Reaching The Bottom of the Wells and Springs Project

Now that the winter is rearing it's head, the wells and springs project I have been working on over the past five months is finally being wrapped up. Over this time I have met a lot of great people, done some really interesting interviews, seen and measured dozens and dozens of wells, and learned a lot about traditional water sources here in Newfoundland and Labrador. And now that everything is coming to an end, I want to share with the blog what it is I have accomplished, and what's coming next!

At the most basic, water is crucial for daily life and survival, and so the majority of the traditions and folklore that I came across fell into three basic categories. The first is daily life, which includes securing, collecting, and cleaning your water sources. The second is community, which covers elements of protection, safety, and tragedy, and support between families. The final category is spirituality, which appears in a few different ways. These different categories mean that there are lots of different stories, traditions and folklore surrounding wells and springs in the province.

My favourite tradition around daily life is the trout in the well. All summer I hoped and actively looked for a trout in a well, and while I heard lots of stories and memories about their being trout down in wells (and one great story about a trout being fished up and fried) it took my until late in the summer to finally see one, out in Carbonear. The owners, the Fitzgeralds, have had trout in their wells for as long as they can remember, and the current one had been own there for almost 10 years!

One of the last traditions I heard about communities was one from Shea Heights, where families would gather on a communal well in front of the general store to take photos, or kids would meet there after school to plan the afternoons activities. Wells represent not only a water source, but can also mean a gathering place in the community, a location accessible and recognized by all. This is my favourite community folklore memory around wells and springs - the imagery of men, women and children gathered around a public well to gossip, take photos or play is a great one, and reminiscent of a time when life wasn't as busy or distracting.

The most endearing memory I hard around the final category, spirituality, had more to do with personal attachment than religion, and that was the stories of loved ones on death beds requesting water from a particular source. The best story was one which said that when their mother asked for water from a well far out of the way, they tried to skip a long trip to an old spring by bringing a grandmother water from somewhere else, but she could tell the difference, and sent them on their heels for the real thing.

Of course throughout the last few months I updated on my progress through the blog, which you can find in the archived blog posts by searching the keyword "wells" or "springs". I also wrote articles for the July, August/September and the October/November ICH Newsletters, available to read on the DAI website.

One of the first end goals we decided upon with this project was to create an infographic which neatly displayed all the interesting factoids and stats about wells and springs in one poster. Graham Blair did an amazing job taking my stats, measurements, quotes and imagery and turning them into a really grand looking display of everything I had done!

Finally, I've had the opportunity to share my work in a unique presentation style at a presentation through the Harris Centre at the end of last month, call a Words in Edgewise 20/20 presentation. This is essentially a set of 20 slides that cycle every 20 seconds out of your control, so while you're presenting you have to keep up! I will be presenting this work again at the ICH mini forum next month, which is open to the public through RSVP with me or on Event Brite. Information for both of these can be found here.

The biggest lesson I learned through meeting everyone and seeing all I did this summer is how important water really is. As someone who has always had the luxury of turning on a tap any time I was thirsty, I never really thought about how important it was to protect and care for your water. I met several people who had experienced dry wells, or were going through it when I visited, and had to deal with the issue of wondering where your water was going to come from. I have a much greater understanding and respect for water that I didn't have before.

It's been a great 5 months, and I'm happy to share that I'm able to stay on at the Heritage Foundation for another contract, with a few new projects to facilitate and help out with! If you have any stories about wells or springs you'd still like to share, or any other interesting folklore memories you want to chat about, feel free to email me at sarah@heritagefoundation.ca or call me at 739-1892 ext. 5

Vintage Newfoundland Christmas - post your old family holiday snaps!

Christmas is one of those times when people dig out their old photo scrapbooks and albums and remember the holidays of yesteryear. And we know there is some photographic gold hidden in those albums of yours - photos like the one above, of our own Nicole Penney, apparently quite happy and content in the clutches of this mummer (an early sign of a folklorist-to-be, obviously).

We want to see yours! So we've started up a Facebook group where you can share your family holiday photos, called Vintage Newfoundland Christmas. Post and comment there to your heart's content!

Don't have Facebook, but want to share? Or do you have old photos, but need some help scanning them? Don't be shy! You can email us at ich@heritagefoundation.ca and we'll be happy to help.

MAX Mummers Play: Who is Pickedy Wick?

The traditional mummers play "Soldiers acting at Christmas" was part of the folk traditions of Change Islands, Newfoundland, and dates to circa 1900. It is a hero combat play, where King George fights the King of Egypt, with a death and revival typical of other mummers plays in Newfoundland, UK and elsewhere.

Towards the end of the Change Islands play, there is a procession of stock characters, one of whom is Pickedy Wick, who enters and states:

Here comes I, Pickedy Wick,
put my hand in my pocket and pay what I thinks fit;
Ladies and gentlemen, sit down to their ease,
Put their hands in their pockets and pay what they please,
And if you don't believe those words I say,
step in Beelzebub and boldly clear thy way.

This year, we've been working with Julia Halfyard and Tim Matson with the MAX theatre program in St. John's. Tim has adapted and updated the mummers play, which the MAX theatre students will perform in December.

One of our brave band of mummers, Caitlin Harte, asked last week about who the character of Pickedy Wick is supposed represent. A fair enough question, really, as many of the characters in the traditional mummers plays are foreign to young audiences today.

I suspect the character is based on the figure of Samuel Pickwick, the hero of the Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens. Here is a quote to describe him:

He is a simple-minded, benevolent old gentleman, who wears spectacles, breeches, and short black gaiters, has a bald head, and 'good round belly.'

- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 

My thought is that he is in the play to represent the idea of good times, good friends, good food and good cheer - a jolly fellow, perfect for Christmas.

You can come see Pickedy Wick, King George, the Villainous Knight, the Doctor, and all their friends as the MAX theatre students perform their version of the old mummers play as part of the Mummers Festival, at The Rooms, on Sunday, December 8th.

The ICH Mini Forum - you're invited!

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is pleased to announce that next month we will be hosting the ICH Mini Forum on Friday the 13th of December. The mini forum will be an update on the projects carried out by the ICH over the past year. Topics include:

Newfoundland and Labrador’s ICH strategy – 5 years and counting
Bay Roberts ICH projectsHeritage Foundation of NL Poster Contest
A Review of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation Oral History Collection
Wells and Springs Research Project
The Quidi Vidi Folklore Fieldschool
…. With a few more guests!

MMaP (the old art gallery) in the Arts and Culture Centre

Friday the 13^th of December 2013

1-3pm

If you would like to attend, please click the button below to RSVP! Space is limited, so please RSVP only if you plan on attending. We look forward to sharing chatting with you, and sharing some snacks!

If you have any questions feel free to contact Sarah@heritagefoundation.ca, or call 739-1892 ext 5.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: A Game of Pitch and Toss

Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador
 A 7-12. "Pitch and Toss": Children playing pitch and toss, Grey River. There is a description of the game in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: "You stand away so far, an' you pitch your button. The handiest to the peg, after so many pitches [would win]. C 70-15 The object of the game was to pitch a button from the hole [where you stood] so that the button touched the 'nag' (or stick). C 71-22 Make a mot in the ground with your heel. Stand at a distance from the hole and pitch the buttons."
Photographer: Holloway Studio [1913]

Games and play allow children to develop important social skills and negotiate their world through competition, role-playing, and power hierarchies. Children's games/play evolve over time and reflect how communities respond to social and economic changes. The introduction of electricity, telephones, movies, television, radio and internet has had a strong influence on the game and play repertoire of children. As these technologies grew in popularity, children spent less time outdoors playing traditional games such as Rounders, Hoist your Sails and Run, Pitch and Toss, Duck on the Rock and Bandy Ball. Subsequently, the rules of many of these games have been nearly lost. We would like to document these games and play before that happens. 

In the new year the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office hopes to collect memories from tradition bearers across the province. Our goal is to explore the folklore of children's games/play through contextual information, such as rules of play, gender and age requirements, type of equipment used and when and where each game was played.

If you have memories of playing these games or know a tradition bearer who does, please feel free to get in touch with the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, we'd love to hear from you! 

For more on traditional games and play in Newfoundland and Labrador check out our collection on MUN's Digital Archive.

-Nicole
nicole@heritagefoundation.ca

Mummers Wish List - do you have any of these items?

Hi all! I need some props for the Mummer's Play we are running with the MAX theatre students. Contact me, or Nicole Penney and we'll arrange pickup in the St. John's area.

- Stretcher or spine board, something that two teenage girls could carry (without a body on it)

- Large black or brown leather old fashioned doctor’s bag (or plumbers bag?)

- Funnel and length of hose

- Foam swords

- A big club or fake barbell, made of foam, so a small person could easily lift it

- two wooden push brooms

A Mesmerizing Miscellany of Marvelous and Majestic Mummers

The Newfoundland Historical Society along with the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador will be holding its annual Gilbert Higgins free public lecture on Thursday, November 28, 2013 at 8 pm at Hampton Hall Lecture Theatre, located at the Marine Institute on Ridge Road

This month’s lecturer will be Paul Smith, and his talk is titled:

“A Mesmerizing Miscellany of Marvelous and Majestic Mummers: The Marketing of a Newfoundland Christmas Tradition.”—Gilbert Higgins Lecture.

This illustrated presentation explores the ways in which commodification of nostalgia has become the focus of some sectors of the market place. The marketing of tradition is by no means a new phenomenon and it has been far more extensive than we perhaps realize. This underestimation possibly stems from the fact that, while we perceive today that marketing is facilitated through some form of corporate broker or entrepreneur, in reality this is not always the case. Instead performers have often taken on this role themselves. Similarly, at the grass roots level local artists and crafts people seeing performances of traditions such, as mummers, have turn those experiences into marketable wares.

Refreshments to follow

Parking is free and everyone is welcome to attend!

For more information feel free to contact Christina Robarts at nhs@nf.aibn.com or call (709) 722-3191. You can also contact Mary Ellen at anla@nf.aibn.com or call (709) 722-9034

The Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation and The HFNL

Here at the Heritage Foundation we love to help support the many different heritage groups around the province. Recently, we have been meeting with the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, and are helping them plan and organize an upcoming forum for the Baccalieu Trail.

The Baccalieu Trail is a 230km touring route in Newfoundland which runs from Markland, to Whitbourne, Heart's Content, Grates Cove, Bay de Verde, Victoria, Carbonear, Harbour Grace, Spaniard's Bay, Cupids, Brigus, and many, many places in between. The over 70 communities and stops along the trail are rich with tradition and heritage, and the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation is organizing a forum to bring them all together, share ideas, and offer support.

The planning is still in its infancy at this point, but we are working together to organize their event, and get things off the ground!

Keep an eye on the blog for updates and news about the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.

if you're interested in attending on behalf of your community or foundation, please contact sarah@heritagefoundation.ca

Newfoundland and Labrador ICH goes to Korea

ICHCAP (www.ichcap.org) is a UNESCO Category 2 Centre based in Korea, whose main role "is to strengthen 'Information and Networking' in the framework of the 2003 UNESCO Convention."

It supports activities directed toward the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage among the 48 Member States of the Asia-Pacific region with a primary function of disseminating information and building networks in the ICH field.

One of its tools to disseminate information is the ICH Courier newsletter, and in the most recent edition, Volume 17, the work of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is highlighted, along with reports from Nepal, Uzbekistan, the Republic of Korea, and Papua New Guinea.

You can read more about the newsletter, and download a PDF version directly from their website.