A BRIEF HISTORICAL LOOK AT A LANGUAGE

Original tin school on a farm near Mossel Bay
Photo S. Howes Centre for Conservation and Education 1910

Educational institutions – schools, colleges, universities- are more than half way through their teaching/lecturing year.  For some it has been a period of hard work,  for others unless they apply themselves very quickly, they might be repeating the year.  There are those individuals who take the benefit of gaining an education for granted forgetting that the subject of learning was, in the past, not always so readily available.

At first the Dutch language was the prevalent language of the Cape of Good Hope settlers with smatterings of French and German.  The Khoi clans had  their own spoken but not written speech. Some learnt Dutch and became translators.   Over time isi Xhosa was heard, then the path of the English language was advanced by the governing authority. As the lightly populated open spaces that would become the Union and then the Republic of South Africa attracted more settlers the newly formed African language called Afrikaans was more frequently heard but English was the more frequently used. The other spoken tribal languages tended to be used amongst themselves.  Today the Republic has eleven offical languages: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, isiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsongo.  However, the English language, at this time, is dominant because of its world wide political and comercial recognition.   Mind you it is only the fifth most spoken home language!  The Constitution also mentions the Khoi, Nama, San and sign languages.  Others included are Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu.

Initially at the Cape certain colonists could sign their names and maybe a few slaves could as well. Some slaves who had undergone religious studies in their original homelands set about teaching those interested. Ownership of books was rare but with Christian missionaries arriving at a greater rate, the Bible was often the means by which reading and writing was taught.  Slowly formal schools were erected. Often with only one room to house different levels of teaching.  Learning for boys was perhaps more stressed than for girls who often had household and craft work offered as suitable for them.  Nothing wrong with those subjects, they were practical and girls often found work in a variety of households.  But a wider view of an education was withheld.  That certainly has changed.

Consider how education has developed and how language opens up horizons unlimited.  I have had the pleasure (my goodness did I really write pleasure?) of aiding sometimes reluctant learners using the English language to appreciate grammar:  parts of speech, figures of speech, homonyms, homophones, idioms, punctuation, increased vocabulary etc. To read Shakespeare and try to understand his writing; to read poetry and enjoy it. Perhaps not always to find it enjoyable but at least not to discard these works with statements like” I am not interested, it does not make sense, what use is it going to be to my future?”  At least try and remember the rules when “you” as an individual have to stand up and talk someone into buying a product you sell or “you” have to make a speech and have little to say.  Some years back I had a frantic telephone call from a friend, a medical doctor, who was going to talk at a local medical conference.  “Quick” she said  “ give me the correct wording of that statement Macbeth refers to” she was making reference to a specific detail in this play.  I later heard that her speech was said to have been much appreciated for that particular Shakespeare reference! 

Words are wonderful, they expand one’s mind, open levels of understanding. This of course applies to words of other languages as well.  English, however, is my mother tongue.

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DRINKING FOUNTAINS / HORSE TROUGHS

Old fountains /drinking troughs remind passers by of  a time when horses reigned supreme as they helped move people and goods around. They are attractive and each adds a certain moral force to the surroundings in which they have been placed.  The item may have had a practical use – animals could drink from a lower bowl or a thirsty human could drink from an upper bowl. A plaque attached to the fountain may  recall a patriotic moment or make reference to animals upon whom humans relied  heavily.  Unfortunately in today’s fast flowing traffic and built up areas the surroundings where the fountains/ horse troughs were originally set, have changed and the intention  behind these public gestures have been reduced and lost.

Rondebosch

What purpose do these fountain/ horse troughs have to day?  None in the useful sense – I have never seen an animal or human drink from the waters. This would probably be frowned upon.  What they do have is a reminder of the past, when there was fewer human beings, less traffic and more open space around them.

George Pigot Moodie, a mining magnate,  gave a fountain/horse trough to the people of Rondebosch  in September 1891.  Of importance was the fact that it was also the first street light on the Cape Peninsula. Power came from a generator at his home Westbooke.  Moodie died there in November of the same year.  After the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 the new government bought the house as the local home of the governer general of the country.  Many years later during the presidency of Nelson Mandela 1994-1999 the house was renamed “Genadendal” Vale of Grace. Today the fountain is to be found where Belmont Road joins the Main Road, Rondebosch.

Mobray

At the corner of Durban and Camp Ground Roads, Mowbray there is another street light /  fountain/horse trough. It was donated by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in 1899.  Although the railways were making inroads into the carrying of goods, the horse and cart was still an important means of human beings and goods being transferred from one place to another.  The name on the plaque of the organization who donated it,  is reference to that importance.

Wynberg

Another attractive fountain, commemorating the coronation of Edward VII of Britain,  is situated in the Wynberg Park.  It is quite close to the road so is easly seen. Edward was Queen Victoria’s son. And because his mother reigned for such a long time, he had to wait until he was in his 60s before becoming King  in August 1902 reinging for approximately two years.

Simonstown

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria has its own fountain on Jubilee Square off St George’s Street Simon’s Town. It is similar to the Mowbray and Rondebosch examples and I have been told were all were made by the foundry of Saracens in Glasgow, Scotland.

 

At the other end of the Cape Peninsula the long reign of Queen Victoria was also remembered in Sea Point. A statue of the queen, perhaps a meter high, is atop  a fountain which rests on a base made of the heads of four lions. A  plaque erected by the women of Green and Sea Point,  indicates its purpose  - the jubilee of June 1897.

What purpose do these fountain/ horse troughs have to day?  None in the useful sense – I have never seen an animal or human drink from the waters. This would probably be frowned upon.  What they do have is a reminder of the past, when there was fewer human beings, less traffic and more open space around them.

 

CANNONS – early Cape military history

In the early days of the Cape Peninsula’s history, the local authorities kept a constant eye on ships passing or entering Table Bay, Simon’s Bay or Hout Bay.  Maybe a ship required shelter in a safe anchorage or fresh water and supplies.  But, at the same time, the authorities needed to know who was a friend and who an enemy!  This defensive attitude was not without foundation as during the period of the Dutch East India Company’s rule (1652-1795), the English greatly desired the Cape at the foot of Africa as they too, like the Dutch,  did business in the Indian Ocean and the East.

 

Constantia Nek

 The result of this nervousness was the building of fortifications and the placing of cannons in strategic positions as a form of defence.  Today one can see, in various places, examples of these old ”warriors” their roar now long silenced and in some cases a long way from their original position.  In the parking area of the Constantia Nek restaurant one will see an example.  This may seem an unlikely placing but the Conway redoubt (a fortified outpost) was situated  in the area and was used as a lookout and signalling station. It was named after the Irish commander, Count de Conway.

Muizenberg

On the Main Road, Muizenberg, placed at the edge of a small park, are two cannons of  Swedish origin,

dating back to 1782.  This was in the vicinity where the Dutch barracks was to be found  just a short distance from the Posthuys which had once been the headquarters of a Dutch garrison. The origin of these cannons are one Swedish, the other English dating to c1830.

  

Camps Bay

In 1998 two Dutch cannons were returned to a position above Kloof Nek, overlooking Camps Bay  The history of these two goes back to the late eighteenth century and were recovered from a gorge in Kloof Nek covered with the debris of time.  They were also part of the signalling system against possible invasion, particularly by the British.  

 A further two cannons also Dutch in origin, were unearthed in 1962 – these were from the Camps Bay Battery erected c 1782. Today they are to be found on the corner of Kloof and Main Roads, Camps Bay. Others are to be seen at the Castle of Good Hope, the Cape Town Docks, Simon’s Town Naval Dockyard and Hout Bay.  As well as in many other parts of South Africa.

  

These old weapons of war reflect aspects of history but at the same time they seem to fascinate people. Often one sees them placed in various places almost as a form of adornment.  The Clovelly Country Club has two examples near the front of the Club House. Others are displayed  in the grounds of museums, at a post office,  a five star Hotel,  a restaurant etc.  Why one wonders?  Do they suggest power, past political glories or simply stand there as reminders of the sometimes foolishness of mankind?