Timeline Photos

A WOMAN'S WORK... This rock painting comes from the Nardouwsberg, at the northern end of the Cederberg of the Western Cape. It was shared with me this week by friends who spend much of their time finding and recording Bushman paintings in that area. If the painting is genuine, and not something done by a modern prankster, it's intriguing: the object she's holding is unique, not seen elsewhere in rock art. It certainly wouldn't be a mop: that's not the sort of household aid that you would use in a shelter with a sandy floor. My freinds have dubbed her the Char Lady. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE? Among the documents that the museum has inherited from the Wodehouse Masons' Lodge is one highly unusual item: a dance card. The Masons hosted a "Grand Ball" in the Dordrecht town hall on January 18, 1928, and printed dance cards for the occasion. A dance card was used by a woman to record the names of the gentlemen with whom she intended to dance each successive dance at a formal ball. The 1928 card, with an embossed front, still has the original pencil attached. It must have been an extra card, as it has not been used. Open it, and on the left hand side is a list of the 16 dances scheduled for the evening -- most of them waltzes and fox trots -- and on the right hand side, spaces for the woman, or young lady, to record the name of the partner who has asked her for that dance. The evening ended with "God Save the King", which everyone present was presumably expected to join in singing. A question: the ladies had cards to help them remember who their partner in the next dance would be. Were the gentlemen expected to keep a mental list, and not forget? Among the other documents from the Lodge are a number of replies from the ladies of Dordrecht and surrounds to invitations to the ball. It must have been a memorable evening. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan The photos below: -- The front of the card. -- The inside of the card. -- An illustration of a ball from what I think must be roughly the same era.

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

BILLS OF BEAUTY These days, when you go shopping and pay for your purchases, your receipt will more often than not be just a boring till slip. It was different in times gone by. I’ve been sorting through documents from the Wodehouse Masonic Lodge, which is closing down (see the previous post) and has donated a lot of material to the museum. Among the documents are a number of bills and receipts from businesses in Dordrecht and elsewhere, that had dealings with the Masons. I thought you might enjoy the ones I have attached below: The first is a 1903 receipt from a Molteno butcher and baker, JW Pinnoy, issued to the Perseverance Lodge, who were the Molteno Masons. The second is the top left corner of an 1897 receipt from Queenstown "chemist and drug merchant", Mager & March. It shows what I assume was then Magers' trademark: a woman in Xhosa traditional dress, pounding a pestle into a mortar. Magers still does business in Queenstown today. The third, dated 1902, is from a Dordrecht firm, Stevenson Mitchell & Fish. William Fish later went into business by himself, and became mayor of Dordrecht. His store (not the one shown here) is today's Mandela Hardware. The fourth I include not for the fairly ordinary sheep, but for the fact that Dordrecht merchant Mr Mallach was able in 1938 to offer fresh fish -- presumably from the ocean, not barbel from a local dam -- twice a week. The last one is the Wodehouse lodge's insurance policy for 1943. A work of art. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

DORDRECHT MASONS CLOSE THEIR DOORS Dordrecht’s Masonic lodge, which has a history spanning almost 150 years, is closing down. The lodge was founded in 1874, and since then has counted as its members some of the most prominent citizens of the town and district. The lodge, formally known as the Wodehouse Lodge, Number 1467, was housed in a building in Grey Street, Dordrecht’s main road. Last week its handful of remaining Masons met at the lodge to clear out the furnishings, including magnificent ceremonial chairs upholstered in blue leather, and the collection of regalia, documents, historic photographs and memorabilia that had accumulated over the years. The building has been bought by local civil contractor Alan Cotterell. Coincidentally, a Cotterell was one of the first office-bearers of the lodge in 1874. The 18 founding members of the lodge included farmers, a resident magistrate, inspectors in the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police, a bank manager, medical doctors, a chemist, an auctioneer, an accountant, a printer, a baker, a builder, shopkeepers and a clerk. One of the chief activities of the Masons, in Dordrecht and elsewhere, has been to raise money for charity. They do not speak openly about their good works, taking their cue from the biblical text “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” However, it is known that Dordrecht’s old age home, Nerinahof, and the old age homes in Molteno and Queenstown would have been much the poorer had it not been for the generosity of the Masons over the years. And in a final act of goodwill, the lodge has decided to donate a magnificent R50 000 to the museum, which is desperately in need of funds for roof-painting and general repairs. The museum has also been given a selection of lodge memorabilia and documents, which will be put on display. A former Master of the lodge, Sandy Stretton, said the lodge was closing largely because of shrinking membership. In its heyday, it had had up to 30 members, but no-one had joined in the last five years, and the total was now down to seven. Of those seven, two lived in Queenstown, he himself was now living in KwaZulu-Natal, and members who were farmers didn’t like leaving their wives alone when they attended meetings after dark. “So the interest lapsed, and we decided we’d close the lodge, and then wrap everything up,” he said. He said Masonry was an institution that allowed people of like-minded interest to get together “and create a brotherhood and a fellowship of men”. “We acknowledge the fatherhood of God. It’s not a religious organization, but we acknowledge God as the father of Mankind.” Sandy, who is a retired farmer and a former chairman of the museum’s management committee, said he was sad to see the lodge close. It had been very much part of his life. “I joined in 1959, and I met people I would never have met otherwise, very interesting people and lovely people, So yes, I am sorry.” He said the lodge had faced closure on previous occasions: after the discovery of gold on the Reef, which resulted in many people leaving Dordrecht to head north; during the drought and depression in the early 1930s; and during the Second World War. Now the depopulation of rural areas and small towns had had a huge impact on lodge membership. “But it’s thriving elsewhere, in bigger towns and in cities: more and more people are joining. One of our members has a son who has just joined a lodge in Pretoria, and lodge of young people, students and so. “So there certainly is interest there.” -- If you have questions about Freemasonry, send them to me at skilderkrans@gmail.com, and I will ask Sandy to answer them. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan The photos below, taken last year, show: -- The Temple, the section of the lodge where ceremonies were conducted. -- Masonic collars, worn by office-bearers during meetings. -- Boards showing lists of past Masters of the lodge. -- A perfect ashlar, one of a number of highly symbolic objects in the lodge. -- The anteroom, a less formal meeting place than the Temple, showing some of the magnificent photos of past Masters. -- A set of symbolic mason's tools, each with its own significance.

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

HOW OLD ARE OUR PAINTINGS? New research has dated some Bushman paintings in the North-Eastern Cape at more than 2300 years old. Lead researcher Adelphine Bonneau of the University of Quebec in Canada said the project had provided “the first really solid dates for the antiquity of surviving rock shelter art in southern Africa". The project, using a technique called accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating, took Bonneau and her colleagues more than seven years to complete. They analysed paint fragments from sites in Maclear and Lesotho, and from three sites in Botswana, which provided the oldest date, more than 5000 years old. The oldest date they established for Maclear was between 2300 and 2900 years ago: radiocarbon does not allow more precise dating. The findings don’t necessarily mean that paintings in the Dordrecht area are also that old. But it does raise that as an intriguing possibility. The most recent paintings in our area are probably about 180 years old. They show what appear to be the first European settlers: men in broad hats, carrying guns, and riding horses. One set of paintings even shows a woman in a full trekker dress, with a kappie, herding ostriches and sheep. The oldest date for rock art in southern Africa is some 27 500 years before present, given to a loose painted slab from the Apollo 11 rock shelter in Namibia. My understanding is that the Apollo slab was dated from the deposit in which it was found: in other words, it was buried in the cave, and the archaeologists estimated its age from the depth at which it was found, rather than by directly dating the paint. --- The first photo below shows Almari van Heerden, who lives on a farm in the Rossouw area, with a panel of Bushman paintings she discovered last month. The paintings, in a sheltered recess, are remarkably well-preserved. They portray ten eland, two of them with calves, a Bushman with bow and arrows, and a strange white winged creature -- perhaps a badly painted bird? The largest eland is about 50 cm long. Her exciting discovery emphasizes yet again how much Bushman art in our area is both undiscovered and unrecorded. Wel gedaan, Almari! -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

AUTUMN: OF LEAVES AND LIZARDS Autumn, more than any of the other seasons, seems to me to mark the passing of another year. So here, to remind us that we're that much older (and, we hope, wiser) are two Dordrecht autumn photos of the sort you would expect -- yellow poplars, and a spectacular red pin oak. But I've included another, more unusual, image, that has just as much to do with seasonal change. I'm rebuilding an old cattle kraal, and this week my helper, Mawanda Milis, lifted a flat rock off a wall and discovered these three creatures (see the first photo) in the cavity underneath. They are agamas, the sort of lizard that in summer sports a vibrant blue head, and sometimes performs a comical bobbing type of push-up routine. These three -- I like to imagine a daddy, a mummy and a baby -- had clearly chosen the spot for their winter hibernation. Even when exposed to the weak autumn sunlight, they did not move, merely glaring at us sleepily through half-closed eyes. Only when I dumped them into an ice-cream box, and took them to a safer pile of rocks nearby, did they waddle off. Do you have autumn photos you'd like to share? Email them to me at skilderkrans@gmail.com -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Apologies for the Autumn post that had no words or pictures. I'll put out the real one on Thursday. -- Ben

Eastern Cape, DORDRECHT, Urban area

IN THE GRAVEYARD Many thanks to Lynn MacLeod for pointing out another great resource for people interested in Dordrecht's graveyard: the website http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1808759 which has photographs of the graves, organised in alphabetical order. The website is run by eGGSA, the online branch of the Genealogical Society of South Africa, which encourages participation by everyone from the beginner to the most advanced family historian. If you go to https://www.eggsa.org/ you can see some of the fascinating projects they are involved in. On the website, I found a photo of a grave I have been unable to locate in the graveyard itself: that of Lukas Bekker, who lived on Rooiwal farm outside Rossouw village, and died in a vehicle accident outside Cathcart in 1966. Oom Lukas was a storyteller of note, and I'm grateful to Jan Fourie who took the trouble to write down some of those stories. In one of my favourites, Lukas tells how he was travelling in to Rossouw on his wagon one morning, when he spied a tiny black dot in the sky above him. He took up his rifle, aimed carefully, and fired at it. And waited. And waited. And nothing happened: the dot was still there, high above him. So he shrugged his shoulders, and trundled on towards Rossouw. Did his shopping, went to the post office, had a chat with Sybok van Pletzen, admired the building work that Kerneels Mountjoy was doing, and set off homewards. At the exact spot where he fired his shot, there was a thud in the back of the wagon. He looked around, and there was a bird, shot through the heart. It had been so high in the sky when he shot it, it took that long to fall down. All Oom Lukas's stories were true, of course. May he rest in peace. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

A DARK BAND AND A RAY OF LIGHT Those of us who live in the Dordrecht area are familiar with the 2017 Dutch Reformed Church calendar showing Annelize van der Berg’s photograph of the church framed by a magnificent double rainbow. If you look carefully at the photograph, you’ll see that the sky inside the first rainbow is significantly lighter than the sky outside it. The difference, perhaps more noticeable in a photo than in looking at a rainbow out of doors, is a recognised optical phenomenon. It was first described some 1800 years ago by the Greek philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias, and named after him: Alexander’s dark band. The “band” I’ll return to in a moment: first, why the difference in brightness inside and outside the first rainbow? A rainbow is formed when rays of light are reflected off the inside of raindrops, towards an observer. But to understand the thing about bright inside and dark outside, you have to think of the rainbow not just as an arc of colour, but as a full, filled-in disk of light, rather like the beam of a torch. You see this full disk sometimes when you are in an aeroplane, flying through cloud, or standing on a mountain peak. The disk starts with red on the outside, progressing inwards through the spectrum of colours to violet before – this is important – merging into white light. So the inside of the rainbow, even though it’s not coloured, is also filled with reflected light. Which is why it’s brighter than what’s outside the rainbow. Beyond the red, the angle is too great for light to be reflected back to your eye, which is why the sky there is darker – which is in fact, its “normal” brightness. If the angle beyond the red is too great for reflection, why do we sometimes see a second rainbow? Because the light there is reflected twice within each raindrop, not just once as with the primary rainbow, before it emerges and travels to your eye. The second bow is however fainter, because each successive reflection dims the rays. So: in theory the sky above the second rainbow should also be somewhat brighter than the gap between the two rainbows. That gap, again in theory, is darker than all the rest of the sky: thus Alexander’s dark band. In Annelize’s photo (below), you can clearly see the difference between the bright inside of the primary rainbow, and the darker sky just above it. However, I can’t see much difference between the Alexander’s band – the gap between the rainbows -- and the sky above the secondary rainbow. There is a very slight difference visible in the second photo below, also taken in the district. There are photos on the Internet – I’ve included one of them -- that do clearly show the dark band. Maybe Dordrecht rainbows are just bedonnerd. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan The photos: -- Annelize’s photo of the Dordrecht NG church: copyright Reflections Photography, 072-505-8581. -- Another double rainbow in the district. -- From the internet: a band over the Eiffel tower.

Timeline Photos

A SMALL TRAGEDY Mother dassies are probably just like their human counterparts, constantly fussing over their children. Warning them: 'Don't play under that rock! It's dangerous!' Well, mother is always right, but this little fellow never got a chance to realise that. The tragedy occurred on Klein Skilderkrans, a farm some 30 km north of Dordrecht. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan

Wat moet ons met ons Kerk doen?

NO WONDER NOAH TOOK TO DRINK We in Dordrecht live with fossils millions of years old under our feet. Yet there are still people who choose to interpret the Bible literally, and who hold that the Earth was created in seven days, and thousands, rather than billions, of years ago. University of Stellenbosch palaeontologist Jurie van den Heever (who you may know from Radio Sonder Grense’s Hoe verklaar jy dit?) addresses these issues head on in a newly-published book, Wat moet ons met ons Kerk doen? (What must we do with our Church?). In it, he attempts to understand where Afrikaners come from theologically, and what forces shaped them and the Reformed family of churches. Criticising the church’s “nonsensical whining about evolution”, and its “Middle-Ages insistence on the infallibility of the Bible”, he pleads for a “Teologie van die Tyd” – a theology for the modern era. Among the most entertaining sections of the book are Van den Heever’s views on the truth or otherwise of the biblical story of Noah’s Ark. Here, with the kind permission of publishers Naledi, is an extract. Apologies here to those of you who don’t read Afrikaans: we felt it would be a disservice to Van den Heever’s eloquent writing (as well as too much work) to translate the extract into English. Illustrasies toon dikwels die Ark, sonder enige teken van ’n stuurmeganisme, drywend op ’n spieëlgladde oseaan, terwyl die diere in afsonderlike stalle slaap of rustig herkou. Volgens die buitemate van die Ark (Gen. 6:15) was die volume ongeveer 70 000 kubieke meter. Die beskikbare binneruimte was egter veel kleiner, omdat groot dele opgeneem is deur inwendige stutte, afskortings vir stalle, skeidingsmure, trappe, gange en bergingsruimtes vir die tonne kos (Gen. 6:21). Aangesien alle diere tydens die skeppingsweek die eerste lig aanskou het, is werklik ernstige arkoloë oortuig dat ook uitgestorwe spesies, waaronder die dinosouriërs en ons eie Karoofossiele, deel van die arkvrag was. Dit klink na ’n redelike aanname, aangesien Noag se opdrag ondubbelsinnig stipuleer dat ál die diere op die ark gehuisves moes word. Die jongste berekeninge toon dat daar tans ongeveer 8.7 miljoen lewende spesies plante en diere op aarde is, waarvan 6.5 miljoen op land en 2.2 miljoen in die oseaan bestaan. Konserwatief gereken is daar reeds 1.5 miljoen landdiere beskryf. Alle lewensvorme wat tans bestaan, verteenwoordig ongeveer een present van alle lewe wat ooit bestaan het en die Ark moes gevolglik miljoene plant- en dierspesies gehuisves het. Die vrag, soos deur die bybelskrywers gestipuleer, kon gevolglik nie in die Ark pas nie en beslis nie ’n jaar lank onder higiëniese toestande versorg word nie. Gen. 7:11-15 meld ook dat die vrag boonop binne een dag verskeep is, maar verduidelik nie hoe miljoene plante en diere binne vier en twintig uur, ongedeerd, aan boord gekom het en elkeen sy toegewysde hoekie op die Ark, ongedeerd bereik het nie. Indien slegs een van ’n paar in die ongebreidelde stormloop omgekom het, kon Noag maar netsowel die ander een ook oorboord gehelp het. Diegene wat die evolusionêre ontstaan van nuwe soorte plante en diere volledig afwys, moet noodwendig erken dat alle huidige plante en diere gevolglik die direkte nasate van die Arkvrag is. Tans weet ons dat spesies nie natuurlikerwys kan voortbestaan as net een paar van elke geslag bewaar word nie en dat selfs die genepoel wat sewe pare bied te beperk is om die aarde weer natuurlikerwys met die geneties gesonde en diverse populasies wat ons vandag sien, te bevolk. Om net die vrag byeen te kry was reeds ’n probleem, want dit is onduidelik hoe destyds onbekende diere soos die koalas en bamboesbere (pandas) van afgesonderde, onontdekte wêrelddele soos Australië en Sjina betyds by die Ark kon opdaag. Die grawende, pootlose en feitlik blinde akkedisse van die Weskaap, het ook nie die ark gemis nie, want hulle is vandag steeds met ons. Hulle verkies los, sanderige omgewings waarin hulle nie tonnels grawe nie, maar letterlik in die los sand “swem.” Hoe hulle by die Ark opgedaag het en na ’n jaar weer aan ons Weskus opgeduik het, is onverklaarbaar. Die bemanning moes sekerlik ook bontstaan met voedingstye. ’n Leeu eet gemiddeld 5 kilogram vleis per dag en tydens die vaart sou slegs die twee Afrika-leeus ongeveer 3000 kilogram vars vleis benodig. Olifante eet gemiddeld 120 kilogram plantmateriaal en drink gemiddeld 200 liter water per dag, wat beteken dat net die twee Afrika-olifante 72 metrieke ton vars voedsel en 120 000 liter water sou benodig. Om die koalabeertjies te voed moes Noag kon onderskei tussen die sewehonderd verskillende spesies Australiese bloekombome sodat hy slegs die enkele soorte wat koalas verkies, elke dag vars kon voorsit. Bamboesbere (pandas) se voedingsgedrag is net so uniek aangesien hulle 42 verskillende soorte bamboes eet, elke dag 10-15 kilogram vars bamboes benodig en tot twintig keer per dag ontlas. Tot op hede is daar ongeveer 1 500 000 plantspesies ontdek. Die tempo waarteen nuwe ontdekkings gemaak word, beteken dat daar tot soveel as 12 000 000 spesies op aarde kan wees. Sommige bioloë dink dit is selfs baie miljoene meer. Omdat hierdie organismes vandag bestaan en evolusie kwansuis nie plaasgevind het nie, moes hulle noodwendig ook op die ark versorg gewees het. Koraal kom in helder, vlak, tropiese seewater, met ’n lae konsentrasie voedingstowwe voor en hulle besondere leefwyse illustreer baie mooi die soort probleme wat Noag moes oplos om sekere mariene organismes te verskeep. Koraalriwwe bestaan uit miljoene klein inwonertjies, bekend as poliepe, wat die beskermende koraal soos ’n pantser afskei, terwyl mikroskopiese, fotosinterende alge, wat in die poliepe van afvalstowwe leef, die poliepe van energie voorsien. Meeste korale benodig dus sonlig vir fotosintese, kom gevolglik nie dieperas 50 metervoor nie en hou in kalmer water, omdat onstuimige toestande die rif kan laat verbrokkel. Die seewater moet egter teen ’n sekere spoed oor die rif vloei sodat die poliepe genoeg voedsel en suurstof ontvang. Koraalriwwe is gevolglik baie sensitief vir klein omgewingsveranderings, modderige water en beide ’n afname in ligintensiteit en ’n toename in vars water, kan dodelik wees. Storms veroorsaak gevolglik groot skade aangesien stukke wat afbreek, op die bodem deur vinniggroeiende alge bedek word en sterf. ’n Vloed van Bybelse omvang, waar die water uiteindelik ’n hoogte van 15 el bokant die hoogste berg bereik het, die gebrek aan lig, die woeste branders en die addisionele teenwoordigheid van miljoene tonne modder sou spoedig van alle korale ontslae geraak het. Hulle kon gevolglik net op die ark oorleef. Koraalriwwe kon nie die Ark op eie stoom bereik nie en aangesiendie Bybel niks vermeld vanuitgebreide versameltogte wat lank voor die vloed onderneem is nie, moes Noag en sy seuns waarskynlik self inspring. Van die 2 175 koraalsoorte die wêreld oor moes hulle, net aan ons ooskus 160 verskillende spesies identifiseer (sonder mikroskope), versamel (sonder gepaste toerusting), na die Ou Nabye Midde-Ooste vervoer (sonder vaartuie) en amper ’n jaar lank op die oopsee versorg (sonder akwaria met skoon seewater en temperatuurbeheer) en na die vloed weer aan ons ooskus hervestig. Die Arkfamilie self bied ook baie stof tot nadenke, aangesien Noag en Naamah geen kinders na die vloed gehad het nie en die genepoel van die oorblywende ses bemanningslede te beperk was om die gesonde voortbestaan van ’n toekomstige wêreldbevolking te verseker. Die verskeidenheid spesies spesifieke patogene wat tans siektetoestande by mens en dier veroorsaak, kon slegs in die liggame van die arkvrag oorleef. Elke paar diere moes dus ook al die siektes eie aan hulle soort, gehuisves het. Dit moes die versorging van die vrag grootliks bemoeilik het, want beide die siek dier en die patogeen moes aan die lewe gehou word. Daar bestaan ook ’n verskeidenheid siektetoestande wat eie aan die mens is. Die bakterieë wat geslagsiektes soos sifilis en gonoree veroorsaak, kon slegs in die liggame van die bemanning oorleef het. Aangesien hierdie siektes seksueel oorgedra word, is dit ’n ope vraag wie onder die bemanning bereid was om geïnfekteer te word sodat die siekte in pag gehou kon word vir toekomstige geslagte. Ander siektes soos bilharsia, filariase (olifantsiekte), cholera, malaria, pokke en die pes, wat ook by mense voorkom of waar die mens een van die gashere in die lewenssiklus van die parasiet is, moes ook op die Ark oorleef het. Die Arkfamilie was dus sekerlik die heel siekste groepie in die geskiedenis van die mensdom en hulle waardevolle vrag moes seker van tyd tot tyd by die dood omgedraai het. Ten spyte van hul ongelooflike infeksies moes die bemanning boonop baie meer as ’n miljoen diersoorte, elk met sy eie stel parasiete, amper ’n jaar lank versorg, tonne groenvoer en vars vleis voorsit, water en mediese dienste voorsien en vragte mis en uriene uit die donker dieptes van die ark, deur die enkele venster aan die bokant, uitwerp. Die uiteindelike ontskeping van die Ark het ewe-eens enorme logistiese probleme gebied en dit is te verstane dat Noag hom uiteindelik tot drank gewend het. Wat moet ons met ons Kerk doen? costs R225: go to http://naledi.online/product/wat-moet-ons-met-ons-kerk-doen/ or email naledi@mweb.co.za -- Posted by Ben Maclennan The images below show: -- Jurie van den Heever -- Another comment (not from Van den Heever’s book) on the Ark story.

Photos from Anderson Museum, Dordrecht's post

HOW TO FIND OUMA GROOTJIE’S GRAVE (MAYBE) Two decades ago, when he was still farming at Greendale on the Indwe road, Duncan Mapham carefully copied out the Dordrecht municipal cemetery records – the documents that tell, at least in theory, who is buried where – put them on computer, and printed them out. He retired to East London some years ago, and his printout of the cemetery register has been sitting unnoticed on a shelf in the museum. However, it was recently rediscovered, and when we contacted Duncan about it, he immediately offered to re-type the entire document so it could be printed out on a modern laser printer. His first version was printed out on a dot matrix printer, which doesn’t give the best quality print, and fades over the years. So we now have a beautifully printed and bound cemetery register of some 65 pages, including an aerial photograph that shows what sections of the cemetery the register refers to. Duncan has also printed out a second copy, a “proof copy”, which is meant to be written on. “To be corrected, edited, and brought up to date by anyone with information that may further the accuracy of this record,” he says on the cover of the proof. Because – and this is the reason for the “maybe” in the headline above – what the municipal records say is not necessarily the same as what happens on (or in) the ground. “This is a record of the receipts and scribblings that were found at the Dordrecht Municipality in 1995,” says Duncan in a brief introduction to the register. “The municipality only recorded what plots had been paid for and by whom. This record does not record where the remains of anyone have been buried, although it seems to be reflective of where people might have been buried.” Duncan also notes that all the municipal records were destroyed in a fire in 1927, so there are no grave records before that date. Duncan says that what would be ideal is for someone to go through the graveyard systematically, checking graves against the register, adding information where possible and correcting it where necessary. We’re tremendously grateful to Duncan for the work he has put into this: it shows that even in his self-imposed exile by the sea, he retains a soft spot for Dordrecht. -- Posted by Ben Maclennan The pictures show: -- a page from the register -- a grave in the cemetery, of a Boer fighter killed in the Anglo-Boer War.