A Ghost Ship Called the Blue Jacket

In preparation for Halloween, I've been listening to some spooky tales that I've recently had the pleasure of recording in and around the Bay Roberts area. Here is a clip of 92 year old Greta Hussey of Port de Grave talking about when her father saw an infamous ghost ship called the Blue Jacket. Greta is a fantastic story-teller and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with her.
-Lisa

Bonfire Night in Paradise

If you are in St. John's and are looking to celebrate Guy Fawke's Night this year, here's an option close to the city:

Bonfire Night celebrations will be held in Paradise on November 5th, 2013.  
Wed, November 6th will be the alternate date in case of inclement weather.
 
Location: Octagon Pond Parking lot, Paradise
Time: 6:30-8:30 pm

Note: Due to construction at the Community Centre the small roasting fires that are usually set up for families will be moved to the pond, and there won't be a large bonfire. There will still be free wieners, marshmallows and beverages given out.   

If you would like more information please call the Recreation & Leisure Services Department at 782-6290 or email psilver@townofparadise.ca. 

For more information on Bonfire Night in general, please check out this previous post. 

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Hammock Days

As we settle into the fall season, I'd like to share a nostalgic summer photograph from the Bay Roberts area. This image was shown to me by 84 year old Wilbur Sparkes during a recent oral history interview. During our talk, Mr. Sparkes reminisced about how his mother used to string up a hammock between two large trees to help take advantage of the summer weather. His grandmother is shown relaxing in a rocking chair next to her. This was just one of many wonderful memories he shared about growing up in the community he still calls home.
-Lisa

Sea Lion Woman: the biography of a song

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: St. Anthony Hospital Staff with Skeleton

Keeping with my spooky theme for the month of October, here's a photo of the St. Anthony medical staff posed with a skeleton!

[VA 129-5.2] St. Anthony Hospital Staff with Skeleton, 1911:

St. Anthony Hospital Lab end, 1911. Miss Clarke, Miss Ruth Keyes [sic] Miss Eperingon [sic], Dr. Katherine [sic], skeleton, John M. Little. Names should read: Ruth Keese (teacher), Miss Etherington (nurse), Robert Catheron (physician), John Mason Little (physician). Ruth Keese later married John M. Little.

The International Grenfell Association (IGA) was incorporated in Canada on January 10, 1914, under the Companies Act of 1899. Sir Wilfred Grenfell, the founder of IGA, came to Newfoundland to attend to the needs of fishermen in northern Newfoundland and on the coast of Labrador. In its earliest years, the IGA had four functions in serving the needs of these people. They were health care, education, religious services; and rehabilitation and other social activities. 

To learn more about the International Grenfell Association, visit their website.

The Beeb and the Big Flag, this Wednesday in Cupids

A British Broadcasting Corporation television crew out of Bristol, England will be visiting Cupids where they will be filming "Coast" a program somewhat like "Land and Sea" in this province.

The Union Jack being raised on Wednesday, October 16th, measures 46 feet by 23 feet and is only flown on special occasions in Cupids. It is a a replacement flag for the original flag (billed as the largest Union Jack in the world) first flown from this same site in 1910 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the establishment of Cupids as the first English settlement in Canada in 1610. As one can see the flag raising event is a real hands on experience and a great opportunity to take some truly for unique photos - you even get a chance to join fellow flag raisers in singing the anthem during the hoisting of the flag.

Residents of Cupids and the general public are invited to participate in the filming of a communal raising of the large Union Jack. The flag raising will occur at about 9:00am on Wednesday morning.

The Protest Songs of Quidi Vidi

Confronting change can be a major challenge for the long-time residents of any community. Across the province, for residents of rural and urban communities alike, it's a struggle that many have experienced. For the residents of Quidi Vidi Village, for example, this kind of challenge has been persisting over several years. In terms of change around land use and development, it seems that the village is beyond the point of no return. During a recent series of oral history interviews I conducted "in the gut," many present and former residents reflected fondly on the village's past, but also stressed the negative impact of such drastic change, on both a personal level and on the welfare of the greater community.

Something that everyone can recall is how the community banded together to resist a development plan that was poised to alter the social and physical landscape that they had always known and loved. Here are a few protest songs written and performed by community members when a controversial waterfront housing project was underway. When these songs were being written, they didn't know yet what we know now: this development was going to happen, whether or not the community members were singing their songs... but as one former resident pointed out, "You can't say we didn't try!" To me, these are beautiful songs. They show creativity and integrity in the face of adversity, and represent the powerful ties that people tend to feel to where they are from.

We're Standing Up to Save the Gut, provided by Ed and Joan Soper.

Destruction Zone, composed by Kim and Judy, provided by Ed and Joan Soper.

Have members of your community written any protest songs? What are the issues and changes that you have confronted where you live? Feel free to contact me with your songs and stories. I'd love to know more. Contact lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

-Lisa

Digitizing Intangible Cultural Heritage : A How-To Guide

A while back, Lisa Wilson, one of our staff folklorists, worked for the the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador to prepare a guide to assist museums, archives and independent researchers, for the Canadian Heritage Information Network.

This manual assists museums, archives and independent researchers in digitizing their existing collections of intangible heritage-related material. Aside from providing step-by-step digital transferring instructions, it also offers definitions for heritage-related terminologies, as well as a significant number of technological terminologies. While this digitization guide aims to be user-friendly, familiarity with basic audio/visual equipment and media software is a prerequisite. Digitization instructions are provided for both Windows and Mac operating systems.

The guide is now out, and available online!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - An Old School Root Cellar

Last week I had the opportunity to go back out into the field and get my hands dirty with some serious archaeology. My graduate supervisor Barry Gaulton has been going out to a site in Sunnyside, Newfoundland, for the past several years with Steve Mills, and each time he goes out into the field he brings eager graduate students with him: this year it was my turn! The site is a 17th century winter house in the woods near the water, and based upon some of the artifacts we found it probably dates to the 1660's, and was probably used for only a year or two.

One great discovery this season was the location of what was most likely a root cellar to the west of where the house was. It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but this root cellar is built from mounded earth, and we uncovered a section of staining in the earth that was likely a 4 foot span of wooden flooring in the center. Although there isn't any remains left, the top of the root cellar would have been built of a combination of earth, rock and wood, drawn from the local resources at hand.

Root cellars would have been just as important 350 years ago as they were 50 years ago, or even today, especially during a cold winter with limited access to supplies other than what you could hunt or gather for yourself. I decided to share the photo I had of the root cellar this week for the folklore photo as a teaser for a blog post later on this week about my trip out to Sunnyside, and because root cellars are cool, and full of folklore-y goodness! And you can't go wrong with one from the 17th century.