SUNBURNT QUEEN

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD ENGLISH GIRL, WASHED UP ON THE WILD COAST IN ABOUT 1736, IS ADOPTED BY THE AMAMPONDO, GROWS UP TO BECOME A WOMAN OF SURPASSING BEAUTY, MARRIES THE CHIEF OF THE CLAN AND BECOMES AN ANCESTOR OF MANY OF THE XHOSA ROYAL FAMILIES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE STUFF OF ROMANCE, BUT THIS IS VERIFIED, DOCUMENTED FACT. ALTHOUGH HER SURNAME IS UNKNOWN, IN SPITE OF A PERSISTENT 19TH-CENTURY STORY THAT SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF A GENERAL CAMPBELL, WE DO KNOW THAT HER NAME WAS BESSIE. THE AMAMPONDO NAMED HER GQUMA - 'THE ROAR OF THE SEA' - AND SHE WON THEIR AFFECTION FOR HER COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY, AND BECAME FAMOUS FOR HER LOVE OF ORNAMENT, COVERING HERSELF WITH NECKLACES, BEADWORK, SEASHELLS AND BANGLES. BUT SHE WAS NO MERE FASHION-PLATE, WINNING RENOWN FOR HER WISDOM, BECOMING INVOLVED IN THE POLITICS OF HER ADOPTED PEOPLE AND WIELDING AN INFLUENCE VIRTUALLY UNPRECEDENTED AMONG WOMEN OF HER TIME AND PLACE. INSPIRED BY THE STORY OF BESSIE, IN SUNBURNT QUEEN, HAZE