Westlake, Donald E - NF 01 by Under An English Heaven (v1.1)
Authors: Under An English Heaven (v1.1)
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meeting. Thirty-five people showed up and they decided they didn't care
for the eight proposals.
The same day, just three days from
statehood, Mr. Arthur Bottomley, the British Minister for Overseas Development,
arrived in St. Kitts to join in the independence festivities. Two days later,
he and his party, plus Paul Southwell, Bradshaw's Deputy Premier, all went to
visit Anguilla and have a big Statehood Day celebration
there. Bottomley, like Hall before him and Johnston before him , went
smiling to Anguilla , expecting happy islanders and a
jolly celebration.
Bottomley was met by the usual
demonstrators with the usual signs. Being British, he personally was cheered as
he stepped from the plane. Southwell, however, was roundly booed. Bottomley
took this ill, and took up a loud-hailer to tell the Anguillans he intended to
tour the island. They cheered. He said he intended to tour the island with Paul
Southwell. They booed. He said he was going to tour the island with Paul
Southwell. They booed louder.
Bottomley and Southwell got into a
car together and proceeded to tour the island, and a group of young men trotted
along on both sides of the car, banging on the roof. Because years of British
neglect and Kittitian animosity had resulted in incredibly potholed and
unfinished roads, the chauffeur couldn't drive fast enough to get away from the
young men—a charming incident of biter-bit. The car toured the entire island,
accompanied throughout by young men thumping on the roof. As one group tired of
trotting along, another group would take over. The tour ended at the airport.
Bottomley and Southwell and party gathered their dignity about themselves and
left Anguilla .
The next day was February
27—Statehood Day. At four in the morning, Vincent Byron, the Warden—the St.
Kitts Government representative on Anguilla —raised the
new state flag in secret at his house, guarded by police officers. He
was wearing pajamas at the time, and after hoisting the flag he yawned and went
into the house for breakfast.
Independence had arrived.
They never would hear,
But turn the deaf ear,
As a matter they had no concern in.
—Jonathan Swift,
"Dingley and Brent"
4
Governor Sir Fred Phillips had
received a report from the local-government expert, Peter Johnston, saying
there had been no serioustrouble on Anguilla .
Mr. Henry Hall, sent to the colony by Mrs. Judith Hart two weeks later, where
he was shouted at, shoved around and perhaps shot at, returned to England to claim there had been no disturbances. And now Mr. Arthur Bottomley, the
British Minister for Overseas Development, having gone to Anguilla to help the islanders "celebrate" Statehood Day, and having received
a variant on the same treatment as his predecessors, also returned home to
insist that nothing had happened.
The Commonwealth European and
Overseas Review, a publication of the Conservative Party, stated in July
1967, "Mr. Bottomley went to the islands for the Independence celebrations, and perhaps unwisely visited Anguilla where he was booed and jostled by a large crowd, but on his return to London refused to admit there was any trouble."
Driving around an island
accompanied by relays of young men thumping on the roof of the car doesn't
constitute trouble.
There is an old story about a man
who owned a very stubborn donkey, and who was told that in a nearby town there
lived a famous donkey trainer whose work was guaranteed. The owner got in touch
with the donkey trainer, who arrived the next day at the owners farm, took a
baseball bat from the trunk of his car, stepped in front of the donkey, and
began to lambaste the animal backward and forward about the head. "For
God's sake, stop!" the owner cried. "You'll kill him! What are you
trying to do?"
"I am trying," the donkey
trainer said, "to attract his attention."
On February 27, 1967 , statehood had come to the former colony
of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, and on Anguilla the new
state flag had been raised in a
for the eight proposals.
The same day, just three days from
statehood, Mr. Arthur Bottomley, the British Minister for Overseas Development,
arrived in St. Kitts to join in the independence festivities. Two days later,
he and his party, plus Paul Southwell, Bradshaw's Deputy Premier, all went to
visit Anguilla and have a big Statehood Day celebration
there. Bottomley, like Hall before him and Johnston before him , went
smiling to Anguilla , expecting happy islanders and a
jolly celebration.
Bottomley was met by the usual
demonstrators with the usual signs. Being British, he personally was cheered as
he stepped from the plane. Southwell, however, was roundly booed. Bottomley
took this ill, and took up a loud-hailer to tell the Anguillans he intended to
tour the island. They cheered. He said he intended to tour the island with Paul
Southwell. They booed. He said he was going to tour the island with Paul
Southwell. They booed louder.
Bottomley and Southwell got into a
car together and proceeded to tour the island, and a group of young men trotted
along on both sides of the car, banging on the roof. Because years of British
neglect and Kittitian animosity had resulted in incredibly potholed and
unfinished roads, the chauffeur couldn't drive fast enough to get away from the
young men—a charming incident of biter-bit. The car toured the entire island,
accompanied throughout by young men thumping on the roof. As one group tired of
trotting along, another group would take over. The tour ended at the airport.
Bottomley and Southwell and party gathered their dignity about themselves and
left Anguilla .
The next day was February
27—Statehood Day. At four in the morning, Vincent Byron, the Warden—the St.
Kitts Government representative on Anguilla —raised the
new state flag in secret at his house, guarded by police officers. He
was wearing pajamas at the time, and after hoisting the flag he yawned and went
into the house for breakfast.
Independence had arrived.
They never would hear,
But turn the deaf ear,
As a matter they had no concern in.
—Jonathan Swift,
"Dingley and Brent"
4
Governor Sir Fred Phillips had
received a report from the local-government expert, Peter Johnston, saying
there had been no serioustrouble on Anguilla .
Mr. Henry Hall, sent to the colony by Mrs. Judith Hart two weeks later, where
he was shouted at, shoved around and perhaps shot at, returned to England to claim there had been no disturbances. And now Mr. Arthur Bottomley, the
British Minister for Overseas Development, having gone to Anguilla to help the islanders "celebrate" Statehood Day, and having received
a variant on the same treatment as his predecessors, also returned home to
insist that nothing had happened.
The Commonwealth European and
Overseas Review, a publication of the Conservative Party, stated in July
1967, "Mr. Bottomley went to the islands for the Independence celebrations, and perhaps unwisely visited Anguilla where he was booed and jostled by a large crowd, but on his return to London refused to admit there was any trouble."
Driving around an island
accompanied by relays of young men thumping on the roof of the car doesn't
constitute trouble.
There is an old story about a man
who owned a very stubborn donkey, and who was told that in a nearby town there
lived a famous donkey trainer whose work was guaranteed. The owner got in touch
with the donkey trainer, who arrived the next day at the owners farm, took a
baseball bat from the trunk of his car, stepped in front of the donkey, and
began to lambaste the animal backward and forward about the head. "For
God's sake, stop!" the owner cried. "You'll kill him! What are you
trying to do?"
"I am trying," the donkey
trainer said, "to attract his attention."
On February 27, 1967 , statehood had come to the former colony
of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, and on Anguilla the new
state flag had been raised in a
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