It is not unusual for former students to stop Persis Butler on the street or in the grocery store. They always want to talk about one thing, the songs.
Over the course of four decades of teaching, Persis wrote hundreds of little songs for her students to help them remember difficult concepts, introduce the beauty of Bermuda or to increase their cultural appreciation. The songs had names like One Little Paw Paw, Kiskadee and Old Bermuda Railway. In the end, so many former students asked her for copies of their favourite songs that she decided to collect them into a book. The result was “One Little Paw Paw”, one of the first collections of music entirely composed of songs and accompanying music about Bermuda. The song book, published by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, is now available in schools all over the island so although Persis is now retired, her legacy lives on.
She grew up in the budding era of Rock N Roll music, but it was a period that that largely passed her by.
Her family was not particularly musical, but her mother often took her to concerts held at The Berkeley Institute which would often host visiting musicians and performers. That did a lot to foster her interest in music.
She was not very good at math, but made up little songs to remember dates and formulas. One of her happiest childhood memories is when her parents bought her a battered old piano.
“No one ever had to tell me to practice,” she said.
She became a teacher and taught at Purvis Primary School for 20 years before she realized what she really loved was teaching music. She took several practical courses in music teaching in Toronto, Canada over a period of several summers.
For the second half of her career she taught music at Dellwood Primary School (later Northlands Primary) and Gilbert Institute. She retired a few years ago.
“I find music very fulfilling,” she said. She loves spirituals and classical music. She can take opera, but it is not her thing. Her husband Vaughan Winston is a jazz lover. As long as he doesn’t play it too loudly she can tolerate it, but she prefers folk music.
Persis said she was amazed and astounded to learn she had won the lifetime achievement award from the Bermuda Arts Council.
“There is nothing special,” she said. “I am a teacher at heart. Even as a musician, I am a teacher first”
“I love music, first of all,” she said. “It just gives an added balance to everything.”
She was never particularly interested in rock n roll music like her peers. She preferred cantatas and sang in the Young People’s Choir at St Paul’s AME Church. She was taught by well known music teacher Doris Corbin who was the choir director at that time. Persis thought it was wonderful when Mrs. Corbin would combine the youth and adult choirs at certain times of the year. One of the highlight’s of Persis’ youth was singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
A passion for choirs stayed with her into adulthood. She directed the choir at Bright Temple AME church for years. She now attends the Church of God on the North Shore in Pembroke where she enjoys listening to the many musicians who perform there. She also plays the piano for the Women Aglow Ministry where she was asked to fill in until they found someone else. That was 20 years ago. She also is the director of the Golden Hour senior citizens club choir.
A few of her students have gone on to become professional musicians or passionately devoted to it as a hobby. She just hopes that she helped her students to love and appreciate music. Persis believes that the secret to fostering that love is to love it yourself. “That love is contagious,” she said.
In 1996 she received the Queens Certificate and Badge of Honour for her work in education. Two years ago she was also recognised with the Community and Cultural Affairs Senior Citizen Award, and this year she and her husband received the special couple’s award from the same organisation.
