FROM THE MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD TO MODERN TIMES - THE STORIES CARRY-ON

Fall Splendor -  Vibrant Fall Colours displayed their beautiful variety of reds and yellows along with some evergreens across a field located on the Southwood Wood at the corner of Sparrow Lake Route D near Kilworthy.   Sunday’s beautiful weather was the ideal day for a drive in the country to enjoy this wonderful time of year. (Photo by Fred Schulz)

THE FOLK TALES AND SAYINGS THAT ARE STILL MAKING THE ROUNDS

FROM THE MUSKOKA HOMESTEADS INTO THE MODERN ERA


     "THE FIRST DEATH IN THE SETTLEMENT (SOUTH MUSKOKA), WAS THAT OF POOR JOHNSTON; HE WAS DROWNED AT SEVERN BRIDGE, ONE SUNDAY WHILST FISHING. THE POOR WIDOW STRUGGLED WITH HER TWO LITTLE BOYS - THE OLDER NOT MORE THAN NINE YEARS - AND, WITH THEIR HELP, SHE MANAGED BEFORE SHE DIED, TO CLEAR ABOUT EIGHT OR NINE ACRES; BUT ALAS FELL IN THE HARNESS."
     THE PASSAGE ABOVE, WAS CONTAINED IN THE INTRODUCTION OF THOMAS MCMURRAY'S SETTLEMENT GUIDEBOOK, "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND," CIRCA 1872. THE PLENTIFUL WATER, AND THE DEATHS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO IT, CREATED MANY FOLK STORIES AND SUPERSTITIONS, PARTICULARLY RELATED TO WHITE WATER AND UNDERTOW. I REMEMBER ONE OLD-TIMER TELLING ME, THAT HE KNEW OF RAPIDS THAT HAD A CONCLUDING UNDERTOW, THAT WOULD TAKE A FULL LENGH LOG, AND COMPLETELY STRIP IT OF BARK, BEFORE LETTING IT OUT OF ITS PULL. IT HAD ALSO TAKEN MANY HUMAN LIVES THE SAME WAY. JUST AS MANY FOLK STORIES TOLD OF HARDSHIPS ON THE BACKWOODS HOMESTEAD, AND THOSE WHO SUCCUMBED TO THE BURDEN OF WORK, AND THE POOR FARM ECONOMY. SO MCMURRAY HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, WITH THIS PARAGRAPH, BECAUSE WATER AND HOMESTEADING WERE A DEADLY DUO, AT THIS TIME OF THE HOMESTEAD GRANTS. MUSKOKA WAS HOWEVER, FERTILE GROUND FOR THE CREATION OF THESE FOLK STORIES. IT'S ONE GOOD THING ABOUT HARDSHIP.....PEOPLE WANT TO COMPARE EXPERIENCES.
     "A PENNYSLYVANNIA GERMAN STORY OF THE WILL-O'-WHISP;..... ONCE UPON A TIME, AS A YOUNG MAN WAS PASSING THROUGH A CLEARING AT NIGHT, HE SAW A BRIGHT LIGHT AND ON APPROACHING THE SPOT WHERE IT WAS, HE FOUND IT ON THE SIDE OF A STUMP. HE CAUGHT IT, BUT ON SO DOING, SO FOUND HIMSELF IN THE CLUTCHES OF THE BLACK MAN (THE DEVIL?)."
     THE STORY ABOVE WAS ONCE AGAIN, HARVESTED FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA BOOKLET, PREVIOUSLY USED IN THIS SERIES, ON LOCAL FOLKLORE, ENTITLED "FOLK-LORE OF WATERLOO COUNTY, ONTARIO, BULLETIN NO 116, ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES NO. 28," RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY W.J. WINTEMBERG. IT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1950, FROM RESEARCH UNDERTAKING IN THE 1940'S, BY THE FOLK-LORE HISTORIAN.
     IN MUSKOKA, WE GLAMORIZE OUR MARINE HERITAGE AND SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON ITS CONSERVATION AND PROMOTION, AS A GENEROUS SPARK TO THE CONTEMPORARY TOURISM INDUSTRY. THERE IS A HUGE ATTENTION DEVOTED TO THE HISTORY OF COMMUNITY MILESTONES, IN DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMICS AND POLITICS. WHILE THERE IS COVERAGE OF NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS, IN SOME OF THESE LOCAL PUBLISHED HISTORIES, AND A CURSORY OVERVIEW OF PIONEER LIFE, DUE TO ITS ROMANTICISM, THE UNFORTUNATE FACT IS, THE STUDY AND CONSERVATION OF LOCAL FOLK-LORE IS POOR TO ALMOST NON-EXISTENT. YET IT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING AND ENLIGHTENING ASPECTS OF LOCAL HISTORY, WHEN GIVEN THE RIGHT EXPOSURE. MOST OFTEN HOMESTEAD HERITAGE STICKS TO THE BASICS, AND MUSEUMS FEEL COMPELLED TO HAVE PIONEER EXHIBITS, ESPECIALLY FARM IMPLEMENTS AND EARLY KITCHEN-WARES, AND OF COURSE, THE TRADITONAL IRON COOK STOVE. IF YOU WERE TO ASK A MAJORITY OF THESE MUSEUM CURATORS, TO PROFILE THE EARLY FOLK-LORE THAT WAS WIDELY EXPRESSED AND BELIEVED, IN THIS SAME PIONEERING ERA, YOU'D GET NOTHING MORE THAN A PUBLIC RELATIONS FOBBING-OFF, OR AT THE MOST, A CURSORY OVERVIEW WITHOUT MUCH MEAT ON THE OLD BONES. I'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH MUSEUMS IN MUSKOKA, AND THIS IS THE COMMON FARE. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE SAME CURATORS AND MUSEUM STAFF, DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE BEST OF THE BEST FOLK-TALES, BECAUSE LOCAL HISTORIANS, EXCEPT A FEW, HAVEN'T DONE MUCH TO RESEARCH AND EXPOSE SOME OF THE RICHEST VEINS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE.
      WHAT CULTURAL HERITAGE? WHAT FOLK-LORE? WHO CARES ANYWAY? FOLK-LORE DOESN'T IMPACT HISTORICAL FACT. OR DOES IT? WELL, I'LL LET YOU BE THE JUDGE. HERE ARE SOME FOLK STORIES FROM THE WINTEMBERG MANUSCRIPT, AND ALTHOUGH IT DEALS LARGELY WITH SETTLERS OF GERMAN STOCK, THE STORIES GENERALLY HAVE PARALLELS IN MOST OF THE NATIONALITIES, CULTURES AND RELIGIONS THAT SHOWED UP, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MUSKOKA FREE LAND GRANTS AND HOMESTEADS ACT, OF THE LATE 1860'S......THE FOLKS WHO OCCUPIED THOSE ISOLATED LOG HOMESTEADS, SOME STARVING OR FREEZING TO DEATH DURING THE BITTER AND LONG MUSKOKA WINTERS. HERE ARE A FEW THAT WERE UNDOUBTEDLY CIRCULATED, WITH SLIGHT DIFFERENCES, AMONGST THE EUROPEAN POPULATION, INCLUDING ENGLISH, IRISH, SCOTTISH, ICELANDIC, NORWEGIAN, GERMAN, DANES AND SWEDES IN THOSE OPENING YEARS OF FEDERAL INTEREST, IN POPULATING THE WILDS OF THE PROVINCE.
      "WALKING IN THE WATER; THE WRITER'S FATHER (WINTEMBERG), RELATES A STORY THAT HE HEARD FROM AN OLD ALSATIAN NAMED KUTLER, LONG SINCE DECEASED. KUTLER SAID THERE WAS ONCE A WIZARD WHO WAS STANDING WITH A NUMBER OF OTHER MEN IN FRONT OF A TAVERN. IN THE DISTANCE HE SAW SOME WOMEN COMING TO MARKET, CARRYING THEIR PRODUCE ON THEIR HEADS. AS SOON AS THEY CAME CLOSE, THE WIZARD HAILED THE FOREMOST - A VERY GARRULOUS WOMAN - AT THE SAME TIME REMARKING TO THE BYSTANDERS THAT HE WOULD HAVE SOME FUN AT THE WOMEN'S EXPENSE. THEY HAD TO WADE THROUGH A SHALLOW STREAM BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE TOWN, AND, OF COURSE, HAD TO RAISE THEIR SKIRTS TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING DEEPER AND DEEPER, THOUGH IN REALITY THEY WERE WALKING ON DRY LAND, AND THEY LIFTED THEIR SKIRTS HIGHER AND HIGHER, QUITE UNCONSCIOUS OF THE MIRTH THEY WERE PROVOKING."
     "A MAISTRE PIERRE PATHELIN STORY - ONCE A MAN WAS ARRESTED FOR SOME CRIME HE HAD COMMITTED, AND WHEN HE CONSULTED HIS LAWYER THE LATTER ASKED HIM TO BE HONEST, AND TELL HIM WHETHER HE WAS GUILTY OR NOT. THE MAN ADMITTED HIS GUILT. THE LAWYER PROMISED TO GET HIM FREE BY ENTERING A PLEA OF INSANITY ON CONDITION THAT HE PAY HIM A CERTAIN SUM OF MONEY ON THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL," WRITES, WINTEMBERG. "THE MAN WAS TO ACT HIS PART BY REPLYING TO EVERY QUESTION THAT WAS PUT TO HIM BY RUNNING HIS EXTENDED INDEX FINGER HORIZONTALLY ACROSS HIS MOUTH, AT THE SAME TIME PRODUCING A WHISTLING NOISE. WHEN THE TRIAL CAME OFF, THE LAWYER HAD MANAGED TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO ASK THE PRISONER A QUESTION, AND THE MAN DID AS HE WAS REQUESTED. THE OTHER LAWYER THEN FOLLOWED WITH A QUESTION AND RECEIVED A LIKE REPLY. THEN THE PRESIDING JUDGE, BECOMING ANGRY, THOUGHT HE WOULD TRY, BUT HIS QUESTION WAS GREETED WITH THE SAME REPLY, AND THIS CONVINCED HIM THAT THE MAN WAS INSANE; SO HE DISCHARGED HIM FROM CUSTODY. THE MAN HASTENED AWAY, BUT THE LAWYER RAN AFTER HIM AND HIS DEMAND FOR HIS FEE WAS MET WITH THE SAME RESPONSE." A SIMPLE STORY ABOUT MORALS AND RETALIATION. THE LAWYER GAVE HIS CLIENT GOOD ADVICE, BUT THEN IT WAS USED ON HIM. IF HE HAD TOLD THE JUDGE THE LAWYER HAD URGED HIM TO LIE, AND THAT HE WASN'T INSANE, THEN HIS LEGAL CAREER WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED IF NOT CONCLUDED.
    "ONCE THERE WERE TWO TAILOR'S APPRENTICES WHO WERE BOTH ASPIRANTS FOR THE HAND OF THE MASTER-TAILOR'S DAUGHTER. THEIR MASTER TOLD THEM THAT THE ONE WHO WOULD FINISH A COAT THE SOONEST, COULD HAVE HER FOR HIS WIFE. SO THEY BOTH STARTED. ONE THREADED HIS NEEDLE WITH A LONG PIECE OF THREAD AND OTHER STARTED WITH A SHORT PIECE. THE ONE WHO HAD THE LONG THREAD THOUGHT HE WOULDN'T HAVE TO THREAD HIS NEEDLE SO OFTEN, AND THUS, HE WOULD GAIN TIME. THE OTHER ONE KNEW, AS EVERY GOOD TAILOR KNOWS, THAT THE ONE USING THE SHORT THREAD COULD SEW QUICKER. SO, BECAUSE THE LONG THREAD OF HIS RIVAL WAS CONTINUALLY FORMING KNOTS AND IN OTHER WAYS KEEPING HIM BACK, THE ONE WHO USED THE SHORT THREAD COMPLETED HIS TASK FIRST, AND WON THE DAUGHTER. THIS STORY IS TOLD TO THE APPRENTICE WHEN HE BEGINS TO WORK IN A GERMAN TAILOR'S SHOP."
     THE AUTHOR WRITES ABOUT "THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE:" "THERE IS A CURIOUS LEGEND CONNECTED WITH A BRIDGE THAT SPANS SOME TRIBUTARY OF THE RHINE FORMING THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN ALSACE AND SWITZERLAND. WHEN THIS BRIDGE WAS BEING BUILT, AN ALMOST INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFICULTY AROSE. BEELZEBUB, ALWAYS WILLING TO WIN A HUMAN SOUL, OFFERED TO AID THE BUILDERS ON CONDITION THAT THE FIRST LIVING BEING THAT CROSSED THAT BRIDGE SHOULD BE HIS, AND HE SENT ONE OF HIS IMPS TO HELP. THE BRIDGE BUILDER, BEING AWARE OF THE EXTREME GULLIBILITY OF THE FIEND, CONSENTED, BUT OUTWITTED HIM, FOR AS SOON AS THE BRIDGE WAS COMPLETED, HE BROUGH A BLACK GOAT, AND PLACING IT BEFORE HIM, PUSHED IT ACROSS THE BRIDGE. BEELZEBUB'S IMP, IN HIS RAGE AT BEING OUTWITTED, GRASPED THE GOAT BY THE HORNS, AND HURLED IT THROUGH THE FLOOR OF THE BRIDGE. EVERY OLD ALSATIAN WHO COMES FROM THIS PART OF ALSACE WILL SOLEMNLY AVER THAT THE HOLE IS STILL THERE, BECAUSE ALL EFFORTS AT REPAIRING THE BREACH ARE FRUSTRATED BY BEELZEBUB'S IMPS."
     HE WRITES THEN ABOUT "A FAIRY WIFE OF NIGHTMARE." "THE GABLE ENDS OF THE ALSATIAN PEASANT'S LOG HOUSE WERE COVERED WITH BOARDS, AND BETWEEN THESE WERE CRACKS THAT WERE SOMETIMES NOT CLOSED EVEN IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER, ALTHOUGH THIS PART OF THE HUT OFTEN WAS THE SLEEPING APARTMENT OF SOME MEMBER OF THE PEASANT'S FAMILY. IT WAS IN A ROOM OF THIS SORT THAT A YOUNG ALSATIAN SLEPT. HE WAS VISITED EVERY NIGHT BY A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - A SORT OF FAIRY - WHO ALWAYS ENTERED AND DISAPPEARED THROUGH ONE OF THE CREVICES BETWEEN THE BOARDS. AS IS USUAL IN SUCH CASES, THE YOUNG MAN FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL VISITANT, AND RESOLVED TO SECURE HER FOR HIS WIFE; SO HE TOLD HIS FATHER OF HIS DETERMINATION. HIS FATHER ADVISED HIM TO HAVE ALL THE CRACKS BETWEEN THE BOARDS, EXCEPTING ONE, CLOSED, AND WHEN THE MAIDEN WAS IN THE ROOM, HE WAS TO TAKE A KNIFE AND INSERT IT IN THE APERTURE THROUGH WHICH SHE ENTERED. THIS WAS DONE, AND ONE MORNING THE YOUNG MAN WAS OVERJOYED TO FIND HIS BEAUTIFUOL VISITOR STILL IN HIS ROOM. THEY WERE MARRIED AND LIVED TOGETHER FOR NEARLY ELEVEN YEARS, AND HAD FIVE CHILDREN. THE MAN FELT CONFIDENT THAT HIS WIFE WOULD NOW STAY WITH HIM, AND ONE DAY, WHILE MAKING SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN THE HOUSE, HE REMOVED THE KNIFE, AND AT THE SAME MOMENT HIS WIFE VANISHED AND NEVER RETURNED. SEVERAL SIMILAR STORIES ARE CITED BY HARTLAND IN HIS 'SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES.' HE MAKES THE FOLLOWING COMMENT ON ONE PARTICULAR FEATURE OF THESE STORIES; IN THE NIGHTMARE TYPE, OF THE SWAM MAIDEN GROUP OF STORIES, THE WIFE CANNOT TAKE THE WOODEN STOPPER OUT OF THE HOLE THROUGH WHICH SHE ENTERED, BUT, DIRECTLY, IT IS REMOVED BY ANOTHER, SHE VANISHES."
    A FASCINATING STORY IS TOLD BY WINTEMBERG ENTITLED "THE BLACKSMITH AND BEELZEBUB'S IMPS." IT GOES LIKE THIS: "ONCE UPON A TIME THERE LIVED, IN A CERTAIN TOWN IN ALSACE, A BLACKSMITH WHO HAD SOLD HIMSELF TO THE DEVIL. THIS DEVIL GAVE HIM THE POWER TO HOLD THE PERSON WHO PICKED NAILS OUT OF HIS SHOEING-BOX, SAT IN A CERTAIN CHAIR IN HIS HOUSE, OR ASCENDED A HIGH PEAR TREE IN HIS GARDEN. WISHING TO OBTAIN SOME MORE MONEY, THE BLACKSMITH AGAIN SOLD HIMSELF, BUT THIS TIME TO BEELZEBUB, THE PRINCE OF DEVILS, WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FABULOUSLY RICH. THE BLACKSMITH WAS TO GET SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS, BEELZEBUB HAVING THE RIGHT TO CLAIM HIM, BODY AND SOUL, AT THE THE END OF TWENTY YEARS. WHEN THIS TIME EXPIRED, BEELZEBUB SENT ONE OF HIS IMPS TO CLAIM THE BLACKSMITH. THE LATTER ASKED THE IMP IF HE WOULD HELP HIM FOR HE WAS VERY BUSY. THE IMP WAS WILLING, SO THE BLACKSMITH TOLD HIM TO PICK THE BENT SHOENAILS OUT OF HIS SHOEING-BOX, BUT AS SOON AS HE PUT HIS HAND IN THE BOX, HE BECMAE POWERLESS AND COULD NOT MOVE. THEN THE BLACKSMITH, IN GREAT GLEE, HEATED A PAIR OF TONGS AND BEGAN TO PINCH THE IMP. AFTER TORTURING HIM TO HIS HEART'S CONTENT, HE RELEASED HIM FROM THE SPELL, AND THE IMP RETURNED TO BEELZEBUB. BEELZEBUB THEN SENT ANOTHER IMP, AND THE OTHER ONE HAVING RELATED HIS EXPERIENCE, THIS ONE WAS A LITTLE MORE CAUTIOUS. WHEN THE IMP ARRIVED, THE BLACKSMITH WAS JUST GOING INTO THE HOUSE TO EAT HIS DINNER, SO HE INVITED HIM TO COME IN ALSO, AND TOLD HIM TO SIT DOWN WHILE HE WASHED AND GOT READY FOR DINNER. THE UNSUSPECTING IMP, SEEING NO OTHER CHAIR IN THE ROOM, SAT DOWN IN THE MAGIC CHAIR, AND THEREUPON CAME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE BLACKSMITH'S SPELL. THE BLACKSMITH RETURNED TO HIS SHOP AND HEATED SOME IRONS WITH WHICH HE TORMENTED THE UNLUCKY IMP, MORE THAN HE DID THE OTHER; THEN RELEASING HIM FROM THE SPELL, HE SAT DOWN AND ATE HIS FOOD, CONFIDENT BEELZEBUB WOULD NOW BE WILLING TO LET HIM LIVE IN PEACE.
     "BUT FIEND, UNDAUNTED, SENT ANOTHER IMP. THE BLACKSMITH HAD STILL ANOTHER METHOD OF ESCAPE - THE HIGH PEAR TREE. AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME THE TOPMOST BRANCHES BORE SOME LARGE JUICY PEARS. WHEN THE IMP APPEARED THE BLACKSMITH TOLD HIM ABOUT HIS PEAR-TREE AND THE PEARS THAT WERE RIPE AND WHICH, OWING TO THE FACT HE AND HIS APPRENTICE WERE BUSY, AND ALSO BECAUSE HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER WERE UNABLE TO CLIMB TO SUCH A HEIGHT, WOULD SPOIL IF THEY WERE NOT SOON PICKED OFF THE TREE. SO HE ASKED THE IMP IF HE WOULD KINDLY UNDERTAKE TO PICK THEM FOR HIM. THE IMP, EAGER TO CLAIM THIS TROUBLESOME SOUL FOR HIS MASTER, CLIMBED THE TREE, BUT AS SOON AS HE WAS UP AMIDST THE BRANCHES HE BECAME POWERLESS. THE BLACKSMITH THEN CALLED HIS APPRENTICES AND THEY HEATED UP SOME LONG IRON RODS WITH WHICH THEY TORTURED HIM UNTIL THEY THOUGHT HE HAD ENOUGH. BEELZEBUB COULD NOT GET ANOTHER IMP TO GO FOR THE BLACKSMITH, AND SO HE WAS LEFT IN PEACE."
     ON THE SUBJECT OF "RENDERING ONESELF INVISIBLE AT PLEASURE," THE AUTHOR-HISTORIAN WRITES, "THE POWER OF MAKING HIMSELF INVISIBLE WOULD BE THE GREAT 'DESIDERATUM,' OF A MEDIAEVAL MAGICIAN. THE BELIEF IN THIS MAGIC POWER APPEARS TO BE CONFINED TO THE TEUTONIC RACES. THE ICELANDERS BELIVE 'THAT THERE IS A STONE OF SUCH WONDEROUS POWER THAT THE POSSESSOR CAN WALK INVISIBLE.' AND IN ONE OF GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES, 'THE RAVEN,' THIS POWER IS CONFERRED ON A PERSON BY WEARING A CERTAIN CLOAK. THE OLDER GERMANS OF THE COUNTRY OF WATERLOO BELIEVED THAT A PERSON COULD BECOME INVISIBLE BY PLACING A CERTAIN BONE OF A BLACK CAT, BETWEEN THE TEETH. THAT CAT WAS TO BE STOLEN, AND AT MIDNIGHT PUT INTO A KETTLE A BOILED.
     "WHEN THE BODY WAS BOILED TO A PULP, THE BONES WERE TO BE PICKED OUT OF THE MESS AND PLACED BETWEEN THE TEETH. WHILE PERFORMING THIS OPERATION, THE PERSON LOOKED IN A MIRROR, AND WHEN HE FOUND THE RIGHT BONE HE COULD NO LONGER SEE HIS REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR. MR. W.W. NEWELL, THE EDITOR OF THE 'JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE,' IN COMMENTING ON THIS SUPERSTITION, SAYS, 'HOW SINGULAR SUCH A BELIEF, RETAINED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY! THE UNDERLYING IDEA IS OBVIOUS. A BLACK CAT, AS A WITCH, POSSESSES THE ABILITY OF TRANSFORMATION; AND SUCH MAGIC POWER MUST BE DUE TO SOME PARTICULAR ELEMENT OF THE ORGANISM' THE THING TO BE DONE IS TO DISCOVER THAT ELEMENT, WHICH CONFERS ON ITS POSSESSOR A LIKE POTENCY. THUS THE SURVIVAL OF THE PRESENT DAY GIVES A GLIMPSE INTO THE PREHISTORIC CONCEPTS OF MILLENNIALS AGO'."
     IN CONCLUSION, THE AUTHOR, WINTEMBERG NOTES, "THE GATHERING AND PRESERVATION OF ITEMS OF FOLK-LORE IS ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS THE COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS. TO THE FUTURE STUDENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY, THEY WILL BE OF INCALCULABLE VALUE. WE ALL ARE MORE OR LESS SUPERSTITIOUS, THOUGH MANY SCORN TO ADMIT IT. THE LARGE NUMBER OF FOREIGNERS WHO ANNUALLY FLOCK TO OUR SHORES ARE 'CHUCK-FULL,' OF SUPERSTITION, AND IT IS ONE OF THE DUTIES OF THE FOLKLORIST TO GATHER FROM THE LIPS OF THESE PEOPLE, THE DARLING FAITHS AND SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES OF THEIR DAILY LIVES. WE HAVE WITH US BESIDE THE ABORIGINES, REPRESENTATION OF NEARLY EVERY EUROPEAN RACE - ENGLISH, SCOTCH, IRISH, WELSH, FRENCH, GERMAN, DUTCH, RUSSIAN, SLAV, RUTHENIAN, ITALIAN, AND GALICIAN. EVERY CITY AND NEARLY EVERY TOWN HAS SUCH ORIENTALS, JEWS, SYRIANS, ARMENIANS, AND CHINESE. THOUGH THE LAST-NAMED MAY NEVER BECOME PERMANENT CITIZENS, (REFLECTION OF THE TIMES, AS REGARDS TO THE CHINESE), THEIR IDEAS REGARDING ETHICS AND THEIR SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS WILL BE OF GREAT VALUE TO THE STUDENT OF COMPARATIVE FOLK-LORE, AND EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO GATHER AND PRESERVE ORAL TRADITIONS OF THESE PEOPLE. THIS SHOULD BE DONE BEFORE ALL KNOWLEDGE OF THEM HAS PARISHED. THROUGH THE COLLATION AND STUDY OF THE FOLK-LORE OF THESE VARIED RACES, WE MAY HOPE TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BELIEFS AND IMAGININGS, AND THE 'HOPES AND FEARS,' OF OUR OWN ARYAN FOREFATHERS." KEEP IN MIND THIS WAS WRITTEN FIRST IN THE 1940'S, AND THERE ARE REFERENCES TO THE CHINESE, AS CANADIANS CITIZENS, THAT IS OUT OF PLACE, AND OF COURSE, MISTAKEN.
     THE CULTURES AND RELIGIONS OF THE SETTLERS, WHO RESPECTED THESE TIME-HONORED AND MATURED STORIES OF "THE FANTASTIC;" FOLK-LORE THAT EMBODIED THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HISTORY, THE SUPERNATURAL AND WHAT PREVAILED AS NATURALLY-PRESENT, GAVE THEM A RICH VOLUME OF LEGEND AND LORE, TO DISCUSS ON THOSE LONELY HOMESTEAD NIGHTS, SITTING BY THE CRACKLING FIRE. THEY WERE TOLD AND RE-TOLD, AND OF COURSE EMBELLISHED, WITH KEEN PRIDE BY THESE NEWCOMERS, FACING THEIR DEMONS IN A HARSH ENVIRONS. THE FOLK-TALES AND SUPERSTITIONS, WERE AS DIVERSE AS THE PLACES OF ORIGIN OF THESE PEOPLE. THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM MANY FASCINATING FOLK-TALES, SUPERSTITIONS AND BELIEFS IN THE PARANORMAL GENERALLY, THAT THEY FORMED, WITHOUT ACTUALLY INTENDING TO, INTO A DEEP, RICH FOLK-PATINA ACROSS THE HINTERLAND.....FROM ACCOUNTS OF WITCHES AND DEMONS MUCKING ABOUT, TO TROLLS AND OGRES LIVING UNDER BRIDGES, OR IN THE CREVICES OF ROCKS ON CLIFF-SIDES. THERE WERE POCKETS OF WOODLAND, CONSIDERED PRECARIOUS BECAUSE OF NASTY FAIRIES (YES THERE WERE), WHO SOUGHT REVENGE FOR SOME PERCEIVED SLIGHT; AREAS OF THE FOREST THAT WERE SAID TO BE HAUNTED BY GHOSTS OF TRAVELLERS WHO MET THEIR FATE THERE, BY UNNAMED MISFORTUNE. AND WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN MUSKOKA, IN THE MID 1960'S, I HEARD MANY OF THESE SAME STORIES AND WARNINGS, ABOUT THE PLACES WE LOVED TO HIKE-THROUGH; SWIMMING HOLES WE LOVED TO ATTEND FOR SUMMER RECREATIONS.
     IN MORE CONTEMPORARY TIMES, GROWING UP IN BRACEBRIDGE, WE WERE TOLD TO STAY AWAY FROM THE LOCAL HOBO JUNGLE, THE HELTER SKELTER ENCAMPMENT, ALONG THE RAIL LINE, TOWARD FALKENBURG, BECAUSE THESE QUESTIONABLE CHARACTERS POSSESSED MURDEROUS INTENTIONS; OR IF THEY DIDN'T KILL US, WOULD FORCE US UP ONTO THE PASSING FREIGHT TRAINS, AS THEIR NEW TRAVEL SLAVES.
    I CAN REMEMBER MY MOTHER TELLING ME, THAT THE LOCAL FATHERS OF THE SOCIETY OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, WOULD PUT WAYWARD CHILDREN IN THE BLACK BAGS THEY USED TO CARRY DOWNTOWN IN THOSE YEARS. SHE NEVER SAID WHAT THEY WANTED CHILDREN FOR, SO I ASSUMED IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN FOR A TASTY COUNTRY STEW. HEY, I WAS A KID, AND THE STORIES SEEMED PLAUSIBLE. THESE WERE STORIES TOLD TO SCARE US FROM BOTHERING THESE CHAPS, ON THEIR DAILY HIKES AROUND OUR NEIGHBORHOOD; THE OLD COMPOUND WAS ONLY SEVERAL BLOCKS AWAY FROM WHERE I LIVED; HOUSING WHAT WAS KNOWN WIDELY, EVEN THEN, AS THE "HAUNTED" MONASTERY. THE BLACK BAGS, BY THE WAY, WERE FOR PICKING UP THE MAIL AT THE MAINSTREET POST OFFICE, AND THERE WAS NEVER A SINGLE REPORT OF A CHILD ABDUCTION VIA "MAIL BAG." IT WASN'T JUST FROM THE PIONEER ERA THAT WE GOT OUR LOCAL FOLK-LORE. I CAN REMEMBER, AS THE THEN EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE, IN THE 1980'S, GOING ALONG WITH A FABRICATED STORY, PLANTED BY THE CONTRACTORS, BUILDIING THE WELLINGTON STREET BRIDGE, OVER THE MUSKOKA RIVER...., REPORTING THAT POISONOUS WATER MOCCASIN SNAKES, HAD BEEN ACCIDENTALLY BROUGHT TO MUSKOKA, FROM THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES; HAVING SLITHERED INTO THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF THE PRE-FABRICATED IRON WORK. IT WAS A STORY CRAFTED TO SCARE SIGHTSEERS AND SWIMMERS AWAY FROM THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, WHICH HAD MANY OTHER INHERENT DANGERS. IT APPARENTLY WORKED, AS NO SWIMMER OR SIGHTSEER WAS LOST DUE TO SNAKE-BITE. I DID FEEL A LITTLE FUNNY ABOUT MY OATH TO OFFICE, BEING THE "PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW," AND THEN RUNNING A BOGUS STORY, JUST TO FACILITATE ORDER AT A MAJOR CONSTRUCTION SITE. PROBLEM IS, FOR HISTORIANS DOWN THE ROAD, TO FIGURE OUT IF THE STORY WAS TRUE, OR NOT, BECAUSE THIS, TODAY, IS THE ONLY TIME IT HAS BEEN PUBLICLY DECLARED AS BEING PURPOSEFUL PROPAGANDA TO ACHIEVE A POSITIVE RESULT.

     PLEASE JOIN ME AGAIN TOMORROW FOR A LOOK AT SOME OTHER INTERESTING SUPERSTIONS AND WELL,...... OLD-WIVES' TALES. "RED SKY IN THE MORNING.....SAILOR TAKE WARNING!"