Historical Notes St Vincent and the Grenadines

“Carnival” (The Times, February 4, 1915)

“We are reminded that the days of Masquerade are approaching by the practices which are being indulged in nightly by the several bands and the thought whether it would be right to allow King Carnival to hold sovereign sway in a British colony while the Empire is fighting for its very existence is very present with us.{{more}} From the telegrams we gather that La Belle France, the home of Carnival will not celebrate in this year, and at Trinidad the West Indian headquarters of masquerading grave doubts exist as to whether the carnival should not be dropped this year, or at least until the hostilities have ceased where it might be included in the ‘inaffecking’ which usually follow the termination of a successful war. We know the mercantile community will disagree with our point of view but we nevertheless agree with those who maintain carnival will be out of place in this time of stress and danger. We have always championed the cause of carnival whilst opposing the lowness of tone, and hoping for all round improvement, but we should be sorry if local lovers of the sport failed to follow the lead given by the living and gay inhabitants of La Belle France”.

Carnival (The Times, February 18, 1915)

“The carnival last Monday and Tuesday must be regarded as the most interesting local event of the week. The weather was almost perfect but the celebration was not so general as last year. Of the bands only one, ‘Starbright’ was in evidence, but the better class in the evenings (perhaps to a greater extent than last year) indulged in house to house visits and dancing could be witnessed in every section of the town. Naturally the colours of the Allies were very popular and the majority of the costumes bore the impress of militarism. The meaningless sing song was not so popular, for ‘Tipperary’ held sovereign sway, it was sung universally, groups of maskers marched to its seductive rhythm and in the evenings it was in every dance programme. The moral tone of the day’s amusement showed a slight improvement which must no doubt be attributed to the war and its possibilities and we hope that the devotees of the better class will take the tip and endeavour to improve the standard every year”.