The Fallen~Sparrow~Hawk: Zena the Cleaner

Zena the Cleaner                                        March 10, 2002

Irma had heard the story of  Jolly from Zena. Zena was part of a team of cleaners employed at Monreith House. The first thing she said when, having traced her number through a Kirsty, was,  Zena told me that Jolly is depicted standing by the side of a seated  Maxwell in the dining room. The painting is kept ‘downstairs in Sir Michael’s living quarters. Jolly came to Monreith in the 17 hundreds and married a local girl. Proof of the marriage was erased by their children. I would like to know where Jolly is buried. Why the parish has no record of the wedding or death. How much was paid for Jolly and from where was he bought.

I had strange dreams about nappy-headed locals.

There is a high infant mortality rate among the Jolly descendants and I wonder whether it was because the Jollys were throw-backs. Was he flogged to death or was that Irma-say. Anyway, I’ve thought of the song Strange Fruit about lynching in the Deep South. It could easily have happened to Jolly in Monreith.

I am up in the air at the moment. I don’t know where this is leading. Should I pursue the Jolly story? I want to get the bus from Auchanmalg to Whithorn and maybe hang out in the pub there. It would be good to speak to the descendants. Maybe one of them will spill the beans on what went on.