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| Two impressive miniature portraits one appearing to be a watercolour, left, and the smaller an engraving; bottom photo shows the reverse side of each miniature. These belong to our antique collecting friend Chris Thompson. |
WHY DO DEALERS FARM-OUT SOME OF THEIR ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES? OR OPT TO SELL TO OTHER DEALERS, OR EVEN TRY ONLINE AUCTIONS?
LOCAL MARKETS ESPECIALLY IN THE RURAL CLIME, AREN'T THE BEST FOR SOME ANTIQUES HAVING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE!
Whenever we go out and about, antique hunting, we are flying in three directions of business interest at once. Seems overly complicated for a small business. First of all, we don't have a clue what we're going to find, out there, when we set out for a day-trip. We have our dreamy expectations, which are either met, or missed, but we are forever hopeful something will pop-up, in our favor, one way or another. Believe it or not, one direction isn't more important than the other two. To clarify, we are buying for three realities of the antique business. The mainstreet shop is important, but so is our online enterprise, and then there is an investment collection, we keep stashed away for a seriously rainy day; or when we really, and without regret, decide to retire for good, to the South Seas. If I had found that sequel-manuscript by Harper Lee, (soon to be published), author of the huge best seller, "To Kill a Mockingbird," we would have sold it to the highest bidder, and retired with honking big smiles. The manuscript had been thought long-lost by the eighty-eight year old Lee, but she apparently found it, and then sent it to a publisher, as a rather latent, but "what the hell" follow-up, to her best seller. By the way, this is what paper sleuths look for, amongst a trillion other paper jewels, on their gad-abouts, and why boxes of old paper are always inspected, just in case, a long lost manuscript is stacked somewhere inside. It does happen.
Point is, there are treasures we find, that won't make it to the floor of our shop. Not because our customers don't deserve the best of the best, because they most certainly do. But we can't afford to dedicate store space, to items that will stick around forever, because our market isn't over-flowing with collectors. The percentage of serious collectors in our shop, is very low these days, as compared to when we ran our shop in Bracebridge, in the early 1990's, when we had dozens every week, including art and book scouts, who had us on their regular monthly routes. Even the dealer traffic has dwindled to a very few, which for us, means that most of our shop clients are looking for pieces to enhance home decoration, and serve a utility purpose, more so than antique investment value. So we keep certain higher profile items for online sales, and a small percentage of these, we save for some future splurge. Believe it or not, we have thousands of items that can not be adequately displayed in the store, because they're paper, and surprisingly hard to arrange for customer viewing, without employing massive showcases. The more showcases we have, the less room for antique furnishings, cupboards, tables, sideboards, chests, buffets and standard shop shelving. Thus, it's just better to handle these "smalls" in a different way, and this typically means, we will sell them online, in the interest of efficiency and expediency. Right now, I would need at least a dozen flat, six foot long showcases, to handle a third of what we have ready to go, in old paper, at this moment. It's why Suzanne hates us having all this stuff, neat as it is, because of display difficulty, which does somewhat impact our ability to sell ephemera. The other pain, is that collectors want to see the items up close, and actually handle them, and this necessitates Suzanne, the main clerk in charge, to run back and forth with a key to unlock the cases. Then stand around while the customer decides whether to make the purchase, or hand it back to Suzanne, for return back to the showcase. It's too awkward but infinitely more convenient to sell online, where the materials are safe and secure, requiring limited handling. Some pieces can be very brittle including old photographs, so the less wear and tear the better. Obviously then, it is better to sell most ephemera online, at least in our experience. We have select pieces at the shop, usually having a Muskoka or Gravenhurst provenance.
It may have read particularly arrogant of me, a local antique dealer, here in South Muskoka, to suggest that the miniature portrait we acquired, painted in the 1860's, by British Illustrator, Helen Jane Arundel Miles, had to be marketed to an international dealer, for us to attain the best possible profit. I would never sell to a dealer if that's call I was worried about, because they will only ever pay, from between a quarter, to half the market value, of a subject piece. So why try to market the miniature (see yesterday's blog if you missed it) overseas, to a specialty dealer, if this is the case? Damn good question. Here's the skinny.
We do not have the hard-core antique hunting, "collector" clientele for certain pieces we often acquire. While we have a good following, and we aren't complaining about our business growth, we can't duplicate, no matter how aggressive we might become, what advantages city antique shops possess, above us, either at home and abroad. We don't have a daily parade of astute collectors, who are looking for major investment antiques and art; or for that matter, books, china, jewelry, or vintage clothing. It doesn't mean we, as local dealers, don't have the good stuff; just that we don't have the customer base to justify having certain pieces on-site. This may seem like we don't have faith in the marketplace, as it exists here in this beautiful area of Ontario, but it's still true. For some antiques and vintage pieces of a higher estimated value, having national or international significance, we would, in most cases, be unable to sell these items from our rural shop. We will occasionally set up a display of these historic and heirloom pieces, but the asking prices demand a different clientele, than we can expect in volume, in our country antique store. This may surprise some folks but our bread and butter, day to day, is selling affordable antiques and collectables, both unusual and unique, but not of the grade of Group of Seven paintings, for example. We couldn't afford the insurance to house them, if we did own these Canadian works of art. I doubt very much, if we could sell a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar painting here, but I like to day dream that we could be that proficient.
What many country and attic dealers opt for instead, is to market some of their higher valued pieces, by shipping them of to either city auction houses, galleries, or upper level, exclusive antique businesses, that have a proven track record of selling fine antiques and art. Sure it makes us feel a little awkward, and slightly unaccomplished, that as dealers we can't measure-up to their standard of sales, and inventory acquisition; but we make up for it, especially on those occasions, when we get to offer them something they desire for their customers, that we happened to have found on our travels. It is one of the steps we use, to remove a particularly valuable antique or collectable, from our immediate responsibility; because honestly, we would have to seek out insurance appraisals and payer higher premiums. If I had to visit our insurance agent, to ask him to accommodate a Tom Thomson landscape, we wanted to sell in our shop, he'd have palpitations. It's so much simpler, and less expensive, to contact an auction house, or a respected art gallery, to farm the painting out; if that is, you've enjoyed it as a patron first. As much as I adore Canadian art, I would be scared to death, to have responsibility for a subject panel's safe keeping, a second past its identification as an original A.Y. Jackson, or Arthur Lismer canvas. As we are in the business of buying and selling antiques and art, which is enjoyable every day of the week, suffice to say, we aren't running a gallery or a museum. We would take the profit from selling off these valuable pieces, and re-invest the money in an inventory easier to sell. With a focus on affordability for our customers. It doesn't mean we skimp on quality or antique value for our customers. If for example, we are selling items online, say via our ebay auction site, we let our customers know in a variety of ways, what is currently being offered. In the future this will appear on Suzanne's newly launched facebook page. We don't practice exclusion here, and we value all our customers. But we have to market our wares looking for the best results. It's very, very rare, that we would farm-out any of our acquisitions, without our collector friends knowing about our intention to offer the item to an international audience. We've had this happen many times, and in fact, our customers can buy from ebay, pay with Paypal, and save on shipping and handling costs, by simply picking up the article(s) from our Gravenhurst shop. We've been doing this for about a decade, and it is convenient for us and the buyers; because we hate the shipping component because it is so time-consuming and precarious, if we make a mistake in wrapping and packing, to withstand rough handling, by those employed to get the parcel from here to there.
There are a lot of antique and collectable pieces, including art, that we have a hard time evaluating. That's right. Even long time antique dealers can get mired-down in appraisals, of their own stuff; which may explain why we often have difficulty appraising our patron's finer pieces, beyond our areas of general knowledge. So don't get mad at us. We're generalist dealers who ask a lot of questions from our mentors in the profession. We know a lot about a lot of things, but gosh, we also respect the role of expert opinion, and this often requires us to seek out second, third and fourth opinions, on certain articles and relics we have acquired. I'll give you an example. We did a preliminary online search of original painted miniature portraits, last evening, in reference to the beautiful little gem we found on the weekend, during a regular antique crawl of area shops and malls. In a half hour, we had a pretty good idea of the basic criteria for what constitutes a more valuable miniature, at least in the specialty businesses in Britain. We looked at international listings, and found the highs and lows of similar pieces, to what we had in our possession. With the large amount of provenance we were able to dig up in a short period, knowing that the portrait artist had also created designs for use by Messrs. Doulton, for their art pottery collection, and the quality of the piece in question, (without damage or fading of the image), we knew by comparison to others on the market, our little jewel would be in the under $500 range, in Canadian funds. There are some staggering valuations for some of the more remarkable and "storied" pieces, with twice the provenance we had revealed. In other words, we didn't possess a rare, royalty-linked art piece from the Victorian era. Dealers specializing in antique miniature portraits in England, are obviously interested in higher grade and more historically significant examples, and it didn't take long browsing through their web sites, to realize our dazzling lady (Frances, the wife of Frederick Arundel Miles) wasn't in the league of miniature paintings, by better known portrait artists, worth the really big bucks. In their opinion, ours was a common, good for the colonies, but not for their exclusive shops, exhibiting the work of the best known miniature artists in the world. Helen Jane Arundel Miles was an outstanding artist, as was her father, Alfred Miles, also a Commander in the Royal Navy. The problem here, is that Helen was not known as a portrait artist, or the creator of miniatures. She painted her sister-in-law as a wedding gift, in 1861, that she presented to Frances, as a family keepsake. The tragedy of course, was that her husband died one year later, in 1862, leaving a young bride and an unfulfilled promise of a prosperous life together. Geez, with a story like this, it surely has to be worth a lot of money. Well, it's definitely worth more money because of the provenance, than without, but it still has a ceiling of value, well beneath what a known and traded (auction results for a specific artist's work) miniature artist's work, would sell for, at auction or in an specialty shop.
You will see photographed above, a selection of family heirloom miniatures, offered to us for readers. benefit, by our antique loving associate, Chris Thompson, at least one containing a lock of hair belonging to the subject of the painting. These are amazingly significant family antiquities, that carry with them an important legacy of connectedness through the centuries. I wish I had similar family heirlooms of my kin folk. Cash value? The family provenance is precious, and no dealer can put an accurate price on blood attachment, although it does happen, via estates, that pieces wind-up on the open market by circumstance of inheritance, and general settlement of who gets what! I wish I could find the relatives of Frances Miles, and this will probably be the next step, as we carry on research via Ancestry.ca. It's quite possible to connect in this way, and we have done it successfully with many pioneer and farmstead journals; letters, and photo albums that possessed enough clear provenance, for us to connect with contemporary members of their family tree. It is possible for Suzanne, our family history expert, to find the Miles family tree, that a contemporary great, great, great grandchild has been working on, to pass along to future generations. We can cover a lot more territory today, via online searches in this regard, than in the past.
As for selling antiques and collectables to an international market, well, for some items it just makes economic sense, and is an efficient way of diversifying our businesses; and to keep cash flow hale and hardy. Consider, that if we were to market the miniature via an ebay auction, we would have thousands of potential bidders, versus selling it from our Gravenhurst shop, that would afford us, at best, five interested collectors, having a gander, over about six months of keeping it in our showcase. By being specific in our listing, we can offer our miniature to collectors immediately, without more than a moment's delay. The odds are, and we have proven it many times in the past, our online sales of items like this, are always of a greater return, than what we can expect to sell it for, in our mainstreet shop. I hate to admit this, but none the less, it's true. A lot of dealers know this as fact and are active buyers and sellers online because of convenience and expediency. But we don't exclude our regular patrons from knowing about our choice to post items on ebay; so that they also get a shot at what we have to offer of our collection. I can tell you from experience, alternatives like ebay, for selling select antique inventory, is a saving grace when operating a shop especially in a seasonal economy like we have in Muskoka. This year has been particularly brutal in case you're interested. I have known a lot of dealers who supplemented their shop income, by selling items online especially during the modest-income winter months. It's the sensible proportion we've learned to live with, and honestly, it's not much of a hardship, or a lot of tacked-on burden. In the summer months, well, there really isn't a lot of time to handle the added burden of online sales, at least from our perspective, because it would require us adding staff members to handle the work load. It would become cash inefficient very quickly. For us, it is a ten month business opportunity, we can squeeze in, without doubling the work load with shop responsibilities.
The bonus here, and I won't deny it, is the fact the slumping Loonie, is making online sales, a lot more attractive than it was even six months ago. We make no apology, for listing in American funds. When we first began selling on ebay, gads, the Canadian dollar was in the mid to high sixty cent range, and honestly, we were doing extremely well as far as profits go. For about a decade we only sold through ebay, and we know all about the highs and lows, and lulls in the action, you must learn how to overcome in order to endure as a successful seller. To run a successful ebay business you have to be organized, efficient, thorough, and particularly clever about marketing options. We have been on hiatus for a while, as for as antiques and art, and selling mostly vintage vinyl, (old and rare records) which has been amazingly lucrative for son Robert this half year. We are mustering our online energies, because it can be just as demanding as running a storefront, and expect sometime in the near future, to take to cyberspace, to downsize some of our antique and collectable treasures. We won't do this without making note of it in this blog, and via Suzanne's business facebook page, "Currie's Antiques." I'll give lots of warning before we start listing again.
IN PRAISE OF COUNTRY ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE DEALERS - WE HAVE OUR TRADITIONS TO UPHOLD
I immersed myself in the country-antique-thing, to start with, by attending rural auctions, first with my old friend, Les Rutledge, of Gravenhurst, on to another mate, Art Campbell, and then Wayne Rutledge, the junior. All three have since passed on, and I really haven't paid much attention to local auction ever since. Largely, that's because there have been very few, and as I don't and will never pay a buyer's premium, to attend the events run by other auctioneers, it's one part of my antique tradition I feel has been lost to the rigors of time. I learned to be a country dealer, standing and sitting at farm and rural estate auctions for entire days, mixing with other dealers and collectors, and all those other gad-abouts who found these events socially exciting. I liked the way a pine harvest table looked, in the long grass of farm pasture; and how rich and delightfully rural, a hoosier cabinet from some warm farm kitchen appeared up against the side of a century old barn. I felt culturally rich, to be a part of an open air sale, where thousands of books were lined up neatly on long, cloth covered tables, and old glass glistened in the sunlight, positioned side by side old pottery vases and blue willow pattern dishes and platters. What a picture it was, to see white enamel way tea kettles, and wash basins, in front of leaded-glass Victorian buffets, and high boy dressers, beside pine jam cupboards, pie safes, and well seasoned dressers. Add the auctioneer's call, and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers from the lunch truck, and my God, it was "a happening" event if ever here was one. I think I was happier attending those sales, than any other form of antique acquisition. They were always invigorating, even the lesser sales, and ones held in one of the small communities around the Muskoka Lakes. Dealers had a chance to catch-up on the news of the profession, with colleagues, and relax on the old press back chairs, from the kitchen, watching the progress of the sale; until that is, something the auction helper was holding up, caught our attention. They were casual affairs, without much in the way of performance pressure, and as Suzanne used to claim, when I arrived back at the shop in time for closing, I had "too much fun to be actually working." She was correct with this astute overview.
When I wrote today, about the subtle but obvious differences of antique shops, such as between the rural clime and the city, the common and the extravagant shops, serving clients of varying interests and economies, I certainly wasn't suggesting that country shops are of lesser status, or capability to perform great feats of business success. It must be obvious, however, if you are a frequent antique buyer, visiting all types of shops, that most of these businesses, located outside of metropolitan areas, are of the simpler "country" variety, you wouldn't describe as exclusive or highly specialized. Country dealers are almost always generalist in inventory, although you will find that each one has a specialty, if not a dozen areas of specialty. Their audience is a largely rural one, with seasonal tourism enhancements, if for example, the shop is located in Muskoka, Haliburton, Almaguin, Parry Sound and any other region near lakes, and rivers, that cottagers and day travellers cherish for their inherent recreational opportunities. Country dealers, whether they're situated in their own shops, or in malls, appreciate that in order to make sales, they have to fill their shops and booths with quality pieces, whether furniture or general bric-a-brac, at affordable prices. Rural shops have less likelihood of attracting hundreds of people each week, at least through the winter months; where city shops on the other hand, in areas of higher density population, and a large commercial neighborhood, can expect a larger turn-out of customers each week. We in the country, have no choice but to understand our specific market-place, and its limits, which is different in every locale. It doesn't mean rural folks are poor, and have less spending power. Truth is, there just aren't as many well off folks per square mile, as in the city. In order to survive, the country dealer has to adapt quickly to the unique characteristics of the region, town, village or hamlet, they locate their business, or else! I wouldn't change a thing about being a country antique dealer, and would never opt to open one in a large centre. I am too tuned to the tradition of country dealing, to change to an urban game plan for selling our wares. I keep thinking about what inspired me to join this profession in the first place; and as I noted above, it generated from those wild country places, those wonderful and historic farmsteads, and the lush pastures where sales were often conducted; and it gave me that relaxed, social, cultural ambience I for long and long, associated with selling these same amazing antiques, in the setting of a formal shop, that will always, as God is my witness, reflect our personal joy living and working in "the country."
EARLY SETTLERS AND THEIR SUPERSTITIONS - WHAT WAS FEARED ON THE MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD?
A BELIEF IN WITCHES? YOU BET!
I HAVE BEEN SITTING OUT ON OUR VERANDAH, FOR THE PAST HOUR, ENJOYING ANOTHER AMAZING FALL DAY, HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. EARLIER, SUZANNE AND I STOPPED BY MUSKOKA BEACH, OVERLOOKING LAKE MUSKOKA, AND IT WAS A BREATHTAKING SUNSET......ONE OF THE MOST DAZZLING I'VE SEEN.
AS I WROTE ABOUT SEVERAL DAYS AGO, I WAS ABLE TO SECURE A FASCINATING NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA BOOKLET, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1850, ENTITLED "FOLK-LORE OF WATERLOO COUNTY, ONTARIO," AS ORIGINALLY PREPARED BY W. J. WINTEMBERG, WHO DIED BEFORE THIS FINAL MANUSCRIPT WAS PREPARED. BUT THE RESEARCH WORK HE INTIATED, PROVIDED EXCEPTIONAL FINDINGS, AND THE NATIONAL MUSEUM DECIDED TO PUT IT INTO BULLETIN 116, OF THEIR ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES, LISTED AS NUMBER 28, IN CASE YOU WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS MATERIAL.
THE BOOK DEALS WITH AN EARLIER PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT IN UPPER CANADA, AND THOSE HAVING IMMIGRATED TO NORTH AMERICA FROM GERMANY AS WELL AS BORDER AREAS. ALTHOUGH MUSKOKA DIDN'T HAVE A LARGE GERMAN INFLUX, DURING THE FREE LAND GRANT AND HOMESTEADS ACT PERIOD, FROM THE LATE 1860'S, THESE SETTLERS DID ARRIVE IN GROWING NUMBERS AS SETTLEMENTS GREW. AS THIS SERIES OF BLOGS IS LOOKING AT THE FOLK-LORE OF THE REGION, WHICH HAS BEEN LARGELY NEGLECTED BY HISTORIANS, SOME MATERIAL IN THIS PUBLICATON WILL RELATE TO BELIEFS HELD BY CERTAIN RESIDENTS, NEWLY ARRIVING IN THE HAMLETS AND FARMSTEADS, DOTTING THE MUSKOKA COUNTRYSIDE IN THE LATE 1800'S. THERE WERE A WIDE RANGE OF SUPERSTITIONS AND BELIEFS IN THE PARANORMAL, THAT THESE SETTLERS BROUGHT TO THE CANADIAN WILDS, AND MUCH EVOLVED WITH THESE STRANGE FICTIONS, WHEN CULTURES INTER-MARRIED, AND EVOLVED THESE SUPERSTITIIONS INTO MULTI-CULTURAL BELIEFS. I HAVE INCLUDED PORTIONS OF A CHAPTER ON "WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT" FROM THE WORK OF W.J. WINTERMBERG, THAT MAY HAVE HAD A PLACE, IN THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THOSE HOMESTEADERS OF GERMANIC ORIGIN. THE STORIES ARE FROM EARLIER IN THE 1800'S, BUT IT IS LIKELY THEY WERE STILL AROUND BY THE TIME MUSKOKA WAS BEING SETTLED, LATER IN THE CENTURY. NOW IN THE WORDS OF THE STUDY'S AUTHOR:
"BELIEF IN WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT WAS QUITE COMMON IN THE RURAL PARTS OF ONTARIO IN THE EARLY DAYS, AND ESPECIALLY SO AMONG THE GERMAN SETTLERS IN WATERLOO COUNTY. THE NUMBER '99' IS CALLED 'HEXE-G'WICHT,' MEANING 'WITCHES' WEIGHT."
THE AUTHOR REPORTS THAT, "A SHARP SHOOTING PAIN IN THE SIDE, BACK, OR SHOULDERS IS CALLED A 'HEXE-SCHTICK,' I.E. 'WITCHES' STAB. THE MILK OF A BEWITCHED COW SHOULD BE PUT ON THE HINGE OF A DOOR SO THAT EVERY TIME THE DOOR IS OPENED AND CLOSED, THE WITCH WILL BE TORTURED. TO KEEP THE WITCHES OUT OF THE STABLE, A SPRIG OF CEDAR BLESSED BY THE PRIEST WAS PLACED ABOVE THE STABLE DOOR ON PALM SUNDAY. PUSSY WILLOW SPRAYS WERE USED FOR LIKE PURPOSE.
"ON THE LAST DAY OF APRIL, A CROSS WITH THE NAMES OR INITIALS (USUALLY THE LATTER) OF THE THREE WISE MEN OF THE EAST, - CASPAR, MELCHIOR, AND BALTHAZAR - WAS MADE ON THE DOORS OF THE HOUSES TO KEEP WITCHES OUT. THE BELIEF THAT BLACK CATS ARE THE ASSOCIATES OF WITCHES WAS AT ONE TIME WIDESPREAD. A YOUNG MAN (THE SON OF A GERMAN CONJURE DOCTOR) OFTEN TOLD HIS FRIENDS THAT WHEN HE PASSED BY AN OLD WITCH'S HOUSE, AT NIGHT, HIS PROGRESS WAS IMPEDED BY A HOST OF BLACK CATS, AND HE WAS SOMETIMES FORCED TOTAKE TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TO REACH HIS HOME. THIS OCCURRED IN THE VILLAGE OF NEW HAMBURG NOT MANY YEARS AGO."
W. J. WINTEMBERG WRITES, "IT WAS FORMERLY BELIEVED THAT A HORSE THAT APPEARED TIRED OR RESTLESS IN THE MORNING HAD BEEN RIDDEN HARD BY WITCHES. IT WAS ALSO BELIEVED THAT THESE WITCHES SOMETIMES ENTANGLED THE HAIR OF A HORSE'S MAIN IN SO INTRICATE A MANNER THAT IT COULD NOT BE DISENTANGLED. SOME BELIEVED THAT WITCHES HELD A MIDNIGHT ORGY OR FESTIVAL EACH MONTH, AND THAT DRINKING VESSELS USED AT THESE FESTIVALS WERE COW-HOOF CUPS AND BOWLS MADE OF HORSE'S HOOFS. ABOUT 1880 THERE LIVED AN OLD WOMAN NOT FAR FROM THE VILLAGE OF NEW DUNDEE WHO WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN A WITCH. SHE IS SAID TO HAVE POSSESSED THE 'SIXTH AND SEVENTH BOOKS OF MOSES,' AND IT WAS BELIEVED THAT SHE COULD TRANSFORM HERSELF INTO ANY ANIMAL SHE CHOSE. SHE SOMETIMES TRANSFORMED HERSELF INTO A CAT AND PROWLED AROUND HER NEIGHBORS' PREMISES.
"ONE DAY A SOW, AND HER LITTER OF TEN LITTLE PIGS, BELONGING TO A WILMOT TOWNSHIP FARMER, STARTED TO RUN A CIRCLE AROUND THE BARNYARD; THE PIGS FOLLOWING CLOSE ON HER HEELS. EVERY FEW MINUTES ONE OF THE PIGS FELL OVER AND DIED. THIS CONTINUED UNTIL ONLY A FEW PIGS WERE LEFT. THE FARMER THEN CONSULTED AN AMISH WITCH-DOCTOR NAMED LUGOBULL. THE DOCTOR BROKE THE SPELL THAT THE WITCH HAD CAST OVER THE PIGS, AND TOLD THE FARMER THAT THE WITCH WOULD SOON CALL TO BORROW SOMETHING, BUT HE WAS NOT TO LET HER HAVE IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, FOR THUS SHE WOULD REGAIN HER POWER OVER THE PIGS. THE WITCH-DOCTOR'S WORDS PROVED TO BE TRUE, FOR BEFORE LONG A WOMAN CAME TO BORROW SOMETHING AND HE REFUSED TO LET HER HAVE IT. SHE CALLED SEVERAL TIMES BUT WAS ALWAYS REFUSED AND HER PLANS WERE THWARTED.
"ONE DAY AN OLD WOMAN CAME TO A FARMHOUSE IN WILMOT TOWNSHIP AND ASKED FOR SOME FOOD, WHICH WAS REFUSED HER. SHE LEFT, MUCH INCENSED AT THIS REFUSAL, AND AS SHE WAS GOING DOWN THE LANE SHE CALED THE COWS, MEANWHILE HOLDING UP THREE OF HER FINGERS. THE FARMER DID NOT THINK MUCH ABOUT THE MATTER AT THE TIME, BUT WHEN THE WOMEN BEGAN TO MILK THEY FOUND THAT ON EVERY COW ONLY ONE TEAT PRODUCED MILK, THE OTHER THREE BLOOD. THE FOLLOWING MORNING THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN AND THE FARMER, BECOMING ALARMED, CONSULTED AN AMISH WITCH-DOCTOR WHO CURED THE COWS BY A PROCESS OF CHARMING."
THE FOLK HISTORIAN WRITES, "ANOTHER FARMER'S COW WAS BEWITCHED, THE MILK BEING THICK EVERY TIME THE COW WAS MILKED. A WITCH-DOCTOR WAS CONSULTED AND HE ADVISED THEM TO PUT THE MILK INTO A PAN AND SET IT ON THE STOVE TO BOIL, AND THEN THEY WERE TO GIVE THE MILK A THOROUGH WHIPPING WHILE IT BOILED. THIS WAS DONE, THE COW WAS CURED, AND THE WITCH'S POWER WAS DISPELLED. ONE DAY TWO YOUNG MEN WERE LOADING HAY IN A FIELD WHEN A WOMAN CAME WALKING ALONG THE ROAD THAT PASSED NEAR THE FIELD. THE WOMAN WAS A WITCH AND SHE BEWITCHED THE TWO YOUNG MEN AND THEY COULD NOT PROCEED WITH THEIR WORK. ONE OF THE YOUTHS THEN THREE HIS FORK IN THE AIR AND IT STUCK THERE, BUT WHEN HE PULLED IT DOWN AGAIN THE WITCH RAN AWAY. (TOLD BY A YOUNG AMISHMAN)
"THE MANGERS IN THE SETTLER'S BARNS WERE MADE FROM HALF A HOLLOW BASSWOOD LOG, WITH BOARDS NAILED ACROSS THE ENDS, AND HOLES WERE BORED THROUGH THE SIDES, JUST AS THEY ARE NOWADAYS FOR FASTENING THE ANIMALS. OLD KUTLER HAD A NUMBER OF CALVES FASTENED IN HIS STABLE IN THIS WAY. THE CHAINS AROUND THE CALVES' NECKS WERE QUITE LOOSE, BUT NOT SUFFICIENTLY SO AS TO ALLOW THE ANIMALS TO GET FREE. ONE MORNING WHEN HE WENT OUT TO THE STABLE HE FOUND THE TWO CALVES FASTENED TOGETHER WITH ONE CHAIN; THAT IS, IT LOOKED AS IF ONE CALF HAD SLIPPED ITS HEAD INSIDE THE CHAIN OF ANOTHER CALF, AND THUS BECOME SECURELY FASTENED. THE CHAIN WAS SO TIGHT THAT IT COULD NOT BE REMOVED, AND SO THEY HAD TO CHOP OUT THE END OF THE CHAIN WHERE IT WAS FASTENED TO THE MANGER AND THEN FILE APART ONE OF THE LINKS. KUTLER CLAIMED THE CALVES HAD BEEN PUT IN THIS POSITION BY A WITCH, BECAUSE THE UNITED STRENGTH OF TWO MEN PULLING ON THE CHAIN COULD NOT RELEASE THE CALVES. HE SHOWED MY FATHER THE NOTCH IN THE MANGER WHERE THE CHAIN HAD TO BE CUT LOOSE. THIS HAPPENED ABOUT 60 YEARS AGO. KUTLER WAS AN ALSATIAN SETTLER IN WILMOT TOWNSHIP.
"OLD MAN MERKLINGER, WHO FORMERLY LIVED NEAR STE. AGATHA, WAS A HEXE-MEESHTER OR 'WTICH DOCTOR,' AND WAS LOCALLY KNOWN AS HELL-DEIFEL, I.E. 'HELL DEVIL.' IN ONE FAMILY OF ALSATIAN SETTLERS IN WILMOT, OF WHOM I HEARD SOME YEARS AGO, THE FATHER WAS SHUNNED BY HIS OWN DAUGHTER BECAUSE SHE BELIEVED HE WAS A WIZARD. HIS SISTER HAD THE REPUTATION OF BEING A WITCH, ALTHOUGH THERE WAS NOT A MORE KIND-HEARTED WOMAN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. THE WRITER'S MOTHER ONCE HAD THE QUINSY AND THIS WAS SAID BY HER EMPLOYER TO HAVE BEEN DUE TO THE MALICE OF TWO OLD WITCHES WHO LIVED BY. AFTER SHE HAD RECOVERED, SHE RETURNED TO HER EMPLOYER'S PLACE, BUT ON THE VERY DAY OF HER RETURN, THE TWO OLD WOMEN HAPPENED TO BE THERE AND ONE OF THE SAID, 'YOUR THROAT WILL BE AS SORE AS EVER TOMORROW,' AND SURE ENOUGH IN THE MORNING THIS WAS SO. IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THE WITCHES HAD BEWITCHED HER AGAIN, AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT HER EMPLOYERS BELIEVED; AND THESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY MOVED FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO GET AWAY FROM THE BANEFUL INFLUENCE OF THOSE TWO OLD WOMEN. CHILDREN COULD NOT BE INDUCED TO EAT EVEN AN APPLE GIVEN TO THEM BY EITHER ONE OF THE SUPPOSED WITCHES."
THE AUTHOR CONTINUES, BY NOTING THAT, "THE WRITER'S MATERNAL UNCLE WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BEWITCHED BY AN OLD WOMAN WHEN HE WAS A BABY. ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS LYING IN HIS CRADLE A TALL, GAUNT-LOOKING WOMAN, A PERFECT STRANGER, CALLED AT THE HOUSE AND WENT TO THE CRADLE AND THE CHILD BEGAN TO CRY AND DID NOT STOP UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING WHEN THE STRANGE WOMAN LEFT. ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A SHOEMAKER IN ALSACE, WHO EMPLOYED SEVERAL ASSISTANTS, AND THESE HAD TO WORK AT NIGHT. HE SOMETIMES WAS ABSENT FROM HOME, SO HIS WIFE, WHO WAS A WITCH, TRANSFORMED HERSELF INTO A CAT AND WENT INTO THE SHOP TO WATCH THE MEN. THEIR DOINGS ALWAYS BEING REPORTED TO THEIR MASTER, THEY BEGAN TO SUSPECT THAT THE CAT WAS THE MASTER'S WIFE, AND SO ONE NIGHT ONE OF THEM CUT ONE OF THE CAT'S PAWS WITH A KNIFE. THE NEXT MORNING THE WIFE HAD ONE OF HER HANDS BOUND UP.
"THE WITCHES HELD MONTHLY ORGIES OR FESTIVALS. IN ALSACE THE CHIMNEYS OF HOUSES ARE VERY WIDE, AND IT WAS THROUGH THESE THE LEFT THE HOUSE WITH OUT BEING SEEN. AT A CERTAIN FARMHOUSE THERE WERE TWO WOMEN - MOTHER AND DAUGHTER - WHO WERE WITCHES. WITH THEM LIVED AN INQUISITIVE YOUNG FARM-HAND. HE HAD NOTICED SOMETHING UNUSUAL WAS TAKING PLACE IN THE HOUSE EVERY MONTH, SO ONE NIGHT HE HID IN THE KITCHEN AND WATCHED. ABOUT MIDNIGHT THE WOMEN CAME AND STOOD NAKED BEFORE THE FIREPLACE, BENEATH THE CHIMNEY, AND AFTER ANOINTING THEMSELVES WITH AN OIL THAT THE GERMANS CALL HEXENFETT, (I.E. WITCH'S FAT), UTTERED SOME MAGIC WORDS, AND UP THEY WENT THROUGH THE CHIMNEY. THE YOUNG MAN THEN EMERGED FROM HIS HIDING PLACE AND SEEING THE VESSEL CONTAINING THE OIL, HE ANOINTED HIMSELF TO SEE WHAT EFFECT IT WOULD HAVE ON HIM. HE HAD SCARCELY PRONOUNCED THE MYSTIC WORDS WHEN HE WENT UP THE CHIMNEY WITH A SUDDENNESS THAT WAS SURPRISING, AND WHEN HE REACHED THE GROUND HE FOUND HIMSELF ASTRIDE A LARGE BLACK SOW, WHICH CARRIED HIM WITH GREAT SPEED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THEY SOON ARRIVED AT A BROAD AND SWIFT-FLOWING RIVER, BUT THIS DID NOT HINDER THE ONWARD ADVANCE OF THE SOW, FOR IT CLEARED THE BROAD EXPANSE OF WATER AT A SINGLE BOUND. THE YOUNG MAN LOOKED BACK, AND, ADMIRING ITS LEAPING POWERS, HE SAID TO THE SOW, 'THAT WAS A LONG LEAP YOU MADE,' BUT AS HE SPOKE, THE SPELL WAS BROKEN, AND THE SOW DISAPPEARED, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF IN A STRANGE COUNTRY MANY MILES FROM HOME."
ONCE AGAIN, THE INCLUSION OF THIS MATERIAL, GATHERED ORIGINALLY FROM THE WATERLOO AREA, OF THE PROVINCE, DOES NOT APPLY STRICTLY TO OUR AREA, BUT HAS BEEN USED AS A MODEL FOR COMPARISON, AGAINST FOLK-TALES TOLD IN THE FARMSTEADS AND HAMLET RESIDENCES OF PIONEER MUSKOKA. THERE ARE MANY PARALLELS TO THE STORIES ABOVE, AND SOME FAMILIES HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO RECORD THEM, IN PERSONAL JOURNALS, AND SOME ON TAPE WHICH IS OF HUGE SIGNIFICANCE.....BEING ABLE TO HEAR THE VOICES OF THE STORY TELLERS FIRST HAND....AS RECALLED FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL CHRONICLE. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SIMILAR STORIES THAT SHOULD BE CONSERVED AS PART OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE. MAYBE YOU KNOW SOME FROM YOUR OWN UPBRINGING, AND CULTURAL HERITAGE. PLEASE WRITE THEM DOWN, AND IF YOU EVER WISH TO SHARE THEM, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A NOTE. I'D LOVE TO INCLUDE THEM IN THIS BLOG.
WHEN FOLK HISTORIAN BERT SHEA, RE-TOLD THE STORY OF "BLACK" BILLY CROWDER, DURING THE SPRING LOG DRIVE (CIRCA 1890'S), ON THE DEE RIVER (DOWN FROM THREE MILE LAKE) THE REVELATION THAT HE HAD SHOWN SUPERNATURAL CAPABILITY, WHEN SHUTTING THE WATER DOWN, RAGING OVER THE DAM, DEMONSTRATED A GENERAL BELIEF OF WITNESSES, IN THE PARANORMAL. DESPITE THEIR RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS, THEY SAW SOMETHING BEYOND COMPREHENSION, TAKE PLACE ON THAT NARROW DAM OVER THE FALLS. CROWDER HAD EXHIBITED SUPER HUMAN STRENGTH AND AGILITY, IN ORDER TO RESCUE HIS NEPHEW, WHO HAD FALLEN INTO THE CHURNING WATER AND RUNNING LOGS BELOW. WHILE HE WASN'T SUCCESSFUL IN SAVING HIS LIVE, MANY OF THAT LOGGING CREW, SAW THE MAN PERFORM THIS FEAT OF STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE.....EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY TO RECOVER HIS SISTER'S SON, WEDGED BETWEEN THE ROCKS BELOW. DID IT HAPPEN EXACTLY AS BERT SHEA WROTE THE STORY? I EXPECT IT WAS EMBELLISHED OVER TIME, AS MOST FOLK TALES WERE. THAT'S WHAT MAKES THEM INTERESTING. NOT THE HISTORICAL ACCURACY, BUT THE HUMAN, CULTURAL CHARACTER WITHIN. THE SAME AGAIN, WITH THE STORY OF PAT LOVELY, AND HIS ARRIVAL IN THE HAMLET OF UFFORD, TO TAKE UP A FARMSTEAD IN AMONGST A CLUSTER OF IRISH PROTESTANTS; THE SHEAS, KNOWN AS THE LEGENDARY "THREE MILE LAKE WOLVES." THE LOVELYS WERE AN IRISH CATHOLIC FAMILY. WHILE THEY APPARENTLY GOT ALONG, IT WAS SAID PAT LOVELY COULD BEWITCH A NEIGHBOR'S LIVESTOCK IF HE WAS SO INCLINED. HE CONVINCED THE LOCAL YOUTH, VISITING HIS FARM, THAT HE COULD MAGICALLY SHRINK DOWN SMALL ENOUGH, TO ENTER A WOODEN BARREL, FROM WHICH HE USED TO TALK TO THEM. PAT LOVELY COULD OBVIOUSLY THROW HIS VOICE, AND THAT WASN'T REALLY MAGIC AT ALL. BUT THE STORY ITSELF IS MAJGICAL. THESE ARE THE STORIES WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF, NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE PIVOTAL IN THE APPRECIATION OF LOCAL HISTORICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT......BUT BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT, LIKE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, HOW OUR FOUNDERS NAVIGATED EACH DAY ON THOSE LONELY, ISOLATED FARMSTEADS; AND DEALT WITH THE RIGORS AND HARDSHIPS OF MAKING A FARM-LIFE IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONS. THESE ARE FASCINATING STORIES AND WHAT THEY LACK IN FACT, THEY MORE THAN MAKE UP WITH CHARACTER......THAT MOST OF US DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT.
THE RECOLLECTIONS OF THESE FOLK-TALES ABOUT WITCHES, FROM OUR PIONEER HISTORY, DOES NOT MEAN TO BE CRITICAL OF THOSE WHO CHOOSE TODAY TO PRACTICE THEIR BELIEFS IN THIS REGARD. THIS SERIES, IS NOT DEALING WITH CONTEMPORARY BELIEFS OR CHOICE OF RELIGIONS, FAITH, OR LINGERING LOYALTY TO SUPERSTIONS AND ANCIENT LORE. IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND, BEYOND RELIGION, WHAT THESE EARLY SETTLERS BELIEVED, HUDDLED AROUND THOSE CABIN HEARTHS, AND TOLD AND RE-TOLD ON COLD WINTER NIGHTS, ISOLATED ON THEIR MUSKOKA ACREAGE. JUST LIKE US, THEY HELD FIRMLY TO THEIR LIFE-LONG BELIEFS AND VALUES......AND THAT INCLUDED WITCHES.....AS DID MOST CULTURES AT THAT TIME.
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