OUR STORY
Slavery and the Codringtons in Antigua/Barbuda

Bagasse

In some island, this is also called Magasse. It is the residue from the sugar cane stem after the juice has been squeezed out.

Bill

Tool used to cut the cane at the harvest.

Boiling House

Room used for boiling sugar cane juice after it is squeezed.

Buff

Also called ‘massa’ house or the Great House. This is Codringtons dwelling on the estate. Every estate had a ‘buff’ where the oversea in charge of the estate lived.

Coromantees

An aggressive tribe of slaves out of Africa that were feared by all Plantation owners. They were taller and stronger than most African slaves. It was said that these slaves were used in Barbuda as ‘studs’.

Curing House

where the barrels or claypots with the sugar crystals were placed on rafters to allow the mollasses to drain. The fermentation tank probably stood in the basement.

Driver

The person who supervises the gang.

Great House

Same as the buff.

Gang

A group of slaves working together.

Hoghead

Barrels used to store mollass for transportation.

Holeing

The process of digging holes into the soil about 4-6 inches deep in which cane was planted.

Massa

The overseer in charge of the plantation.

Muscovado

Sugar crystal with mollases. It was also called ‘wet sugar”.

‘Neggar House’

The house /hut in which the negre slaves lived. In the early days, it was built from ‘wattle’ and ‘daub’. Later models were constructed from stones with grass roofs and earthen floors.

Siboney

The ‘stone age’ people who lived on the island before the arrival of the Arawaks and the Caribs.

Still House

Walls indicate the impressive architecture of the factory. The stills stood outside along the south wall, and the vapours were condensed in cooling coils immersed in the five deep cisterns before the rum was piped into the casks inside the basements of the building.

‘Wattle and Daub’

The first set of houses the slaves occupied on the sugar plantations. It was constructed from sticks covered with mud and had grass roofs and earthen floors.