By Karen Beale, Contributor 
Photo By Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
AT FIRST glance Sylvester Ayre is just a conservatively dressed, older man with a quiet air of dignity.
He doesn't have a big red flag planted in the front of his yard. He doesn't chant and he doesn't wear a turban or a wrap although he does describe himself as a bush doctor.
Ayre, a 67-year-old with a passion for writing, herbs, history and things Jamaican, is clearly not your garden variety bush doctor.
What he is, is a man who has spent almost a lifetime writing and doing what he can to keep Jamaica's folklore, remedies, myths and legends from fading into the dim past. There is one other thing, Ayre is mad about his village of Sligoville, St. Catherine, and describes his relationship with the island's first free village as a longstanding marriage.
Born May 19, 1936, to Milton Ayre and Esmena Ochinson in Kensington, his grandparents took him to Sligoville, a mile and a half away, when he was 11 months old.
He started school at age seven -- the standard age of going to school -- attending Sligoville Elementary. He left school at age 15 and after several months of being unemployed he moved to Bernard Lodge to live with his mother. There he got his first job as a trainee welder at the sugar factory.
It was here that Sylvester found his true passions -- reading, writing and, later, his wife. He smiles as he tells of how the threads of his future were spun to create what he is today.
"I was in the workshop one evening and I saw a book one of the shelves. Out of boredom, I took it down and started to browse through until I found a little story and began to read.
"I was 16 at the time and couldn't read so well, but I tried and didn't do so badly because it was the first time in my life that I had ever read a story right through. I was then so taken up that I read it about four or five times. Something was born in me that day."
From then he read any and everything that he could get his hands on. Then one day he stumbled across an article in The Gleaner entitled a countryman's diary. Ayre said he became attached to the column because it fitted his lifestyle. He read it and re-read it and decided to try his hand at writing articles for The Gleaner.
In the beginning he wrote dozens of articles for the newspaper, but only one was published. Still, that was enough for him. After his first piece appeared in print "I began to look for all the mistakes that were in my articles in order to make them better."
However, news stories did not seem to be Ayre's true calling, so he reverted to writing letters to the editor. These were a big hit and soon he began having avid fans.
THE MAKING OF
THE BUSH DOCTOR
Ayre who believes there's a herb for every illness started documenting folklore and herbal remedies about five years ago. Soon after that he decided to combine his passion for writing and his knowledge of herbs and old time Jamaican culture by writing a book. The result is a 99-page book, appropriately called 'Bush Doctor', about Jamaica's forgotten folklore and remedies, which was published last year by LMH Publishing Limited.
"I didn't start at any particular time to use bush remedies," he says. "Sligoville is known for bush remedies and from very early people just knew what bushes to use to cure their illnesses. Someone is always in the village ready to give you advice on herbs."
HIS OTHER PASSION
Ayre has been married to Myrtle, the human love of his life for 42 years. The couple has four children.
He's retired now from Bernard Lodge Sugar Factory, but volunteers his services as a tour guide for the Sligoville Support Committee, which is responsible for the upkeep of the Sligoville Great House.
He also sits on the Sligoville Community Development Fund committee, the Community revolving fund committee and the Community youth club committee and serves as a Justice of the Peace (JP) for Sligoville.
In the future he plans to write the history of Sligoville and leave the care of the great house to someone younger who shares his love for the community.
"I'm getting old. All I want is to leave this place to someone who wants to be here. This place is a paradise, peaceful. I love it here."
Excerpts from the 'Bush Doctor'
PG. 7 ITCHING KNEE
An itching knee denotes imminent travel, or a change of address by the person so affected.
PG. 38 HEART CONDITIONS
Take seeds from the papaya fruit. Dry them in the sun. Roast or parch seeds in a frying pan or other suitable receptacle over a low fire until crisp and brown. The parched seeds are placed into a wooden mortar where they are pounded with a pestle until transformed into a powdery state. This powder sifted is used to make a brew in the same way that the morning's coffee is prepared. A regular dose of this potion, it is said, is likely to cause marked relief to sufferers of minor adverse conditions of the heart.
PG. 61 TO CAPTURE LIZARDS
To capture a house bound lizard a common sense amount of sugar should be inserted into a bottle of appropriate size in relation to the size lizard to be ensnared. Place the bottle holding sugar at a place where the reptile frequently appears. When the lizard enters the bottle to get the sugar it won't be able to turn around and get back out of the bottle.
PG. 43 SEXUAL INSUFFICIENCY
In order to rejuvenate sexually dejuvenated men,.....procure one pound of raisins. one pint-bottleful of port wine and one pint honey and a small bottle of cod-liver oil. Put all four ingredients together into a glass jar or a large bottle. Cover and let it stand for two weeks at a cool place to "draw."
Each morning a small glassful of this concoction should be taken by the male person who seeks sexual recovery. Another concoction of this potent tonic, it is advised should not be taken anytime soon after the first one.
