Headstone Rubbing Workshop

Workshop participant outlining the symbols on the headstone.

On Friday July 18th Lisa and I geared up and drove to Cupids for the second annual Headstone Rubbing Workshop. It was a beautiful day for a drive to Cupids and it was both of our first experiences at the Cupids Legacy Centre. Although we didn’t have much of an opportunity to explore the centre it looked wonderful.

Participants rubbing one of the older headstones in the cemetery.

Located next to the Cupids Legacy Centre was the Cupids United Church and cemetery. After Lisa’s introduction to the practice of headstone rubbing, and ideas of which stones to choose we headed to the cemetery. Lisa did a demonstration of the process which involved taping a thick paper over a headstone and using charcoal to outline the shape of the headstone and wording on the headstone.

These sisters chose a husband and wife's headstones to do their rubbings.

It was my first experience with headstone rubbing and I found the technique very methodical. It was interesting to see people’s different approaches to the very hands on process. Some people were looking to uncover the words on headstones while others were interested in taking their time and enjoying the practice.   

Almost done!

It was a great workshop and participants left with a greater knowledge of the practice, some information on resources for information on genealogy, and their own headstone rubbing.  It was a beautiful way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Labrador Wildflowers

 

"Specimens: Wee Flowering Plants collected Summer 1919 at 

Grenfell Mission Station, Battle Harbour, Labrador / by Katherine G. Amberson, R.N."

Item MG 63.1937 in The Rooms Provincial Archives from the International Grenfell Association Fonds. Entry includes the following quote from inside the album cover:

  

"These little plants and blossoms changed the forbidding landscape to the softest, loveliest inviting hues one can imagine. A gentle tribute to the Creator of our universe. K.G.A"

Headstone Rubbing in Action!

If you have two minutes to spare, please watch this video showing the artful hands of our headstone rubbing participants! This event took place on July 18, 2014 as a collaboration between the HFNL and Cupids Legacy Centre.  It was a great day in Cupids--we had a good turn-out and lots of fun learning about cemetery documentation under blue skies. This short was recorded and put together by Lisa Wilson, who facilitated the workshop. Accompanying music is Gerard Chaytor of Conche, NL, on accordion.

Also, please stay tuned to see photos of the event, which will be posted in the near future.

Job Posting - Museum Attendant – Part time

The Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove Museum is looking to hire an enthusiastic and independent student for the summer.

Responsibilities include: greeting visitors and leading tours of the museum, helping to establish an archives, and aiding with historical research.

Experience working in a museum and conducting historical research considered an asset.

Please forward your resume to Museum Coordinator, Katie Harvey, at lbmcocmuseum@gmail.com or drop off at the Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove located at 744 Logy Bay Road in the town hall.

Petty Harbour Oral History Project - Interviewer Becomes Interviewee

Photo by Terra Barrett

Tune in this Sunday July 20th to the Weekend Arts Magazine (WAM) hosted by Angela Antle for an interview with the Heritage Foundation’s summer intern Terra Barrett.  The interview will air at 7:50am Newfoundland Time on CBC’s Radio One and online at http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/.  

If you have any memories of growing up in Petty Harbour or the social life within the community please contact Terra at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or (709)739-1892 extension 5.

Cupids Headstone Documentation Workshop

If you are in Cupids this upcoming Friday, you might considering joining us for the HFNL's second annual Headstone Rubbing Workshop! This session will be in partnership with Cupids Legacy Centre.

This workshop is aimed at teaching best practices for documenting headstones in historic cemeteries. We will cover the art of making rubbings, reasons to use this method for headstone documentation, basics of discovering headstone symbology, and how to give attention and respect to our historic cemeteries without doing damage to the stone artifacts.

You will walk away with at least one headstone rubbing that you have made yourself, as well as some knowledge about the importance of cemetery conservation.

Note: Charcoal can be messy so please remember to dress in clothes you don't mind getting dirty.  All materials provided but you may wish to bring a pillow, knee pads, or a stool.

Date: Friday, July 18
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Admission: $15
Facilitator: Lisa Wilson, Heritage Outreach Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland Labrador
Pre-registration required, please contact Cupids Legacy Centre at (709) 528-1610


*All outdoor events are weather dependent. An alternate date will be set in the case of wet conditions. For updates call 528-1610, or check facebook or twitter.*

Heritage grant announced for documenting the historic NL fishery

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is announcing a $5000 grant program for projects that document, record, present or safeguard the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of the fishery in the province. Possible projects could focus on the intangible cultural heritage associated with boats, their builders and those who went to sea, net making and mending, crab or lobster pot repair, knot-tying and ropework, cod traps, make-and-break engines, knowledge associated with marks and berths, the architecture of fishing stages and associated material culture (splitting tables, etc), the business of making fish, or oral histories related to the fishery.

“This new program will give communities an opportunity to record some of the important stories and information about the fishery and its role in the daily life of Newfoundland and Labrador,” says Dale Jarvis, folklorist and development officer with the foundation. “A lot of this information is fragile, and needs to be collected before it vanishes.”

The Fisheries ICH Grants are open to town councils, museums, archives or incorporated non-profit cultural and/or heritage organizations.

Deadline for applications is 22 August 2014.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposal with the ICH Development Officer before applying, by phone at 1-(888)-739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

• Fisheries ICH Grant program guidelines
• Fisheries ICH Grant application form

(photo: the fish plant and boats, Twillingate, 1963)

Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Flakes and Fish

Thomas Ruck fonds
VA 45-1; Petty Harbour in the 1860s
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms

Today’s folklore photos are pictures of the flakes, stages and stores of Petty Harbour’s past. Throughout my interviews in Petty Harbour a major change that has been mentioned has been the change in the fishery.  The move from making fish to catching crab has meant a shift in the physical landscape of the harbour.  

Petty Cove [Petty Harbour]
VA 143-18 [between 1892 and 1904]
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms

The loss of the fish flakes from the island rooms has been mentioned in a number of interviews as has the shift in the fishery.  Several of my informants have memories of the responsibilities of making fish and cutting tongues for the fishermen.  

Mike Hearn

Mike Hearn described walking into the Goulds to sell the cod tongues 10₵ a dozen as opposed to selling the tongues for 10₵ a pound in Petty Harbour.  He also mentioned making flickers out of his mother’s old cotton reels filled with lead in order to catch tom cods in the harbour.        

Petty Harbour VA 15a-43.1
Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection
Newfoundland Views Photographs
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms

The lack of children involved with the fishery today has caught the attention of people in Petty Harbour and a non profit organization called Fishing for Success has been established.  Check out their website and facebook page as they reintroduce fishing knowledge to the children of Petty Harbour Maddox Cove and beyond.

"Better to die a child than live in vain" - Winterton tombstone mystery

I posted a little while ago about a mystery headstone motif from Cupids, which generated some suggestions, and an article in The Telegram. Following that, I got this image (above) and note from Grant Tucker, about a headstone in the Anglican cemetery beside the church at Winterton. Grant writes:

"It has a six line epitaph which is only partially decipherable; perhaps you or one of your contacts can help us. Here is what we have deciphered: 

At last from worldly strife ------------------- (hand?) - Iambic Hexameter
And (valiant?) (souls?) -------------------------------- - Iambic (Pentameter?)
(Where?) mercies never fade - Iambic Trimeter
But if protracted guilt --------------------- the span - Iambic Hexameter
Better to die a child than live in vain - Iambic Pentameter
And sink into the shade - Iambic Trimeter 

Jasper, my fifth great-grandfather, or perhaps the generation before him, are thought to have been among the first of Winterton's permanent settlers who came from Trinity."

 Any thoughts? Does the epitaph ring any bells with poetry fans out there?

Drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or post a comment!