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| Visiting the Historic Community of Germania - Rich in local history, the community of Germania is one of the early settlements in area where you can still visit the historic Germania Lutheran Church which was established in l876. (Photo By Fred Schulz) |
MUSKOKA IS JOYFULLY HAUNTING, PARTICULARY IN THE AUTUMN OF THE YEAR
THE COUNTRY ROADS BECKON US TO WANDER
FRED SCHULZ AND I HAVE A LOT MORE IN COMMON, THAN JUST OUR CEASELESS ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC ON THE BARGE, EACH SUMMER AT GULL LAKE PARK. WE ARE BOTH MESMERIZED BY THE AUTUMN SEASON IN MUSKOKA. THERE IS SOMETHING IN THE AIR.....SOMETHING ON THE HORIZON, SOMETHING IN THE TREES, AND BUILT ELEGANTLY UPON THE LANDSCAPE, THAT DRAWS US OUT TO EXPLORE AND INTERPRET. FRED TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS OF THESE AMAZING VISTAS, AND I WRITE ABOUT THEM. FOR MOST OF OUR PROFESSIONAL LIVES, WE'VE WORKED APART, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T REALLY THINK WE HAD SO MUCH IN COMMON. ESPECIALLY, IN THE COMPANY OF ENCHANTING LANDSCAPES. SO WHEN WE BEGAN TALKING ABOUT OUR MUTUAL INTERESTS, OF REPRESENTING THE SEASONS IN MUSKOKA, WE DECIDED TO FOLLOW A SIMPLE PLAN. FIRST WE'D TRY TO COLLABORATE ON A BLOGSITE I USED AS MY THOREAUESQUE OUTLET, WHEN I NEED TO WRITE ABOUT MY OUTDOOR ADVENTURES. HE WOULD TAKE SOME OF HIS MOST INTERESTING PHOTOGRAPHS, FIRST FROM HIS HUGE ARCHIVES COLLECTION, AND I'D WHIP UP SOME TIMELY EDITORIAL MATERIAL, AND SEE IF WE COULD ATTRACT A MODEST READERSHIP. THIS WAS BACK IN APRIL.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF TRIAL AND ERROR MONTHS, BUT GENERALLY, WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER SEEMED TO GET ALONG OKAY. SOMETIMES THESE RELATIONSHIPS DON'T WORK. I HAVE TO ADMIT WE USED THE BOOK, "SUPERIOR; THE HAUNTED SHORE," BY AUTHOR, WAYLAND "BUSTER" DREW, AND BRUCE LITTELJOHN, AS OUR MODEL. THIS LANDMARK CANADIAN BOOK HAS BEEN THE INSPIRATION FOR A LOT OF OTHER WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS OVER SEVERAL DECADES, BECAUSE OF THE EXCEPTIONAL WAY THE ARTIST AND THE WRITER MADE IT ALL COME TOGETHER, IN TRIBUTE OF A TRULY SPIRITED GREAT LAKE. WE SET WHAT WOULD OBVIOUSLY, BE A GIGANTIC TASK, AND AN ENORMOUSLY LONG STRETCH, TO BE CONSIDERED EVEN MARGINALLY CLOSE TO THE EXCELLENCE ACHIEVED BY DREW AND LITTELJOHN. BUT HAVING WORKED CLOSELY WITH WAYLAND, WHEN WE WERE BOTH ON THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, I HAD MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO ASK ABOUT THE SUCCESSES THEY HAD WITH THE "SUPERIOR" BOOK, AND ANOTHER ON THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER. AS HE DID WITH HIS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, HE ALWAYS PLACED EMPHASIS ON THE WILLINGNESS OF ANY CREATOR, TO LEARN FROM TRIAL AND ERROR, OVER AND OVER, AND KNOWING NO BOUNDS TO ACHIEVE THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME. HE WAS BIG ON SELF CRITICISM, AND NEVER BEING RESISTENT TO CRITIQUES. I WAS A LITTLE WEAK IN THIS AREA, BUT GRADUALLY I LEARNED TO ACCEPT INPUT, AND JUDGE THE BEST IDEAS FOR IMPROVING MY WORK. I'M SURE FRED HAS HAD A LOT OF SUGGESTIONS FROM MENTORS AS WELL. AND WE HAD OUR SHARE OF TRIAL AND ERROR.
THE RESPONSE FROM THE FIRST COUPLE OF MONTHS WAS ENTIRELY POSITIVE, AND AT TIMES, READERSHIP MORE THAN DOUBLED, FROM BETWEEN FOUR HUNDRED TO SIX HUNDRED DAILY. WE WERE BEING ACKNOWLEDGED FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND IN EUROPE, AS WELL AS FROM THE HOME DISTRICT. IT WASN'T A PERFECT AMALGAMATION OF ART WORK AND EDITORIAL, BECAUSE I WAS STILL ON MY POLITICAL RANT CAMPAIGN, AGAINST TOWN COUNCIL, AND HE WAS ABOUT TO BECOME AN INTERIM MANAGER OF THE OPERA HOUSE. SO WE JUST TOOK A WEE BREAK, UNTIL THE FALL SEASON, TO LET THE DUST SETTLE FROM SEVERAL LITTLE CALAMATIES, FROM JUNE THROUGH THE SUMMER. MOSTLY IT WAS JUST WORK-LOAD HERE IN COTTAGE COUNTRY. NOW WE HAVE SOME TIME TO SETTLE INTO THIS, AND SEEING AS WE BOTH REALLY WANT TO REPRESENT THIS REGION, AND THE COMPELLING REALITIES OF ITS DRAMATIC CHANGES OF SEASON, I CAN GUARANTEE YOU NOW, WE WILL BE OFFERING-UP THE BEST OF THE BEST IN THE COMING MONTHS. THE AUTUMN SEASON IS THAT HARVEST, FULL MOON, TANTALIZING COLOR, ENDLESS SKY TIME OF YEAR, WHEN HISTORY IS AS WARM AS THE TEA IN HAND. IT JUST BRINGS OUT THE PIONEER-STOCK IN US, AND WE HAVE AN INSATIABLE APPETITE TO CAPTURE IT ALL......ON FILM AND IN PRINT.
FRED AND I TRAVEL SEPARATELY AROUND MUSKOKA, BUT WE COME BACK TO THE TABLE, WITH MUCH THE SAME MATERIAL......THAT CLEARLY SHOWS OUR OWN PERCEPTIONS OF WHERE THE ENCHANTMENT IS MOST ABUNDANTLY EXPERIENCED, ON ANY GIVEN DAY OF THE WEEK. WE BOTH LIKE THE ALLURE OF THE OPEN ROAD, AND MORE SO, THE DAYS WHEN WE FEEL TOTALLY UNFETTERED. OBVIOUSLY IT'S WHEN WE DO OUR BEST WORK. WE VISIT THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES WE WANT TO SEE, AND EXPERIENCE, AND WHAT INSPIRES US TO CAPTURE THE MOMENT AND THE LOCATION.....WHETHER IT IS AN OWL SITTING ON A FENCE POST, A COUPLE OF VENERABLE CROWS PERCHED ON A RAIL FENCE, A BARN WITH A BACKGROUND OF CRIMSON MAPLES, OR A SILHOUETTE OF A LONE CANOEIST EMERGING FROM A MORNING MIST, IT'S OUR TIME TO PROSPER, COURTESY THIS MAGNIFICENT REGION IN ONTARIO.
IT IS MY OPINION, THAT THE NEXT TEN YEARS WILL INSPIRE A GREAT NEW INTEREST IN THE QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES OF LIFE AND LIVING IN MUSKOKA. WHAT WE ARE PHOTOGRAPHING AND WRITING ABOUT TODAY, MAY BE COMPROMISED SOME TIME SOON. THERE MAY BE SUDIVISION LOTS ALONG THE ROLLING, WINDING, DUSTY COUNTRY ROADS WE MOTOR ALONG NOW, AND WE COULD WELL SEE A STEADY REDUCTION OF THE OLD BARNS AND OUT BUILDINGS WE'VE RECOGNIZED AS LANDMARKS, FOR SO LONG, ON THESE SEASONAL PILGRIMMAGES. WE WANT A RECORD OF THESE LANDMARKS WHILE WE HAVE THE CHANCE, SO THAT FOLKS IN THE FUTURE WILL HAVE THIS AS RECORD.....OF OUR MUSKOKA, ONCE UPON A TIME. IT IS SAID THAT GROUP OF SEVEN ARTIST, A.J. CASSON, ONCE REMARKED TO COLLEAGUE, ABOUT PAINTING IN MUSKOKA,... THAT HE WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO FIND ANY REMARKABLE OLD BUILDINGS TO DEPICT. THIS WAS MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY AGO. I THINK HE WAS RIGHT, AT LEAST CONSIDERING THE INTERESTING ARCHITECTURE THAT USED TO BE HERE IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 1900'S. FRED AND I KNOW HOW PROFOUND THESE CHANGES HAVE BEEN.....IN KILWORTHY, FOR FRED, WHERE HIS FAMILY USED TO RUN THE KILWORTHY GENERAL STORE, AND FOR ME, IN BRACEBRIDGE, WHERE I ARRIVED AS A WIDE-EYED CITY KID, IN THE MID 1960'S; WHEN FOR RECREATION, I SKATED ON THE PONDS OF BALL'S FLATS, WHERE SHOPPING PLAZAS NOW DOT THE LANDSCAPE. WE'RE BOTH TRADITIONALISTS, SO WE WANT TO MAKE UP FOR SOME LOST TIME, AND LOST HERITAGE BUILDINGS, BY GOING TO WORK NOW ON THIS NEW CENTURY REPRESENTATION OF OUR HOME DISTRICT. AS FOR FAILURE? THE ONLY REASON WE COULD POSSIBLY DROP THE BALL, IS IF WE END OUR MISSION PREMATURELY, WITHOUT SATISFYING YOU, AND OURSELVES, THAT WE'VE PROFILED THE REGION RESPONSIBLY, AND HISTORICALLY. IF YOU THINK SOMETHING SHOULD BE INCLUDED, THAT HASN'T BEEN, OR A LANDMARK MISSED, PLEASE SEND US SUGGESTIONS VIA EMAIL. WE ARE ALL PARTNERS IN THIS PROJECT, WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN TO IT.......BECAUSE THE EFFORT IS SOMEWHAT WASTED IF WE CAN'T MUSTER A READERSHIP.
WE ARE NOT GOING TO APPLY ANY PRESSURE TO THIS PROJECT. WE AREN'T PUTTING TOGETHER A BOOK, AS WE WOULD HATE TO INJURE ANY TREES ON OUR JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY. ADMITTEDLY, WE DO OUR BEST WORK WHEN TIME IS ABUNDANT, AND SCHEDULE IS DETERMINED BY OUR SENSE OF WANDERLUST, AND NOTHING ELSE. IT'S POSSIBLY THE CLOSEST WE WILL EVER BE, TO BECOMING FREE SPIRITS; AND IF THIS SHOWS THROUGH, DURING THIS COLLABORATION, THEN WE'RE AS CLOSE AS WE COULD POSSIBLY BE, TO MEETING OUR OWN MEASURE OF STEWARDSHIP TO THIS REGION. BUT YOU WILL BE OUR JUDGES. WE HAVE A BUSY AND INTERESTING FALL AND WINTER SEASON AHEAD. PLEASE JOIN US IN THIS PARTNERSHIP-EXPLORATION OF MUSKOKA......BROUGHT TO YOU BY TWO CHAPS WHO HAVE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN BOTH WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS.
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.
PLEASE JOIN ME AGAIN TOMORROW, FOR ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF FOLK LORE, AS TAKEN FROM THIS SAME MUSEUM DOCUMENT.
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