Gordon Town house holds 'Evening Time' memories

Louise Bennett-Coverly's former house in Gordon Town is a major attraction when celebrations of her life are held in Gordon Town, St Andrew. Two years ago, The Sunday Gleaner visited the residence still widely considered 'Miss Lou's house' and got the tour from owner Janet Mignott.

The house figures in the Gordon Town celebrations of Miss Lou's life and work, with the general public getting to see where the literary and theatre icon lived.

The front door to the house once owned by the Coverleys, Eric and Louise (the latter known more popularly as 'Miss Lou'), moves easily on its hinges, yet shows evidence of heft matching its size.

Using the leonine door knocker is optional; taking a glance at the frowning and smiling faces on either side of the door is advised.

That wooden door swings open to a wide room with doors at the left and right ends, a fireplace directly across from the entrance.

The room proclaims its historical value in dark wood, the distinctive furniture arranged with a deliberate aversion to overcrowding.

Mignott explains to The Sunday Gleaner that there is a blend of the Coverleys' furniture and hers in the house - inside and out.

Unusual seats

The patio furniture is all the Coverleys', and she explains the origins of unusual white seats.

They come from Jamaica Omnibus Service units that plied Corporate Area routes up to the early 1980s.

"Mr 'Chalk Talk' Coverley had a habit of converting things," Mignott said.

Mignott bought a lot of pieces from Miss Lou, including the dining table in that wide front room. Initially, Mignott did not quite understand when Miss Lou said that one sofa was her mother's bed. Then it was explained that it was where her mother always fell asleep.

Those doorways at either end of the main room lead to Eric and Louise's separate bedrooms, Eric on the right and Louise on the left.

'Chalk Talk's' door is decorated with insignia, and Mignott explains, "Mr Coverley's room is like he left it. We changed it around, but when she (Miss Lou) came, we changed it around for her and have left it (that way)."

The bed and desk are both Eric Coverley's and there is a picture of him doing his 'Chalk Talk' presentation. The morning sun glows through the window at which Mignott, when she was outside early in the day, would see him standing, imbibing the atmosphere.

Another room that has been left as is is Miss Lou's bathroom, "including the bath stool," Mignott says, "which is strong, as you can imagine."

The kitchen is Miss Lou's domain, including the table, and there are cutting boards that she once used. Mignott smiles as she says she still refers to Miss Lou's cookbook, a copy of the one her mother had, except that Mignott's mother had one with a yellow cover while Miss Lou's is green.

"Her stuff is interspersed with my grandmother's pieces, my pieces," Mignott told The Sunday Gleaner.

Design

The house is not entirely original as was built in the 1940s. A flat was added for Mr Coverley's mother. Interestingly, a passageway between the two is covered but has no side wall, making for a brief walk open to fresh air.

Down the few steps from the patio, the lawn and garden are well kept. Mignott said a concrete seating area to one side, which provides a wonderful view down the valley, was a favourite of Miss Lou's.

The house itself has solid shutters matching the door, the verdant hill rising directly behind the building.

There is no house behind or in sight directly in front. The sounds of traversing humanity from the road well below do not intrude, but the river is audible, making for a tranquil setting.

"I came up here first to rent a flat she had," Mignott said, going on to explain a connection that developed well beyond the exchange of money for accommodation.

"I think she is still here," Mignott said.

While she was doing the final cleaning of the Coverleys' home, Janet Mignott went through all the papers very carefully. And she found something that excited her tremendously.

On a letter pad, she saw the original draft of the song Evening Time.

"I was so excited when I found it," Mignott said. She'd had no idea that Miss Lou had written her favourite song. Mignott passed it on to Miss Lou and it became relevant to a legal dispute over the ownership of the song, which captures the joy of relaxation after a long day of work:

"Evening time

Work is over now it's evening time

We deh walk pon mountain

Deh walk pon mountain

De walk pon mountainside

Mek we cook de bickle pon de way

Mek we eat an drink

Dance an play Ring Ding

Pon de mountainside"

Mignott makes it clear that Miss Lou spoke perfect English, even though she thought that Patois was "our language" and was related to African heritage.

She says when Miss Lou used a Patois word in conversation with her, she would often explain where it came from.

"She was a brilliant woman," Mignott says.

Among the many pieces of furniture in the house that belonged to the Coverleys is a Queen Anne piece. It had actually been moved out of the house and sent to the auctioneers during the clearing-out process.

However, when the house was sold, Miss Lou said that it belonged in the house and specifically in the corner it now occupies. When Mignott said she could not afford it, Miss Lou had the Queen Anne piece returned from the auctioneers and arranged a payment plan.

There is one piece of furniture that was transferred at no charge, though. Mignott says the house was built in the 1940s by a Mr Willoughby and Miss Lou acquired it with a bookcase that is still in the house. "She did not charge me for it," Mignott said.