Bequia Scrabble

I have always been fascinated by words, and learned how to read and write at a fairly young age. I was an avid reader, loved to write stories, and studied English at University. Did I enjoy the game of scrabble? Well, it would be hard NOT to love a game that involved the placing of words in a clever manner on a board, and considered myself an excellent player. I knew all the two-letter words, was adept at coming up with ways to use the dreaded “Q” and, best of all, had a good understanding of how to score the most points. This rather smug attitude of mine changed when I met Norah Birmingham and her version of scrabble, a game everyone called “Bequia Scrabble”.

I don’t know how or when Norah discovered Bequia, she was already very much a fixture when I arrived in the 70’s. Her simple yet somehow charming oil paintings were sold at the book store in Port Elizabeth, whimsical scenes of the island that graced the walls of many a home. Norah was from England, a pleasant woman who dressed in plain cotton shifts and wore thickly-soled flip-flops. When not painting she could be found sitting at a picnic bench in the Frangipani Hotel’s dining room, sipping fruit juice and playing scrabble. I learned pretty quickly that Norah’s version of scrabble was more than just a normal challenge, and only joined in a game if I had time to spare – a LOT of time to spare!

A NORMAL game of scrabble, depending on the skill of the players, takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. A game of scrabble with Norah was an all-day affair that very often never ended! The game has 100 tiles, 98 with letters and 2 left blank, but Bequia Scrabble was played with TWO sets of tiles. This meant there were 200 of them, 196 with letters and 4 blanks, a difference to the game that had me scrambling the first time I played. However, Bequia Scrabble was much more complicated – doubling the number of tiles was just the beginning of Norah’s game.

Good players watch the board closely while opponents place their tiles, and usually have a fairly good idea of what they will play next. Norah’s rules allowed players to take a letter already played from the board as long as they could replace it with a letter. For example, if the word GLEAM was on the board and the player wanted the letter M, he or she could replace the M with an N, changing the word to GLEAN. As long as the change of tile left an acceptable word on the board it was fair play, and THIS rule is the one that made the game last all day and into the night.

Dr. Eric Rogers, a retired surgeon from Canada, was an avid player of Bequia Scrabble. On one famous occasion he was playing a game with Norah at her usual table at the Frangipani

amidst a huge noisy crowd. The Easter Regatta was in full swing and Doc Rogers, acting as the Sailing Club’s Protest Officer, was on duty to deal with any race-related incidents. That year two yachts managed to collide during a race, and the captains of both vessels blamed each other. They hunted down the Protest Officer to lodge their complaints, and got short shrift from the good Doc;

“Not now! I’m playing scrabble, see me when the game’s finished!”

Eric’s response to those wishing to lodge a protest quickly made the rounds at the Frangi Bar, and those in the “know” howled with laughter. Those games of Bequia Scrabble took FUHEVAH, good luck with any race protest! Norah eventually died peacefully on Bequia in the loft she shared with Alick the Sailmaker. I have never forgotten her version of scrabble, and am sure others who played the game with her remember it well too. Bequia Scrabble was not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure!