Crowd gathers for a Maroon celebration. The following is contributed by the Jamaican Historical Society to mark Heritage Week, 2000. It was written by Mrs. Mary Langford.
THE COCKPIT Country of Jamaica is awesome. Seen from the air or from the ground, the conical hills and deep valleys rising and falling as far as the eye can see are a magnificent sight. The terrain of this area, described by geologists as "karst", constitutes a formidable mountain range in the western end of the island. Had it not been for the Maroons it would most probably still be uninhabited. Certainly no Arawak settlements have been found there and the Spanish and English conquerors found cattle rearing or the cultivation of the plains all they could cope with.
After 150 years on the island, an invasion by the English prompted the Spanish to free the Negro slaves they had acquired and to encourage them, as free people, to help resist the invaders. When the English, under Col. Edward D'Oyley forced out the Spanish, their freed slaves hid themselves in the hills and continued to harass the English. These free blacks, sometimes called the "Maroons" perfected the art of subsisting hidden in the mountainous parts of the island.
Their number was gradually augmented by slaves who managed to escape from the English plantations. From the English point of view, this created an untenable situation and the authorities were continually attempting to capture and bring all runaway slaves and their Maroon friends under their jurisdiction.
By the late 1730s, a stand-off seemed inevitable. Cudjoe, the Maroon leader in the Cockpit country, and Col. Guthrie, representing the Government, were forced to negotiate a cessation of fighting. It was all very dramatic, the meeting of the two sides, but the Treaty which was signed in 1739 was one that could bring peace. The 1739 Treaty was quite unambiguous. The Maroons, including the runaway slaves who had joined them, would be considered free people and would be given 1,500 acres of land in the west of the island on which they could live unmolested. Their headquarters in the Cockpit Country would be known as Trelawny Town after the then Governor, Edward Trelawny (1738-1750). Their Chief would be in complete control, free to maintain law and order as he saw fit although a Government Superintendent would also reside at Trelawny Town as an observer and liaison officer.
Hunt wild hogs
In return, the Maroons agreed not to hunt wild hogs within three miles of a town or plantation, although they could go into towns to sell their produce if they wished. In addition, they would not harbour any new runaway slaves and would return any they found for a reward. So, by 1739 the Maroons, freed by their Spanish masters and trained to fight the English, had agreed to help the English control their own slave population in return for unmolested freedom.
The arrangement worked well for many years, but unfortunately for this hardy and courageous group of people, circumstances outside their control brought nearly 50 years of fairly peaceful co-existence to end in a tragic war. Towards the end of the century, the revolutionary ideas taking hold in Europe had spread to the French colonies. Unrest in St. Domingue (now Haiti) could lead to similar unrest and revolution breaking out in Jamaica, especially as refugees were daily entering the island and English troops were being sent to assist the French planters.
The Governor, the Earl of Balcarres (1795-1801), was much concerned and resolved not to allow Jamaica to follow the example of Haiti. Consequently when the Trelawny Town Maroons became restless over the flogging of two of their number, instead of leaving the matter to the Superintendent, who had previously worked well with the Maroons, Balcarres immediately declared Martial Law and called out the Militia. Naturally, the Trelawny Town Maroons prepared to defend their territory. The Accompong Maroons, some 20 miles as the crow flies south of Trelawny Town did not interfere in the dispute.
It was one thing for the Governor to order his troops to Trelawny Town; it was another thing for the soldiers to make their way, single file, into this most formidable forest area. The transportation of supplies up from Montego Bay was even more difficult. Acclimatisation to the rain, mist and sun, wet clothes and thirst was not easy. Drinking water was a problem to both sides. Whereas the soldiers were intent on killing the Maroons, the Maroons were not interested in rebellion as suspected, but only in defending their territory, as agreed in the 1739 Treaty, against the intrusion of the English soldiers, representing the English Government.
The Maroons were skilled hunters and fighters and knew well all the paths, water holes and hiding places, but, as the English persisted, in spite of much loss of life, to encircle their territory, the Maroons found it increasingly difficult to tap their usual food and water supplies. With a firm base at Vaughsfield, the English were able to place a "howitzer" on top of a 560-metre pinnacle, now called "Gun Hill", from which they were able to shell the main Maroon base at Pettee River Bottom.
With declining numbers, the Maroons fought on, but when the English decided to introduce bloodhounds and their handlers from Cuba, they realised that they had no way of defending themselves against the dogs and were prepared to parley. After an English officer whom they trusted, Major General Walpole, offered them new land on which they could settle and a promise that they would neither be executed or transported, one by one the Maroon fighters made their was to Montego Bay to give themselves in.
Unfortunately, neither Governor Balcarres nor the Assembly were prepared to honour Walpole's promises, and all were transported to Nova Scotia, from where, three years later, they were transferred to Sierra Leone. None of the Trelawny Town Maroons who fought so bravely to defend their freedom ever returned to Jamaica.
Reminders
Certainly, 1796 and the Pond River Treaty which ended the Second Maroon War are important, but unfortunately the physical reminders of all that went on at the time have been sadly neglected. Excellent research has been done by L. Alan Eyre of the University of the West Indies, John Aarons of the National Library, Carey Robinson and Beverley Carey, but none of this information has been recorded on the site. In 1999 members of the Jamaican Historical Society visited the area. They found no marker explaining the importance of Trelawny Town from 1739 to 1796; there was no signpost indicating the site of Cudjoe's Old Town or the New Town occupied by a breakaway faction only to be burnt and abandoned during the War. The area now known as Flagstaff is known to be the site of the Military Station built after the end of the war to accommodate additional troops to safeguard peace in the Cockpits. From plans in the National Library it would be possible to indicate the position of the various buildings, the Barracks, the Hospital, the Officers Quarters and others, but this has not been done. The remains of a cemetery on the hillside are obvious but the whole slope is much overgrown. It must be remembered that few would have lived to be buried in a cemetery as most, soldiers and Maroons alike, would have been buried where they were killed, deep in the wooded interior.
The general direction of the two most famous spots of this war were pointed out to members of the Society "Gun Hill" and "Pettee River Bottom", but again, there was no path and no marker. A mile or so away is the village known as Maroon Town, which has no historical connection to the war of 1796. It consists of fairly modern houses built on some of the original 1590 acres of land belonging to the Maroons which was taken away from them when the army moved to install their garrison at Flagstaff.
Not only does the area need markers and signposts, but the paths and water holes need to be cleared and maintained. There is a small museum with artefacts on display in the home of an enterprising citizen. With a responsible authority in charge, much more could be done to remind the public of the way of life of the Cockpit Maroons up to 1796 and indeed of the English soldiers who fought against them and afterwards were quartered there for at least another 50 years.
Perhaps all of this will be done. As early as 1971, the official National Physical Plan of Jamaica envisaged the development of this spectacular scenic area as a National Park. New words are now being used -- a Theme Park -- so there is hope that some notice will soon be taken of this remarkable spot with its equally noteworthy history.
The roads which take local residents and school children to and from the coastal towns are in fairly good condition. Visitors to the island often take tours to this unusual spot. No one can help being awed by the Cockpits, which must not be intruded on, but at the same time a responsible authority should visibly preserve the history of the struggle of the Trelawny Town Maroons to keep their freedom. Future generations need to know.
