The Lamplighter Read online

  I know if I try and run, or if I try and get her to run, we will both be dead. He is walking close behind. I try and blot him out, so that this last walk is our own. What is she wearing? What smile today? What questions?

  I can’t remember. I remember I smile as much as I can, so that if she ever remembers me, she will see that: us two walking, the sugar cane, the breeze, the special hand squeeze.

  As I walk along that path, slow as I can, with her hand in mine, I try and figure which would be better the dead death, or the living one. Last night I placed my hand over her mouth and her nose. It could have been easy. But suppose I am wrong? Suppose I will be walking back down the hill with my bean girl’s hand in mine?

  The man behind pushes me – Hurry up there!

  Move it! He says. Her eyes are big saucer shapes.

  She says to me – Where are we going?

  What do I say to her?

  I make something up, I think.

  I can’t remember what foolish thing I think up at the time.

  Anyway, whatever it is I say and said, she.

  She believes me.

  Why wouldn’t she?

  Scene 11: Runaway

  FX:

  (We hear the sound of running and bush being cut and the ominous beating of a drum. The barking of dogs. The firing of a gun.)

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I am a fugitive. I have been running away since I was a little girl, since I was eleven, nearly twelve years old.

  At first I could only run away in my dreams. Then, on the plantation I was shackled and watched. One visiting day, visiting another plantation, the shackles were off and their eyes weren’t checking me. I ran. Away.

  MACBEAN:

  Any slave who escape beyond the River is to lose an ear and be branded with the letter R on the chin.

  MARY:

  Where can you run to? Only into the arms of Jesus.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I am running to my mama, she is wearing her yellow head tie.

  ANNIWAA:

  I am running to my mama, today she is wearing her yellow head tie.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  She is the lamp that guides me.

  ANNIWAA:

  I have been running away since I was eleven, nearly twelve years old.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Villain, Trash, Whore and Strumpet

  Frequently absconded

  David, born to big Sue

  Was always running away.

  Strumpet was described as Field Able Runaway.

  Lady ran way in 1785

  Was caught in 88

  And returned late

  One dark night.

  MACBEAN:

  Who ever shall bring the said woman back, or give information that she be back again, shall receive a handsome reward.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Where can the runaway hide my dear?

  Where can the runaway hide?

  In the middle of London, in Yorkshire

  On the edges of a Jamaican plantation,

  In the bush or in the mountains,

  Where can the runaway hide, my dear?

  MARY:

  Where can the runaway hide.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  In the forest or by the rivers,

  In the swamp land or in the towns,

  In the thicket, in the thick of it,

  On another plantation,

  Or with good friends –

  Where can the runaway hide, my dear?

  MARY:

  Where can the runaway hide.

  CONSTANCE:

  The runaway crossed the water

  The runaway crossed the sea

  The runaway was looking for her daughter

  The runaway was looking for her family.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Where can the runaway hide, my dear?

  MARY:

  Where can the runaway hide.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  When five Angolans ran away in 1761,

  They headed east for as long as they could,

  Thinking they would return to their own country,

  If they just stayed east.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Running away was a leap in the dark.

  Running away was a search for the heart.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Doll ran way to go a courting.

  Philippa ran off to go a sweet hearting.

  Clarissa ran to find her free mother,

  Living under the green trees in Roebuck.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  The Barbados Slave Code of 1661

  To the enslaved, it gives – no rights,

  No rights of man, no rights of woman,

  Not even the right to life.

  CONSTANCE:

  Jamaica Slave Code, St Lucia Slave Code, Demerara Slave Code,

  Dominica Slave Code, St Vincent Slave Code, Tobago Slave Code.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  In 1817, Chloe was trusted by the Houselady

  To go and sell glassware.

  She never came back.

  MARY:

  Jane Frances ran away and tried to pass

  As a free women, and fled the island.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  A few miles up the Savannah River

  One hundred slaves lived free

  And formed their own community.

  They lived on corn, hogs and fowl.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Kate ran away in 1756,

  She ran for thirty miles to West River.

  MACBEAN:

  It is enacted that baptism does not alter the condition to the person as to his bondage or freedom.

  MARY:

  Hearken unto this, O Job, stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Joan had a smiling countenance.

  Jack had a pleasant countenance.

  Tom Buck had a tongue full of compliments.

  MARY:

  All three said sweet, honey words to the Man.

  All three ran away.

  CONSTANCE:

  Fast as they can.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I ran away five times.

  Four times they got me and brought me back.

  Even the forty lashes on my back,

  Even the hundred and forty,

  Didn’t stop me trying again,

  Just to feel those moments

  Of freedom, to taste the air.

  But the fifth time, I made it!

  This is the story of how I got

  From here to there:

  This is the story of the Lamplighter.

  MARY:

  Related by Herself!

  MACBEAN:

  Lady Broughton of Marchwhiel Hall near Wrexham in 1686.

  CONSTANCE:

  ‘A guinea reward for the return of my black boy.’

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Colonel Kirke advertised for a sixteen year old runaway.

  CONSTANCE:

  ‘He has a silver Collar about his Neck, upon which is the Colonel’s Coat of Arms and Cipher.’

  MACBEAN:

  William, King of England from 1689 to 1702,

  Had a favourite black slave.

  The bust is on display at Hampton Court

  Complete with carved white marble collar

  With a padlock, like a dog’s collar.

  CONSTANCE:

  Hue and cry advertisements:

  MARY:

  Four guineas offered for a man called York owned by Betsey.

  A boy of say twelve years, stocky, well-set,

  Goes by the name of Somerset,

  Is sought by his Master, Mr Ross,

  Of Bristol.

  CONSTANCE:

  A guinea for his capture.

  MACBEAN:

  A black slave going by the name of Starling,

  Who blows the French horn well,

  Ran away from a publican in Princes Street.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

>   Runaway runaway, country or town.

  Runaway, runaway, don’t slow down.

  Runaway, runaway, girl or boy.

  Runaway, runaway, freedom is joy.

  CONSTANCE:

  We reach the verandah. I want to sink into the floor and disappear. I want to walk through the wall. I want to be able to walk on water. I want to believe in God. Please God. If ever there was a day, God, to make me believe in you, make it this day. If ever there was a moment, God, to show me a sign of you, give my sign right now.

  It happens slow and then all of a sudden it happens fast. The Man plucks my bean girl from me, forces his dirty fingers into her mouth, rubs her gums and teeth.

  MACBEAN:

  Constance is 45 yrs of age, dark complexion, round built, intelligent & genteel… She has been the mother of 15 children, 4 of whom had been sold away from her, one is still held in Petersburg, the others are all dead. At the sale of one of her children ‘she was thrown into such a state of grief that she lost speech for a month in consequence thereof, convulsions were very frequently brought on’.

  CONSTANCE:

  My light is gone. Every word I could say is gone. I am struck. I am falling down. I am falling still; my bean girl is three years old. She will always be three years old. I wonder if she will remember me. Or if she will forget.

  LAMPLIGHTER (whisper):

  Remember, forget. Forget,

  Remember. Remember, forget,

  Forget, remember.

  MARY:

  Runaway runaway, country or town.

  Runaway, runaway, don’t slow down.

  Runaway, runaway, girl or boy.

  Runaway, runaway, freedom is joy.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  When BigCheese told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in everything, that I was nothing but a slave whose will must be to surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt so strong.

  CONSTANCE:

  I said to herself.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I swore to myself.

  MARY:

  I swore to herself.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  One day I would be free.

  Scene 12: Shipping News

  CONSTANCE:

  Across the Atlantic, the slave ships sped –

  The Ann, the Margery, the Diana

  The Angel, the Jesus, the Grace of God.

  MARY:

  The Grace of God.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  The Blessing, the Bridget, the Fanny, the Hannah, the Reformation, the Perseverance.

  MARY:

  The Perseverance.

  CONSTANCE:

  The Charming Sally, the Ruby, the Hare,

  The Isabella, the Eliza, the Othello,

  The Sarah, the Ferret, the Rebecca.

  MACBEAN:

  Across the icy glare of water

  Across the never ending sea

  Far away from land and daughter

  Far away from family.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Nothing to see but sea

  Nothing to hear but roar

  Nothing to smell but blood and gore

  Nothing to taste but salt and rice

  Nothing to sense but fear.

  MACBEAN:

  January 1st Buried one man – of dysentery.

  January 3rd – one woman – ditto.

  January 6th – one woman – of a lethargy.

  January 15th – one boy of a dysentery.

  January 16th – one manboy – ditto.

  January 17th – one girl – ditto.

  January 18th – one man – ditto.

  January 19th – one boy – ditto.

  January 28th – one boy – ditto.

  January 31st – one woman – of sulkiness.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I would rather die on yonder gallows

  Than live in slavery.

  MACBEAN:

  The moon that night was in a shroud.

  CONSTANCE:

  The moon was in a shroud.

  MACBEAN:

  The gales were high and the gales were loud.

  One African in three did not survive the

  Slave ships. One African in three did

  Not survive the first three years in

  Her or his new country.

  MARY:

  Ten million tons of sugar cane arrived.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Raw sugar. Moist sugar. White sugar. Brown sugar.

  Muscovada. Molasses. Syrup. Treacle. Caramel.

  CONSTANCE:

  Coming soon. Sweet, not sour.

  Scene 13: British Cities

  FX:

  (The sound of the sea at the port, the sound of ships arriving, cargo being unloaded. Noisily, bustly.)

  (MACBEAN in this part could experiment with the accents of the cities: Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, London.)

  (The women should speak fast in this section and overlap each other, to give a sense of the city being built, brick by brick, in words.)

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Sea, city, harbour, port

  Sugar city, sugar ship,

  Tobacco city, tobacco lips.

  My story is the story of the city.

  ALL:

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  CONSTANCE:

  Liverpool, Bristol, London, Manchester, Lancaster, Glasgow

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Brass!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Glassware!

  MARY:

  Banking!

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Cotton, striped cotton, coloured cotton!

  MARY:

  Manufactured goods!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Canal expansion!

  ALL:

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Banking!

  MARY:

  Ship building industry!

  CONSTANCE:

  Banking infrastructure!

  MARY:

  Guns, shackles.

  ALL (more sinisterly):

  Boom! Boom!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Insurance!

  CONSTANCE:

  Investments from merchants!

  MARY:

  Timber, iron!

  CONSTANCE:

  Slave ships!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Houses, banks, buildings, businesses

  Carriages, horses, cobbles, dresses.

  In the night, the city grew.

  ALL:

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  By the morning there was another new

  MARY:

  Pub, coffee house, bank, merchant’s house,

  Art gallery, Customs house, Venturer’s House.

  MACBEAN:

  The Ship Building Industry. Shipping.

  CONSTANCE:

  Ship bread, ship biscuit, ship breaker, slaver, ship broker, ship fever, ship store, slaver, ship cargo, ship stowage, stow away, ship rat, slaver, ship days.

  MACBEAN:

  Ship: to put or take (person or things)

  Ship: to shoulder a burden

  CONSTANCE:

  HardSHIP, WorkmanSHIP, WorSHIP, relationSHIP, authorSHIP!

  (She sounds very excited.) AuthorSHIP!

  MACBEAN:

  The British System is the most gigantic system of slavery the world has yet seen.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Hull.

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I put those cities on the map.

  SONG:

  (Folksong.)

  MARY:

  Virginia Street, Tobago Street, Jamaica Street, Ingram Street, Glassford Street

  MACBEAN:

  John Glassford, partner in Thistle Bank

  Owned twenty-five slave ships.

  His annual turnover was half a million sterling.

  SONG:

  (Folksong.)

 
BLACK HARRIOT (sings):

  I’m only a common old working slave.

  SONG:

  (Protest song.)

  ALL SING:

  But the banks are made of marble

  With a guard at every door

  And the vaults are stuffed with silver

  That the people sweated for.

  CONSTANCE:

  Ten twenty thirty forty fifty sixty seventy eighty one hundred pounds, ten twenty thirty forty fifty sixty seventy eighty. Two hundred thousand pounds. (And so on.)

  FX:

  (We hear the sound of money being counted.)

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  Buchanan Street is my main shopping street, apart from Sauchiehall Street.

  That’s where I get my bling!

  MACBEAN:

  Bishop Pococke visted Glasgow in 1760. He remarked, ‘this city has above all others felt the advantages of the union in the West Indian trade which is very great especially in tobacco, indigoes and sugar’.

  CONSTANCE:

  I put that city on the map.

  SONG:

  I belong to Glasgow, dear old Glasgow town.

  There’s nothing the matter with Glasgow,

  For it’s going round and round.

  BLACK HARRIOT:

  The ships are being built, the buildings are going up, banks, shops, houses, bakers, pubs, coffee houses, streets, canals,

  FX:

  (We hear the sounds of port cities, foghorns, ships coming in, iron-works, etc.)

  CONSTANCE:

  Share prices going up! Up up up! Invest now!

  MARY:

  I am collapsing.

  ANNIWAA:

  Keep me company.

  MACBEAN:

  There is not a brick in this city but what is cemented with the blood of a slave.

  CONSTANCE (sings):

  Glasgow belongs to me!

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  My blood

  MARY:

  My sweat

  CONSTANCE:

  My tears

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  In the first year of the

  CONSTANCE:

  Quote

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Free

  CONSTANCE:

  Unquote

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  Trade.

  Bristol alone shipped 160,950 Africans to the sugar plantation.

  CONSTANCE (sings):

  Bristol Belongs to Me

  MACBEAN:

  Bristolians depend for their subsistence on their West Indies and African Trade which employs great numbers of people in shipyards and in the manufacture of wool, iron, tin, copper, brass, etc.

  Fellow citizens of Bristol. Do not lay the axe at the root of your own prosperity by supporting the abolition of slavery!

  FX:

  (Quay.)

  LAMPLIGHTER:

  I stood there on the cobbles,