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baas (Afr.) ‘Boss’ or ‘master’; term used by subordinates; considered to be demeaning to the user (H: 27 “Black Magic”).

babelas/babalas/babalaas Slang for being hung over; derived from the Zulu ‘bihabhalazi’, which has the same meaning (JN: 95).

backveld Undeveloped rural area, often used derogatorily (OTS: 47 “A Boer Rip van Winkel”; CSJ: 95).

Badcock, Peter (b. 1949) Born in SA and educated in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), worked in interior design before turning to fine art and writing in 1978. Published books on the Zimbabwean and Namibian guerrilla wars. Returned to SA, where he works as an illustrator and creative consultant. Provided the illustrations for The Illustrated Bosman (1985).

Baden-Powell, Robert Stephenson Smyth (1857–1941) British lieutenant-general who successfully defended the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Anglo–Boer War; later went on to found the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements (MR: 54 “Mafeking Road”).

Bakhatla(s) One of several clans resident in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana); its traditional reserve lies in Mochudi just north of the capital Gaborone; there are also settlements of the clan in the Pilanesberg area where Chief Pilane, at one point in their history, led the clan; their chief Lynchwe fought on the side of the British against the Boers in the Second Anglo–Boer War at the Battle of Derdepoort (OTS: 50 “The Heart of a Woman”). HCB also erroneously uses the term ‘Makhatla tribe’ in “The Heart of a Woman”.

bakkop (Afr.) Lit. ‘cupped head’; generic term for any hooded snake such as cobra (MR: 82 “Brown Mamba”). See also Rinkhals.

bakoond Outside baking oven (UD: 98 “Oom Piet’s Party”; H: 30 “Black Magic”).

Bakwena One of the main tribes of Botswana, its centre being Molepolole and its totem the crocodile (MR: 133 “The Rooinek”).

“Ballad of the Lords of Old Time” Poem by François Villon (CSJ: 198).

balmy/barmy Foolish in the extreme; idiotic (CJ: 100 “Playing Sane”).

bandolier (bandoleer) Shoulder-worn cartridge belt (OTS: 46 “A Boer Rip van Winkel”).

Banisteria caapi South American jungle vine used to make herbal medicines (CJ: 202 “Calling All Patients; S&H: 105 “Dopper and Papist”).

Bapedi People (roughly numbering four million) who occupy parts of what was the Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo); also called the Pedi people. Their language is Sepedi, called Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) by native speakers (UD: 25 “Romaunt of the Smuggler’s Daughter”; H: 165 “Failing Sight”).

Barbarossa Reference to Emperor Frederick of Barbarossa, who is said to awaken from his sleep every hundred years to see if his country needs his guidance (OTS: 47 “A Boer Rip van Winkel”).

base Indian Reference to Othello Act 5 scene 2 (VS: 150 “South African Literature”).

Basson Poor-white labourer who works alongside and goads the weakening Van Schalkwyk until the latter ‘accidentally’ sees him right; a masterful piece of writing that shows the mental state of a man suffering the rigours of mind-numbing manual labour (JN: 90).

Basson, Drieka Young lady from the Marico who leaves in haste for the bright lights of Johannesburg – too much like the character Baba Haasbroek in Jacques le Français’s play for the locals’ liking (IT: 91 “Play within a Play”).

Baudelaire, Charles Pierre (1821–67) French poet renowned for his morbid romanticism and eroticism; most famous for his first volume of poetry Les Fleurs du Mal (1857; ‘The Flowers of Evil’). Greatly admired by HCB; the latter apparently read Poe in Baudelaire’s translation at the famous house party the night before his death (see Gray, LS: 361). See also George Howard’s memoir of HCB, in which the latter indicated his admiration for Baudelaire (RB: 34, 42, 50) (CJ: 52 “Study of a Poet Genius”).

Bavendas Local chief who takes umbrage when an American tourist slaps him on the back (IT: 32 “Secret Agent”).

Bay, Johnny Prisoner who drills the other inmates in learning the definitions indicating the differences between a zebra and a quagga (CSJ: 157).

Bayfield, Louis Willemsdorp’s resident attorney; is introduced at one or two social occasions, but plays no part in the events that make up the novel (W: 25).

Beauty Bell Nickname of a poet and safe-blower doing three life sentences at Pretoria Central (L&O: 72 “Beauty Bell”). See also L&O: 18 “Introduction”.

“Beauty Bell” (L&O: 72) A eulogy for Beauty Bell, a habitual criminal who made a huge impression on HCB during their time in prison. Sad and earnest tribute leavened by touches of wry humour. “The girl was twenty-five years old when she started waiting for Beauty Bell. She was close on to sixty when he wrote his poem to her”. See also CSJ: 114.

Bechuana(s) Colonial form for ‘Tswana’. The Batswana (sing. Motswana) are the people of Botswana, who speak Setswana (H: 27 “Black Magic.)

“Bechuana Interlude” (MR: 77) A devious, two-timing insurance agent gets his come-uppance. A brooding story that, despite some funny moments, never delivers on its promise. “‘Well, then, for the sake of your wife and daughter, Lenie,’ Johnny de Clerk said, ‘and what’s more, I’ve already spent an hour talking to you. If I spend another hour I shall have to insure you for two thousand pounds.’”

Bechuanaland Colonial name for the modern independent (since 1966) state of Botswana; called the ‘Bechuanaland Protectorate’ or simply ‘the Protectorate’ in HCB’s day (see Maps). The territory contains the small town of Ramoutsa (properly, ‘Ramotswa’), famous in HCB’s fiction for hosting the Indian trading store, where the local Dwarsberg farmers would have obtained many of their provisions, Ramoutsa being considerably closer than Zeerust. The Protectorate features in numerous HCB stories, usually in relation to the cattle smuggling that was an illegal mainstay of the local economy. It also contains the inhospitable, semi-desert region in which the ill-fated trekker party in “The Rooinek” comes to grief (see Kalahari Desert).

Beemer, Ellie In 1930 briefly joined HCB and Blignaut in their Touleier venture, where she apparently had the role of both contributor and secretary. She had literary aspirations, sending in some poems to the magazine, one of which, “L’Ingénue”, caught Blignaut’s eye and duly appeared in the second issue of the magazine. According to Blignaut she even contributed financially to the magazine. There has been speculation that she had an affair with HCB, and that her impending marriage to a Jewish doctor provoked a bitter reaction from him. His uncharacteristically tasteless and vicious story “Rita’s Marriage” (July 1931) is taken to be a thinly veiled attack on Beemer for abandoning him and reverting to type (marrying within her race and class). The preface to his pamphlet of poems entitled The Blue Princess (1931) also contains lines taken to be an attack on Beemer: “Mostly, these verses are about a princess to whom I gave millions of blue jewels that were real because I made them so. But I lost this princess. You see, she didn’t want jewels: she wanted jewelry …”

beker (Afr.) Lit. ‘mug, cup or trophy’ (VS: 144 “Should We have Art Competitions?”).

Bekker, Adriaan Errant communion attendee bunking to enjoy a drink of mampoer with Krisjan Wilman (MR: 110 “Mampoer”).

Bekker, Flip Farmer on whose farm Arndt Prinsloo lived (OTS: 50 “The Heart of a Woman”).

Bekker, Gert Wily, boastful and patronising travelling companion of OSL (S&H: 97 “The Ghost at the Drift”; S&H: 105 “Dopper and Papist”).

Bekker, Gys Head of a group of Bekker families in the Drogedal region (VS: 114 “My Eerste Liefde”).

Bekker, Hans Farmer who bemoans the fact that modern young people buy coffee instead of burning and grinding it at home (UD: 35 “Picture of Gysbert Jonker”).

Bekker, Jurie One of the farmers on a hunting trip with his friends in “Night on the Veld” (OTS: 68); bad-temperedly stops Gysbert van Tonder from snoring by roughly kicking him over. “Jurie Bekker got up, then. And because he had not taken off his veldskoens before going to bed, he was able quite easily to help Gysbert van Tonder to turn round. In fact, Gysbert van Tonder turned round almost twice, the way Jurie Bekker helped him.” Jurie Bekker also appears in numerous other stories: in “Treasure Trove”, “The Lover Who Came Back”, and “Die Ferreira Miljoene”/“Verborge Skatte”, he features as the district postmaster (in “The Ferreira Millions”, the later English version of the last, he actually becomes ‘Jurie Steyn’). Fascinatingly, the local post office on the old Government Road in HCB’s day was run by one Jurie Bekker; David Goldblatt published a photograph of the abandoned shell of this building in The S. A. Tatler in 1965 (reproduced in The Illustrated Bosman, 1985). In “Graven Image” Jurie Bekker is a farmer whose house doubles up as a place of worship (S&H: 119). In “The Missionary” he is a farmer who impounds OSL’s cattle when they stray onto his farm (UD: 105), and in “The Lover Who Came Back” he is a farmer who makes a fool of himself by misinterpreting a line from an Italian opera (UD: 82). In “Funeral Earth” he expresses a belief in modern technology that sets him apart from the other farmers: “‘We have had no rain for the last three years,’ Jurie Bekker will explain, ‘and that is exactly what the rain-gauge records, also. Look, you can see for yourself – nil’” (UD: 113). Jurie Bekker also features as a local farmer or commando member in “Ou Liedjies en Ou Stories”/“The Selon’s Rose”, “Die Rooibaadjie”/ “The Red Coat”, “Funeral Earth”, “The Missionary” (in which he impounds Oom Schalk’s cattle), “Peaches Ripening in the Sun” (where he is one of the commando to invade Natal, and also a ‘bittereinder’ at the end of the story with Oom Schalk) and “The Traitor’s Wife”, where he is one of the commando that captures Leendert Roux, and comments that Leendert Roux’s wife reminds him of the Transvaal itself. Interestingly, whenever he is mentioned in the war stories he never appears to take part in any military action. His name finally becomes bifurcated into Jurie Steyn and Oupa Bekker in the Voorkamer stories.

Bekker, Oupa (Sarel) Lit. ‘Grandfather Bekker’; ‘oupa’ is used as a term of respect. Sage of the voorkamer, dispenser of wisdom and insight, not always appreciated by the younger members of the conversation forum. Strongly reminiscent of Oom Schalk Lourens, the Voorkamer pieces in which he has a dominant narrative role are closest in form to the Schalk Lourens tales (see, e.g., “News Story”, “Birth Certificate, and “Terror of the Molopo”). He claims to have once been Minister of Finance in the Republic of Ohrigstad (see “The Budget”), which was established in 1845. This means that he must have been around 130 years old at the time of his holding forth in the voorkamer. See Voorkamer sequence.

Bekker, Petrus Farmer whose eponymously named daughter falls in love with Hendrik de Waal (UD: 62 “Susannah and the Play-actor”).

Bekker, Theunis Farmer in the post office, complaining about the delay in the delivery of mail (S&H: 68 “Concertinas and Confetti”).

Bekker, Thys Marico farmer dismissive of police prowess (S&H: 114 “Cometh Comet”).

Bekkers Family who take pity on Marie van Zyl (OTS: 107 “The Ox-riem”).

Bekkersdal Lit. ‘the Vale of Bekker’. Area in the Western Transvaal (now the North West Province) near Carletonville; geographically this is too far from the Marico to have featured realistically in the stories, so the area, reputedly named after Oupa Bekker’s grandfather, is most probably fictional (see “Bekkersdal Centenary”, Maps).

“Bekkersdal Centenary” (H: 237) As preparations for Bekkersdal’s centenary go ahead, the farmers gripe alternately that things have developed either too quickly or too slowly over the years. A lively and amusing debate on what constitutes progress and who is the arbiter of it; all story strands neatly tie up. “Except for the schoolmaster, who said that it sounded a bit sticky – the jam factory part of it, he meant – we agreed that Bekkersdal was indeed making an impressive-sounding advance.”

“Bekkersdal Marathon, A” (IT: 22) When the minister goes into a trance the congregation ends up singing the entire 176 verses of Psalm 119. Hilarious, almost cinematic description of a surreal event; differs from the usual Voorkamer stories in so far as it is a story rather than a loosely connected set of anecdotes and comments. “At verse 98 the organist again started making signals about his medicine. Once more Elder Landsman went round to the konsistorie. This time he was accompanied by another elder and a deacon, and they stayed away somewhat longer than the time when Elder Landsman had gone on his own. On their return the deacon bumped into a small hymn-book table at the back of the church. Perhaps it was because the deacon was a fat, redfaced man, and not used to tiptoeing.”

Bekkersdal Marathon, A (1971) A collection of 22 Voorkamer stories, edited by Lionel Abrahams. The second part of his original Voorkamer selection – the first appeared as Jurie Steyn’s Post Office (1971). The two volumes constitute the first attempt at bringing the Voorkamer stories back into the public domain following their original appearance in The Forum in 1950–51. See Voorkamer sequence; Idle Talk; Homecoming; Complete Voorkamer Stories, The.

“Bell for Adano, A” Lukewarm review by HCB of the stage adaptation of John Hersey’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (1944) set in WWII Italy (L&O: 124 “Five Reviews”).

Benoni Large mining town east of Johannesburg. Genesis 35:18: “As she [Rachel] breathed her last – for she was dying – she named her son Ben-Oni (son of my sorrows). But his father [Jacob] named him Benjamin (son of right hand)” (H: 175 “Sixes and Sevens”). See “Pride of the Reef”.

Berg-dagga (Afr.) Lit. ‘mountain dagga’; this is a regional term for dagga, as there is no such separate species; dagga is usually cultivated in mountainous regions where it is easier to conceal from law enforcers (IT: 122 “Do Professors Smoke Dagga?”). See also dagga.

Berg luiperd (Afr.) Lit. ‘mountain leopard’; although there is no such species, some leopards happen to live in mountainous regions. If there were such a species, its name would be rendered as one word in Afrikaans (H: 44 “Anxious to Hear”).

Berkshire Breed of pig (H: 250 “In the Old Days”).

Bernard Cool yet dangerous fugitive bank robber who hides out by hiring the prostitute Polly for the entire night (YB: 145 “Street-woman: A Play in One Act”).

Bernstein, Edgar (1912–74) Born in Germiston and educated at Wits, he was a journalist on The South African Jewish Times, where he later served as editor. He contributed to Forward, The South African Opinion, Trek and The Star, where his obituary on HCB appeared. He was the author of The Legacy of General Smuts (1950), My Judaism, My Jews (1962), and Unrest: Poems (1972). He came to know HCB in the early 1930s and wrote several articles about the writer and reviewed his work (see RB: 6).

Berry, Abe (1911–92) Distinguished cartoonist and friend of HCB. A staunch opponent of the National Party regime, he did many satirical cartoons of prominent members of the party. Some of his cartoons were collected in Abe Berry’s South Africa and How It Works (1980) and Act by Act: 40 Years of Nationalist Rule in South Africa: A Cartoon History (1989). A skilled watercolourist, his drawings and paintings of ‘old Johannesburg’ appeared in Abe Berry’s Johannesburg (1982). His illustrations of HCB’s stories appeared in On Parade (1948–51) and Trek (1949).

Berry’s illustration for “Unto Dust”

Best of Bosman (2001) Edited by Stephen Gray and Craig MacKenzie, this twin-volume set in a black slipcase contains Starlight on the Veld: Best of Bosman’s Stories and Recognising Blues: Best of Bosman’s Humour, each with a short preface.

Bester Brothers, The Guitar- and concertina-playing siblings hired to provide entertainment (UD: 97 “Oom Piet’s Party”).

Beukes, Gerhard J(ohannes) Academic, playwright and joint recipient of the Hertzog Prize; his works often consist of reworked biblical themes (VS: 170 “Die Duistere Vers”).

“Beyond the Beyond” (YB: 37) A man uses a medium to question his deceased grandfather. A rough-around-the-edges story that shows early signs of HCB’s ability to create a brooding atmosphere out of everyday events.

Bezuidenhout, Jan Young Cape Boer on commando with OSL whose exploits in battle were in the tradition of his great-uncle (S&H: 123 “Great-uncle Joris”).

bhang See dagga.

“Bible as Literature, The” (WS: 160) HCB remarks that the widespread circulation of the Bible (especially as a result of its dissemination among men of the armed forces during World War II) is a good thing, for “[a]part from its importance as a religious work, the Bible contains, in the Old and New Testaments, the world’s greatest literary and poetic treasures.” The Old Testament has retained its currency, he remarks, because much of it deals with city life, while, in the New Testament, “the figure of Christ has occupied [a unique place] in the imagination of the poet and artist of all races and of all creeds.”

Bible verse about sparks flying upwards The source is Job 5: 6-7: “For affliction cometh not forth of the dust, / Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; / But man is born unto trouble / As the sparks fly upward.” Jan Bezuidenhout makes this remark to Frikkie van Blerk in a slight altercation about the risks of leaving one’s wife alone at home while one is on commando. Bezuidenhout hints that humankind alone is the source of problems (they don’t simply emerge from the earth): in this case, the lust of men who take advantage of the women left on their own, and, perhaps, the weakness of the women who accept male company in these circumstances (S&H: 124 “Great-uncle Joris”).

Bierce, Ambrose (1842 – c. 1914) American journalist and humorist; born in Ohio, he fought in the Civil War (1861– 65) and reached the rank of major. Moved to California after the war and worked with Bret Harte and Mark Twain. Continued to work as a journalist and writer in England and in various parts of America; published a collection of ironic definitions entitled The Cynic’s Word Book (1906), later known as The Devil’s Dictionary. Disappeared during the Mexican Civil War and was never seen again. Best known for his dark Civil War short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (L&O: 159 “Round my Library Shelves”).

Big Dolly A notorious Johannesburg prostitute (CSJ: 155).

Big Mavis Fordsburg prostitute whom Bernard is accused of pimping for and about whom the police wonder: “[W]hat did they call her ‘Big Mavis’ for? What part of her was big?” (YB: 160 “Street-woman: A Play in One Act”).

Big Polly A notorious Johannesburg prostitute (CSJ: 66).

Bijou Cinema Constructed in 1910 as a state-of-the-art cinema, it had an orchestra pit (for silent movies); demolished in 1958 to make way for an office block (L&O: 83 “Daisy de Melker”).

Biljon, Flippus A coloured man who was reclassified as white after the discovery of his birth certificate; whereupon he thanked the magistrate: “Thank you, baas,” Flippus Biljon said. “Thank you very much, my basie” (IT: 87 “Birth Certificate”).

Billikins Spirited prankster and employee of the Daisy Steel Corporation (YB: 25 “The Needle Test”).

Billy the Bastard Unsympathetic warder who insists on searching a prisoner who has fainted after his hand has been cut off by a power saw, before allowing fellow prisoners to carry him away for medical attention (CSJ: 107; L&O: 71 “Prison Warders”).

biltong Delicious dried, salted and cured meat (MR: 110 “Mampoer”; S&H: 112 “Cometh Comet”).

bioscope (archaic) Cinema; before cinema theatres existed, films were shown at fairgrounds as part of a travelling attraction; in SA, uniquely, the name stuck and came to mean either the film or the cinema theatre (MR: 39 “Ox-wagons on Trek”; UD: 33 “The Picture of Gysbert Jonker”; H: 106 “Mental Trouble”).

“Birth Certificate” (IT: 87) The voorkamer crowd talk about changelings raised in strange and unfortunate circumstances. One of HCB’s most perceptive and penetrating stories; hilarious yet poignantly and painfully sad in its criticism of racial ideologies. “And while the shadows under the thorn-trees grew longer, the stories we told in Jurie Steyn’s voorkamer grew, if not longer, then, at least, taller.”

birthplace Born 3 February 1905. “I was born in Kuils River – a Cape peninsular village within sight of Table Mountain – but I have lived most of my life in Johannesburg. My links with my birthplace are of the slenderest” (L&O: 31). Returning to his birthplace in June 1947, he observed that “there was nobody in the place that I knew or that knew me. Still, Kuils River is only a small town, and after I had signed my name in the hotel register and it had got around who I was, I had quite a lot of notice taken of me. For people all thought I was related to Bosman, the rugby forward. I didn’t feel called on to tell them I wasn’t. I did not want my home town to get disillusioned with me” (L&O: 31). His musings upon his return: “How shall I describe my feelings on alighting at the shabby little railway station and gazing about me at my unfamiliar birthplace, which I saw again, now, for the first time, since the age of four? I felt very lonely. There was nothing about the place I recognised. And if it wasn’t for the fact that Table Mountain looked quite near – through its proximity at least giving me some sort of clue as to whereabouts I was – I felt sure that I would have caught the next train back again. I felt so lost, both emotionally and geographically” (L&O: 33). “I had only one conscious memory of Kuils River. That was when I was about two. I was seated on the grass, wrapped around in a blanket, and there was a soft wind blowing, because it was getting on towards sunset, and the two young girl cousins, a few years older than I, were dancing about me on the grass. And I suddenly burst into tears, just like that, without reason. And the sadness of that memory has, at intervals, haunted me throughout the rest of my life” (L&O: 33).

The Malan grandchildren: Herman (seated), Pierre (bottom left), Zita Grové (standing left) (NELM)

bitterbessie (Afr.) Lit. ‘bitter berry’; while there are many bitter berries there is no specific plant named a bitterbessie (IT: 102 “Stars in their Courses”).

bittereinder(s) (Afr.) Lit. ‘bitter-ender(s)’; a soldier in the Second Anglo–Boer War (and by extension his family) who refused to surrender after the capture of Pretoria and other major centres in 1900, but who fought on into the protracted guerilla phase of the war, until the ‘bitter end’ in May 1902. See, in particular, the OSL-narrated stories “The Question”, “Peaches Ripening in the Sun”, “The Traitor’s Wife” and “The Rooinek” for vivid depictions of this phase of the war, and of the attitude and conduct of the ‘bittereinders’. The term is used in opposition to the so-called ‘hensoppers’ (‘hands-uppers’), who surrendered meekly at earlier stages in the war. See “Mafeking Road” for a depiction of this unheroic tendency among some Afrikaners, and “The Rooinek” (MR: 130), where HCB misspells it ‘hendsopper’.

Black Hole of Calcutta A dungeon in Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, where British prisoners of war were held in 1756. Conditions were so cramped that many soldiers suffocated; some accounts say as many as 123 of the 146 prisoners died, others say only 23 died. In context, Dap van Zyl’s fear leads him to believe that he too is suffocating in the holding cell, and he offers a needless confession merely to get out of the confines of the cell instead of waiting for his lawyer (W: 185).

“Black Magic” (H: 26) Gysbert van Tonder regales the gathering with an anecdote about a witch-doctor who promises him hidden gold. A wry look at superstition and confidence tricksters. “‘Oh, yes, the money, Baas Gysbert,’ the witch-doctor said, his face lighting up with intelligence and apricot brandy. ‘Oh, yes, the money that is buried here on Baas Gysbert’s farm.’”

Black Maria Slang term for a police van used to transport prisoners (L&O: 135 “The Old Magistrates’ Court”).

Black, Stephen (1880-1931) Journalist, playwright, novelist, short-story writer. Born in Cape Town and educated at Saint Saviour’s Upper Boys’ High School and Diocesan College, he worked as a sports and crime reporter on the Cape Argus from 1906. In 1910 he formed his own theatre company and toured SA and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He lived in England from 1913 to 1915, where he wrote articles for London’s Daily Mail, and in France from 1918 to 1927. A number of Black’s plays have been published. Three Plays (1984; edited by Stephen Gray) contains Love and the Hyphen (1908, revised 1928-29), Helena’s Hope, Ltd. (1910) and Van Kalabas Does His Bit (1916). He is also the author of two novels: The Dorp (1920) and The Golden Calf: A Story of the Diamond Fields (1925). Black was founder of the literary magazine The Sjambok (1929-31), which in May 1929 published one of HCB’s early pieces, “In the Beginning”, smuggled out of prison. After HCB left prison, other fiction – “In Church” (January 1931) and “The Night-dress” (February 1931) – and journalistic pieces followed. HCB met Black in the last year of the latter’s life and (briefly) revived The Sjambok as the The New Sjambok. See “Stephen Black”.

Blackburn, Douglas (1857–1929) London-born, he came to SA in the early 1890s and worked on The Star. He spent nearly two decades in the country. At the time of the Jameson Raid he became the proprietor-editor of the weekly newspaper The Sentinel, and during the Boer War years worked on both sides of the front as a correspondent. His most important novels are Prinsloo of Prinsloosdorp: A Tale of Transvaal Officialdom (1899; reissued in 1978 and 1989), A Burger Quixote (1903; reissued in 1984) and Leaven: A Black and White story (1908; reissued in 1991). The last of these is an early example of the ‘Jim Comes to Joburg’ genre. The first two are important precursors in style and theme to the work of Pauline Smith and, in particular, HCB. They both use a larger-than-life narrator who relates his various picaresque adventures in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

Blake, William (1757–1827) English Romantic poet, painter and mystic; famous for his poetry sequences Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794); HCB quotes a line from Blake’s For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793) (VS: 174 “Die Duistere Vers”).

blerrie Corruption of the swearword ‘bloody’, rendered in a low-Afrikaans form, with the appropriate Afrikaans pronunciation and inflection (CSJ: 74).

blesbok (Afr.) Blesbuck; lit. ‘bald buck’ (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi); medium-sized purplish antelope with white face; grassland animal that is found only in SA (UD: 33 “The Picture of Gysbert Jonker”; OTS: 34 “A Tale Writ in Water”).

blesbuck See blesbok.

Blignaut, Aegidius Jean (1899–1994) Journalist, short-story writer and biographer. Born in the Free State, he went to school in Kroonstad and later worked as a journalist in Johannesburg. In the 1930s he edited a number of satirical magazines with HCB (including The Touleier, 1930–31, The New L. S. D, 1931–33, and The New Sjambok, 1931). A recidivist convict (con man, fraudster, extortionist), he spent chunks of the 1930s in prison, and in fact was held there ‘at his majesty’s pleasure’ for a long spell from 1934 onwards. Probably in order to escape yet another lengthy gaol sentence, if not in fact the ‘indeterminate sentence’, he left for Britain and served with the RAF in the Second World War, remaining in Britain thereafter. He is best remembered for his simple-seeming and yet complex ‘Hottentot Ruiter’ narrator-figure, which influenced HCB’s ‘Schalk Lourens’ character and is part of a tradition of SA ‘oral-style’ stories. The Hottentot’s God (1931), Blignaut’s first collection of stories (introduced by HCB), features Hottentot Ruiter. Few (if any) copies of this privately published volume have survived, however, and Dead End Road (1980) was issued to bring the stories back into print. The stories Ruiter narrates all deal with his picaresque exploits and in one of them Schalk Lourens himself makes an appearance. Blignaut is also the author of the memoir My Friend Herman Charles Bosman (1981), and edited Death hath Eloquence (1981), a selection of HCB’s poetry. Talitha (1984) is a further selection of Blignaut’s stories.

Aegidius Jean Blignaut (NELM)

Blikwinkel (Afr.) Lit. ‘Tin Shop’; place through which Charlie Hendricks drives in his flight from Willemsdorp (W: 209).

blinkblaar (Afr.) Lit. ‘shiny leaf’; Pterocarpus rotundifolius (L&O: 142 “Marico Revisited”).

Blinkwater (Gorge) (Afr.) Lit. ‘shining water’ (CJ: 131 “Climbing Table Mountain”).

Bloemhoek Scene of an abortive police operation to entrap a town councillor under the Immorality Act. Having learned from this incident, Sergeant Brits is hesitant to collude with Marjorie Jones to entrap a white man (W: 153).

Blokland (Afr.) Name of ox; lit. ‘Block Land’ (OTS: 29 “Jakob’s Trek”).

Bloo-drimms Blue dreams; euphemism for hallucinations caused by smoking dagga (W: 63).

Bloom, Jack Manager or owner at the Plaza (CJ: 206 “Jam Session”).

Bloomberg, Charles Sunday Times journalist and author of Christian Nationalism and the Rise of the Afrikaner Broederbond in South Africa, 1910–1940 (1990). Son of Willie Bloomberg, he was present at HCB’s funeral, and was a friend to Helena, offering to place on computer her handwritten memoir of her late husband. Abrahams describes him as “a man of unique personality whose career in investigative journalism was to leave a mark or two on the historical record” (RB: 161).

Bloomberg, Willie Dedicatee of HCB’s Mara (‘To Willie Bloomberg, a republican who found a king’ – see poetry, plays), Abrahams describes him as a “dental engineer, socialist and bibliophile who had given HCB refuge when he needed a place to sleep after his release from prison” (RB: 140). Edgar Bernstein remarked that he “was one of the first to appreciate Bosman’s talent” (RB: 8).

“Blot on Benoni’s Escutcheon, A” See “Pride of the Reef”.

blotting paper Absorbent paper used to absorb excess ink from the surface of writing paper in the days when nibbed pens were dipped in ink (MR: 80 “Bechuana Interlude”).

bloubos (Afr.) Lit. ‘blue bush’; Diospyros lycioides; hardy shrub with bluish-green leaves, smooth bark, fragrant flowers and colourful fruit (IT: 40 “Local Colour”).

blouklip (Afr.) Lit. ‘blue stone’ (OTS: 42 “The Affair at Ysterspruit”).

Blouta Black or coloured female servant of Stefanus Aucamp (OTS: 102 “The Ox-riem”).

blue Prison slang for ‘under the influence of dagga’ (CSJ: 104).

“Blue Cylinder” Title of a sketch in “Romance: A Sequence”.

Blue Princess, The See Poetry.

blue tongue Debilitating sheep disease, often ruinous for sheep farmers (H: 189 “Easy Circumstances”). Also known as catarrhal fever, it is a viral disease found mainly in sheep, and certainly not in humans, as suggested in S&H: 76 “The Story of Hester van Wyk”.

bluebottles Jan Ockerse mentions that he was chasing these, but it is not clear whether he means marine bluebottles or bluebottle flies. Perhaps the sheer nonsensicality of this reference is intended by HCB to indicate that, his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, Okkerse was indeed sound asleep until OSL grumpily woke him by kicking him repeatedly. “What made him so certain that he had not been asleep, he said, was that he was imagining all the time that he was chasing bluebottles amongst the stars” (MR: 25 “Starlight on the Veld”).

bluecoat Habitual criminal serving the ‘indeterminate sentence’; such inmates wore a blue serge jacket to mark them off from the ordinary convicts, who wore brown corduroy jackets (L&O: 77 “Rosser”; CSJ: 48).

Bluecoat Verdamp Habitual criminal who claims credit for starting a bread-throwing demonstration (CSJ: 136).

bluegum Eucaplyptus; exotic tree from Australia that has become – ironically – an iconic feature of the SA platteland (S&H: 84 “The Wind in the Tree”). See also “Dream by the Bluegums”.

blue-jackets Uniformed London police (L&O: 91 “Royal Processions”).

“Blunted Weapons” Title of a sketch in “Romance: A Sequence”.

Boeotian Referring to Boeotia, a district in Ancient Greece or its people; also means stupid and without cultural refinement (YB: 63 “Romance: A Sequence”).

boer (Afr.) Lit. ‘farmer’; generic name for a member of the Afrikaans community, sometimes used pejoratively.

“Boer and Jew” (L&O: 171) Article for The South African Jewish Times on platteland hospitality and the enduring yet misunderstood relationship between Afrikaners and Jews. HCB breaks a lance for the Afrikaner and reveals his love for the platteland and its inhabitants. “God, you have only to look at their jokes to see that the Afrikaners and Jews are human beings, and remarkably fine human beings. And may God forgive them for their jests with life.”

boer bulldog/boerboel Mastiff-type dog unique to SA (H: 28 “Black Magic”).

“Boer Rip van Winkel, A” (OTS: 44) A weary Boer War soldier falls asleep only to wake up 12 years later in the midst of the 1914 Rebellion (see Rebellion of 1914). A poignant homage to Washington Irving’s classic tale and to soldiers who fought futile battles stoically. Herklaas van Wyk (the ‘Boer Rip van Winkel’) “realised that he would not be able, with the handful of burghers under his command, to invade England.”

Boer War See Anglo–Boer War, Second.

boeremusiek (Afr.) Lit. ‘boer music’; lively instrumental SA folk music derived from traditional European forms such as the polka and the mazurka, but with its own unique character; used as accompaniment to folk dancing and social occasions (IT: 76 “Potchefstroom Willow”).

boereorkes (Afr.) Lit. ‘Boer orchestra’ (folk music group) (H: 241 “Bekkersdal Centenary”).

boereseun (Afr.) Lit. ‘Afrikaans country boy’; well-known sentimental folk song; Chris Welman’s offer to sing it ‘with actions’ is turned down by Vermaak the school-teacher (IT: 62 “School Concert”).

boerewors (Afr.) Lit. ‘farmer’s sausage’; coarse sausage of minced beef and pork (sometimes of game), strongly spiced with coriander (S&H: 101 “The Ghost at the Drift”).

boet (Afr.) Shortened form of ‘broer’; lit. ‘brother’; English form would be ‘bro’, although boet has also been taken up into casual SA English parlance (CSJ: 74).

Boet A young, quick-witted poor-white labourer who survives by ingratiating himself with Bert Parsons, thus getting tasks that are physically less demanding (JN: 45).

Bogodi, Annie Girlfriend of Mletshwa Kusane (YB: 188 “Johannesburg Christmas Eve”).

bog-spavined When a horse is worked too hard in clay ground and its hooves become mired in the mud. The resulting injury, owing to internal scar tissue, then manifests itself as a lameness (CJ: 201 “Calling All Patients”).

bok (Afr.) The railing of an ox wagon (IT: 45 “Ghost Trouble”).

Bombay Duck A ‘responsible’ convict (CSJ: 152).

Bones, Lockjaw Bumbling detective who is a spoof of Sherlock Holmes; created by HCB as a schoolboy (L&O: 40 “The Mystery of the Ex-M.P.”).

bonsella Small reward or freebie; usually given to a customer who has bought something else much bigger; related to the Afrikaans word ‘pasella’, which is derived from Zulu (IT: 53 “Oom Tobie’s Sickness”).

Bonthuys, Frik Farmer in a remote area of the Marico held up as an example of what really backward people are like: “Frik Bonthuys wore his shirt outside of his trousers, and the back part of it hung down almost on to the ground” (IT: 71 “White Ant”).

Bonthuys, Joachem Affable nephew of Philippus Bonthuys, farm manager for Theunis Dupreez, and object of Marie Dupreez’s affection (UD: 84 “The Lover Who Came Back”).

Bonthuys, Minnie Attractive female teacher sent to the Marico from the Cape to replace the previous soft and ineffectual male teacher; object of Stoffel Lemmer’s affection (S&H: 54 “Bushveld Romance”).

Bonthuys, Philippus Ebullient farmer who interrupts Marie Dupreez’s operatic recital to make a speech and convince her to sing Afrikaans folk songs instead of Italian arias (UD: 81 “The Lover Who Came Back”).

boob Slang term for prison (CSJ: 64).

“Book of the Month” (WS: 168) A damning review by HCB of End and Beginning (1945), a poetry pamphlet by David Lewis. Accusing Lewis of writing verse rather than poetry, he offers examples of versifying that draws on a real interest in, and study of, poetry, but that fails to elevate itself beyond the banal. In the process, HCB rails against the modern drift towards free verse, which frequently, he asserts, is indulged in for the sake of being trendy rather than in order to convey any higher artistic imperatives. “The indications are that a good deal of poetry is going to be written in South Africa in the near future. When that happens, we shall be here to welcome it. But let us rather have nothing at all than that we should be presented with words and lines strung together with a greater or lesser amount of meaning in them, and with no poetry.”

boom (Afr.) Lit. ‘tree’; nickname for dagga, referring to the biblical ‘tree of knowledge’, as this was the supposed effect of dagga on the user (CSJ: 72).

boomslang (Afr.) Lit. ‘tree snake’; shy venomous snake; several varieties exist, ranging from black to green in colour; they grow up to one-and-a-half metres in length (MR: 47 “The Music Maker”; H: 109 “Mental Trouble”).

Booth, William, ‘General’ (1829–1912) English Methodist minister who founded the Salvation Army (CJ: 108 “Christmas Celebrations”).

Borcherd, Hendrik Late husband of Petronella (H: 153 “The Ugly Tale of a Pretty Widow”).

Borcherd, Petronella Widow of Hendrik Borcherd (H: 153 “The Ugly Tale of a Pretty Widow”).

“Border Badman” (H: 99) Oupa Bekker and Gysbert van Tonder relate stories of cattle smuggling and brushes with the law. A tale of age-old greed, bribery and corruption. “Patrolman Duvenhage said to Oupa Bekker, ‘I decided to give him a break. So I went up to him and kicked him twice, and told him to hand over the letter. Because I knew that was what he wanted. I mean, it’s an old stunt on the diamond fields.’”

Bosman, Elisa See Malan, Elisa.

Bosman, E(lise) See Linde, Marie.

Bosman, F. C. L. (1898–1981) Born in Kuils River, like his famous namesake, and until 1947 a lecturer in Afrikaans at the University of Cape Town; was then secretary of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns in Pretoria; used by HCB as a language consultant when the latter translated The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

Bosman, Helena See Stegmann, Helena.

Bosman, Jacobus Abraham (Jakoos) (b?–1923) HCB’s father, a mine labourer. Married Elisa Malan, HCB’s mother, on 26 April 1904, in Kuils River, where he worked on a tin mine. Later found work in Krugersdorp and then in 1918 moved with his family to Johannesburg (to 14 Grace Street, Jeppestown), where he worked as a waste-packer on the mines. Killed in a mine accident.

Bosman, Pierre (1906–197?) HCB’s younger brother. Attended Jeppe Central and Jeppe Boys’ High School. Left school and worked as a clerk in the Customs Department and later at Medical Research. After his father’s death and mother’s marriage to William Russell he shared a room with his stepbrother David Russell, and was embroiled in a fist fight with him on that fateful night of 18 July 1926, which resulted in HCB discharging a round from his hunting rifle and killing David (see on trial). Published a novel, Children of the Desolate, in serial form (never completed) in The Touleier in 1931. Worked as a subeditor on The New Sjambok and The New L. S. D., and later as a proofreader for The Cape Times. Became permanently estranged from his brother because of his drinking habit and feckless ways. After HCB’s death, lodged an ultimately unsuccessful claim against his brother’s estate.

Helena’s portrait of Pierre Bosman (NELM)

Bosman, the rugby forward (mentioned in “My Life”; see “birthplace”) Probably Nicolaas (Nico) Johannes Smit Bosman, the only Bosman at that stage to have worn the Green and Gold. He played three tests at fullback (not as a forward) for the Springboks against the touring British Lions in 1924 (L&O: 32 “My Life”).

Bosman and Mynhardt: A Tribute A 70-minute multimedia pastiche by Tim Sandham and Angus Douglas, with Johann Mynhardt; first performed at the 2009 National Arts Festival. One section was filmed as Bosman and the Storyteller, directed by Johann Mynhardt and starring Angus Douglas as Bosman and Tim Sandham as The Storyteller.

Bosman at His Best (1965) Very popular and successful collection, edited by Lionel Abrahams; contains some OSL stories from Mafeking Road, extracts from Cold Stone Jug, some journalistic pieces from A Cask of Jerepigo, stories from Unto Dust and a few from the Voorkamer sequence. The most frequently reprinted collection of HCB’s stories (some 30 impressions have appeared since 1965) with the exception of Mafeking Road.

Bosman I Like, The (1981) Miscellany of HCB OSL stories, journalism and Voorkamer pieces, with extracts from Cold Stone Jug, selected by Patrick Mynhardt; probably based on Bosman at His Best, with which there are significant overlaps, it contains a lengthy and lively preface by Mynhardt, in which Mynhardt’s first encounter with the work of HCB and how he came to dramatise HCB’s works on stage are described.

Bosman Papers Acquired by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRHRC) at the University of Texas at Austin in 1960 for 300 guineas (in today’s money, around R50 000) through the efforts of Professor Joseph Jones, the Papers were first sorted, systematised and researched by Vivienne Mawson Dickson in the 1970s, when she began her doctorate on the writer. Her bibliography (Research in African Literatures 12(3) 1981) lists not only all of the manuscripts held by the HRHRC, but also photocopies it acquired of his published writings. The most important mss are those pertaining to several Schalk Lourens stories, some miscellaneous stories (including “The Affair at Ysterspruit”), several previously unpublished stories and sketches (almost all of which have since been published in the Anniversary Edition), various versions of “Street-woman”, the unfinished novels “Johannesburg Christmas Eve” and “Louis Wassenaar” and two complete mss of Willemsdorp. The Papers also include some correspondence and notebooks. See Jones, Joseph.

Bosman Treasury, A (1991) A hard-back, coffee-table-style collection of 62 HCB stories (OSL, Voorkamer, miscellaneous), journalistic pieces, poems, and extracts from Cold Stone Jug (1949), selected by Lionel Abrahams, with illustrations by Ian Lusted.

Bosman’s Johannesburg (1986) Edited by Stephen Gray, this collection, as its title implies, gathers HCB stories and sketches that deal in various ways with the city of Johannesburg. It features seven Voorkamer stories, 11 essays on Johannesburg, and some previously unpublished writings, titled “‘Texas’ Fragments”: “Johannesburg Christmas Eve”, “Louis Wassenaar” and the play “Street-woman”. A five-page introduction by Gray places HCB in the Johannesburg of the first half of the twentieth century.

bosveld (Afr.) Lit. ‘bush plains/country’; ‘bushveld’ is the half-English rendering commonly used; applied loosely to the subtropical areas of SA (including the Groot Marico), where thornbush vegetation predominates; has the romantic connotation of wild, uncultivated, rugged country.

bot-fly Pestilential horsefly of the family Tabanidae; transmits diseases such as anthrax through biting animals and sucking their blood (S&H: 98 “The Ghost at the Drift”); can also be ingested by the horse and lead to painful death.

Botha Young convict who was tasked with sorting heaps of type that had been dropped between the floorboards of the print shop, a job he figured would take him seven years (CSJ: 130).

Botha, General Louis (1862–1919) Outstanding SA soldier and statesman; distinguished himself in battle during the Second Anglo–Boer War; appointed Commandant-General of the Boer forces in 1900; first prime minister of the Transvaal in 1907 and later premier of the Union of SA; successfully suppressed the Rebellion of 1914 (UD: 120 “The Question”).

Botha’s Government Forces Then SA prime minister Louis Botha’s national army, which suppressed the 1914 Rebellion (see Rebellion of 1914) (OTS: 47 “A Boer Rip van Winkel”). See Botha, General Louis.

Bothma Zealous new constable, appointed to prevent cattle smuggling in the Marico area (H: 176 “Man to Man”).

Bothma, Giel Johannesburger of dubious background who on the basis of a yellowed map convinces Marthinus Taljaard to dig up his farm in search of treasure (UD: 44 “The Ferreira Millions”).

Bradman, Donald, Sir (1908–2001) Australian cricketer who retired on an average of 99,94 runs per innings; regarded as the greatest batsman ever (CJ: 126 “Old Cape Slave Relics”).

brak (Afr.) Mongrel/cur (H: 103 “Border Badman”).

brak (Afr.) Brackish or poor (soil) (H: 46 “Day of Wrath”).

Brakpan (Afr.) Lit. ‘Brackish Pan’; large mining town on the East Rand (W: 168).

Brand, Adriaan Travelling companion of OSL and father of Minnie Brand, who falls in love with the outlaw Koos Fichardt (MR: 40 “Ox-wagons on Trek”).

Brand, Minnie Daughter of Adriaan Brand, travelling companion of OSL, who has a brief romance with the rogue Koos Fichardt (MR: 40 “Ox-wagons on Trek”).

brandsiek (Afr.) Mangy (S&H: 105 “Dopper and Papist”).

bredie (Afr.) Stew – although die-hard cooks and aficionados of SA cuisine will disagree and contend that a bredie is a much more complex dish than a stew because of its Cape Malay origins (W: 25).

brei (Afr.) To prepare, cure and soften animal hide into workable leather (S&H: 94 “Seed-time and Harvest”).

Breytenbach, Drieka (abbreviated form of Hendrika) Tall, blonde and blue-eyed, considered the “prettiest woman in the Marico” (MR: 104 “Drieka and the Moon”).

Breytenbach, Petrus Husband of Drieka; later murdered “with his own Mauser by a kaffir working on his farm” (MR: 104 “Drieka and the Moon”).

Bright, John (1811–89) English politician and orator (CJ: 189 “The Rt. Hon. J. H. Hofmeyr”).

Brink, Annie Doomed lover (OTS: 34 “A Tale Writ in Water”).

Brink, Gerhardina Young woman who is pregnant out of wedlock, daughter of Thys (OTS: 55 “In Church”).

Brink, Stoffel Unsociable son-in-law of Ouma Engelbrecht (OTS: 40 “The Affair at Ysterspruit”). Also the name of the rival of Jan Ockerse and Willem Mostert for the affection of Annie Steyn (MR: 26 “Starlight on the Veld”).

Brits, Detective Sergeant Rather stupid yet cunning detective and tracker who takes it upon himself to warn every white male in Willemsdorp after his superior, Commandant Roelf Kolyn, suggests that he warn contraveners of the Immorality Act before arresting them; Keystone Cop meets stereotypical dim-witted Afrikaner, HCB creates a lot of fun with Brits, but it is a bit of a cheap trick (W: 29).

broeders (Afr.) Brothers; usually used in a religious sense (S&H: 44 “Visitors to Platrand”).

Bronkhorstspruit Town in south-east Transvaal, site of one of the first clashes between Boer and British forces in the First Anglo–Boer War (MR: 74 “Yellow Moepels”; UD: 113 “Funeral Earth”).

Brontë, Charlotte (1816–55) English poet and novelist; eldest of the four Brontë sisters and author of Jane Eyre (1847), originally written under the male pseudonym Currer Bell (VS: 169 “Die Duistere Vers”).

“Brothers, The” (UD: 91) Two very different brothers fight over their inheritance, with tragic consequences. A taut story with no superfluous words that ties up very neatly in the chilling denouement; interesting and rare use of the word ‘native’ instead the usual ‘kaffir’. “They belonged to a sheep district, Tant Alie’s family, and we of the Marico, who were cattle farmers, said that for a sheep farmer it was even a help if his brain was not too sound.”

“Brown Mamba” (MR: 82) On a cattle drive two farmers experience the horrors of the lethal venom of a snake. This is the only story in Mafeking Road told in the third person and not featuring OSL; for explanation and deleted text see also “Notes on the Text” (MR: 144). A chilling treasure, managing to convey how alien it can be for a white man in the African bush; the description of the snake attack and the victim’s experience of it is testament to HCB’s amazing powers of observation and imagination. “The two men took off their hats in silence. There was nothing to be done about it. For in the Marico district death and brown mamba are synonymous terms, and everybody knows that you can’t do very much about death.”

“brown study” Being in a ‘brown study’ refers to absent-mindedness, complete absorption in something else (W: 163).

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806–61) English poet and wife of English dramatic poet Robert Browning (WS: 152 “Elizabeth Barrett Browning”; VS: 180 “The Poetry of Elisabeth Eybers”).

Brummer, Jack Union Party member and mining commissioner; as a former provincial rugby player and because of his position, he is a prominent and influential member of the community; although attractive, his relationship with Lena Cordier is a failure and his relationship with Mavis Clark ends with him proposing almost by default (W: 24).

bucksail Tarpaulin (MR: 97 “The Gramophone”).

“Budget The” (IT: 17) The voorkamer crowd complain about the price of stamps when Oupa Bekker reveals that he discovered the difficulties of working out a budget when he was Minister of Finance. Contains some very funny lines, but the story is not altogether coherent. “But it was hard for me to know how to work out a popular budget, especially as there were only seventeen income-tax payers in the whole of the Republic.”

“Building and Buildings” (CJ: 155) Discourse on space and design, with a medieval aside. Some thought-provoking ideas on architecture that don’t quite add up to a complete article.

buitekamer (Afr.) Lit. ‘outside room’ (UD: 25 “Romaunt of the Smuggler’s Daughter”).

“Bull-calf” (IT: 36) Jurie Steyn complains about the bad behaviour of a hand-reared calf. Clever and witty allegory on raising children the correct way. “I really do believe, sometimes,” he replied, thoughtfully, “that it would be better if I did go and do my post office work in the stable. I get no peace here, in the voorkamer. It is that Duusman. He’s been chewing the mailbags again. It’s a habit I despise in him. But that’s the worst of rearing a bull-calf by hand. I’ve sometimes thought I’ll just give Duusman the voorkamer and I’ll move into the stable. That’s at least one place that Duusman never goes into, anyway. He won’t be seen in a stable – not him. He’s much too stuck-up.”

bully-beef Nickname for tinned corned beef favoured as high-protein rations by armies; the name is derived from the French bœuf bouilli, which means boiled beef (W: 15).

bult (Afr.) Hill, outcrop (MR: 74 “Yellow Moepels”; H: 257 “Neighbourly”).

bun, bit of Reference to homosexual intercourse (CSJ: 69).

bundu Remote, sparsely inhabited area; probably from the Shona word for grasslands – ‘bundo’ (W: 45).

Bunyan, John (1628–88) Nonconformist preacher and writer famous for the religious allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678, 1684); was imprisoned on numerous occasions for not adhering to the doctrine of the established church (L&O: 86 “A Letter from Hades”).

Burgers, Frederik Actor playing the role of Doors Visagie (VS: 163 “A Bushveld Film Comedy”).

Burgers, Magda Pretty daughter of Willem Burgers and object of the young OSL’s misplaced affection (UD: 87 “When the Heart is Eager”).

Burgers, Manie A travelling companion OSL uses as an excuse to get away from Hans Kriel (MR: 113 “Mampoer”).

Burgers, Willem Neighbour of OSL and father of Magda Burgers (UD: 88 “When the Heart is Eager”).

burgher English form for ‘burger’ (Afr.) – citizen, civilian; also has the connotation of ‘genuine and loyal member’ of one of the Boer Republics (S&H: 122 “Great-uncle Joris”).

Burkhardt, Thys Wild and colourful young man who comes between two betrothed lovers and pays for it (S&H: 127 “The Old Potchefstroom Gaol”).

“Bush Telegraph” (UD: 53) OSL laments the passing of an era, the phasing out of the drum signals for the telegraph. One of the funniest stories yet also one of the most poignantly insightful, it contains an ending all the more surprising given its humour. One of the few stories in which the post office is not in someone’s voorkamer. Story is ironically prescient, as at the time of writing trance-like drumming by white city tourists had become quite a popular if somewhat silly pastime in the Marico. “He was very old and his face was wrinkled. I often thought that those wrinkles looked like the kaffir footpaths that go twisting across the length and breadth of Africa, and that you can follow for mile after mile and day after day, and that never come to an end.” (Lionel Abrahams translated the Afrikaans HCB story “Die Kaffertamboer” into English to fashion “The Kaffir Drum” for his edition of Unto Dust (1963); the Anniversary Edition of Unto Dust (2002) took a more purist line, choosing to publish only this earlier version of the story (“Bush Telegraph”), and placing the Afrikaans “Die Kaffertamboer” in Verborge Skatte (2001), on the principle that only authentic, untranslated HCB material should appear.)

Bushman/Bushmen Diminutive, nomadic, original inhabitants of southern Africa (now referred to as the San); a race that is in danger of extinction (H: 199 “Lost City”; H: 243 “Dying Race”).

bushveld See bosveld.

“Bushveld Film Comedy, A” (VS: 162) Tongue-in-cheek review of Die Wildsboudjie, hoping it would “set the tone for future films to be made in Afrikaans”.

“Bushveld Romance” (S&H: 52) OSL tells of human weakness and a shy deluded farmer falls in love with a school-teacher. Interesting comments on the abolition of slavery and also courtship behaviour with one of the sweetest endings imaginable. “She looked me up and down, from my head to my feet, I might say. And then she held her chin up very high. And for that reason I knew that she was in love with me. Every girl that’s in love with me looks at me like that.”

Butler, David (b. 1960) Actor; studied at the University of Cape Town; debuted in 1983 at the Baxter and Market Theatres. Since then has gone on to perform many roles on SA television, film and stage, most notably (on TV) in Egoli, Binnelanders and Soul City. His work involving HCB includes the one-man show “A Touch of Madness” (2003), which includes the sketches “The Recognising Blues” and “Jeppe High Revisited”, “Street-woman” (1978; 2003) and “A Teacher in the Marico”, all of which were scripted and directed by Nicky Rebelo and presented at the annual Herman Charles Bosman Literary Festival, along with runs in Johannesburg and elsewhere. In 2010 an extended version of the last, renamed “A Teacher in the Bushveld”, was performed for the first time: in it Rebelo stitches together a variety of HCB reminiscences and stories, including “White Ant”, “Susannah and the Play-actor”, “The Affair at Uysterspruit” and “A Cold Night”, which are slipped into the narrative frame provided by HCB’s two principal autobiographical sketches about his days as a schoolmaster: “A Teacher in the Bushveld” and “Marico Revisited”. See photograph on p. 101.

Buys, Gerrit Proud owner of an antique flintlock rifle (OTS: 87 “The Old Muzzle-loader”).

Buys, Hendrik Man of dubious character who presents Jan Slabbert with a map indicating buried treasure on his farm; so absorbed with the treasure hunt he does not notice Susannah Buys’s amorous advances; ends up getting kicked out of the Marico – literally (UD: 39 “Treasure Trove”).

“By the Kerbside” (YB: 95) A series of snippets and observations of Johannesburg events and personalities; covers everything from Turkish baths to weddings, from midnight at Zoo Lake to Bar-lock typewriters. Possibly the closest a reader can get to what it was like to experience the unmasked wit of HCB. “The more I see of my fellow man, said a bitter French cynic, the more I love my dog.”

Byron, George Gordon (1788–1824) Sixth Baron Byron, English Romantic poet (CJ: 39 “Byron’s Chair”).

“Byron’s Chair” (CJ: 38) Wry comments on the silliness of attaching value to an object merely because someone famous might have used it; includes a dig at the poet Byron. “If you are a poet you won’t sit writing on a chair when you have got a bed to lie on. Or a carpet, even. Or, if you have got it, a cell floor.”

byt hom (Afr.) Lit. ‘bite him’ (VS: 163 “A Bushveld Film Comedy”).

bywoner (Afr.) Poor tenant farmer who works for a farm owner and also farms for himself but never owns the land; sometimes used as a derogatory term (H: 75 “Alarm Clock”).