New on DAI: Pouch Cove Oral History

One of the recent additions to Memorial Library's Digital Archive Initiative (DAI) is the scan of the Number 17, May 2003 edition of "Regional Language Studies." The scanned journal includes a preliminary report by folklorist Elke Dettmer on the Pouch Cove Oral History Project, focussing on the Shoe Cove area. As Dettmer describes it:

"This project is an attempt to preserve a sense of the traditional life of Shoe Cove, which existed as a farming and fishing community before the Second World War. It complements the efforts of the Pouch Cove Environmental Committee over the past few years to clean up and reconstruct Shoe Cove Valley. I have specifically concentrated on the period of the 1920s and 1930s, as described to me by those people who kindly shared their memories during the Christmas Season of 1990-1991."

The full scan is available on the DAI at:
http://tinyurl.com/l28unh

The full pdf of the journal is available for download at:
http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/rlsn/RLS_V17.pdf

St. Swithin's Day Weather Lore

Happy, glorious bright sunny St. Swithin's Day (at least in St. John's).

"July 15th of each year was St. Swithin's Day and always acknowledged throughout Newfoundland," writes Newfoundland author Jack Fitzgerald in his book Ghosts and Oddities. The following weather-forecasting rhyme was often recited on the day:

St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair (or "no more" in some variants)

For details on the tradition, see the Catholic Encyclopedia at:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm

and for a fabulous scanned text of the full St. Swithin legend, see
http://www.archive.org/details/legendofsaintswi00davi

Newfoundland also has its own St. Swithin's church, in Seal Cove, recorded on the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's website at:
http://tinyurl.com/stswithins

Position available: Conference and Festival Planner

Employer: St. John’s Storytelling Festival Inc.

Duties:

Meet with individuals and groups to promote and discuss National Storyteller’s Conference for July 2010 and Provincial Storyteller’s Festival Fall 2010

Meet with sponsors and organizing committees to plan scope and format of events, to establish and monitor budgets and to review administrative procedures and progress of events

Co-ordinate services for events, such as accommodation and transportation for participants, conference and other facilities, catering, signage, displays, translation, special needs requirements, audio-visual equipment, printing and security

Organize registration of participants, prepare programs and promotional material, and publicize events

Plan entertainment and social gatherings for participants

Train and supervise volunteers required for the events.

Educational Requirements
A university degree or college diploma in business, tourism or hospitality administration would be an asset.

Several years of experience in hospitality or tourism administration or in public relations would be an asset.


Salary
This is a full time position.
APPLICANTS MUST BE E.I. ELIGIBLE, OR MUST HAVE BEEN IN RECEIPT OF EI WITHIN THE PAST THREE YEARS, OR HAVE RECEIVED MATERNITY BENEFITS WITHIN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, AS STATED IN THE REQUIREMENTS FOR JCP FUNDING.

***********THIS POSITION IS PENDING JCP FUNDING APPROVAL***************

Deadline: July 22th, 2009
Position Duration: Approximately one year, from October 2009-October 2010

How to apply:

Send cover letter and resume to
Mary Fearon
41 New Cove Road
St. John’s, NL
A1A 2B9

Top 6 Online Guides for Folklife and Oral History Documentation

I've had a few requests lately for guidebooks or information on running folklore, folklife, and oral history field documentation projects. Here are my top six picks of the week:

1. FOLKLIFE AND FIELDWORK: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/
Available online, broken down into chapters, or also as a full pdf you can download and print

2. Oral History Centre Tutorials
http://oralhistorycentre.ca/tutorials
A collection of informative articles and instructional tutorials containing resources such as software and hardware training, oral history guidelines and best practices.

3. Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History
http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html

4. The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
http://www.folklife.si.edu/education_exhibits/resources/guide/introduction.aspx
Excellent resource, complete with sample questions

5. New Zealand Guide to Recording Oral History
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/handsonhistory/oral-history

6. Style Guide for Transcribing Oral History
http://www.baylor.edu/oralhistory/index.php?id=931752

photo: Ronald White spins a yarn, Stephenville, 2016. photo by Dale Jarvis

The Queen of Paradise's Garden

"The Queen of Paradise's Garden captures Newfoundland's rich storytelling tradition with perfect pitch. Darka Erdelji's quirky illustrations hint at the European origins of these tales, while Andy Jones' comic narrative is steeped in the music of Newfoundland English." --Janet McNaughton, author of The Raintree rebellion and An Earthly Knight

Published by Running the Goat Books & Broadsides
Designed by Veselina Tomova

For more information visit www.andyjonesproductions.com OR www.runningthegoat.com

Camera provided by The Women's Film Festival
www.womensfilmfestival.com

Building a Rodney Workshops

Master Boat Builder, Jerome Canning, will be offering one day workshops at
the Wooden Boat Museum in Winterton:

Workshop #1 The Backbone
Workshop #2 The Backbone
Workshop #3 Setup and Frames
Workshop #4 Setup and Frames
Workshop #5 Setup and Frames
Workshop #6 Planking
Workshop #7 Planking
Workshop #8 Fitting out the Hull

Workshop #1 will be begin on Saturday, July 11, 2009, and run each Saturday
until August 29, 2009. Cost per workshop is $60.00. Members receive a 10%
discount.

For further information or to register, please call 709-583-2070 or email
bkingheritage@gmail.com.

Demonstrations will be held each Friday at the Museum from 2:00 - 5:00 pm. Topics to include Three Piece Mold Demonstration, Half Model Demonstration, Steaming Timber, Corking and many more. For more information call the Museum at (709) 583-2044

Metis artisan Albert Biles

Metis artisan Albert Biles will be the artist-in-residence at the Labrador Gallery in Wild Things for the summer and fall of 2009.

Albert is renowned for his work in whale bone and antler, and almost every major gallery and collection in Newfoundland and Labrador includes some of his work. Albert will be hosting a small exhibition featuring some of his latest and most innovative pieces at a reception at Wild Things on June 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Following the reception, Albert will be taking up the position of Artist-in-Residence at the Labrador Gallery in Wild Things. On select days during the summer and fall, folks will be able to meet Albert as he works on ivory, baleen, whale bone, soapstone, antler, and other natural media of Newfoundland and Labrador.

For a cultural adventure celebrating ancient art and form in the 21st century visit Albert at The Labrador Gallery in Wild Things, 124 Water Street (709) 722-3123. Better yet, meet Albert at our reception (June 25 from 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) and have a glass of wine and sample some pitsik from Northern Labrador.

Hobby Horses

We are working on some updates to the new Memorial Intangible Cultural Heritage website (http://www.mun.ca/ich/home/) and we've borrowed a vintage hobby horse from Chris Brookes to photograph.

See some of the photos of the said horse on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalejarvis/sets/72157619739633905

Heather Patey snapped this photo of the Hobby Horse in the wild (at the NL Folk Festival in Bannerman Park) at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hpatey/2376120352/in/pool-969809@N21

What is a Hobby Horse, you ask? This from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/

hobby horse n also hobby horse and bull. Cp OED ~ 2 'in the morris-dance, and on the stage ... a figure of a horse ... fastened about the waist of one of the performers' (1557-1821); EDD ~ 1: 'a hobby-horse is carried through the streets [of Padstow]' Co. See also HORSY-HOPS. A figure of a horse carried by mummers during Christmas festivities. [1583 (1940) Gilbert's Voyages and Enterprises ii, 396 Besides for solace of our people, and allurement of the Savages, we were provided of Musike in good variety: not omitting the least toyes, as Morris dancers, Hobby horsse, and Maylike conceits to delight the Savage people.] 1893 Christmas Greetings 19 There were hobby horses, men, women, and I don't know what else, with the most outrageous masks and costumes I have ever seen. 1895 PROWSE 402 Each company [of fools or mummers] had one or more hobby-horses, with gaping jaws to snap at people. [1917] 1969 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 175 A weird figure bearing the head of a horse, nodding and gesticulating wildly to his companions ... paraded Water Street ... the oddly garbed figures meanwhile capering in amusing fashion around the hobby-horse—as I found the centre figure was called. M 65-5 In St Philips people sometimes dress up as a hobby-horse, one in front and one in the back. The one in front puts on a horse's head and the one behind has a blanket. The head is carved out of wood and the jaws work on strings. These hobby-horses chase everyone who is not a janny and are considered to be a nuisance. They frighten children and if you let them in the house they would turn the place upside down, turning over chairs, etc. These hobby-horses were ugly creatures and they had horns on their heads to make them look like the devil. When they had horns they were called hobbyhorse-and-bull. T 265-662 Hobby horse they used to call it. There'd be two people stoop down, and they put a big blanket over them, and they'd be walking off like an animal. C 71-116 The jannies make what they call a 'hobby horse.' They have the head of a horse, cow, or moose with a piece of canvas attached to it. About six men get under the canvas. They put nails or something like that in the mouth to make a clacking noise. They put sticks or something in the head so that they can turn it and open and close the mouth. Then this fierce looking thing goes around to the different houses.

Arnold's Cove Jack Boat

Last week, I went out with Bruce Whitelaw of the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador to the town of Arnold's Cove to look at a boat they are hoping to save. The Winnie and Eric, a jack boat with a long history with the area, has been donated to the Town. Bruce had a preliminary look at the vessel, and we are planning on heading back to Arnold's Cove to do detailed measurements, and some oral history interviews on the history of the boat.

If you know anything about the boat, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Set of Jack boat pictures on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalejarvis/sets/72157619822996254/

More on the boat museum:
http://tinyurl.com/nbmn5u