Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Norman Currie and Bull Bird, Britannia Newfoundland

I've got a lot a great photos that I've been amassing over the past three years of the intangible cultural heritage project, and it seems a shame to not share some of them. So, with that in mind, I'm going to start a new weekly folklore photo posting, and put a new photo up each week.

This week is a favourite, of Uncle Norman Currie with his boat model, Bull Bird, shown here at the dock in Britannia, Random Island.  I'm not sure of the date on this one, but Uncle Norm passed away a few years ago, and this was one of his last model projects.

One of my favourite stories about him was one I heard from Jim Roy, his nephew-in-law. Apparently, Uncle Norm had an old boat that he had made, with an inboard motor of some type. The propeller shaft had snapped, and when he was told it would cost him $100 to have it welded, Uncle Norm took a cheaper and slightly more ingenious route. He got someone with an angle grinder to smooth off the end of the shaft, then cut a foot off the stern of the boat, and rebuilt it a foot further up, shortening the boat, and allowing the shorter propeller shaft to protrude the correct distance from the back of the boat. Apparently, it worked, and the boat was reportedly even more stable than it had been before the alteration.

A great example of making do with what one has.

Thanks to Jim Roy, Lower Lance Cove, for the story and the photo.

6-hour marathon telling of Jack Tales now online

Earlier this year, the St. John's Storytelling Festival hosted an event called "Jack Cycle" at The Ship Pub. That 6-hour marathon telling of Jack Tales is now online at www.jackcycle.ca, with full videos of each performer.

As the Cycle website relates, "Jack Tales encapsulate elements of the Newfoundland character that have evolved over five centuries: courage, cleverness, generosity, handiness, hardiness, honesty, humility, naïveté, wit, and a general belief in the impossible (amongst other traits). In the stories, Jack comes to represent the Newfoundland character."

And so, the stories include not only traditional Newfoundland folktales, told by the likes of Anita Best and Andy Jones, but also cultural commentary on Newfoundland identity by speakers including Richard Cashin, and Ryan Cleary.

"We hope this will be a resource," says organizer Chris Brookes, "so please pass on the URL to anyone interested."

More photo treasures from the Newman Wine Vaults

A while back, I posted about a small digitization project we were undertaking with Provincial Historic Sites and the Newman Wine Vaults. Those photos have been scanned and placed online as part of Memorial's Digital Archive Initiative. They show the interior and exterior of the Vaults and adjacent buildings, and show that the Vaults were used for storage of more than Newman's Port, including things like Javex bleach and potatoes!

This exterior photo, taken from Water Street, shows the west end of the Vault warehouse, and two now-demolished buildings. Also visible is the "Book and Bible" shop, located where Babb Lock and Key is now.

Any vintage car experts out there? I'd love a rough date for this one! Post your suggestions.

Celebrating our History – The Restoration of the Colonial Building

The Association of Heritage Industries is pleased to support and applaud today’s joint funding announcement by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Canada of $22.3 million to complete the restoration of the Colonial Building.

Located in the heart of a nationally significant historic precinct, the Colonial Building is the finest example of neoclassical architecture in the province. As the seat of government for 90 years, the Colonial Building has played an important role in the province’s history and political culture.

The heritage community, under the umbrella of the Association of Heritage Industries, collectively lobbied for the restoration of the Colonial Building when the Provincial Archives relocated to The Rooms in 2004. The heritage community rallied to have the Colonial Building carefully restored, maintaining the historical and architectural integrity of both the exterior and interior. We also recommended transforming the building into a public space to interpret and celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador’s political history.

The provincial government adopted AHI’s recommendations and, in the intervening years, completed a management plan, making an initial commitment of $3 million towards the restoration project, along with a $648,000 contribution through Canadian Heritage’s Building Canada fund.

Today’s landmark announcement means there will be sufficient resources to complete the restoration work to a high standard - a fitting contribution to this significant building. AHI Chair David Bradley notes that, “The Colonial Building may be the province’s most important, surviving historic structure, and we are pleased that both levels of government recognize its importance and are prepared to make the necessary investment in its preservation and redevelopment. We will watch the progress with great interest.”


Contact:
Kim Shipp
Executive Director
Association of Heritage Industries
709-738-4345
ahi@nfld.net
PO Box 2064, Stn C.
St. John's, NL A1C 5R6

Labrador kayaks old and new, and adventures with polar bears.

This morning, Peter Cowan, reporter and video journalist for CBC in Labrador, tweeted a link to this story, about Noah Nochasak's journey to Hebron in a handmade, traditional style kayak. It is well worth a listen, particularly the part about Nochasak's run-in with a polar bear.

As a sometimes kayaker, I was interested in Nochasak's construction of the kayak, which is built along traditional Inuit lines, but using nylon instead of skin as the covering. It is a good example of one of the basic tenets of intangible cultural heritage: that ICH comes from the past but is in a constant state of evolution.

Give the interview a listen here.

A few years ago, I got a "backstage" tour of the collection vaults at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. In a darkened room full of boats from all across Canada, there was one treasure that stood out for me: a traditional Inuit skin kayak from Labrador. A few pics below:

Roadside Gardens, Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland

I'm back in the office from our HFNL/ANLA workshop in Plum Point. Along the way, I took a few photos of one of my favourite "roadside attractions" on the Great Northern Peninsula: roadside gardens.  In conversation with David Adams in Cape Onion, he explained that when the highway was put through, the existing peat had to be moved to the side of the road to make room for laying a new roadbed.  That resulted in thick layers of peat on the sides of the road.

In a region with thin topsoil, it is perfect location with gardening, as long as you build the requisite moose fence and scarecrows. A few shots:

A little jaunt - 900 kilometres to Plum Point

In the morning, I'm heading out on the road to Plum Point - over 900 kms betwixt here and there. I'm giving a workshop with ANLA on Wednesday. So, you might not have a blog post for a few days, depending on internet availability.

And what does that have to do with Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard? Not much, really, but any excuse to put up a picture of a pirate is a good one. Teach, reportedly, hung his hat at Plum Point (North Carolina, however, not Northern Peninsula).

Fair winds, all!

Aug 22nd, 1846 - Happy Birthday, Folklore!

On August 22, 1846, antiquarian William John Thoms coined the term "folk-lore." Writing under the pseudonym Ambrose Merton, in a letter to the editor of the London magazine The Athenaeum, Thoms wrote:

Your pages have so often given evidence of the interest which you take in what we in England designate as Popular Antiquities, or Popular Literature (though by-the-by it is more a Lore than a literature, and would be most aptly described by a good Saxon compound, Folk-Lore,—the Lore of the People)—that I am not without hopes of enlisting your aid in garnering the few ears which are remaining, scattered over that field from which our forefathers might have gathered a goodly crop. No one who has made the manners, customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, proverbs, etc., of the olden time his study, but must have arrived at two conclusions:—the first how much that is curious and interesting in those matters is now entirely lost—the second, how much may yet be rescued by timely exertion…. It is only honest that I should tell you I have long been contemplating a work upon our “Folk-Lore” (under that title, mind Messes. A, B, and C,—so do not try to forestall me);—and I am personally interested in the success of the experiment which I have, in this letter, albeit imperfectly, urged you to undertake.


[reposted from the American Folklife Centre facebook page]

Rare historic photo of Newman Wine Vaults interior

Earlier this summer, I borrowed a collection of photographs from Provincial Historic Sites which show various interior and exterior scenes of the Newman Wine Vaults on Water Street, and the associated Newman Building on Springdale Street, here in St. John's.  Vaults staff have scanned those photos, and we are currently compiling metadata for the photos, which will be added to a new sub-collection for St. John's on Memorial's Digital Archive Initiative.

The photo above is undated, but is probably from the early to mid-twentieth century.  I don't know the identity of the gentleman with the cane; if you know, email ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

The back of the photo reads:
"Pipes" of Newman's Port ageing in a bonded warehouse in St. John's 
Story 15 
V.P. 3
E 1-3 
53%
CANADIAN COLLECTOR


A "pipe" is an old unit of measurement for wine or port, sometimes called a "butt" and equal to two hogsheads, approximately 475 to 480 litres.