Places to See

Plymouth, The Old Capital

Sitting on the north-western coast of Tobago, the village of Plymouth takes its name, no doubt, from the famous English seaport and sailing centre. It was the former capital of Tobago , and is the only place in old Tobago where the streets show evidence of forethought and design, being laid out in rectangular fashion, at least, in the flat portion of the village of Plymouth.

Jutting out into the sea is a headland on which is situated Fort James. The buildings here have survived hundreds of years of assault by salty sea blasts. They evidently were made of blocks of coral, as can be seen in the picture below. I seem to recall having read somewhere and long ago that they used turtles' eggs and molasses for mortar!

If you stand on the headland today, it is interesting to see the sweep of ocean commanded by the remaining obligatory cannon.

Apart from the fort, there are two other attractions in Plymouth.

One is the Mystery Tomb. The other a more modern monument.

The Plymouth Mystery Tomb is the burial place of one Betty Scott. Her husband was a sailor, Alexander Stivens; her father a prominent figure in Tobago in his day. It appears to have been the father who was responsible for the inscription on the tomb, which reads in part:

Plymouth today is the venue for the anual kite-flying competition, organized by an outfit called Tobago Flying Colours. In March 2002 there was an internmational kite-flying contest here.The regular competition is usually held during the Xmas holidays, the actual date depending on the weather. Kites have to stay aloft for 5 minutes to qualify. In 2003 there was a kite in the shape of an old bi-plane. There were box kites and ordinary kites with holes. The largest kite was a 20 feet gargantua brought by a team from Mason Hall , and it took large rope to keep it from breaking away while aloft. The Oldest Kite-Flyer prize went to a Mr. Theo Henry - 93 years old and in good shape for his age.

The 2nd Tobago Jazz festival(2006) was held in April. The event, sponsored by CLICO and the Tobago House of Assembly, drew an international crowd, both audience and performers

The next item of interest is the Latvian Monument on Commissioner's Street. Relatively new, having been erected in the 1970's, it is of modern metalwork and local design.

In 1976 there was a cultural visit here by some Courlanders from many parts of the world, some of them living in exile. Their monument commemorates man's agelong search for freedom and peace.

But who were these Courlanders?

Well in 1654 there sailed into the bay at Plymouth, which came to tbe called Great Courland Bay, a two-decked warship with the unwieldy name of "Das Wappen der Herzogin von Kurland." The Captain Willem Mollens, with a detachment of 25 officers and 124 men, declared Tobago the property of Courland. He named it New Courland, which probably was a more comfortable name for the 80 families which Mollens brought with him on the trip for purposes of colonization. They established Courland rule in Tobago and established Jekabfort (Fort James). They named the nearby river the Courland River, which name it still has until today.

Courland was a small by surprisingly vibrant fiefdom of The United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, being ruled by James Kettler, Duke of Courland and godson of James 1 of England. Kettler was enarmoured with the then popular theory of mercantilism - that trade generates wealth and that bullion should be acquired to speed up the process. His country was on the shores of the Baltic Sea, part of what is now Latvia. So the Courlanders were Latvians.

James Kettler acquired a huge navy - 61 men-of-war with a total of 1416 cannon. It was the largest fleet in the world. Not unexpectedly he harboured ambitions of colonization. Soon he was selling tropical products in Europe - tobacco, ginger, tropical birds and even their feathers, indigo, sugar, cocoa. His ships came to be identified by their own distinctive flag - a red flag with a black crab!

Modern Latvians still have an affinity for Tobago. Plymouth is the link.

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