Circular No 775

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 10 of September 2016 No. 775

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Dear Friends,

Emails below

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From: "Don Mitchell, QC" <idmitch@candw.ag>

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:41:13 -0400

Hello Ladislao,

You asked about the language that Gordon and I spoke at Mount to confuse those that did not know the method.

The period was the late 1950s-early 1960s. The "language" that we used was widely spoken among school boys in England at the time.

Gordon and I read about it in boy's books that were available in the school library at the time.

The language was called Pig-Latin.

The way it worked was like this:

You took the first letter of each word and placed it at the end of the word.

Then you added the letter "a".

So, if you wanted to say, "Hello, how are you?"  You said, "elloha, owha reaa ouya?"

With a little practice, you could do it as fast as you could speak normal English.

So that, you could appear to carry on a conversation in Pig Latin at the same rate as others were speaking normal English. 

It was a simple enough trick to do with ease if you gave it a little practice, and it gave us much amusement while it lasted.

Llaa heta estba.

Don

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This was sent by Manuel Prada in Spanish and was translated by google.

Ladislao,

Sometimes I spend a long time without opening my email, although I am glad to receive notes from all the oldboys, special joy to know of Roger Henderson,

I do not know what has happened with Christian or with Hugh, the eldest brother.  One day I shall write Roger, we were on the same team and he was an excellent player, very intelligent in football.

Find out about Richard and Randal Galt? With Randal I went to Saint Benedict’s College, Kansas, also with Anthony Johnson, this last one was from St. Lucia and he had various brothers at Mount.

Last year, during Easter I was at Mount with my dear son Manuel to visit Fr. Cuthbert.  I love him for all the patience, support, kindness, confidence with me just as Fr. Bernard had, may he rest in peace.

I was moved to see Fr. Augustine nearly blind.  I love him very much for having taught me the love of letters and of French.  In all there are lots of memories that I have this moment, thanks to you.

Ladislao, I hope to see you.  I always visit Isaias, my friend and soul brother, and Urbano, my white brother, because he calls me his black brother,

I saw him recently with Allum, Isaias and another oldboy, more your time than mine.  I have lost his name, he was the manager of General Electric.

Manuel

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Who remembers?  With so many Oldboys in the banking business, no one seems to remember THE ABBEY SCHOOL BANK.

Here is the story from one that never used it, outside from a check or two, as I remember it.

Was it ever audited?  How were the balances kept?  Did it have a capital?

School Bank:

I wonder if any of you has a copy of the check that was used at The Abbey School Bank?

I doubt it!  But in case I am wrong, if any of you has a copy, let me know!

Scan it!  What colour was it?

Do you remember the procedure for cashing the check?

All schoolboys were given a checkbook, coloured pink-brown, just like a normal everyday checkbook but smaller.

It had a place to write the withdrawals and the place to fill out the amount and all the information; just like the checks we use everyday.

The maximum amount possible to withdraw was one dollar TT.

I presume that this was to train us for our future entrance to the Banking world!  (Roger, can you remember?).

The bank had a teller and transactions were made through a small window in the corridor of the Bursar’s office.

One person did the job of the president and all the authorities of the bank.  He was Bro. Vincent.

He had a kid taking in the checks, which were checked for correct spelling and filling out according to the standards, then passed on to Bro. Vincent who looked up the kid’s yellow Cardex and annotated the amount, and paid out the sum.

The pen that was used had green ink, and annotations were in the clear and beautiful handwriting of Bro. Vincent.

The Bank was opened on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at about 3:00 pm when we came out of the dormitories having changed our school clothes to sports attire.

The line was long, just as the lines that we encounter today at the Banks, and the kids in the line spent time reading the bulletin boards on the wall of the passage way.

The bulletin boards had information on sports; usually a page of a magazine or a folded magazine was tacked behind a glass door.

Most of the kids read the bulletin board when in line at the Bank or when it was raining and there was nothing else to do, otherwise the bulletin boards were not even noticed.

In my particular case, I tried to use the Bank twice, the first and last time.

I was not the patient type, so when I wrote $3.00 TT dollars instead of $1.00 TT dollars, the check bounced at the teller, so I asked to see Bro Vincent, who received me immediately to explain the rules of the Bank: Maximum $1.00 TT.

I then explained the reason for the $3.00 TT, in what I thought were fair terms.

I told him that the $3.00 TT was to cover a time period of a couple of weeks, so instead of lining up every other day for half an hour, I would do so once a week.

I was told that any amount above $1.00 TT was only through written authorization of my parents.

So the matter was solved and I do not believe that I did line again in my five years at the Mount, as I was given money outside the normal routine.

Any amount above $1.00 TT was paid by the Bursar, personally, so that the kids in the line did not notice the event, and did not ask for similar treatment.

I wonder if any of you have information on this Bank, I cannot remember when it was closed.

All I remember that when Bro. Vincent left, around 1959-1960, correct me if I am wrong.

We were told that the book keeping or the finances of the school were in disarray or in other words the control was not kept as it should have been?

Of course, this was the appreciation of the new Bursar, a layman.

This may have been said because lots of us would remember that Bro. Vincent would give you money if he had any in his pocket when at the sports field and we needed some to buy a snow ice or whatever it was called and sold by Mr. Tomas.

Bro. Vincent had a sharp memory and would write these loans in the Cardex once back in the office.

Saturday was the day when this would happen with more frequency as on returning from the field, we stopped to buy candy at the shop next to the Cemetery. I have forgotten its name.

I still remember that the candy I bought, in my case peppermint, was the size of a golf ball, to take to the pictures, in the evening.

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Dear Oldboys,

I can safely say the most of us not only did go to the Mount but some did live those days.

Luckily, some of us have memories to share, to give the others a glimpse of what was happening during that time.

I have even met some that have already forgotten the routines and are grateful to the writers.

This is why I am keeping up this humble Circular, to provide a forum for those that want to participate.

Be a doer.  I am sure Fr. Bernard’s legacy would demand it.

God bless

Ladislao

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Another event that happened at the Mount, as remembered by Don Mitchell

Hi Ladislao,

I do remember the play.

It was "A Man for All Seasons" written by the British playwright Robert Bolt.

I do not remember all the roles or details.

The year must have been 1962 or 1963.

I believe that I played the part of the Duke of Norfolk, some sort of a judge at the trial of Thomas Moore, but it has been a long time and, though years later I saw the movie, I cannot remember for certain.

M. J. de Verteuil played More with gusto and conviction, and Robert Azar, I believe, played the cowardly Richard Rich.

Michael Azar, I believe, played his competitor as Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey.

I cannot recall who played Henry VIII or Roper, the son in law, or the other parts.

For me, the most memorable thing about the play was that two lovely young women, a Fanfan and a Myling, played More's wife and daughter.

I do not recall the school ever before having allowed girls to act in a school play.

The two ladies were so lovely, I recall, that each evening when practice finished, all the windows of the school were stuffed with young male faces peering out for a glimpse of them as they got into the cars that came to collect them.

They came from a convent in St Augustine to practice for several evenings after school.

It must have been a terrifying experience for the two of them, but they carried it off with style and panache.

I knew then and for all time that women were superior beings to men.

Don

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The following is taken from Mount Inside, April 1964.

DRAMATICS

Sometime in May the curtain will once again go up as the College presents “A Man For All Seasons”; under the direction of Brother Oswald.

The play is a study of the feud which rose between Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII of England.

The part of King Henry, a rather crude young man; is fittingly taken by Paul Zeven, who we remember has acted in the last few plays.

The part of More is taken by M.J. de Verteuil and that of the “Common Man” by R. Azar who seems at home in this type character.

The Duke of Norfolk is played by Don Mitchell; Cromwell by M. Azar;  William Roper, More´s son in law, by Peter Tang;  Richard Rich by R. Clerk;  Cardinal Wolsey by J. Fernandez;  and Archbishop Crammer becomes an American in A. Apo.

The part of the Spanish Ambassador is portrayed by Rafael Echeverria, and his attendant by Norman Smith.

St. Joseph Convent has again provided for the female characters. Alice, More´s wife, is played by A. Rostant;  the woman, by P. Warfe;  and Meg, More´s daughter, by M. Achong.

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.

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Photos:

56KA0015SCOUTS, the bugler

15LK5206FBMDV, Maurice de Verteuil

08NC1362GRP, photo by Neil Charles

64TF0011RCLMAS, Richard Clark and Mervyn Assam