North Village Band: A Living Link To Slavery
[Written by Larry Burchall] In Bermuda, on Emancipation Day 1st August 1834, slavery ended.
Twenty-three years later, on 29th June 1857, a group of men, all of them musicians and members of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows Alexandrina No. 1026 got together and formed the Alexandrina Band.
These men were all black, and as Lodge members, probably also helped build and were part-owners of the Alexandrina Hall. The most interesting thing about this band start-up was that these men, mostly over twenty, would have been born into slavery.
For many years, this Alexandrina Band marched other Lodges to Church, played on Lodge anniversaries or at special Church services, church bazaars and fairs, New Year and Christmas parties, dinner parties, street parades, and on other occasions.
Down through the years, the Alexandrina Band went through some changes. At one time, it was associated with the Anglican Church Lads Brigade or CLB and became known as the CLB Band. In 1949, a ‘new’ CLB Band was formed in the old town of St George’s.
This new group changed its name to the North Village Band, and changed their base to the North Village area in Pembroke. Here is where these older members built the “Bandroom” on what is now called Bandroom Lane .
The North Village Band used to perform at the annual Cup Matches, and led the pre and post-war Easter Parades. The North Village Band often rendered music, concert style, at Bermuda’s annual Agricultural Exhibitions.
One hundred and fifty-three years later, in 2010, the North Village Band and name remains. Today, the North Village Band is still active in the community. It is the Band that plays for the Bermuda Scout Association on the Boy Scouts annual St George’s Day Parade; the last one of which took place on Sunday 18th April.
Today’s North Village band is led by the Bermuda Regiment’s ex-Director of Music Major Kenneth Dill. In another guise, Major Dill is also the Head of the Civil Service. In still another guise, Major Dill is often appointed to the temporary position of acting-Deputy Governor. This unique association between the Band, its current Director, and the band’s origins, shows how far Bermuda has come along the path of history that joins today’s members with those ex-slaves of 1859.
The North Village Band is an important and hitherto unrecognized part of our Bermudian heritage. The Band is also a ‘living link’ to Bermuda’s past.
The video below shows the North Village Band under the baton of Major Kenneth Dill playing Winter Wonderland:
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