JAMAICA
Land of wood and water
The Flag
Black. Green. Gold.
There is special meaning behind a country's flag. It's design and color scheme provide insight into the people and the land.
The Jamaican flag has a Saint Andrew's cross design with the colors black, green and gold. The black represents the people, their strength and creativity; the green signifies hope and agricultural resources, and the gold symbolizes Jamaica's natural wealth and the beauty of the sun.
Jamaica and Mauritania are currently the only two countries in the world whose national flags do not include the colors red, white or blue.
Provisions -
vegetables, fruit and stables
Ackee (scientific name Blighia sapida) originate from West Africa is a fruit of the Sapindaceae genus which includes lychee and longan. This unusual looking red and yellow fruit cannot be eaten straight off the tree. Why? In its unripe form ackee contains a chemical compound called hypoglycin which is poisonous. Once ripe the fruit opens naturally and is fit for consumption. When cooked with codfish it becomes Jamaica's national dish, ackee and saltfish.
Foreigners in a new land
Breadfruit is a West Indian staple, arriving from Tahiti to the Caribbean in the early 1790s thanks to Captain William Bligh. It is believed to have originated from New Guinea, the Maluku Island and the Philippines. Breadfruit is part of the mulberry family and contains a significant amount of starch. This versatile fruit can be roasted, baked, boiled, fried, or dried and ground into flour for consumption. The fibrous inner bark can also be made into cloth.
Great Houses
Large estates, dark histories
For me the word plantation conjures images of the Southern United States, willow trees, cotton and swamp land. The reality is plantations existed throughout the "new" world wherever chattel slavery was practiced. In Jamaica the large homes built on the plantations are called Great Houses.
These Georgian style structures were constructed from wood and stone and were primarily built on sugar cane plantations. At one time there were approximately 700 Great Houses on the island; most of which were destroyed in the slave rebellion of 1831.
Notable Great Houses currently in existence are: Bellefield, Cherry Gardens, Cinnamon Hills, Devon House, Good Hope, Green Park, Greenwood, Halse Hall, Harmony Hall, Rose Hall, Seville Great House and Tryall.
Some Islanders believe these homes are haunted by the ghosts of former slave owners.
Folly (Mansion) Ruins
Storytime
The legend of Folly Mansion was born from a need to explain how a once grand and at the time modern home fell into disrepair.
A businessman from Salem, Connecticut, Alfred Mitchell, and his wife, Tiffany heiress, Annie Tiffany-Mitchell visited Jamaica sometime in the early 1900s. The couple enjoyed their time so much they purchased land at Folly Point, a private peninsula in Port Antonio where they would build their home.
Folly mansion was 2- stories, built in the style of a Roman villa, had 60 rooms and
displayed opulence like no other home on the island.
Complimenting the lavishness of the mansions marble floors, glass window and wooden doors were an equally fantastic list of amenities which included electric lights, indoor plumbing with running water, steam powered generators, and a wind-powered generator to pump seawater into an indoor swimming pool. The property was also equipped with stables and a menagerie of peacocks and monkeys. The Mitchell's also brought a Rolls Royce to drive around the property. This was the second car ever imported to the island.
Annie Tiffany-Mitchell continued to reside at Folly Mansion even after the death of her husband, Alfred in 1911 who was 80. Annie did return to the US and sell the mansion with the eruption of World War I. The property was eventually acquired by the Government of Jamaica.
Now only a shell of it's former self the structure is now known as Folly Ruins.
Legend has it that short cuts were taken to rush the completion of the home. One such rumored short cut says the concrete used in the home was mixed with salt water (ocean water) and contributed to the poor structural integrity of the mansion and as a result the structure has been slowly disintegrating.
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