changed over the years, and most Bermudians have seen them countless times, but Bermuda's Gombeys can still draw a crowd and cause a traffic jam with just a few beats of their drums.

And even though little children start out being frightened of them, there is something about the Gombeys that just can't be ignored. They are as much a part of Bermuda's heritage as fish cakes and longtails, as mysterious as their costumes are beautiful.

Louise Jackson, who started the Jackson School of Dance soon after arriving in Bermuda from Philadelphia as a teacher 49 years ago, has written two books on the Gombeys, with `The Bermuda Gombey, Bermuda's Unique Dance Heritage', published in 1987, still on sale in local bookstores.

In her introduction she called the Bermudian Gombey dance a "dancer's dance, incredibly acrobatic and rhythmically infallible''.

Just last week, the first colour coin featuring the Gombey went on sale...more good news for Mrs. Jackson, who has been fighting for decades to have the Gombeys recognised as part of Bermuda's heritage.

"I was very pleased, in fact I had a call from the Bermuda Monetary Authority asking me where they could find my book for a couple of things that they needed from that,'' explained Mrs. Jackson.

"I'm not tooting my own horn but I have really worked to bring those Gombeys from a group where nobody was paying them much attention and now they are the most popular cultural experience that people have here in Bermuda. They are on the stamps, they travel, but it wasn't like that in 1952, I can tell you.

"Now you've got Gombeys with Astwood and Dickinson doing these beautiful 14-carat gold pieces and they use my writings for the insert they put in it and give me credit for it. Now the Gombey is where it should have been for so many years, they are going to be featured at the Smithsonian, they've been on Good Morning America. It's just exploded and that's a wonderful thing.'' Mrs. Jackson admits it is her dance background that first got her interested in the Gombeys. For more than ten years Mrs. Jackson has been doing a presentation for tourists for Gombeys every Tuesday at the Harbour Room during the off-season months of November to March.

"That is the most popular event for tourists in that season,'' she believes.

"It's really for tourists but whole classes of school children come.'' In 1994 Mrs. Jackson spoke at the Hamilton Lions Club luncheon and voiced her disappointment at the way the Gombeys were being treated.

"Why are we ignoring the richest part of our Bermudian heritage, our only indigenous dance?,'' she questioned.

"Why haven't we had a postage stamp on the Gombey? We've had stamps of dogs, flowers, airplanes and other inane things, but never our Gombeys. When this was explored several years ago the then head of the Stamp Advisory Board said that the Gombey was not a part of Bermudian culture.'' The stamp did finally come but "we went through, excuse the expression, hell to get the stamps'', she pointed out.

"I had to write letters, you wouldn't believe what we went through to get those Gombeys on stamps but you don't have to fight anymore. Bermudians understand this is a cultural treasure, they are a gem.

"When I first saw them they were dancing back of town and I thought it was one of the most exciting things I'd seen. When I went to Africa I saw dancers dressed like and doing dances very, very similar to our Gombeys.'' In her book, Mrs. Jackson notes that one of the first references to the Gombey in Bermuda was found in the Royal Gazette of January 18, 1831, by former librarian Cyril Packwood when an ad was placed offering a $4 reward for the return of two slaves "who went off without cause at Christmas, following that idolatrous procession the Gumba''.

The first reference to the Gombeys in Bermuda went back even further than that, to 1761, when the Governor banned all celebrations or public gatherings amongst the slaves as a result of a slave revolt.

Some of the earlier writings about the Gombey in Bermuda included Suzette Lloyd's writings in her diary (Sketches of Bermuda, 1829) about seeing the Gombeys.

"In the beginning the slaves brought it (dancing) straight from Africa to Bermuda but there are also slaves who took it down to the West Indies,'' explained Mrs. Jackson.

"Then you had a lot of West Indian (ancestors) people coming to Bermuda and they brought the dance with them, but it didn't come just from the West Indies.'' In the book, Mrs. Jackson explained that labourers imported from the Leeward Islands to work at the Dockyard greatly influenced the tradition of the Gombey. In fact, she wrote, the Indian dancers of St. Kitt's today are very similar to our Gombey in dress but differ in many other aspects, such as the drum beat.

The material for the book came from research she did for a paper she presented to the UNESCO Cultural Conservation Conference in Jamaica in 1970.

"At that time I had a chance to see and hear the other dancers and drum beats and was able to ascertain that our Bermuda drumbeat was absolutely unique.

They're not anything else you might see -- not like the Bahamian Goombays or St. Kitt's Indians.'' There are five Gombey Troupes in Bermuda; Warner's, H&H, Richardson's, Warwick Gombeys, who are the youngest, and Place's Gombeys who will be 44 years old this year.

The Gombey Troupes will be out in force over the Bermuda Day holidays, mesmerising the crowds and drawing a following just like they've always done.

May is Heritage Month and they are just as visible during the May 24 celebrations as the runners competing in the Marathon Derby.

"My dad started the Place's Gombeys back in the 1950s, we're the oldest and the best,'' boasts Dennis Place whose health has forced him to hand over control of the Place's Gombeys to his nephew Andre.

"Years back we were very strict, we didn't hesitate to use the whip to keep everybody in line,'' said Mr. Place, 56, who can remember when the Place's Gombey's began. Eventually he took over the troupe himself.

"It was the Place's, then the Warner's then the Richardson's, all from the Pembroke area.'' The Gombeys are as strong now as they ever were, still fascinating little children.

"I was the captain, the whole leader of everything. I made the hats and the drums. I was the all rounder.

"But I had a serious accident and I've been having problems with my legs for the last six years. I can't see it slackening off, I have two sons who play the drums.'' Added Mr. Place: "The captain wears the largest cape. He lays out the whole route and passes the information to the lead bow and arrow man.'' These days the Gombeys don't only perform on the major holidays like May 24, Cup Match and Boxing Day but also respond to requests to do weddings and birthday parties and also perform in hotels, earning money either that way or when the followers throw money on the ground.

The Gombeys are coming to a street near you "We save the money just in case we go on a trip,'' explained Mr. Place.

"We've been away several times, we went to Colombia in the 1970's (1971) and we stole the show in Colombia.

"We did about four performances in front of 15,000 to 30,000 people, I have all of that in my scrapbook.

"We also went to North Carolina, Boston and Jamaica.

"The Government now is recognising that the Gombeys are part of Bermuda's heritage.

"Years back they just figured that the Gombeys were just making a whole pile of noise but when you look at it there is a lot behind it.

"We originated from the Government Gate area.'' Lawrence (Stickers) Hendrickson is the founder of H&H Gombeys who have been around for almost 12 years, founded in September, 1989, by Mr. Hendrickson, his son Lawrence Jr. and Tyrone Nisbett.

"The troupe was originally called H&N Gombeys until 1993 when Mr. Nesbitt moved on to start another troupe and H&N became H&H Gombey troupe.

The Gombeys are all-male groups with most of the participants being relatives or very close friends of the founders.

In H&H, Mr. Hendrickson has four grandsons involved while the bass drummer has his son and grandson in the troupe.

H&H Gombeys were crowned the best Gombey troupe in Bermuda by winning competitions in 1993, '94 and '98.

They performed for Her Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh during their visit to the Island in March 1994.

They also travelled to Antigua (1991), Barbados (1993) and St. Kitts and Nevis (1995) for those countries' carnivals.

Gloria Tacklyn has been making the outfit for Richardson's Gombeys for as long as they have been in existence, about 23 years.

Her brother George is the leader of the troupe.

"Not every year they get a new suit, sometimes I just do touch ups, like replacing trinkets,'' explained Ms Tacklyn as she sat in her home getting costumes ready.

"I've got a grandson (Niziah Roberts) who is four and dances with us, he's been doing it since he was one year old.'' Linda Augustus, who grew up in Government Gate, has fond memories of following the Gombeys.

"We used to follow the Gombeys from Government Gate all the way down to Devonshire and Smith's Parish and it was a fun thing to do as young children growing up in the neighbourhood,'' said Ms Augustus.

"Gombeys was everything to us. I would still do it now, if the Gombeys come in the area and I feel like following them, I'll follow them until I can't go anymore because my bones are not what they used to be.'' Added Ms. Augustus: "When I was coming along you couldn't stand that close to the Gombeys because they used to whip you, but now it's different, not like it used to be.

"You used to get licks from your parents if they told you you could follow the Gombeys down the road but to come right back and you didn't.

"Those were the days.''