Launching the Seniors Memory Mug Up at the Market!

What are your fondest childhood memories? Which local shop did you frequent? Do you remember the best hill for sliding? Heritage NL, in partnership with the St. John’s Farmers’ Market and the St. John’s Storytelling Festival, wants to know!

“We are looking for people’s memories about local shops, neighbourhood hangouts, skating ponds, and old paths,” says the organization’s public folklorist, Terra Barrett.

Heritage NL will be hosting the Mug Ups at the Community Room at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market the second Sunday of each month, from April 2019-March 2020 at 2pm, starting April 14th.

The Seniors Memory Mug Up at The Market is an informal story sharing session for seniors, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. The goal of the Mug Up is to help seniors share and preserve their stories. Whatever story is important to them, whether it a personal story, a story about a family member, or a story about the community, the Memory Mug Up program can help preserve and share it.

The events are free! Seniors bring a memory of growing up, organizers in partnership with vendors at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market supply the tea and local food, and everyone has a chat. Seniors will set the themes for each monthly storytelling session, and volunteer to act as hosts and moderators each month. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors. These stories will be edited into a booklet, which will be launched during the final storytelling session in March 2020.

Come for a cup of tea, a bite to eat, and share a memory or two! If you have any photos bring them along on Sunday, May 12th.

For more information please contact Terra Barrett with the Heritage NL toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra.hfnl@gmail.com.

More (yes more) on Newfoundland Lych Gates for #MortuaryMonday

Yes, I've blogged before about my ongoing obsession with lych gates (read back if you dare).  I continue to find new pieces of information about this little-known NL tradition.

A lych gate is, as the Evening Telegram told us in 1922, "a churchyard gate, with a roof over it, under which, on the occasion of a funeral, the corpse and its bearers may await the coming of the officiating minister."

Well, I've got a few more gems from the Digital Archives Initiative. First up, above, is an advertisement that was run in The Daily News (St. John's, N.L.), 1955-07-06 page 16. I've written about this particular gate and its lettering here.  I still haven't figure out what the lettering says, so email dale@heritagenl.ca if you have ideas.

Next up, two notices about flower services at the same cemetery.

Evening Telegram 1921-08-06 Flower Service p4

Evening Telegram 1922-08-01 Flower Service at Anglican Cemetery p6

This adds a little bit to my understanding of the uses of the lych gates. While used primarily for part of the funeral service, they were also used in some English churches as part of informal post-wedding rituals, and these clippings indicate they were used, at least in St. John's, as a spot for collecting funds during flower services. Note that the 1921 article refers to this as the "usual collection at the lych gate" which suggests to me that this was a recurring practice.

As always, if you have any memories (or even better, photographs) of any of the NL lych gates, let me know! So far, I know of only four: Bonavista and Corner Brook (extant) and St. John's and New Perlican (demolished).  

In Memoriam: George Courage (1943-2019)

A dark-bearded George Courage with the board of the NHT, 1981! (Source: The Trident)

George Robert Courage
November 24, 1943 - April 05, 2019

I was saddened today to hear of the passing of George Courage, one of the great supporters and animators of the heritage conservation movement in St. John’s. I met George shortly after I started working at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1996. It wasn’t hard at that point to cross paths with George in heritage circles; he seemed to be everywhere I went.  At that point, he had already been involved with the heritage community for decades.

In the 1980s, George had been one of the Newfoundland Historic Trust volunteers who had organized their downtown historic walking tours, and had helped organize the first Old Home Renovation Fair. He was a dedicated heritage volunteer, and I was fortunate to serve as a board member under him during his (second) time as president of the Trust. He served twice as president, at least once as treasurer, and fulfilled other committee positions. He was on the Association of Heritage Industries Steering Committee, was secretary of the Newfoundland Historical Society, treasurer of HFNL, and a volunteer with Doors Open.

I probably got to know George best a few years after I met him. In 1999, he headed up a project on behalf of the Trust for Soiree 1999 to commemorate the fiftieth year of Confederation. George had an idea to curate an exhibit of house models, and he roped me into his scheme. He scoured both Town and Bay to find models and miniatures of traditional Newfoundland houses and buildings: everything from doll houses and church models to pieces of folk art he convinced people to let him borrow off their lawns. He, along with Nancy Cook and Ruth Canning, wrote up a catalog with a history of each of these quirky pieces of art, and the whole thing went up on display at the old Art Gallery in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre.  In 2001, George was awarded the Manning Award by the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador for the exhibit, recognizing him for Excellence in the Public Presentation of Historic Places.  It was a lot of fun, and a great introduction to the sort of engaging programming that a young public folklorist like me might be able to do in the future.

For the past two decades, I was sure to run into George at heritage events, markets, downtown rambles, and city meetings. He was eternally active, engaged, and curious, and always had a moment to chat. He was a gentleman.

I’ll miss him, and his infectious grin. Thank you, George, for being one of my heritage mentors.

- Dale Jarvis

Reddin' lines and ochre boxes - how many of you have one of these in your shed?

photo courtesy David Boyd, Twillingate 

The primary use of red ochre by settlers to Newfoundland and Labrador was as a paint or stain colourant. One small example of its use as a colourant can be found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, which includes the compound word “ochre-box” meaning a “container in which ochre and water are mixed and a length of string dipped to mark timber for sawing,” also called a reddening box (Story et al. 355). In July 1964, Dorman Miles of Herring Neck described the use of such a box for researchers John Widdowson and Fred Earle:

They’d have the reddin’ lines, the used to call it. They used to strike the [log] with a marking line, with red ochre on it. That would leave the mark on the log where he wanted to come along and saw (Story et al. 408).

In July 1967, Raymond Morey, a resident of La Scie, described the box for the same researchers:

A red’ning box, you know, but some people call it a ochre box. This is a old red’ning line I was telling about lining the sticks. You use ochre in there and a drop of water (Story et al. 408).

Carpenters today are familiar with the more modern chalk lines that work in a very similar way. The handmade example in the photo above comes from the collection of Mr David Boyd, Twillingate, who runs the Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Centre (http://www.primeberth.com). If you drop by this summer, I'm sure he'll show it to you!

Work cited

Story, George, et al. Dictionary of Newfoundland English. Second Edition. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1990. 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep149 Warts and All

Dictionary of Newfoundland English Word-file for ‘fig’.  English Language Research Centre, Memorial University

Want to know how to get rid of warts using a snail? Or maybe you have too many freckles? And what to do with those varicose veins? We’ve got you covered. We’ve sifted through the archives for our favourite audio clips about folk cures, charms, and traditional medicines. Listen to stories and memories from Dot O’Brien of Cape Broyle, Judy Symonds of Carbonear, Ralph Barrett of Upper Island Cove, and Jeanette Russell of Spaniard’s Bay. It’s a podcast to cure all your ills!

Download the mp3

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The Living Heritage Podcast 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. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Digital Storytelling: "Here I am now, after all that time."

Left to right: Betty Moore, Mary Flynn, and Joanne Morrissey.

Digital storytelling is a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their own family and community history. Many people have stories about family members and local places that often go untold. Digital storytelling helps interpret and make community history accessible.

Watch below as Mary Flynn, originally from Shearstown and currently living in Otterbury, Newfoundland, tells the story of her birth:

Or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

If this video elicits memories for you, or if you'd like to arrange a digital storytelling workshop for your community, contact Dale Jarvis at dale@heritagenl.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep148 Kids Telling Tales - a storytelling podcast

In this episode of the Living Heritage Podcast, kids from Holy Cross Elementary (2008) and from the Young Folklorists Program of Heritage NL (2011) share some of their favourite traditional tales, local lore, and urban legends! We’ve got death tokens, forgotten graves, heartbroken lovers, and of course, a St. John’s serial killer. Listen, if you dare!

Download the mp3

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The Living Heritage Podcast 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. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Digital Storytelling: The Shop with Mary Flynn

Mary Flynn and Dale Jarvis in Mary's home in Otterbury.

Digital storytelling is a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their own family and community history. Many people have stories about family members and local places that often go untold. Digital storytelling helps interpret and make community history accessible.

Watch below as Mary Flynn, originally from Shearstown and currently living in Otterbury, Newfoundland, tells the story of her first job in the local shop:

Or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

If this video elicits memories for you, or if you'd like to arrange a digital storytelling workshop for your community, contact Dale Jarvis at dale@heritagenl.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep147 The All-Purpose Holiday Special

Terra Barrett's Easter Bunny Cake, 2018

Your favourite holiday-loving folklorists are back! Dale Jarvis and Terra Barrett explore the world of calendar customs in Newfoundland and Labrador, pulling some festive audio clips from the Digital Archives Initiative.

We start with Valentine’s (or is it Valentime’s?) Day memories from Daphne Gillingham and Susan Mitchell; Claudia Earle and Nancy Knight share some somber Easter memories; Betty Rumbolt talks about her Upper Island Cove Easter buns; Peggy Snow recalls the Littledale May Walk while Shirley Ryan and Patricia Whalen reminisce on cold plate and Marysvale garden parties; Frank Beson of Windsor and Juanita Keel-Ryan of Bailey's Cove, Bonavista, light a torch for Bonfire Night; and we finish with Joan Keating and her memories of the downtown St. John’s Christmas Raffle.

• Download the mp3 here

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The Living Heritage Podcast 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. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.