Are you ready for the 2012 Mummers Festival?

We sure are! This year promises to be the biggest and best Festival to date. We’ve got some exciting new events lined up and our much loved Hobby Horse and Ugly Stick Workshops are set to go!

Expect to see more oversized bras and long underwear than ever before! The Mummers Parade is growing each year, and the energy levels keep rising! There will be a few new surprises along the Parade route this year too!

This year marks the 150th year of the ban on mummering (which was later overturned). On Sunday, December 5th, Folklorist Joy Fraser will be discussing the alleged murder of fisherman Isaac Mercer by a group of men disguised as mummers in Bay Roberts in 1860. It is one of the most notorious episodes in Newfoundland’s history, prompting a legislative ban on mummering that remained in force for over a century. Joy’s lecture, Mummers and Murder, reveals a remarkable collection of archival discoveries that shed new light on the circumstances surrounding Mercer’s death.

Also new this year: Mummer-oke! If you’ve ever felt the slightest bit shy about singing in front of a crowd, fret no more! When you’re in disguise, who cares?! Mummer karaoke at the Georgestown pub will challenge you to sing your favorite tunes in your best mummer voice. It’s gonna be ugly, so bring an ugly stick.

If you don’t know much about mummering come out to our event “How Do You Mummer Anyway” and meet two of the most vivacious mummers out there! Direct from the Southern Shore, these two will give you the lowdown. We’ll ask all the vital questions: Which houses have the best food and drink?; What are the best ways to disguise yourself?; To knock or not to knock?; And how do you go to the bathroom in a disguise like that?

Of course we’ll also be hosting the Province’s largest dress-up party just prior to the Parade. So if you don’t have a disguise, come to the Rig Up an hour before the Parade and sort through the endless supply of ridiculous clothing on hand.

The Parade ends at The Rooms for a hard-stepping mummers dance to some high energy live music. We’ve got some tasty baked goods and enough Purity syrup to make yourself sick! So pace yourself! And, as always, you can strike your best pose at our “Mummeries Forever” Photobooth.

And remember...the Mummers Parade needs YOU!! Yes you! YOU! People love this event because they get to participate! Talk to anyone who’s been in the Parade and they’ll tell you how something funny happens to them...something odd, wondrous, magical. This is the effect of dressing in disguise. You get a bit more freedom to be foolish. We all want that, yes? And bring your friends! Bring your family! It will make your experience all the richer!

There are lots of tips for new mummers and some colourful photos on our website if you need a little guidance and inspiration.

Cemetery Workshop Update and Special Student Rate

We've had a good response so far to our Cemetery Workshop, which will be held at the Johnson GEO Centre on Tuesday, December 4th, starting at 1pm. Cost to participants is $40 for the day, includes snacks and coffee/tea. A number of students have expressed interest in attending, so we've added a special $20 student rate for the workshop.

To register, contact Lisa at:
1-888-739-1892 ext 3
lisa@heritagefoundation.ca

The day will be broken into two sessions. The first is on Art and Archaeology, the second is on Conservation and Heritage.

Presenters to date include:

Gerald Pocius - Reading Newfoundland Gravestones
This presentation will discuss the origins of Newfoundland gravestones, and the symbols and epitaphs used on them. Gravestones in Newfoundland were imported as well as made locally. They contained symbols both sacred and secular. The epitaphs used on the stones could be brief or poetic and lengthy. Examples shown will be mainly from eastern Newfoundland.

Martha Drake - Archaeology and the Portugal Cove Cemetery
Several years ago, graves were excavated from an unmarked cemetery during a proposed housing development in Portugual Cove. Martha Drake will talk about how a stop work order was put in place, and how the graves were professionally investigated and the human remains brought to MUN. The Town has created a small park where the graves were uncovered and the remains will be reburied in the newly developed park setting.

Melanie Tucker - Stonepics Database
Stonepics, a database of over 300, 000 headstone and cemetery photographs from all around Newfoundland, is owned and created by Mr. Kimsey Fowler who lives in Seattle, Washington. Melanie will speak about this fabulous database, and illustrate how it can be used for research.

Andrea O’Brien - Cemeteries and Municipal Heritage Designation
Andrea will explain the process through which towns designate cemeteries and detail services offered to towns by HFNL, including historical research, writing a Statement of Significance for the cemetery and placing the designation on the Provincial Register of Historic Places.

Lisa Wilson - The Port Royal Cemetery Restoration Project
This presentation will be photographic journey detailing the graveyard restoration project that took place in the summer of 2012 in the resettled community of Port Royal. Aside from the discussing the challenges of working in isolated conditions, Lisa will be going over some of the conservation dilemmas the team encountered, while offering ideas for best practices for those who are embarking on similar projects.

Annie McEwen - From the Field: Headstone Rubbings and Maker’s Marks
Annie's talk will be informed by her most recent field experience at the Port Royal Cemetery on Long Island, Placentia Bay. She will discuss the stories behind grave signatures or maker’s marks as well as the importance of headstone rubbings and their practical application. Rubbings can be an excellent way to record headstone information as well as capturing the beauty and uniqueness of the stone. Examples of rubbings done this summer at the Port Royal Cemetery will be shown.

(photo: St. Matthew's Cemetery, St. Lawrence)

The Cappahayden Pony Refuge

The Newfoundland Pony is an important part of Newfoundland's history and some people even refer to them as a "heritage animal." It is thought that without their labor, it wouldn't have been possible for settlers to stay on this island. Ponies did a great deal of our brunt work for many decades--they are hearty animals that could withstand difficult conditions, such as poor weather, bad grazing, and food scarcity. Traditionally ponies would be used for hauling fish, pulling lumber from the woods, turning soil in the fields, pulling stumps from the ground, and of course, for transportation. They helped the people of Newfoundland subsist on this land up until the 1960s and 70s when they were almost completely replaced with motorized vehicles. During that transitional era pony populations saw a major decline. When once there were 10,000 ponies, the population fell to around 50. Nowadays, some people recognize all of the work that the pony did to help us, and are working to protect the ponies we still have. This is done through breeding programs and by ensuring that ponies have good homes.

Liz Chafe of The Goulds has been working with ponies since she was a young girl. She now owns and operates a pony refuge in Cappahayden with her husband Peter. It is a great deal of work for them to house these animals. Right now they have 11 ponies, 1 cow, and a dog. This past weekend, myself along with HFNL staff member Dale Jarvis and volunteer Joelle Carey went to see Liz at the pony refuge to see how we could help with the workload. Joelle was particularly interested in visiting the farm because she will be working as an intern with the Newfoundland Pony Society starting in January. It was a good albeit rainy day, and we got a sense of what kind of work it takes to care for these animals. We hope to go back again soon with as many volunteers as we can wrangle.
-Lisa

Joelle (L) and Dale (R) hanging out at the pony refuge.

Liz Chafe talking to Dale and Joelle about her Newfoundland ponies (while she prepares pony feed).

From cemeteries to Deadman's Cove - November's ICH Update

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage update for Newfoundland and Labrador: we announce a half-day workshop on the art, archaeology, history and heritage of cemeteries; Dan Rubin brings us a report from the Pouch Cove Heritage Day; Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) board member Doug Wells recounts the history of Deadman's Cove, Harbour Breton; and HFNL's Lisa Wilson updates us on her work in the proposed Heart's Content Heritage District.

Contributors: Dale Jarvis, Dan Rubin, Doug Wells, Lisa Wilson

Download the newsletter in pdf

A Cable Staff House in Heart's Content

This past Thursday I had the chance to visit with Ed and Minnie--long-time residents of Heart's Content. They reside in a historic home in the heritage district where they have lived since 1968. They purchased this two storey Anglo-American style home to have more space for their family.  It was in this same year that the cable company began shutting down its operation and the employees started leaving the community. Ed and Minnie have been the only owners of this house that have not been affiliated with Western Union. The house was originally built in 1882 as a staff house for company workers and previous to Ed and Minnie's ownership, it was the company superintendent who resided here. Ed and Minnie have kept many of its original features, such as the mantels for the two fireplaces, and the wooden banister that takes you to the spacious second level. The ceilings also have lovely moldings that are only ever in historic homes. Ed showed me other houses around town that once resembled their home, but have seen drastic alterations, such as the top story being removed. Indeed it is a community that has seen a great deal of change over the years, which is something that Ed and Minnie both talked about with me.

Ed and Minnie in their lovely home.

Ed and Minnie's place in Heart's Content--an Anglo-American style house built 1882, with a large beech tree in the front yard.

On a tour of the house, Ed showed me a very old icebox that he found in the shed out back when they moved in. He explained that these types of boxes were used to keep food cold before there was refrigeration. While restoring and adapting it to make this china cabinet, he found that the heavy wooden doors were insulated with horse hair. This piece was made in New York and brought to Newfoundland. Minnie mentioned that it is Ed's favorite piece of furniture in the house.

Ed shows me his refurbished icebox. Note the thick, insulating door where the horse hair is. 

Another shot of Ed during our oral history interview (along with Minnie's hand as she views a map of Heart's Content.)

Ed and Minnie were wonderful people to visit--they both had many thoughts and memories to share. I learned about some of the buildings in the district, what community life was like in the past compared to now, and what they believe the community will be like in the future. The information they provided will be of great importance when we do some district mapping to highlight what makes this place unique. As they age, the house is getting to be a lot of work to maintain. They suspect that they will eventually have to move on, a reality for so many older people living in rural Newfoundland. We all hope that this heritage building continues to be cared for as the future unfolds.

-Lisa

Diamonds are for weavers

A few weeks ago the ICH office, in partnership with MUN's Folklore 6740 class, put off a craft workshop called Weaving in the Woods. Participants had the opportunity to make their own pillow top, an item traditionally made by men in the lumber camps to gift to wives or girlfriends, and mothers. Since the workshop I have been contacted by people who wish to share their pillow top memories and pictures. 

Loretta Weeks got in touch and shared some pictures of her pillow top, which she also knew as a cushion cover. Her father, John Weeks, of Broad Cove (now Duntara) made the pillow top while working for the American army.  

Weeks notes, "my father worked on the pillow top in Fort Chimo in northern Quebec, this was when Fort Chimo was just a small settlement.  He was working on communications towers for the American army. I was told that he finished the top when he came home for a break in the winter." 

 John Weeks worked on American army transport ships at various times during the Second World War as a master carpenter and also as an able seaman.  He was 21 years old when this picture was taken in Boston at the British Embassy. Circa 1944

According to Weeks' description, the pillow top was mostly likely made between 1941 and 1945, when Fort Chimo (now Kuujjuaq) was used by the American military as an air force base. 

This was not a common craft  in Duntatra and the only pillow tops Weeks knows of are the few her father made. But her father was a very creative man and tried his hand at many activities such as furniture making, boat building, upholstery and carpentry (he built his own home in Duntara). He also made wheelbarrows and truckleys. 

"Dad could also knit and no woman could darn a vamp like him! He could upholster anything and could sew covers for the old daybeds and chesterfields better than anyone could ever buy." 

Weeks' father loved diamond patterns, "there are diamonds on the front door lintel and frame on our house in Duntara. I have a table back home with a marquetry top that has inlaid diamond patterns on it and there is also a wooden box he made with diamonds inlaid in the design."

Weeks' father passed away May 2, 2011 after a brief illness, at the age of 88. Today Weeks holds on to her father's pillow top, with its unique diamond pattern, as a reminder of him and his handiwork.

"He was quite the character in a quiet, soft-spoken way. This pillow top is the only one we have from him adventures of working away all those years."

Memories of Lych Gates in Newfoundland - gateways for the dead

This undated photograph shows an unidentified woman standing in front of the lych gate, the entranceway to the grounds of the Alexander Chapel of All Souls, located on Coster Street in Bonavista.

The elaborately beamed lych gate is a feature typical of Anglican churchyards. Traditionally, it was the sheltered point at which the coffin was set down at a funeral to await the clergyman's arrival. In some instances, a portion of the burial service was performed while the coffin rested inside the gate. A common feature in English churchyards, the concept of the lych gate was transplanted to North America. "Lych" is a form of the Anglo-Saxon word "līc" meaning body or corpse.

Once common, the only surviving Newfoundland example I know of is in Bonavista. The original lych gate was constructed circa 1899 and was financed by the Church of England Women's Association of Bonavista (1).

One S. Rees of Bonavista, in a letter dated Dec. 7, 1893 to the St. John's Evening Telegram, noted,

Dear Sir, - on Monday the 4th inst., there was no small stir here among the members of the C.E. Sewing Class, and one would naturally ask the cause. But a poster would apprise of the fact that a “sale of work,” under the auspices of the above ladies, was about about to take place; its object, to provide funds to provide a lych gate for the new cemetery. At about 6.40 p.m. the doors were open to purchasers, and when I arrived a few minutes later - considering inclemency of weather - quite A Crowd Had Gathered.

According to the author, the amount raised, $76, "was far above expectation" (2).

The Anglican Cemetery on Forest Road in St. John's also had a lych gate, which was torn down at some point in the second half of the 20th century. It is shown on aerial photographs from 1961, but was removed afterwards. According to HNFL Executive Director George Chalker, it was removed possibly to allow motorized hearses access to the cemetery.

If you have memories, or photographs, of lych gates in Newfoundland, I'd love to hear from you. You can call me at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2, or email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale Jarvis

(1) Simms, Gavin. "Gateway to yesterday: Anglican Chapel recreates long lost entranceway." The Packet, November 20, 2008.

(2)  Rees, S. "Pleasant Social Event At Bonavista. Sale of Work by the Church of England Sewing Class - Object: a Lych Gate for the New Cemetery." Evening Telegram (St. John’s, NL) 1893-12-16

UPDATE - 17 March 2014:

You can read or download the final version of this research at Lych Gates in Newfoundland

The Art, Archaeology, History and Heritage of Graveyards

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
1pm - 5pm
Johnson Geo Centre Celestial Gallery
175 Signal Hill Road, St. John’s

Cemeteries throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are revered as special, sacred places.They occupy both emotional and physical space in our communities. Cemeteries are also expressions of our spiritual beliefs and cultural values, as well as rich repositories of genealogical and community history. This half-day workshop offered by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador looks at the history, folklore and conservation of historic graveyards in the province, and will give opportunities for participants to ask questions of the experts.

Moderator: Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer, Heritage Foundation of NL

Art and Archaeology Session
Gerald Pocius, MUN Folklore - Reading Newfoundland Gravestones
Martha Drake, Provincial Archaeology - Archaeology and the Portugal Cove Cemetery
Melanie Tucker, The Rooms Archive - Stone Pics Database

Conservation and Heritage Session
Andrea O’Brien, Heritage Foundation of NL - Cemeteries and Municipal Heritage Designation
Lisa Wilson, Heritage Foundation of NL - Port Royal Restoration Project
Annie McEwen, Folklorist - Headstone Rubbings and Maker’s Marks

Cost to participants:
$40.00 for the day, includes break

To register, contact Lisa at:
1-888-739-1892 ext 3
lisa@heritagefoundation.ca

Making Memory Maps

On Saturday November 10th, the ICH team at the Heritage Foundation put on a Memory Map Workshop facilitated by visual artist Marlene Creates. We had a good turnout with around 20 participants ranging from Memorial University students and faculty to community organization representatives and other people who have an interest in mapping projects.

Marlene first talked about some of her previous mapping work, including an excursion to Labrador to make memory maps with elders, as well as projects which involved asking community members to give awards to special places in their towns. After setting a foundation for how memory maps are made and how they can be useful tools in learning more about a community, she asked the participants to make a map of their own. We all sat down with paper, pencils and pencil crayons to draw a map from memory of a place that we feel closely connected to. One of Marlene's techniques that I found quite useful is to put tracing paper over a foundation map in order to create layers with specific themes. For example, on tracing paper above my memory map, I indicated where all of the vanished buildings once stood in my Mother's hometown. Other layers that I could have chosen to add include green spaces/trees, waterways and footpaths. Doing such layers asks the map maker to think about the space and visualize what it looks like (or looked like in the past) and how it makes use of space. My map, along with all the others made on that day, became a celebration of our special places, both past and present, from very personal perspectives.

Marlene Creates giving a talk on making memory maps.

Workshop participant working on the foundational layer of her memory map. 

Workshop participants working on their personal memory maps. 

A second layer is added to the map using tracing paper and colored pencils. This participant marks off the social spaces of her hometown, with indications of gender and frequency through the size and color of her dots. 

Workshop participant showing the map that she created for the workshop. After this we added a third and final layer which involved writing down information about the places marked off on our maps. We were encouraged to be as creative as we wanted to be!

One of the last things we did together during the workshop was share the contents of our maps with the other participants. It was very interesting to see how diverse the range in topic and style was. Some maps were very traditional with streets and buildings, others with more innovative with only one building and it's associated memories, plants, animals, and other unexpected features showing up. It was clear to us how mapping from memory can be used in many ways for all kinds of different personal and/or community building activities. More documentation and information regarding Marlene Creates' mapping projects can be seen on her website: http://www.marlenecreates.ca/ .
-Lisa