NEW ROCK ART BOOK REUNITES PEOPLE AND PLACES
A new book on rock engravings has just been launched. Entitled “My Heart Stands in the Hill,” this beautifully illustrated, full colour coffee table book, written by well-known archaeologists Janette Deacon and Craig Foster. All engravings in this book were all done by the /Xam San people who lived in the Kenhardt, Brandvlei and Van Wyksvlei districts of the Upper Karoo. “The book draws on the myths, legends and folklore of the /Xam people written down in the 1870s by Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd,” says Janette. “To express the strength of the bond between these people and the landscape, we projected photographs of /Xam taken in the 19th century onto the land and the rocks and in this way, we have re-united the people with the places where they once lived. The title comes from the words of a /Xam man who had accidentally cut his foot with a poisoned arrow. When his friends wanted to open the wound and suck out the poison, he refused, saying ‘My heart stands in the hill.” “My Heart Stands in the Hill” is published by Struik. It is available from Exclusive Books at a cost of R295.
OLD BIBLE COMES HOME
In 1970 two young Prince Albert boys came across a box of old books while they were playing in the Dutch Reformed church hall. Among the books were a few old Bibles. The boys asked church secretary, Mrs Coetzee, whether they could each have one. Permission was granted. Jaco Sieberhagen chose a big, old, Dutch Bible, which was rather the worse for wear. Despite its dilapidated state it took his fancy because it was quite beautiful. Years later, when Jaco decided to study for the ministry, he put this Bible, which was printed in 1822, to good use. It also served him well throughout his 34 years as a preacher, but now that he has retired Jaco felt the Bible should be sent “home.” He had it restored, rebound and fitted with brass clasps. It is now has pride of place in Prince Albert’s Fransie Pienaar Museum.
150 AND STILL GOING STRONG
Murraysburg celebrates its 150th anniversary from October 14 to 16. This small, hospitable community is inviting old Murraysburgers as well as anyone who’d like a taste of true hinterland hospitality to visit and share this important anniversary with them. Murraysburg was established when the farmers of the field-cornetcy, Uitvlught, in the vast Graaff Reinet district wanted a church of their own. They appealed to Rev Andrew Murray. He and church elder, Barend Burger, met these farmers on Eenzamheid on April 19, 1855. By September 5 that year Murraysburg, named in honour of Murray and Burger, became a reality. By December that year a town had been laid out and erven were being sold. A condition of sale was that a quince or pomegranate hedge should surround each erf. This led to Murraysburg having the longest quince hedge in the world, but sadly in time Karoo droughts destroyed it. By 1858 Murraysburg had a church. It became a separate magisterial district that year and by 1859 had its own municipality. By 1861 there was a school with 50 pupils and two teachers. Today it is a tranquil town offering rest and relaxation, hunting and farm opportunities to those who’d like to opt out of the rat race for a while.
THE STORY IS THE WIND
Aromatic Karoo plants helped two Bloemfonteiners to experience a new world. Simon and Primrose Manyambo, both blind, recently visited Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre, near Kimberley and by touch discovered how to “see” a new world. The centre set up a special display of San engravings, aromatic Karoo plants and other items, which allow the visually handicapped to “feel and smell” the Karoo and to touch and trace the outlines of images engraved on rocks thousands of years ago. “It was a wonderful experience for them,” said Kimberley archaeologist, David Morris, who co-ordinates the management of Wildebeest Kuil. “Simon and Primrose were so enthralled by their introduction to “touch and smell” tourism that they even walked to the top of a koppie to breathe fresh air and allow a light breeze to brush their faces while they listened to some old and intriguing San stories. As //Kabbo once said, ‘I feel that a story is the wind.’ Just looking at their faces we knew they felt it too.” A special short route for handicapped and visually impaired tourists is being planned at Wildebeest Kuil. “It will have Braille information boards,” said David. “Simon and Primrose gave us some invaluable advice on the needs and expectations of visually handicapped tourists.”
REALISING A DREAM COST HIM HIS TEETH
Way back in the 1970s Prince Albert’s old Oom Hansie Odendaal’s dearest wish was to fly. He’d never been in an aeroplane and he often wondered just what it would be like to soar about in the sky like a bird. Each time he saw the town’s flying doctor Manie Coetzee, take off in his double-winged Tiger Moth to fly patients to Cape Town or George, Oom Hansie, in the oddest way, envied them. Well aware of this, Doc Manie one day offered Oom Hansie “a flip.” The old man was beside himself with excitement. Indeed, he felt just like a bird peering down at his beloved Prince Albert nestling against the mighty Swartberg and saw the great plains of the Karoo stretching away below. Then, Manie decided to treat Oom Hansie to a barrel roll, but that put paid to the old man’s pleasure. The world suddenly spun around in an out-of-control blur. Oom Hansie’s stomach flew to his throat. “He leant over the side and lost, not only his breakfast, but his false teeth as well,” writes Helena Marincowitz in Local stories of Prince Albert. Sensing trouble Doc Manie zoomed down and quickly landed on the Prince Albert’s airstrip. Oom Hansie, badly shaken, toothless and bewildered staggered away. The whole town heard the story and he ended up as the butt of many jokes. Of course, no one offered to search for Oom Hansie’s teeth. Everyone knew they’d be impossible to find. But, someone did find them, and this was only discovered more than 30 years later.
TOOTHY MYSTERY SOLVED AT LAST
Oom Hansie’s lost false teeth “re-appeared” in July 2005. At a Saturday Morning Market in Prince Albert Helena Marincowitz was selling copies of her books from a sales table. Fred Badenhorst, a local businessman and owner of olive and fruit farms in the district, bought a copy of “Local Stories.” That afternoon, he settled down “for a good read.” When he came across the false teeth story, he almost leapt out of his chair. It seems 30 years ago Fred had found a set of false teeth in a Karoo bush on a remote part of one of his Prince Albert farms. They puzzled him because the spot was “miles from anywhere.” He picked them up, popped them in a packet and hoped he would one day find out how they got there. Fred kept the teeth, even after he sold his farm and moved into town. After reading the story Fred rushed to Helena’s house. However, before he could produce the teeth Helena’s husband, Pat, who had known Oom Hansie very well, said:” Wait, let me describe Hansie’s teeth.” He described a set of old-fashioned pink-coloured dentures right down to their individualistic ridges and grooves. Then, like a magician, Fred produced a set of teeth from the tired, crumpled, old brown paper bag. They perfectly matched Pat’s description. These, without doubt, were Oom Hansie’s long lost teeth.
ON THE TRAIL OF A TRULY EXTENDED FAMILY
Research into her South African roots is keeping Somerset West-born Coral A Foster busy. Coral, who grew up in Cape Town, and also lived in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Johannesburg before moving to the United States in 1988, says: “Digging into the family history has been a totally fascinating exercise. It’s difficult to separate the people from the country, but I am beginning to more clearly understand what early South African settlers went through, the hazards they faced and how they made a go of things. My maiden name was Cartwright, but I am now also searching for details of the Philip, Robertson, Reid, Watermeyer, Ziervogel, Auret and Coetzee families who are linked to mine. I would love to exchange information with anyone involved in researching these families.”
DISCOVER AFRICA IN KENT
An unique British museum “transports” visitors to Africa. As they step across the threshold they are immersed in adventure, history and drama. The Powell-Cotton Museum in Birchington, Kent, England, has a fascinating display of over 17 000 artifacts, collected by one man who devoted much of his life to the study of Africa. Major Powell-Cotton, a self-professed gentleman and traveler, visited Africa in the late 1800s. He travelled extensively studying its animals and different cultures. Today visitors can study over 500 animals in life-like dioramas in three galleries in the museum. Among the animals are giraffe, Cape Mountain zebra, Cape buffalo and wildebeest. Major Powell-Cotton’s contribution to science and conservation is considered enormous because he made such meticulous notes. A man ahead of his time, he recorded longitude, latitude and other essential data for every specimen he collected over 45 years across most of sub-Saharan Africa. His photographs date back to 1880 and his films to 1927. Modern-day students from across the world come to conduct high-level research in this museum. . DNA samples from the extensive skin and skeleton collections are being used by international scientific institutions. Teak-framed glasshouses in vast nearby wooded parkland and gardens, contain some interesting African plants. Also nearby is Quex House, still the home of the Powell-Cotton family. It was built in 1808 to replace a family dwelling constructed in the 1400s.
PEEK INTO THE PAST REVEALS FASCINATING FACTS
The Karoo of 2 000 years ago came to life near Kimberley recently. One of the speakers at Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre shared some fascinating facts on work just completed on the excavation of a cave site near Carnarvon. She is Isabelle Parsons, from Cambridge University in England and her main interest is the last 2 000 years in the Upper Karoo, a period when herding practices become evident alongside hunting and gathering, and when ceramic technology appeared. “Her project will add to our understanding of how new ways of life emerged in this area,” said Kimberley’s McGregor Museum archaeologist David Morris. “One of the big debates in Southern African archaeology today revolves on this question – was herding introduced by a migration of pastoralists, or was it the idea and the stock that spread, with hunters, locally, taking to herding?” In the Carnarvon cave there is some interesting rock art, finger paintings and a fine figurative image of a feline. Isabelle’s main focus, however, was on the stone tools and pottery, and the faunal remains in the cave floor. She was one among an impressive line-up of PhD candidates in archaeology and anthropology who discussed their projects at Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre near Kimberley recently. Others were: Lindsay Weiss, from Columbia University in New York, working on remains of a late nineteenth century hotel at Wildebeest Kuil; Folke Richardt, from Lund in Sweden, whose research goes back more than 200 000 and is aimed at a better understanding of stone tool technology; and Rachell Engmann, who is attached to Stanford University in the United States, and who is working on a UNESCO project in Ghana. Other archaeologists currently working in the region are Prof Michael Chazan from Toronto, and Dr Darren Curnoe from Australia.
MAGNIFICENT FIND ON MORNING WALK
What started out as a morning walk to check on grazing sheep rocketed a Karoo labourer to fame. It was a winter’s morning, much like any others, when Hendrik Mans, a shepherd on Niël Rossouw’s farm, België, near Leeu Gamka, needed a vantage point to check on his flock. He strolled through a shallow donga and up the crest of a low koppie. Then he literally stumbled onto a rare and almost complete two-meter long fossil of an ancient swamp creature. Jutting out of the ground at his feet was a beautifully preserved shoulder blade, a clearly defined backbone with ribs attached, a skull, jaw with teeth still embedded and a strangely curled, but easily-recognisable, long tail. Being a son of the Karoo Hendrik knew this was a fossil. Its size indicated it may be a valuable one, so he rushed off to tell Niël, who telephoned Prince Albert palaeontologist Dr July Maguire. Judy, her husband, John Begg, a geologist and photographer Reinwald Dedekind, set off almost immediately to investigate. “I was quite fascinated to see how well-preserved this 250-million-year-old fossil was,” said Judy. “On-going erosion had dispersed some of the limbs and foot bones on the right side, but for the rest finding such a complete specimen is quite remarkable. Sadly, the fossil will ultimately be washed out of its resting place unless it is collected or protected from further erosion. We are now waiting for Dr Bruce Rubidge, of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, in Johannesburg, to visit and assess the fossil.”
WHY AN OKTOBERFEST IN THE KAROO?
Prince Albert’s annual Oktoberfest keeps growing in popularity. Its contribution to Zwartberg High School has leapt from R7 000 to R17 000 in three years. Yet people still ask: “Why a German festival in a Karoo town with British roots?” “Simple,” says organiser Bodo Toelstede. “Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s beloved Consort, was German. In 1845, when a town was established Zacharias de Beer’s farm Kweekvallei, Queen Victoria gave permission for it to be named in honour of her beloved husband.” Bodo has gathered a great deal of fascinating information about Prince Albert, the man who stole Queen Vic’s heart. “Albert prided himself on being a pillar of moral rectitude,” says Bodo. “He went to an all-male university and foreswore contact with woman.” Victoria was so bowled over by his “striking beauty” she felt herself unworthy of him. At their third meeting on October 15, 1839, she proposed to him. Her superior status made this role reversal necessary. At first Albert was not impressed, but he eventually consented, warning that he would “not be corrupted” by her. Many say it was he and not she who was the prude! “Albert was a remarkable man, a dedicated father and enthusiastic teacher of his nine children,” says Bodo. “He was the driving force behind the first World Exhibition in 1851. He created the Crystal Palace, where the exhibition was held. He developed London’s sewerage system. He was also an ardent student of architecture and music. He wrote Queen Victoria’s speeches and, it was he who suggested the introduction of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military award for bravery.”
A LONG AND INTERESTING HISTORY
Prince Alberters organised their first Oktoberfest in 2001, 140 years after the death of the Queen’s consort. “Because Prince Albert was born in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in the heart of the Bavarian/Frankish homeland, we had good reason for an Oktoberfest,” says organiser Bodo Toelstede. “October is the first month of autumn in Germany. Leaves turn golden red and flutter to the ground, spiders spin webs that sparkle with dew, and the first nip of winter crisps the air. In the early 1800s little German villages all held Harvest Festivals in October. Then, in October 1810, Prince Ludwig, later King Ludwig 1, married Princess Therese of Sachsen Hildbrughausen on the Schwanthaler Heights. This led to the first official Oktoberfest in Munich. Initially no beer was served. However, in 1818, a man called Anton Gruber was granted the first royal licence to sell food and beer from his kiosk. Later years brought many innovations, such as parades, bands, the erection of an enormous statue and, the introduction of the now famous special beer. The first giant swing was introduced in 1890, the same year that a terrible panic broke out because visitors could not find their way out of The Curse of the Pharaoh Maze.”
THE SHEEPDOG THAT LOVED TO RIDE
“The Round-up (July 2005, No 138) article on sheepdog, judge Janet Beale reminded me of two other “famous ladies.” One was Molly, a ‘horse- riding sheepdog’ and the other, judge Joan Rous,” writes historic researcher Steve Herbert. “I came across Molly while researching the Flemmer Family. She was a beautiful working dog that belonged to Eastern Cape farmer Graham Rous. Graham, a successful sheep farmer, was a familiar face at agricultural shows with his prize-winning ram, Ben, and his sheepdogs. He was passionate about his dogs, but Molly was his favourite. She was an able assistant on his 8 000-morgen farm, Bonnevale. Graham got around this farm on horseback and so did Molly. She was trained to leap onto the horse’s rump and stand there braced against Graham’s back until needed to help herd the sheep. Then she would “fly” off and straight into action. Molly adored horse riding and this mode of transport ensured that she was fresh and able to work efficiently whenever and wherever Graham needed her. In 1961 Graham, Billy Kingwill, Con and Chippa Kingwill set up the Sheepdog Association of South Africa. They hosted the first trials in 1963 and a Mr. McIntyre came out from Australia to judge. Unfortunately, he took ill and Graham had to complete the judging. This assured Graham of recognition as a senior judge. Then his wife, Joan soon also acquired a “judges’ ticket.” They worked together throughout the Eastern and Western Cape until Graham’s failing health prevented him from continuing. Joan went on to judge her first National competition with Willy Ross. In 1980, she judged a National on her own.
“Loneliness is a word to express the pain of being alone . . .
Solitude is a word to express the glory of being alone.”
Paul Tillich, a Lutheran minister, who served as a chaplain to the German army in WWI. He was barred from teaching in the universities when he criticised Hitler in the early 1930s, so he emigrated to the USA, where he taught for 22 years. . He was said to be a man capable of exquisite eloquence, grace and power.
