When I went to live on Bequia in the late 70’s things were very much different from the way they are now, especially when it came to communication. There were very few telephones, no cable television and of course no internet, so when news had to be spread throughout the Island it was done so through word of mouth. This was not always ideal, the content of the news when it left Port Elizabeth was often quite garbled by the time it arrived in Paget Farm, but that’s the way things were before modern technology was introduced.
I was having lunch at Family Hill one day when Momma Simmons suddenly dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and rushed outside, shouting “Who dead? Who dead?” I could hear a bell ringing, and soon a man stood outside the house delivering his message. Someone had passed away, and that’s how people on Bequia were notified; a man walked from the Harbour to Southside tolling a brass bell, stopping occasionally to shout the name of the deceased and the time of the burial. There were no funeral parlours on the island, neither a cold room, so burials usually happened the following day (if not the same day) for obvious reasons.
After hearing the tolling of the brass bell on a couple of occasions, I asked Momma Simmons what the man meant when he shouted “tree for four” after the name of the deceased, and she told me it was when the funeral would take place. Tree for four? Ah, THREE for four, now I understood! Or did I? Was the funeral happening at three o’clock or was it happing at four? Momma laughed at my confusion, and told me that Bequia people were always late, and they said three for four so that they would get to the church by four o’clock. This didn’t make sense to me, if everyone KNEW the service was at four, and if they were always late, wasn’t there a danger they would show up at five o’clock?
Momma just laughed at that notion, but that “tree for four” business perturbed me, it simply didn’t make sense. Deciding I didn’t trust Momma’s answer (she had a habit of teasing me) I asked Mac what it meant. His answer was exactly the same as his mother’s; the time was given as three o’clock so that people would get to the church by four. I found it somewhat confusing, but as Mac had confirmed his mother’s explanation I decided they must be right.
I had lived a sheltered childhood when it came to death. Prior to my arrival on Bequia I had been to exactly one funeral, and it had been conducted in a large funeral home. It was all very civilized, with flowers, piped music and refreshments afterwards. I hadn’t known the deceased, she was the aunt of a good friend and I had only attended the funeral out of respect. I had not yet experienced a funeral on Bequia, and therefore didn’t realize how up-close and personal they were!
Anyone who knows me is aware that I avoid funerals, I happily send flowers but I don’t go to them unless I really REALLY have to. This may be why I remained so incredibly ignorant when it came to the “Tree for four” business! Bequia is small, and the community extremely tight-knit. When someone dies it’s a time for mourning as well as socializing, and funerals are well-attended. The brass bell is no longer rung throughout the Island to announce a death, with modern technology the town crier is no longer needed. The message is passed via cell phone, land line, watts app, facebook and of course the radio.
It was while listening to the funeral announcements on the radio a few days ago that it FINALLY hit me, about 45 years after being told the meaning of “tree for four”. People here like to view the body of the deceased, and I had not taken that into consideration! Yes, “Three for four” makes sense to me now that I understand, although why it took so long to sink in makes me feel pretty dumb. The VIEWING is at three o’clock, the actual FUNERAL at four. Mac and Momma had been right, it just hadn’t been explained properly to a person not used to such a custom.
Now I understand. Better late than never!