Notes |
- It's a rare privilege to meet a man in his 100th year. Eastern Cape
farmer Rex - lean but still as upright as an aloe- was born on the farm
Woodbury in the Albany dist. in 1902.
It was the year Boer & Briton were negociating a peaceful end to a sorry
war & Thomas Edison was at work inventing the battery in America.
A full century of South African history has passed before Rex Gush's
eyes. He can recall horseback-riding 5km to school barefoot through a
veld " white with frost " as clearly as he can recall the day World War
One was declared in Europe. Domiciled today at Beacon Hill farm near
Sidbury, Rex is a self efacing man, somewhat bemused by all the fuss over
his impending centenarian status. Although " stone deaf " now, he is
quite lucid & communicates with the aid of a
writing pad. Conversation over tea on the aloe-fringed stoep is
punctuated with anecdotes from "granddad ", who has clearly achieved
longevity on a tough, clean life preserved by the love of caring family.
" When I hear people talking about the good old days I think of working
for just one day an the Bushman's River valley, (reaping) under the
blazing sun. You can have the old days...But I must add though, I
wouldn't have missed them for the world!" These are Rex's words in
tape-recorded conversations he had recently with his grandson, Richard
Gush. Rex is a direct descendant of the famous settler Richard Gush of
Salem, who persuaded a Xhosa band from attacking the hamlet during the
War of Hintsa in the 1830's. He became quite the hero although he was
reportedly " quite a difficult man", says Richard. Rex recalls how his
mother, Margaret, often heard leopard grunting in the krantz near the
Woodbury farmstead " as they hunted dassies there ". His father, Gurney,
once found a leopard trap missing & followed the spoor to a large tree,
hearing a roar moments before the big cat leapt from a branch. He had
just enough time to aim, fire & dodge the cat- a fireside tale that
enthralled many Gush grandchildren.
Rex remembers the after-effects of " that blimming
war " - the Anglo-Boer War. His father tried to rehabilitate an
Afrikaans family who had been interned in Cape Town." Anthrax was the
scourge of the day & they must have eaten some contaminated meat as one
child contracted the disease. " A local native herbalist pronounced that
he could cure her. The chid's face was puffed up so badly that her eyes
were mere slits. The herbalist duely cooked up his brew & the child was
cured within a few days. Dr. Drury told Dad he would pay anything for the
cure & despite Dads offer of cattle, the herbalist was unmoved- the cure
was his to pass on to his children only." The Gush family spent some
years in the Karoo on a farm called Katkop- a difficult period in
conditions not conducive to cattle farming. So Gurney turned to sheep.
Rex claims he was " a timid boy of 6 when we moved {to Katkop}, more at
home speaking Xhosa than English." The rains were good that first year.
"I can remember us coming down from the nearby Riebeeck berge with our
mouths covered in black juice from eating num-nums {berries} off the
bushes." Rex used to ride his tame old horse, Gyp, to school on a
neighbours farm. One day the river came down in flood & Gyp unexpectedly
plunged in, determined to cross it "to get home to suckle her foal."
Unable to swim, Rex clung on for dear life. Of course " Mother was
horrified! " At the age of 10, Rex went to St. Andrews Prep. in
Grahamstown. " Can you imagine going from the Karoo to boarding school -
it was like caging an animal. I have never caged an animal since. "
However, the three years I spent at this Anglican school were a good
experience." After that he attended Kingswood College. He excelled at
drawing, However, & won a prize. " It was World War One so there was only
a piece of paper for a prize, no book." He went on to be an NCO in the
Cadets, a prefect & a member of the rugby first team, playing alongside
Springbok-to-be Bennie Osler. The outbreak of war was on August 4, 1914.
I can remember it as though it was yesterday. I was 12 yrs. old." In 1918
Spanish flu broke out, killing 140 000 South Africans. George Thomas, a
cousin & caretaker of Woodbury farm, gave each person a daily dose of
Little's dip & Wattle's water. Not a single person died at Woodbury. One
farmer in the Karoo spanned his oxen & trekked into the bush with his
family. He threatened to shoot anyone who came close." Gurney sold Katkop
& moved back down to Woodbury in wagons with all their furniture & 50
cattle. The move was aided by an Afrikaner called Gerber who " was a most
volatile chap who could train bullocks & horses, shoe horses, castrate
them- anything you darn well like except sign his name." On modern
transport Rex has this to say: " It's those tough times of riding horses
& buggies that makes me realise there's nothing like a motor car. Oh
dear! You chaps who have grown up with them don't know what wonderful
amenities they are. Up from Cape Town in 9 hours, a few stops for tea, &
a nap in the back. ( In my youth) it was 5 hours just to Grahamstown -
rough roads, gates to open & drink breaks for the horses. " Anyway, I'm
still alive!"
Rex had a wonderful week over his birthday with many family visiting to
celebrate with him.
|