A Successful Forum with the Baccalieu Trail

This past Monday the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, with some help from us here at the Heritage Foundation, held a forum for representatives from the 70 communities around the Baccalieu Trail. The aim of the forum, subtitled "Preserving the Past and Looking to the Future", was focused on discussing matters related to community heritage, future plans and how best to realize them, and opportunities for communication and collaboration within the region.

We had 50 participants for the forum, which consisted of a morning of presentations and an afternoon of open discussion. Speakers in the morning included Charlie Adams and William Gilbert from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, Jerry Dick from Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Dale Jarvis from the ICH office at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, Beverly King from the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Jim Prowse from Canadian Heritage.

The afternoon was formatted as a conversation cafe-styled cafe, where the participants table hopped while answering questions related to the heritage in their area, what struggles they have, and how the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation can help. The afternoon concluded with everyone returning to their original tables, and sharing the most interesting things they heard or learned that day. Each table narrowed that down to a top three, which was shared with the full forum during the final wrap up.

In the near future a report will be compiled of all of the information that was gathered during the forum; a preview of the results will be available in the March issue of the ICH newsletter!

-Sarah

Folklore Photo - Heritage Lighthouse in Heart's Content

I wrote the other day about how we took a group of public folklore grad students out to Heart's Content.  Today is folklore photo day, so here is that group of students, in front of the Heart's Content Lighthouse. The lighthouse was constructed in 1901, and is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building.

You can read more about the lighthouse here and on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

- photos by Dale Jarvis

Tradition in Motion: A day with the Mizzen Heritage Square Dancers

Our intangible cultural heritage office sometimes uses what we term a “project-based training” model. You can read all about that in this occasional paper.  Yesterday, we took that model on the road, with a group of Memorial University students, to Heart's Content.

Dr. Jillian Gould is an Assistant Professor within Memorial University’s Department of Folklore, whose research interests include public folklore, ethnography, and fieldwork. Since 2011, her class has been partnering with HFNL to deliver a type of project-based training as a component of the graduate public sector folklore course. Typically, graduate students organize some kind of public folklore event or workshop, a model which engages the public while teaching the students practical and varied skills in facilitation, group work, community outreach, and project planning. 

This semester, students are working on organizing a workshop on traditional Newfoundland set dancing, in cooperation with the Mizzen Heritage Square Dancers. Thos dancers will be coming into St. John's to run a workshop later in March, but I suggested that the students go out to Heart's Content, meet the dancers in advance, learn the dances, and be better able to facilitate the workshop when it happens.

So yesterday, two carloads of us drove out to Trinity Bay, and met up with the dancers of Heart's Content at the Society of United Fishermen Hall. The dancers demonstrated two dances, the old fashioned square dance, and the Lancers, and students were able to run through the square dance twice. Then everyone took part in the Virginia Reel, and finished up with a lunch prepared by the community. Students, where possible, did on-the-spot folklore interviews with many of the participants.

Some of the students had never been to Heart's Content, and the set dances were new to most of them. It was a great experience, and everyone was moved by the kindness and generosity of the folks from Heart's Content. At the end, the dancers made sure everyone left with a Heart's Content pin. It was tremendous fun, and a great way for students to see folklore in action, rather than just reading about it. 

Stay tuned for more information on the in-town workshop itself. 

Photos by Cyndi Egan.  

Tuesday Folklore Photo: Nan's Cookbook in the Digital Age

A recipe for light cake belonging to Bernice Miles,
 who attended the digitization workshop on February 22, 2014.

This past Friday, The Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives and The Intangible Cultural Heritage Office provided a digitization workshop in St. John's. This workshop focused on digitizing  family cookbooks and handwritten recipes and recipe cards.  Participants were encouraged to bring along their own family collections to share and scan.  Presenters Mary Ellen Wright (ANLA) and Nicole Penney (ICH-HFNL) led this hands on workshop, which taught participants how to create and preserve digital copies of their documents. We also discussed  how to best preserve the original copies of these important family and community heirlooms.

Mary Ellen Wright discusses preservation techniques
Photo Courtesy of: Sarah Ingram

Nicole Penney showing participants how to scan original documents
Photo Courtesy of: Sarah Ingram

We will be holding a similar event at the Cupids Legacy Centre on Friday March 21, 2014. Join us from 3-5 p.m. for some tea, buns and reminiscences about cookbooks and cooking. We’ll also talk about how best to preserve the original documents. Participants are encouraged to bring examples from their own homes or collections. The event is free to attend with coffee, tea and snacks provided.

Workshop participants Joan Mowbray and Amelia Reimer share their family cookbooks
Photo Courtesy of: Sarah Ingram

If you wish to attend the Cupids event, please RSVP to Sarah Ingram: sarah@heritagefoundation.ca or (709) 739-1892 ex. 5

The Games We Played - A Coffee and Culture Presentation

THE GAMES WE PLAYED   
Thursday, February 27, 2:30 pm., The Rooms Provincial Museum

Hoist Your Sails and Run, Spotlight and kite flying are just a few ways that children traditionally entertained themselves in outport Newfoundland. Join folkorist Lisa Wilson as she explores these and other types of childhood play that have an important place in our living memories.

This is a multi-media presentation, but there will be a chance at the end to share some of your own memories and experiences around childhood games and experiences. Hope to see you there!

Children of Cable Ave., Bay Roberts, courtesy of Linda Sesk.

Grey Socks, Pidley Stick, and Traditional Food

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: we introduce the Grey Sock Project, linking the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the First World War with traditional knitting skills; the Food Security Network on their "All Around The Table" seniors' oral history project; and researching tiddly, hoist your sails and run, and other children's games and pastimes.

Download the newsletter in PDF and other formats

Photo: The Williams children in front of their family home on Cable Avenue, Bay Roberts, undated photo.

Traditional Newfoundland Rug Hooking Workshop

Traditional Newfoundland Rug Hooking Workshop

with Vickie Walsh
Celebrate The Newfoundland Pony
Join us for a day of Rug Hooking

Make a mat of a NL Pony to hang on your wall using the original designs by Liz Chafe of Cappahayden

Learn the craft of hooking mats the traditional way!!! Learn about the Newfoundland Pony during lunch with an informal talk and slideshow by Liz Chafe A series of workshops will be held on the Southern Shore during the months of MARCH, APRIL AND MAY !!!!!

Call: 709 691 4459
sewfarout@hotmail.com

Price for full day workshop 10am to 5pm is $120.00.
Rug Hooking materials included plus an original NL Pony Art Rock OR print.
Location on the Southern Shore to be announced when dates are confirmed.
Call to SIGN UP NOW !!!!

SEW FAR OUT Sewing And Alterations

VICKIE WALSH 709 691- 4459
sewfarout@hotmail.com
Traditional Rug Hooking, Quilting & Craft Workshops

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Playing Tiddly

photo courtesy of Margaret Ayad

Recently the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has begun to do research into different traditional games in Newfoundland and Labrador, and one very popular game we've come across is Tiddly. Also called Tiddly Stick, Piddly/Pidley or Scat, this game has been played for years here in the province. The equipment was simple: all you needed to play was two rocks or bricks, a short stick and a longer stick. 

The rules vary from community to community, but typically consist of hitting the short stick off of the rocks or bricks with the long stick. If the other team catches the short stick, you were out. If they didn't catch it, you were awarded points based on the distance it travelled.

The photo above comes from Margaret Ayad, and was taken at the Carbonear 2012 World Cup of Tiddly. Since 2008 Carbonear has hosted a Tiddly World Cup, which has grown in popularity and size each year since. The tournament was meant to bring back a game that was popular up until the mid 1960s in the province. 

If you have any memories of playing Tiddly, or any other traditional games in Newfoundland, we would love to hear them! I am actively looking for people who played Tiddly, variations on the rules, and different names, as well as any stories about any other traditional children's games!

Feel free to call me at 739-1892 ext. 5, or email me at sarah@heritagefoundation.ca

Heritage Places Poster Contest Awards 2014

Today is Heritage Day in Newfoundland and Labrador, and to celebrate, the HFNL put on an awards ceremony at the Quidi Vidi Plantation for this year's Heritage Places Poster Contest. Four talented students from around the province won awards for their artistic renditions of important local heritage structures.

Savannah Skinner, grade 2 student at Jakeman All Grade, Trout River, received an award for her poster of Roberts Store Municipal Heritage Site in Woody Point. The Elementary winner was Hae Na Luther, a grade 6 student Stella Maris Academy, Trepassy, for her depiction of Cape Pine National Historic Site. The Junior High winner was Erica Bailey, grade 8, who attends Bishop White School in Port Rexton. Her poster is of the Lester Garland House in Trinity. Finally, the Senior High and overall winner was grade 11 student Colby Farrell who attends Marystown Central High School. His poster of the Temperance Street Registered Heritage Structures, known fondly as the Four Sisters in St. John's, proved to be the best in show.

Thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony today, and congratulations to our poster contest winners.

The four winners of the poster contest pose with their posters.

Savannah accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Shannie Duff.

Hae Na accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Jerry Dick.

Erica accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Frank Crews.

Colby accepts his framed poster and award, presented by Frank Crews and M.H.A. David Brazil.

The Sailor's Valentine

Sailor's valentines are a form of seashell folk art developed in the early nineteenth century, particularly popular between 1830 and 1890. Octagonal boxes with a glass overlay served as frames for symmetrical designs that artists created, using small shells of different colours and sizes.

It was once thought that sailors made these valentines themselves, to pass the time at sea. Contrary to this belief, sailor's valentines were actually a cottage industry on the island of Barbados, the centre of supply and distribution for English, Dutch and North American ships. It is recorded that the primary source for sailor's valentines was the New Curiosity Shop, located in Bridgetown. The shop was owned by English brothers B.H. and George Belgrave.

The valentines were usually assembled by female residents for sailors to purchase and bring back to their loved ones at home. The craftswomen would often include romantic phrases and flower and heart designs.

The sailor's valentine featured above belongs to Georgina Mercer of Bishop's Cove, NL. The valentine was gifted from her uncle and has been in Mercer's family for decades.

Job Posting: Museum Association Intern

Employment Opportunity - Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

Internship

The Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL) is a not for
profit, registered charitable organization that supports our membership and
museums throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Job Description
The Museum Intern will work with the Executive Director in reviewing the
organizational records of the Museum Association. The Intern will be
responsible for reviewing the member information and updating it on the MANL
website. Assist with planning, organizing and delivering our Annual General
Meeting and training programs. The Intern reports to the Executive Director
and works with committees of the Association to fulfill the goals of the
Association. The duration of this position will be one year.

The areas of responsibility include but are not limited to:

• Digitizing of records of the Association
• Reviewing organization documents for retention
• Assist in the development of membership database
• Reevaluation and organization of reference library
• Assist with Annual General Meeting and training programs
• Other related duties as required

Qualifications
The Intern will have demonstrated relevant experience. Must meet the
criteria for the Graduate Transition to Employment Program, having graduated
from a post-secondary program within the past two years. Must have
experience with Microsoft Office programs such as Word and Excel; and
possess excellent communications and organization skills. Knowledge of the
museums, records management, archives and heritage sector would be an asset.
Completion of MANL and ANLA training would be an asset. The successful
applicant must demonstrate the ability to work with others in an office
environment. The successful candidate must present a certificate of conduct
upon request.

Deadline for applications: February, 27th , 2014, 3:00 pm
Applications may be forwarded to:

kflynn@nf.aibn.com

MANL thanks all applicants for their interest; however only those selected
for an interview will be contacted.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Somebody's Home

Photograph of a heritage structure submitted by Teri Delaney.

A few weeks back Teri Delaney stopped by our Springdale office to drop something off. She noticed a photograph on the wall of one of our designated heritage buildings. She said that she took a photo of that same building, and hadn't realized that it was a provincially recognized structure. I asked her to send along a copy to share on the blog. Her photograph "Somebody's Home," reminds us that many of the province's surviving historic buildings once served as year-round homes for families. This one, it seems, is still in use. Thanks for sharing your photograph, Teri.

-Lisa

Well, Well, Well, a Google Map

Last summer when I was doing wells and springs work, I not only measured wells and photographed them, but I also recorded their GPS coordinates. I though it would be neat to look back after the fact at the distribution of some of the wells I'd seen. I was able to record the location of 35 wells over my summer of fieldwork, and have finally had the time to do something interesting with the information.

Google maps works really great for this, because you can create your own personalized maps, and store them either privately or publicly. Creating a map is incredibly simple - you can type either the address or the GPS coordinates to the points you want into the search bar, and then add a pin to mark that space on your map. Pins are customizable, so you can pin multiple types of spots onto a map, and then hide or show layers, depending on what you want to see.

If you want to take a look at the interactive Wells, Springs, and Folklore Google map you can find it here! Some of the points have links to videos or other information - and of course, all the wells and springs photos and information can be found on the DAI.

Nan’s Cookbook in the Digital Age

Digitizing and preserving family heirloom cookbooks and recipe cards.
Date: February 21, 2014, 1-4:30 p.m.
Location: ANLA office, Suite 201, 15 Hallett Crescent, St. John’s

Presenters: 

• Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nicole Penney, Intangible Cultural Heritage Programs Assistant
• Mary Ellen Wright, ANLA Professional Development and Outreach Officer

Do you have your nan’s recipe cards? Did your mother keep a scrapbook of her favourites? Do family members reminisce about that old copy of the Cream of the West Cookbook with the comments and changes written all over its pages?

This workshop will teach participants how to create and preserve digital copies of these important family and community heirlooms. We’ll also talk about how best to preserve the original documents! Participants will be encouraged to bring examples from their own homes or collections.

Registration fee: $30
Registration deadline: February 17, 2014 Some financial assistance for transportation costs is available for ANLA

members: please contact the ANLA office for more information.

Mary Ellen Wright
Professional Development and Outreach Officer Association of Newfoundland
and Labrador Archives
(709)726-2867
www.anla.nf.ca

It's Cold Outside...Let's Keep the Bogey Going

During an oral history interview with 95-year-old Alice Mercer, originally of Bay Roberts, I asked her to share some memories from her school days. She talked about having to go outside in all kinds of weather to use the washroom, and how it was hard work for the teacher to keep the classroom warm.

"We had stoves in all the classrooms. Teachers had a time to try and learn us something and keep the bogey going. One of the boys would come with a handful of splits in the morning and the bucket of coal. Used to buy the coal from the coal shed. He’d light the fire and it was up to the teacher then to keep it going. sometimes the teacher would forget it and it would go out. Then we’d get cold."

Wait, "...keep the bogey going"? What's a bogey? From the context of the conversation I could see that with her use of the word bogey, she was referring to a stove for heating, but since I hadn't heard that word before, I checked the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, just to make sure. It states:

bogie n also bogey, bogy. PARTRIDGE bogy 4 'a stove for heating'; SND ~ 'cooking galley on a fishing boat (1916); DC Nfld (1916-). A small stove used originally on a fishing schooner; applied generally to any small coal- or wood-burning stove.

This was the word that Alice and her family would have used for a wood stove when she was a child. But do people still use it? And are there regions of the province that it is more widely known?

(The above photographs of two variations of small stoves, or bogeys, were taken from the Geography Collection - Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador on MUN's Digital Archives Initiative.)

If you have an experience with this word and its uses, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know. lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Lisa

Folklore Photo: The Cupids American Man circa 1930

Today's folklore photo comes courtesy of the Newfoundland Historical Society archival collection. The photo shows the "American Man" - a cairn of stones located at the top of Spectacle Head, in Cupids. The original photo was taken by A.C. Hunter, and the back of the photo has an inscription which reads:

Photo by A.C. Hunter, about 1930
The "American Man" on the hill between Cupids +
Clarke's Beach. Mrs Hunter in photo
There was another one between Brigus and Cupids.
They were used as landmarks for Vessels
coming in, we supposed. We also wondered if
they came from "Marking Man"???
                             Muriel H. Hunter, 1976
Negative of this is in the A.C. Hunter Collection, Memorial Univ.
                                                                                Audio Visual.

The cairn, which has been rebuilt several times since the 1930s, is much taller today, and a secondary, smaller cain has also been constructed nearby.  I've heard it referred to as both the "American Man" and the "Merican Man," and have also heard the theory, given by locals, that it is indeed a corruption of "Marking Man."

Here is how the structure looked during the Cupids 400 Celebrations in 2010. I believe the photo is by Dennis Minty:

At some point after the 2010 celebrations, the structure was damaged by vandals, and rebuilt by local volunteers. Here is what the cairn looked like on 13 October 2013. Note that it is slightly more symmetrical here, than in the 2010 photo.

This note is the first I've heard of a similar structure located between Brigus and Cupids. If anyone knows of that particular cairn's current or previous location, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale Jarvis

UPDATE:

On 5 February 2013, Mike Sexton wrote me and noted the following:

"...years ago I met an Icelander in L'Anse Aux Meadows, he was on the hill looking for a third cairn at the viking site. He was an old mariner and he told me that there should be three if they were used for navigation. they always have the sky as a background,and you have to keep one in the middle for safe water. This one in the middle could be a considerable distance behind the ones closest to the coast. so you sail by, and when you have them positioned right you turn towards shore. (Safe water)"

Expression of Interest - Looking for artists and tradition bearers

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's Cultural Connections Strategy allows teachers throughout the province to apply for professional development in and through the arts and heritage. As outlined under the Cultural Connections Strategy there are a variety of projects (i.e. Arts and Culture Infused Curriculum (ACIC), Legacy and Learning Partners) available to meet teachers' arts related professional goals and learning opportunities.

To assist teachers and NLESD programs staff in finding qualified artists and tradition bearers in their local areas for submitted projects, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) is seeking artists who are interested in working with k-12 teachers.

For more information, look here!

ICH Mini Forum Video Collection

In the middle of December last year (Friday the 13th to be exact!) we had an Intangible Cultural Heritage mini forum, where people who are in the heritage and ICH world could come together and share what they had been working on over the past year. This was our first mini forum, but hopefully not our last!

There were a range of topics: from policy, to wells, to wart remedies, and more. There is a full list of all the presentations, with links to their respective YouTube videos, below!

Frank Crews and Dale Jarvis - Introduction

Andrea O'Brien - Heritage Places Poster Contest

Chris Mouland - Digital Initiatives Archive Tour

Lisa Wilson - Bay Roberts Folk Belief Project

Claire McDougall - The Emergence of ICH Policy and Programs in Newfoundland and Labrador

Sarah Ingram - Wells, Springs, and Folklore

Ed Millar - Rugelach on the Rock

Nicole Penney - The Baccalieu Trail Oral History Collection

Chris Brookes - Inside Outside Battery

Christina Robarts - Newfiki: The Celebration of East European Culture in Newfoundland and Labrador

Jason Ross Sellars - 2013 Mummers Festival

Folklore Photo: Box for 16 mm Film

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Office is often asked to assist community groups with digitization projects. Recently, we were asked for help digitizing some audio tape cassettes and 8 mm and 16 mm motion picture film. These items were created by and are now in the possession of the Presentation Sisters. Due to the unavailability of equipment, the film recordings have not been viewed in many years, leaving their content a mystery.

Working with the Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative, the ICH Office has begun repairing and digitizing these materials, allowing the content to be viewed and heard for the first time in decades. After review, the Presentation Sisters will provide the ICH Office with portions of these recordings to upload to MUN's DAI. Stay tuned for updates!

Away with the fairies! Resources on Newfoundland fairy traditions

Nicole Penney and I have been busy little elves, working on a project we both love: Newfoundland fairylore!

We have had some requests from people about the tradition of fairies in Newfoundland and Labrador, so we've pulled together some links to online material that we think might be useful to people doing projects or heritage fair displays on the faerie folk, fairy belief, tradition and superstition.

The best place to start, however, is Barbara Rieti's excellent book, Strange terrain: The fairy world in Newfoundland.   It is the go-to book for anyone starting research on fairy traditions. I believe it is out of print, but local libraries should have a copy. We've also included a link below to Dr. Rieti's dissertation below, which is available online.

Another good-but-out-of-print book is Fables, Fairies and Folklore of Newfoundland by
Alice Lannon and Mike McCarthy, also possibly available at local libraries. We've included a great recording of Alice telling fairy stories in 2010.

Another good print resource is Peter Narváez's article “Newfoundland Berry Pickers ‘In the Fairies’: Maintaining Spatial, Temporal, and Moral Boundaries Through Legendry.” The Good People: New Fairylore Essays. Edited by Peter Narváez. University Press of Kentucky, 1997. Pp. 336-367.

If there is an important resource we've missed, email ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Photo: detail from Newfoundland Faerie Ring sculpture by Morgan MacDonald.

Online Video Sources

• Taken by the Fairies, with Mary Flynn
• Newfoundland Faerie Storytelling Circle 
• Notes from the Fairy Path: The Woodcutter 
• You Must Believe in Fairies
• Cumby, Art. A video clip featuring Art's personal fairy story
• Martin, Emma part 3. Interview about growing up in Port Union
• Newfoundland Stories with Clarence Squires
• Bob Hallett OneFiveOh - A Story About the Little People (Kilbride)
• Fairies & Fetches - A Storytelling Session with Clifford George
  
• The Pouch Cove Fairies

Audio Files

• Adams, Ryan. Fairy story from Upper Island Cove. 4 October 2013.
• Carew, Pat. Interview about fairy lore in Witless Bay . 24 September 2014.
• Collective Memories Monday - Fairy Lore in Witless Bay.
• Gosse, Bill. Tapper's Cove. 
• Fairies, fetches, and blasts! Living Heritage Podcast, 5 September 2019
• Jarvis, Dale. The House on the Fairy Path. 3 September 2006. 
• Jarvis, Dale. Interview with Tina White and Samantha Gaulton. 3 January 2019. 
• Lannon, Alice. Good and Bad Fairies. 29 July 2010.
• Maddigan, Bernadette. Interview about fairy lore in Witless Bay. 23 September 2014. 
• Pearcy, Carl. North Head Trail Leprechauns. 

Online Articles

Bishop’s Cove: John R Barrett. John What They Call Jackie. Decks Awash, vol. 18, no. 02 (March-April 1989). Pages 42-43.

Bulman, Andie. "Risking abduction by fairies to modernize a 1905 Newfoundland blueberry cake." CBC Sep 01, 2019.

Fairies. The Collegian, 1914, vol. 20, no. 01. pages 17 and 18.

The floating dead: N.L. inspired 'zombie faeries' photoshoot arrives in time for Halloween.  CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2016.

Folklore: Folk Beliefs. Encyclopedia of NL. Vol 2. Page 245

Helesic, Day. The Fairy Folklore of Newfoundland. Canadian Living. May 2015.

Janes, Burton K. The fairies of Conception Bay. The Compass. September 10, 2012

Jarvis, Dale.

• A Conception Bay South fairy story, circa 1944, by Donald W. Smith. 19 Dec 2018
• The Lady in Blue - A Fairy Story from Spaniard's Bay. 10 July 2012.
• "Lugged off" by the fairies - A Quebec fairy story from Dr. Wilfred Grenfell. 29 Jan 2018.
• A story of the good fairies. And pancakes! 6 March 2013.

Kelland, Ariana. Meet the fairy caretaker of Airport Heights. CBC Aug 27, 2019.

Lyver, Emily. Fear the Fairies. Kicker, September 21, 2017.

Milley, B. Joan. Little Fairies. The Collegian, 1939, [02], Summer. Page 23.

Noseworthy, Kayla. Fairy-Tales: Berry Picking and the Fairy Lore Connection. The Overcast. 14 September 2016.

Poems About Fairies. Collegian, 1939, [03], Christmas. Page 34.

Robinson, Andrew. Harbour Grace writer looks to fairies with latest novel. Aug 02, 2019.

St. John’s man tells court he was carried away by the fairies. Archival Moments.

Silvester, Nicole. Blast Those Little Fellas: The Fairy Folklore of Newfoundland. 11 September 2012.

Wilson, Lisa, ed. Folk Belief and Legends of Bay Roberts and Area. St. John's: Heritage Foundation of NL, 2014.

Dissertations

Rieti, Barbara. Newfoundland Fairy Traditions: A study in Narrative and Belief. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1990.

Silvester, Niko. There’s a Piece Wad Please a Brownie: A Comparative Study of Offerings to the Fairies in Traditional Cultures and Contemporary Earth Centered-Religions. Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Update: 
For those interested, Strange Terrain is still in print and was recently reprinted by its original publisher ISER Books, Memorial University. Their address is ISER Books, MUN, 297 Mount Scio Road, St. John’s A1C 5S7, (709)-864-3453,  iser-books@mun.ca , or www.arts.mun.ca/iserbooks/

Last Update: 19 December 2022 by Dale Jarvis

Calling all Conception Bay girls! Do you know a tradition about dolls and candy?

I got an interesting message today from textile artist Susan Furneaux, an instructor at the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft Art and Design. She has taught textile workshops for various professional craft and art organizations throughout Newfoundland Labrador, Canada and the United States. Today, she wanted to talk dolls.

Susan is looking for information on a tradition in Conception Bay Centre, and possibly other places, where girls went around with their dolls, all dressed up,  and knocked on doors, asking for candy. 

Susan believes it may have been attached to a saint's day. She writes,

"Someone from Avondale told me that they did it as girls, like the boys did with the wren. The woman who told me was still bitter because the boys got money (for the wren) but the girls just got sweets... Not sure what time of the year it was."

Does anyone have any idea what this is called, or have any memories about this tradition? 

If it rings a bell, leave a comment, or email Susan directly at susanfurneaux@gmail.com.

Tuesday Folklore Photo: An Icy Gathering

International Grenfell Association photograph collection
IGA photograph album VA 115-79.5

Despite the unseasonably warm weather we have been having in the province lately (knock on wood), this picture of a group of men, women and children gathering in the winter snow is more representative of the temperatures expected during a Newfoundland winter. While the exact date of this photo isn't known, it has been placed by the Archives as between 1900-1919.

The group is amongst barrels and boxes. The Rooms Archives description describes this as the 'northeastern ice fields', and the 'spring sealfishery'; if you can tell me anything else about this picture I would be interested to hear it! I think it's a great picture, and I love the coat on the woman in the foreground.

If you have any old photos of the wintery weather you would like to share, I would love to see them! You can email me at Sarah@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Sarah

Heritage in Harbour Grace: when is a church worthless?

The 1892 Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Harbour Grace, which made the news last September when it was rumoured that it was to be sold to a brewery, has made the news again.

"Harbour Grace cathedral found to be worthless" read the CBC headline, a story which was somewhat buried by breaking political news of the same day.

According to the article, real estate consulting company Altus Group has determined that the building currently has a market value of zero.

Folklorist Steven Zeitlin is the founder of City Lore. Established in 1986, City Lore’s mission is to foster New York City – and America’s – living cultural heritage through education and public programs, working in four cultural domains: urban folklore and history; preservation; arts education; and grassroots poetry traditions. In a 1994 article in Conserving Culture, Zeitlin paraphrases the work of heritage preservationist James Marston Fitch, who argued that "the real value of a place is defined not by dollars and cents but by the quantifiable human energy that was put into it."

Zeitlin argues that local places have value based on the decisions that went into their use, their history as focal points for neighbourhood development, and in how they served to create community.

"Part of our job as cultural conservationists is to find ways to understand and assign value to these intangibles," he writes, "because only by assigning a measurable value can we fight to protect them."

It is an interesting argument, and it will be equally interesting to see how the debate over the future of Immaculate Conception unfolds.

- Dale Jarvis

- photo from wikimapia.org. 

Quotes taken from  S. Zeitlin , "Conserving our Cities' Endangered Spaces" 

in: M. Hufford (ed), Conserving Culture. Urbana, 1994.

How to Clean Your Well

Last summer I did a lot of work on wells and springs here in Newfoundland, and one question that I asking myself in the beginning was how people managed to clean their wells over the years. It's something that I had no previous knowledge about prior to beginning the project, and something that I found zero information about online. It seemed weird to me, because I thought I would find tons of resources and methods for cleaning wells, considering so many people use them*.

However, once I started asking people in my interviews how wells were cleaned, I heard the same method, or variations of it, time and time again. It seemed to me that although I couldn't find it online, it was a practice that had been long done across the province in a very similar fashion, and a tradition that was passed by word of mouth, through transmission, or through generations of learned behaviour.

I wanted to take what I learned and make it easily accessible to the public, so that in the future anyone needing to clean an old forgotten well would have a place to start, with an easy to follow step by step guide!

I first recommend getting the water tested, both before and after the cleaning. Water test kits can be picked up and dropped off at the Public Health Laboratory at the Dr. L.A. Miller Centre in St. John's, or the Service NL Centre in your area if you are outside the city. Specimens can't be older than 30 hours, so make sure you get these samples in ASAP. Once submitted, you will get both a phone call and mailed results, with a detailed explanation of what that means.

In order to clean your well you first need to drain it. Depending on the depth of your well and how quickly it fills, this can either be done by hand or with a pump. Once the water has been drained, you can begin cleaning. In the past, lime was used to scrub the sides, but a switch to Javex is more contemporary, and what is currently used today. Scrub the sides with a Javex and water solution thoroughly with a scrub or loofah, and then let the well fill back up with water.

Once the first scrub has been done and the well has filled, you need to drain and fill the well once or twice more. Many people suggested pouring a bottle of Javex into one of these refills - if you do decide to do that, then make sure you drain and fill the well at least once more to make sure that the bleach has worked its way out. Some well owners recommended running taps for a few hours afterwards as well, in order to both clear out the Javex as well as clean the pipes that lead into the house. Some also recommended dumping some Javex into the well at the end and leaving it in - but this is really up to you.

A second test is an important step, to make sure that the water is indeed cleaned and ready to drink, especially if the first test was questionable, or the well hasn't been cleaned or used in a while. Make sure to wait 48 hours after cleaning before you test, though!

It's a pretty straightforward process:

1. Test
2. Drain
3. Scrub
4. Rinse (and repeat as needed)
5. Test again!

If you use this guide to clean your well, or have a different method you would love to share, please feel free to contact me at sarah@heritagefoundation.ca, or by calling 1 (709) 739-1892 ext 5.

*After publishing this article, I was contacted by a couple people telling me that this process is called 'shock chlorination' or 'shocking a well' - a term that never came up in my interviews! However, once I knew the term I found some info on the internet, including a great guide found here. Thanks for the tips Andrea and Jane!

The Work and Mission of Folklorists: 4 rules for ICH Brokers and Mediators

I've been doing some research for an article on Intangible Cultural Heritage brokers, facilitators and mediators, which I'm writing for Marc Jacobs, the director of FARO in Flanders. My neighbour and colleague, Jillian Gould, recently leant me her copy of Public Folklore, and this morning, I was reading the chapter by Bess Lomax Hawes, the American folklorist, researcher and folk musician.

Here she is, hanging out with the Clintons in 1993, like you would, if you were a kick-ass and award-winning folklorist:

In the book, Hawes gives some advice to members of the American Folklore Society, the discipline of folklore, and every folklorist under the sun.  But her advice is pretty applicable to any anyone in a research-based field. 

Here are her rules* for being a good folklorist:

1. Don't get lazy.
2. Teach as much as you can when you can - broadcast.
3. Recognize that the job is as yet unfinished and likely never will be.
4. Get out there and do some good hard fieldwork. That is where all your best ideas and your most important knowledge are waiting for you. If you do your work well, folks will teach you back.

Now, let's get out there, and do some work!

---

* taken from:   Hawes, Bess Lomax. "Happy Birthday, Dear American Folklore Society: The Work and Mission of Folklorists" in "Public Folklore" edited by R. Baron and N. Spitzer. Washington: Smithsonian Institution P, 1992. p. 65-73.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Construction During Winter

Pictured above is the Port Union salt fish plant and retail store during construction. Though the photograph is undated, Edith Samson from the Sir William Coaker Foundation noted that the retail store (on the left) is shown here as a 4 story building indicating that this photo was taken at the time of the original construction project. In 1945 this building was rebuilt but only as a 3 story structure.

This photograph was donated to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and will be added to the Port Union collection on MUN's Digital Archives Initiative.

-Lisa

New one day workshop: How to create a GPS- triggered smartphone app

How to create a GPS- triggered smartphone app for walkers without having to be a technical genius. A 1-day WORKSHOP for heritage workers, community groups, oral historians, museum & tourism professionals, writers, artists, sound designers.

• Bring sounds, voices, memories, to the place where they happen • Take oral histories off the shelf and place them in a landscape. • Create location-based history, fiction, short stories, dramas. • Create a soundwalk in any location. • Place-based interpretation

Organizers Chris Brookes and Annie McEwan launched Inside/Outside Battery in October as a free smartphone app "walkers companion" to the Battery area of St. John's. You may have seen it on Here & Now, The Telegram or The Scope. Using GPS, it triggers sounds and stories as the walker passes different locations in the community. You can get an impression of how it works by watching a short video on our website: www.insideoutsidebattery.ca

One Day, One App: We can show you how to make this kind of app without being a computer wizard. You don't have to know html coding. You don't have to be techno-expert. We're not. We created Inside/Outside Battery using user-friendly web-based tools. We're offering a one-day weekend workshop that will guide you through the hands-on experience of making your own location-based app, using the methods we employed. You'll leave the workshop with a basic app that you've created yourself - something that you can continue to build and offer to your community. The heritage, tourism, and artistic uses of such an app are limited only by your imagination.

Workshop leaders: Independent radio producers Chris Brookes and Annie McEwen. Brookes' radio documentary features have won over forty international awards including the Peabody Award and the Prix Italia, and have been broadcast around the world. McEwen holds an MA in Folklore from Memorial University and has been working in the field of folklore and oral history for four years. Her work has aired on CBC Radio, PRX Remix, and Cowbird.com.

Date: Sunday, January 26th Time: 9am – 5pm Fee: $100 preregistration required (there are 8 spots available)

Location: 29 Outer Battery Road, St. John’s To register call Annie at 709-770-3201, or email annierosamcewen@gmail.com

Registration deadline January 22

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Burning the Clavie

Burning the Clavie is a Scottish fire festival observed on January 11th (the first day of the Julian Calender) at Burghead, a fishing village on the Moray Firth. The clavie is a peat and wood filled herring barrel which is set ablaze and carried on a pole though the village. The fiery procession is led by the Clavie King and his crew of about ten men, traditionally fishermen.

"Clavie King Hopping About the Flames"
Courtesy of: Yewtreenights.blogspot.com 

The burning clavie is paraded though the streets (sometimes on the back of the Clavie King!) and onlookers rush to grab the smoldering pieces, which are believed to bring good luck. The barrel eventually crumbles and the blazing embers are strewn over the summit of Doorie Hill before being shared among the townspeople.

Clergymen in the 18th century condemned this fire festival as "an abominable, heathenish practice" and tried to put a stop to it. This tradition used to be more widespread but now only survives in Burghead in the northeast of Scotland.

Snowy Days Gone By: St. John's Winter Scenes

With a blizzard on the way and rolling blackouts effecting the province, I thought I'd share some pictures of past snowy days, when snow clearing was not what it is today. We'll get though this together, like we have so many times before. Just remember to shut off those Christmas lights, drive safe, stay warm, bring in your pets and hug your babies!

Courtesy of: Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative
East End, St. John's. Temperance Street and Battery Road in winter.
Print developed from glass negative in the Geography Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland Geography Collection, Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador. Original repository Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives and Special Collections Division 

Courtesy of: Memorial university's Digital Archives Initiative 
Winter, Waterford Bridge Road, ca. 1905
John Job Collection, Maritime History Archive

Courtesy of: Memorial University's Digital Archive
Government House, St. John's. "New Willys Car". Car with chains on wheels, ready for winter. 1932
Print developed from glass negative in the Geography Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland Geography Collection, Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador. Original repository Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives and Special Collections Division

Courtesy of: Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

New Gower Street, St. John's. View looking east; snow covered street with horse and cart, ca. 1925

Print developed from glass negative in the Geography Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland Geography Collection, Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador. Original repository Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives and Special Collections Division