Lighter Moments with Father Fitton.

Lighter Moments with Father Fitton

Carriacou’s Paracletes

The Catholic diocese of Carriacou was administered by The Paraclete fathers. The two permanent priests on the island at the time were Father Fitton and Father John. Both were Americans and they fitted comfortably into Carriacouan society.

One of the regular social gatherings in Carriacou at the time was Thursday’s dinners at their residence behind the Catholic church. The evening consisted of a meal followed by a variety of musical entertainment. Various local musicians would play regular calypsos as well as their own creations. A regular contributor was ‘The Mighty Scraper’ and his calypso band, ‘The Flames’. I distinctly remember him singing his own calypso, Blackie. The chorus went something like this:

Blackie why you teef Bullen pantie?

You went into Bullen’s store and you make a grab

And you put a red pantie down inside your bag.

The Parochial Yacht

In order to be able to attend to services on surrounding islands the fathers’ had a small yacht to transport them. On one occasion, the yacht was being sailed to Grenada for an engine overhaul. Close to ‘Kick ‘em Jenny’ a contrary wind sent the boom flying across the deck hitting Father Fitton squarely in the back and knocking him overboard. One of the crew dived in to save him whilst the other deftly manoeuvred the yacht round and pulled them back on board. (The two lads may have been Desmond and Fortune but I’m not sure. Does anyone remember?)

Some days later I met Father Fitton and he described the incident to me. He said that his habit had inflated and kept him afloat. He also added, somewhat whimsically, that he had experienced a final thought as he became unconscious. I was curious to know what this ‘spiritual’ revelation might have been. Imagine my surprise when he said he had thought, ‘I’m glad I didn’t give up smoking because cancer hasn’t got me in the end.’