in the monarchy”.  His onstage performance was supported by Sparrow’s Calypso ‘London Bridge’.

Simpson said, “obviously, you bring your costume as near to what you portray, like when we played the ‘Savannah’ one of the sections was the egret bird in the Savannah…that was about five years ago. What we play we have a script and even in the band you have to explain what you playing so the judges will have a clear idea; sometimes you would have somebody interviewed on Carnival days”.

In the olden days, fancy sailor players carried their elaborate headwear without support. He said one of the earliest fancy sailor bands was in 1953 with a portrayal of “crabs”. He recalled a band had costumes based on “clocks and watches”, Christmas, and Cito Valesquez did “flowers and fruits”.

Simpson said, “I remember a band played the dogs; all the famous dogs…cartoons and thing. This guy did a real good job, [he] bent out of wire of a dog peeing on a fire hydrant and I think that was a great thought; Starlift Steel Orchestra played ‘Undersea Kingdom’…different bands played fancy sailor and they brought the theme to life”.

The band BOSS played ‘The Golden Age’ and his costume headwear was a big gold train engine. “A fella had a scrubbing board in a bucket with a lady, I remember a fella made a schoolboy in a blue shirt and a khaki pants with a sling shot in his back pocket, those things that happened in the past. We played an Indian theme, we played drums, we played a theme on birds.”

He recalled other presentations called ‘The Ghost Festival of Thailand’, ‘A Touch of Nature’ and a tribute to mas men like George Bailey.

Childhood memories

As a boy, Simpson stayed with his grandmother, great aunt, and great-grandmother in Sangre Grande; his grandmother was a Carnival lover and took him to view mas.

He remembers participating in a mas competition at the St Francis of Assisi RC Church, Sangre Grande. In 1956, the family moved from San Juan to St James. He played kiddies Carnival for the first time at nine years as ‘Davey Crockett’ and competed at 10 years in the Red Cross kiddies Carnival at the Queen’s Park Savannah (QPS) which was “a good experience”.

His grandmother sewed costumes for him and his six siblings. “We play a man from Mars, one played a powder puff, one played a calorie girl—lettuce and egg; when I reach 10 years, they send me up in Red Cross with three feathers in my head”.

Simpson was always attracted to the fancy sailor portrayal and told himself he would play this character. “I always like how the sailors dance, their costuming, what they carry on their head and that was it; I went and played with the BOSS [Belmont Original Stylish Sailors] years ago [1998 – 2013] and when they formed the band [D’BESS] then I went across,” Simpson said.

While sitting in the bleachers at the QPS for the parade of the bands, he enjoyed watching the fancy sailors from Belmont. Simpson became fascinated with the decorative swansdown used on their costumes.

“I remember as a little fella in the bleachers, and I go to put my finger through the fence to pull out (some swansdown), my mother nearly hit me a slap. She say, ‘you put decoration there? Come and sit down here before you get two hot slap’.”

He explained that a plain white sailor costume is sewn, and the masquerader adds decorations, as well as to the cap and shoes. Simpson is known for his profuse use of swansdown and is unapologetic saying, “I love swansdown; I will decorate my whole costume in swansdown…I enjoy the sailor mas”.

Simpson said people look forward to the traditional mas portrayals of fancy sailors, Indian mas, Jab Jabs, Midnight Robbers, Dame Lorraines, and others.  “I still go and do the NCC [National Carnival Commission competition] and when people have private events, they will call a sailor to dance”.

Though small compared with the large bands, they are trying their best to ensure survival of traditional mas in the face of costuming that are hard to differentiate. “The same kind of costume and the men barebacked in short pants with a thing on their head,” he commented.

Simpson is happy to have been around to see some of “the best” mas produced by George Bailey, Harold Saldenah, Stephen Lee Heung to name a few.

Simpson maintains there is much to be proud of in T&T Carnival with its varied facets: the Calypso tents, Panorama, panyards, traditional mas, all-inclusive fetes. “It still brings out artistry in the kings and queens and some of the individuals. It brings out some good compositions in Calypso and Soca. So, we should be proud of what we have given the world.”