Living Heritage Podcast Ep187 The Great War Spy Panic

 

This week, we are handing over the podcast to Admiralty House Museum, in cooperation with Memorial University Folk6740 Public Folklore students Katie Crane, Micaela Muldoon, and Mariana Esquivel.

This episode of the Pigeon Post podcast centres on (purported) German spies in Newfoundland during World War I. The hosts discuss various stories about people of German ancestry, or people who were perceived to have German ties, who fell under suspicion and the consequences of this. The hosts also discuss rumour theory, the social and political climates that breed rumours, and the dangers of believing and spreading them blindly — in World War I and at all times. 

Download the mp3 here

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Living Heritage is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Armistice 100 On Air: A Living Heritage Podcast Live Recording

"Armistice 100" On Air:
A “Living Heritage Podcast” Live Recording

On Tuesday, November 13th, 2018, join Heritage NL folklorist Dale Jarvis and special guests Darlene Redmond and Michael Pretty at the Annex, beside Admiralty House Communications Museum, for a live audience recording of the Living Heritage radio show and podcast to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice. 

Darlene Redmond is an artist who has always had a keen interest in history and war. She admires the care and dedication given by the people of this province in preserving the history of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and created the series to contribute to a proud legacy. She lives with her husband and children in Mount Pearl. Darlene's work will be featured in Admiralty House's new exhibit "Armistice 100."

Michael Pretty is the founder of The Trail of the Caribou Research Group Inc. (TCRG). TCRG is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and a registered charity. Their mission is to raise awareness of the accomplishments and sacrifices of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in military conflicts and peacekeeping missions over the past 100 years. All TCRG initiatives are founded on values of fellowship, inclusion and respect.

This event is included in the cost of admission to the Annex.

Admiralty House Museum Annex
365 Old Placentia Rd, 

Mount Pearl, 

NL A1N 0G7

Tuesday, November 13th, 2018

7pm

Link for tickets: https://squareup.com/store/admiralty-house/item/armistice-on-air-1

Commemorating WWI veteran Robert J. Mercer in Bay Roberts.

This afternoon, I was pleased to attend the renaming ceremony for the Bay Roberts Council Chambers, located in the Bay Roberts Cable Building Registered Heritage Structure, which was designated by the Heritage Foundation of NL in 1998.

Today, the chambers were named to honour WW I Veteran Robert J. Mercer, who was also the town’s first mayor in 1951. The council chambers were absolutely packed, with many representatives of the Mercer family, including sons, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild! Guests spoke about Mr Mercer's contributions to the community, the Royal Canadian Legion, the Masonic Order, and the Church Lads Brigade. Congratulations to the town and to the Mercer Family!

Photo: Bay Roberts Heritage Society

When Your Boy Comes Back To You - more WWI-era sheet music!

We posted last week about finding a copy of the 1916 First World War sheet music "The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland" here in the Heritage Foundation of NL office.

This week, we bring you the second of our finds, a piece entitled "When Your Boy Comes Back To You" by Gordon V. Thompson, dated 1916, published by the Thompson Publishing Co, 75 Bay Street, Toronto.

The lyrics are as follows:

When Your Boy Comes Back To You

Keep the lamp of hope still brightly burning,
Till your boy comes back to you,
And although your heart may oft' be yearning
For one whose love is true,
Bear in mind the day he'll be returning,
So then, cheer up! don't be blue,
Ev'ry day you're far apart you grow dearer to his heart,
Till your boy comes back to you!

[Chorus]
When your boy comes back to you,
You will keep your promise true,
You will watch, you will wait by the old garden gate,
Till the regiment appears in view
Whey your boy comes back to you
And the bands are playing too,
Won't your heart be beating fast,
Just to welcome him at last?
When your boy comes back to you!

Don't forget to heed this word of warning,
It will mean so much to you,
Though it's dark tonight the sun at morning
Will shine with brighter hue
On the boys with glory all adorning,
You will share that glory too!
Wear a bright and sunny smile, tho' you wait a long, long while,
Till your boy comes back to you!

[Chorus]

Download  a pdf copy of the sheet music here.

The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland: First World War sheet music

It's spring cleaning time at the Heritage Foundation of NL, and look what we found!

"The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland" is a piece of sheet music, with words and music by James J. Galway of St. John's, printed by the F.J. Lawson Company of NY, dated 1916.

The lyrics are as follows:


The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland.

Tho' on the battlefield and waves we fight for Motherland,
We can't forget the sweethearts dear at home in Newfoundland,
The fondest thoughts revert each day and hearts with throbs expand,
When we recall the lov'd ones there in far off Newfoundland.

[Chorus]
We've seen bewitching maidens glance on us in Motherland,
And grasp'd the hands of fairest ones from Scotland's heather-land,
We've been entranc'd by Irish smiles with words of blarney grand,
Yet sweethearts none can conquer us but those in Newfoundland.

And now when battle thunder rolls as we the foe withstand,
We'll yield no truce to tyrants who would crush the Motherland,
But all the more we'll bravely fight with Britain's martial band,
When thinking of the sweethearts dear at home in Newfoundland

[Chorus]

Then when the crown of vict'ry rests on Britain's free old land,
We'll treat the transports decks again embark'd for Newfoundland,
To meet once more and grasp with joy in loving embrace grand,
The sweethearts that we left behind in dear old Newfoundland.

[Chorus]

You can download a pdf of the sheet music here.

The Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives presents “Honour 100”

Guest blog post by Sharna Brzycki

Hi everyone! As this is my first post here on the ICH blog, I thought I should start by introducing myself and how I became a part of the very special world of folklore, specifically within the public sector. My first experiences with the discipline began during my undergraduate studies at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts in Manhattan while earning my BA in Culture and Media. During this time I learned how to document the cultural vibrancy of the city through mediums such as film and audio production.

In my last semester of college I serendipitously ended up taking a course with folklorist Hanna Griff-Sleven called “Oral Histories of the Lower East Side”. For three months we learned about the discipline of folklore (something that was new to all of us!) and were given a crash course in fieldwork. These skills were ultimately used to create a short film exploring food traditions found throughout the neighborhood. My experience in this final semester of college is what led me to realize that all of my previous endeavors and passions were, in fact, forms of public folklore. After graduation I spent some more time gaining folklore experience through volunteering for projects with the Museum at Eldridge Street, one being the annual Egg Rolls and Egg Creams street festival, a celebration of the Chinese and Jewish communities of the Lower East Side. I was given a taste of the life of the folklorist, which is what ultimately led me to move to Newfoundland to study for my MA in Public Sector Folklore.



Ralph Carey and I posing with beautiful whale tusks during the Witless Bay field school, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Andrea McGuire.

This summer I have the pleasure of working with Alanna Wicks and Mary Ellen Wright at the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA). In honour of the one hundred year commemoration of World War One we are devoting a large portion of the season to identifying related archival materials across the province, ultimately promoting the use of these materials for the public and honouring our history.

We began Honour 100 by contacting each of ANLA’s member institutions to establish what archival holdings they may have from the years 1914 through 1919. These holdings may either be directly related to the war (i.e. draft papers or a photograph from Beaumont Hamel) or considered as “home front”, which is any holding from those years despite a direct connection to the war itself. We are currently in the process of discovering the extensive range of WWI holdings there really are throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, from soldiers’ helmets to war diaries of the Newfoundland Regiment to photos from the seal hunt. Once this inventory of items is complete, we will have a roadmap of pertinent WWI archival holdings across the province. This roadmap will allow us to explore various ways in which we can provide further description of the declared items as well as possible digitization for public access.

“On the Way to Gallipoli” - Courtesy of the Trinity Historical Society

The next step is to establish a plan to produce a project that will promote the use of these materials. There are a variety of methods through which this can be done. While the final outcome of the project will be determined by our preliminary findings, some approaches we are currently considering are possible exhibits, digitization and inclusion in ANLA’s provincial Archival Resource Catalogue.

Are you a member of an archive in the province? Know someone who is? If you or anyone you know is interested in getting involved please let us know! We can be reached by email at anlahonor100@gmail.com.  We hope to hear from you!

-Sharna Brzycki

Oral History, Workshops, Mill Whistles, and Knitting

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: the launch of the Petty Harbour Oral History Project; announcing our Fishing For Folklore workshop in Petty Harbour this September; the Corner Brook Mill Whistle Project; an update on the Grey Sock Project complete with a WWI knitting pattern; and, a mitten knitting competition.

Contributors: Dale Jarvis, Janice Tulk, Nicole Penney, Donna Clouston, Christine Legrow

Download in PDF and various other formats here.