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| Frederick Street then and now |
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| Red House then and now |
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| Police HQ then and now |
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| King Street (now Independence Square) looking East |
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| Top of Frederick Street then and now |
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| Chacon Street with Trinity Cathedral then and now |
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| Queen's Park Hotel (now an office building) then and now |
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| Government House (now President's House) then and now |
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| Marine Square (now Independence Square) looking South then and now |
An Essay by Gérard A. Besson
During the colonial era in Trinidad and Tobago, several forms of indigenous behaviour as demonstrated by the Jamette society (Jamette from the French "diametre", meaning beyond the diameter of polite society) were proscribed against.
From the 1840's the beating of the drum was outlawed within the town limits, and later Cannes Brulées and Hosay were contained and suppressed wherever possible. Severe restrictions were placed on certain religious practices: the Shouters and Spiritual Baptists for example. So too cock-fighting and obeah, and of course the steel band was frowned upon and placed in opprobrium.
Amongst these so-called anti-social behaviours was included a form of gambling called whe-whe. Whe-whe was declared illegal with an Ordinance passed in 1888, the first of several attempts to stop this practice, described in the press as "pernicious ... and an evil."
Over the years, the restrictions on some of the above were to some extent either completely removed or considerably reduced. This has not been the case, however, for whe-whe. Instead, under the auspices of the National Lotteries Act and controlled by the National Lotteries Control Board, "Play Whe" was created as a replica of the original game, and is now accepted and enjoyed by a wide cross-section of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
Whe-whe came to these islands with the indentured Chinese immigrants, perhaps as early as 1806. Significantly, Chinese immigration really began after Emancipation. Between 1853 and 1866 about 2,500 Chinese, mostly men, arrived to work on the estates as indentured labourers. During the mid-19th century, whe-whe took root and began to be assimilated into the creole culture. This took place as the Chinese gained freedom from their indentures and as Chinese shops began to appear all over the island.
Although at first whe-whe was played only by Chinese, it was soon assimilated into the general Trinidad life-style, among other factors because of the intermarriage of Chinese immigrants with non-Chinese locals. An ancient pastime, it was also known as "Chinapoo"; a numbers game played by intuition, superstition, dreams and caprice. It drew its financial support from the community into which it became implanted. By the 1920s, in formed an important part of the island's underground economy. For example, a Chinese shop-keeper would have had to extend credit to his customers and may have operated a whe-whe bank to offset his cash-flow difficulties by creating another income stream.
Whe-whe then gradually contributed to a sense of community. Through the process of acculturation it gave on the one hand to the society an added distribution of income and the possible access to cash and on the other hand absorbed the customs and belief systems of its host environment, comprised as it was of a wide variety of people from diverse racial origins and backgrounds.
No longer in its original form, it has been creolised, acquiring words (marks) like Jamette (#16: low class man or woman), Crapaud (#13: frog), Corbeau (#11: vulture), Coco Bay (#24: eye infection or leprosy, from the name of a bay at Chacachacare where there was once a leper colony). It has retained one Chinese word, albeit corrupted, Tie Pin, correctly T'ai P'ing (#12: Heavenly Kingdom).
A whe-whe "turf", as the yard or ground where the main activity takes place was called, was usually in a secured place in the high woods or in a clandestine spot. It might have been started by a person well known in the area, like the local shopkeeper, or might have been taken over after the demise of a former ''banker'', as this person was called. It might also have been inherited, staying in the hands of a single family for several years.
In any event, it required a considerable sum of money to guarantee a whe-whe bank, as bets were sometimes very large. A ''bank" was the money staked to be used to make payments on bets. Bankers usually declared the value of the bank to the markers or punters. Some banks were described as limited, some were unlimited.
The whe-whe banker, having established his turf, employed several markers or punters, sometimes called runners or travelling agents, who were deployed in various areas taking bets. They retained $6.00 on any $1.00 bet that won. Sometimes the bank would ''buss", i.e. it was forced to pay out more than it had taken in, in which case it paid only a percentage of the bets.
A banker may ''buss the mark" several times in the course of a day: at 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, or at 12 midnight.
At the selected time the banker gives a marker a mark: a strip of paper with a number on it, and the marker puts it on a tree or in a match box. The banker must never put the mark in his pocket, as this may be regarded as grounds for suspicion, and it must however remain a secret. Long ago, when the Chinese operated whe-whe, the mark would be suspended on a string from the ceiling of the shop. Preselected, this number may not be repeated or "dambled" more than once in any day, it is considered "dead". At the signal from the banker, a marker busses the mark by opening the paper and displaying the winning number.
When punters or markers collect marks from their clients they are "picking up punts". The commission earned by a marker is known as "waters". Markers who collect bets may be tempted to "cut the mark" by checking his lists to see how many people have played the same mark, and see how much cash has been involved for the day's play. He may decide to take a cut on each person's mark, reducing the bets that he takes to the banker. He, however, always makes sure to pay off the winners.
This "cutting the mark" is a somewhat risky undertaking, as the- banker may not take too kindly to this fraud. To safeguard against this a "list'' is made. A list is a sheet of paper on which marks are listed and the bets are entered. This is totalled and the marker/punter puts his symbol at the bottom (not his name). This list is handed into the banker. Marks are listed on the left side and the amounts on the right. A nominal sum of 4% is added to each bet on the list. This is the commission (“waters”) that markers earn. For example, if the bet is $100, he puts $104.
The game has acquired several terms to describe its various aspects, such as "mark-under'' or "mark-under-mark" or "pull-down". This is a strategy used by a banker to throw the players off. The mark played on Wednesday is played the following Wednesday at the same time. A banker is thought to be under a mark when it is observed that he plays that number on a particular weekday for more than one week.
A banker may try to outwit players by "pulling across a mark": he may play a number, e.g. 8, on Wednesday, and play it again on Tuesday of the following week, playing the mark a day earlier than the day he was under the mark.
A mark is dead when played in the morning, and cannot be played again that day, however it may be played the following day. ''Whappi" is a rare event which takes place when more than one bank in the same area plays the same number on the same day at the same time. To get a whappi is regarded as very good fortune.
The symbol of whe-whe is a drawing of the Chinaman jumbie, or Chinapoo. His anatomy is divided into some 36 segments, each marked with either mark partner or spirit numbers, depending on the chart. Originally Chinese characters were used, but as Chinese is very difficult to learn and pass on, the successors to the established banks or those setting up new ones proceeded to creolise the original Chinese ideograms, leaving only the original numbers.
Long ago this chart would belong to the Chinese banker and would be made available to punters/markers as an aid to divining the meaning of the dreams. These numbers all have names and these names and numbers are the marks. The derivation of the chart may have sprung from the Chinese belief in the currents, electrical, magnetic and psychic as described in the Yin and Yang philosophy. These currents flow through the universe, the human condition being a reflection of all this and echoes it in microcosm.
Whe-whe is drawn from an ancient belief system that seeks to interpret and to anticipate this grand plan. Its methods have to do with numerology, astrology, cabala, divining, nature cults and other systems linked to the Chinese lunar and solar calendars. Dreams and visions may thus be interpreted to dictate which mark should be played at what time.
It is interesting to note that unlike other forms of gambling, in whe-whe money is paid to develop a person's intuitive faculties by causing them to remember dreams, associate ideas, regard the significance of numbers and attempt to anticipate the coincidental. In the process of creolisation, whe-whe assimilated the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, itself a syncretised amalgam of African, Spanish, French and Amerindian experiences, beliefs, myths and superstitions. "Rakes", that is observed events and various forms of gossip such as arguments and quarrels, the unfaithfulness of another's spouse or other deriving from the community, are all important to the informing of a choice of mark.
In the process of assimilation some marks have changed in name, for example Scorpion (1) became Centipede, Butterfly (14) became Money, and Carpenter (22) became Rat.
Over the years, markers/punters have become expert diviners and interpreters of dreams and readers of the "astral", the sole purpose being to second-guess the banker and in so doing earn more "waters" for themselves, and a wider circle of clients.
Each mark has a partner, and some, though not all, have spirits. Further, according to the rules of numerology, the value of a mark may be arrived at, by adding together its digits. For example, one may say that two is 2, 11 or 20; or that five is 5, 14, 23 or 32. Therefore, there are three twos and four fives on the chart, and you may decide to play all the twos or the fives, as the case might be.
The mark and its partner may be played together because they have the same meaning or may be interpreted similarly. They are “family", having in common the same association of ideas.
The mark and spirit are only represented in half of the 36 numbers. The intuition or hunch to play a mark may be supported by playing the partner of the mark and be further endorsed by playing the spirit as well. It is here that the subtle association of ideas informs the choice of mark, aided of course by the memory and the correct interpretation of dreams, hence the importance of recording dreams.
Various dreams relate to particular marks. According to one very old chart, if you dreamt of a fowl, you could play 26, 11,13 and 25: 26 being Fowl, 11 Corbeau, 13 Crapaud, 25 Morocoy. As a matter of interest, the partner of 26 is 8, Tiger, and its spirit is 27, Little Snake. Eleven's partner is the un-number 37 or Police, and when that mark buss, clear out the place. The spirit of 11 is 36, Cat Pan, which has sexual overtones. All of this may be perused in greater detail in the attached charts.
That the creation of a legal form of whe-whe in Play-Whe has brought this ancient game in from the cold may be regarded as yet another step in the process of cross-cultural assimilation of the peoples of Trinidad and Tobago. The tremendous interest that today's Play-Whe has generated demonstrates the extent to which the game, in its original form, had found a place in our national consciousness. There is no doubt that Play-Whe exercises the imagination, creating an interest in the process that associates ideas, encourages a regard for the meaning of numbers and the remembering of dreams. It is hoped that this little book will serve to bring a greater understanding of the game and to encourage you to record your dreams and to use them as inspiration to play and win.
May the subtle currents of Air, Earth, Water and Fire be with you.
