What Of The Unknown Fascinates You? The Allure of Muskoka

WHAT OF THE UNKOWN, FASCINATES YOU? OR IS EVERYTHING KNOWN AND UNDERSTOOD. CAN SCIENCE EXPLAIN EVERYTHING?

     "IF GOWAN GILLMOR KNEW ALL THE CONSTELLATIONS, HE ALSO KNEW ALL THE PLANTS AND FLOWERS OF THE NORTH COUNTRY. HIS EYE FOR BEAUTY WAS VERY KEEN, AND HE COULD CLEVERLY ADAPT THESE THINGS IN ALL THEIR RANGE TO HIS SERMONS IN THE MOST VIVID TERMS. SURVIVORS OF THE CHILDREN OF THOSE DAYS, CAN WELL REMEMBER THE WAY IN WHICH NATURAL PHENOMENA, AND WILDLIFE WOULD CREEP INTO HIS DISCOURSES. AN ALBERTA LADY, ONCE OF GRAVENHURST, HAS TREASURED MEMORIES OF HIM IN HER CHILDHOOD. ESPECIALLY SHE RECALLS A SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CONCERT WHICH HE OPENED WITH A MOST FASCINATING ACCOUNT OF HIS APPROACH TO TOWN, AT DUSK (AFTER MANY MILES TRAVELLING ON FOOT), THAT EVENING, AND SEEING THE 'EVENING STAR,' RISE OVER GULL LAKE, 'WITH FAIRIES ACCOMPANYING IT.' 'HE HELD US SPELLBOUND'."

     THESE OBSERVATIONS ARE CONTAINED IN THE BOOK "GILLMOR OF ALGOMA - ARCHDEACON TRAMP," BY E. NEWTON WHITE. THESE OBSERVATION AS NOTED BY A FORMER STUDENT, WERE MADE EARLY IN THE 1900'S. WHAT'S INTERESTING, IS THAT THE ARCHDEACON REFERENCED "FAIRIES," TO CHARACTERIZE THE SPARKLING ENCHANTMENT THE EVENING STAR CAST DOWN TO EARTH. A BRILLIANT AND DEDICATED MAN, WHO HIKED ALL OVER THE DISTRICTS OF ALGOMA AND MUSKOKA, HE WASN'T ADVERSE TO REFERENCING THE SUPERNATURAL……AS WITH THE FAIRY-KIND. HERE WAS AN ANGLICAN MISSIONARY, GIVING CREDIT TO FAIRIES, WHERE GOD MOST DEFINITELY PLAYED A PART.

     IF EVER ANYONE COULD ATTEST TO THE ENCHANTMENTS OF OUR REGION, IT WAS GOWAN GILLMOR. "MANY OF GOWAN'S TALES COULD ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS 'TALL.' HE JUSTIFIED HIS WAY OF DEALING WITH FACTS AT SUCH TIMES, BY SAYING THAT IF NOVELISTS AND POETS WERE RIGHT TO USE FICTION TO ENTERTAIN, OR INFORM, SO ALSO WAS HE. AND WE MIGHT ADD THAT LISTENERS, CHILDREN OR GROWN-UPS, WHO COULD NOT TELL HIS TRUTH FROM HIS FICTION, WERE TO SAY THE LEAST, ON THE GULLIBLE SIDE. HE NEVER MEANT TO DECEIVE ANYONE, BUT HE WAS KNOWN TO SAY THAT SOMETIMES HIS STORY-TELLING WAS SPOILT BY SOME PEOPLE'S EAGERNESS TO BELIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE," WRITES NEWTON-WHITE.

     "SOME OF GOWAN'S BEST KNOWN STORIES ARE DIFFICULT TO RECOUNT AT SECOND HAND. THEY WERE TOLD ON SO MANY OCCASIONS TO MANY VARIETIES OF HEARERS - YOUNG, OLD, CRITICAL OR OTHERWISE; WITH THE NEED TO APPEAL TO AS MANY INDIVIDUALS AS POSSIBLE, AND THE POLITICAL NECESSITY OF NOT BEING TOO SPECIFIC AS TO LOCALITY. AS WITH ALL HIS TALES THEY DEPENDED GREATLY ON THE MATCHLESS GIFT OF A TRUE IRISH STORY TELLER. TAKE THE WOLF-STORY; AND WE MUST ADMIT AT ONCE THAT CANADIAN WOLF HISTORY AFFORDS BUT THE REMOTEST PRECEDENTS, EVEN IN ALL ITS VARIATIONS," NOTES THE BIOGRAPHER. "IN THE NORTHERN BUSH ON A COLD WINTER'S NIGHT, GOWAN WAS TRAVELLING ON SNOWSHOES AND FOUND THAT HE COULD NOT REACH HIS DESTINATION BEFORE VERY LATE. HE DECIDED TO LIGHT A FIRE AND SLEEP IN THE SNOW. BEFORE HIS FIRE WAS GOING HE HEARD THE DISTANT HOWL OF A WOLF, THEN ANOTHER AND ANOTHER. BEFORE LONG THE CRIES WERE COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS - AND CLOSING IN! SOON THEY WERE FORMING A FAIRLY CLOSE CIRCLE AROUND HIM. THEIR EYES AND FANGS AND SINISTER MOVEMENTS IN THE DARKNESS WOULD BE DESCRIBED WITH TELLING EFFECT. THEN A LARGE WOLF, EVIDENTLY THE LEADER (AND IRISH IT WOULD APPEAR), SLIPPED TO THE FRONT, EYED GOWAN VERY CLOSELY, SNIFFED, THEN WHEELED SUDDENLY TO THE OTHERS: 'OCH! THAT'S ONLY OLD GILLMOR! LET'S GO, B'YS,' AND THEY VANISHED. ONCE, IN A CHILD AUDIENCE, THE SUSPENSE OVER, A BRIGHT ONE ASKED, COULD HE NOT HAVE CLIMBED A TREE? BUT THAT WOULD NOT HAVE HELPED; THE WOLF-PACK KEPT A TRAINED BEAVER FOR JUST SUCH EMERGENCIES."

     "ANOTHER STORY EXAMPLE CONCERNED A CORPSE; AND WAS NOT QUITE AS MACABRE AS IT SOUNDS. GOWAN WAS VISITING A LONELY SETTLEMENT IN THE BUSH; A PLACE UNKOWN TO HIM. HE HAD BEEN WALKING ALL DAY, AND WAS TIRED. AT DUSK HE CAME TO A DARK AND GLOOMY LOOKING HOUSE WHERE HE ASKED FOR SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT. THE MAN WHO CAME TO THE DOOR LOOKED WORRIED AT HIS REQUEST; AND CALLED TO HIS WIFE. THE TWO HAD A WHISPERED DISCUSSION, AND THEN THE MAN SAID GLUMLY, 'ALL RIGHT, YOU CAN STAY. BUT YOU WON'T LIKE YOUR ROOM.!' WHEN GOWAN WENT TO HIS ROOM LATER, HE FOUND IT BITTERLY COLD. LOWERING HIS VOICE HE WOULD SAY SOLEMNLY, 'AN' WHAT D'Y THINK WAS IN THAT ROOM? A DEAD BODY!' AT THIS HE WOULD PAUSE WHILE HIS LISTENERS WOULD GASP AND ASK HIM WHATEVER DID HE DO? 'WHY, I BLEW OUT MY LIGHT AND WENT TO SLEEP OF COURSE.' THEN, WITH ANOTHER PAUSE, TO LET IT ALL SINK IN, HE WOULD ADD IN A RELIEVED VOICE, 'IT WAS JUST A DEAD MOUSE Y'KNOW!' YEARS AFTER TELLING THIS YARN TO A SOMEWHAT IMPRESSIONABLE PERSON, SHE REMINDED HIM OF IT. BUT THE ARCHDEACON LOOKED GENUINELY HORRIFIED. 'OH,' SAID HE. 'I OUGHT NOT TO HAVE TOLD YOU THAT ONE."

     NEWTON-WHITE ALSO NOTED, OF THE ARCHDEACON, ON ONE OF HIS MAJOR WALKING MISSIONS, HE WITNESSED "THAT INFREQUENT APPEARANCE TO EARTH OF HALLEY'S COMET, WHICH WAS THEN 'A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT." "THE REFERENCE TO THE COMET CAME AT THE TIME WHEN IN THE DIARY (HE KEPT) THERE BEGAN TO APPEAR SUNDRY NAMES AND NOTES OF THE STARS; SOME EVIDENTLY FOR SERMON USE. THE STARS HE SPOKE OF AS HIS FRIENDS, AND HIS PARTICULAR ONE WAS 'ARCTURIS.' IN WHIMSICAL IRISH, HE WOULD ASSERT THAT WHEN HE DIED ONE OF THEM WOULD BE HIS -AND WOULD ACTUALLY POINT OUT WHICH ONE."

     IN THE EARLY SETTLEMENT YEARS, AND THE ONGOING DECADES THAT SAW HEAVY IMMIGRATION FROM OVERSEAS, THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA INHERITED A LOT OF "OLD COUNTRY" LORE, MORE THAN JUST REFERENCED BY THE BORROWED NAMES OF VILLAGES IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, FOR LOCATIONS IN THE HOMESTEAD GRANT LANDS OF ONTARIO. AS WILL ARCHDEACON GOWAN GILLMOR, MUCH OR HIS IRISH BACKGROUND, OF LEGEND, LORE AND TRADITION, MADE ITS WAY TO OUR REGION…..AND AS YOU HAVE JUST READ, THESE STORIES WERE TOLD AND RE-TOLD IN HIS SERMONS, AND CONVERSATIONS FOR MANY DECADES. THE DIFFERENCE WAS THAT HIS IRISH BACKGROUND AND THE WORK HE WAS DOING IN MUSKOKA AND ALGOMA, MEANT THAT MANY OF THESE FOLK STORIES HAD OLD COUNTRY PATINA, IN A PIONEERING REGION OF A NEW LAND. THIS WAS JUST ONE MAN, SPEAKING TO HUNDREDS IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. THERE WERE MANY OTHERS, WHO SIMILARLY SPREAD VERSIONS OF OLD LEGENDS AND SUPERSTITIONS, AMONGST THE NEIGHBOR SETTLERS……WHO COULD WELL HAVE BEEN OF DIFFERENT CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS……ICELANDERS NEIGHBORS TO DANES, NORWEGIANS, SWEDES, IRISH, SCOTTISH, ENGLISH, DUTCH AND GERMAN. AND WHEN MARRIAGES OCCURRED BETWEEN THESE ETHNIC GROUPS, THE FOLK TALES AND SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS CHANGED AS WELL. OF COURSE, THIS WAS LIKE ANY PIONEER REGION IN THE COUNTRY, BUT IT BECAME CHARACTERISTIC OF LIFE IN OUR REGION IN THOSE FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT. IF YOU WERE TO ADD THIS TO THE AMPLIFYING EDITORIAL PROMOTIONS, OF THE MUSKOKA DISTRICT, BEING PUBLISHED IN AMERICAN ADVENTURE BOOKS, LIKE "THE SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE," AMONGST MANY OTHERS, MUSKOKA WAS DEEMED AN ENCHANTED PLACE, LONG BEFORE GOWAN GILLMORE BEGAN WALKING THE TRAILS FROM OUR DISTRICT TO ALGOMA AND BACK…..AND SPINNING THOSE FASCINATING TALES OF LIFE IN THE WILDS.

     "POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS ARE FAST FADING AWAY," WROTE WASHINGTON IRVING, IN HIS BOOK, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," CIRCA 1822, IN A STORY TOLD BY THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER, GEOFFERY CRAYON, VISITING WITH SQUIRE BRACERBIDGE AND FAMILY, ON HIS ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE ESTATE. HE CLAIMED THIS WAS THE CASE, "OWING TO THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE, AND THE BUILDING INTERCOURSE KEPT UP THROUGH THE COUNTRY; STILL THEY HAVE THEIR STRONG HOLDS AND LINGERING PLACES, AND A RETIRED NEIGHBORHOOD LIKE THIS IS APT TO BE ONE OF THEM. " IRVING HIMSELF, OF COURSE, WAS A DEFENDER OF THESE SUPERSTITIONS, AND OLD FOLK TALES, TRADITIONS AND LEGEND; IN ENGLAND AND AT HOME IN AMERICA, WHERE HE WORRIED THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN, HAD ADVERSELY INFLUENCED MANY FROM THAT RICH CULTURAL ANCESTRY, TO ABANDON THESE PRECIOUS, TIME-HONORED FORMER BELIEFS, THAT HAD ROOTS MANY GENERATIONS DEEP. WHAT IRVING DID, SOMEWHAT LIKE THE LATER ARCHDEACON GOWAN GILLMOR, WAS TO EXPOSE THESE TIRED OLD TALES TO NEW PUBLIC SCRUTINY, TO SEE HOW A MODERN AUDIENCE WOULD REACT TO AN ANTIQUATED STORY. AS IRVING SOLD MANY BOOKS BECAUSE OF HIS PASSION TO PRESERVE FOLK HISTORY, THE ARCHDEACON EQUALLY HELD MANY LOCAL AUDIENCES SPELLBOUND, WITH STORIES ABOUT NATURAL ENCHANTMENTS HE HAD FOUND ON HIS TOWN TO VILLAGE HIKES….AND THE REMARKABLE STORIES HE HAD HEARD TRAVELLING HOUSE TO HOUSE, IN HIS FRIENDLY BID TO EXTEND PRAYER TO THOSE IN NEED.

     WORKING AT THE HERALD-GAZETTE OFFICE, ONE DAY, I LOOKED UP FROM MY TYPEWRITER, TO SEE CANADIAN WRITER, SYLVIA DUVERNET STANDING AT THE CORNER OF MY DESK, WITH A COPY OF HER WELL KNOWN BOOK, ON THE MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY; A WRITER'S SUMMER COLONY BACK IN THE 1920'S AND 30'S, ON LAKE ROSSEAU'S TOBIN'S ISLAND. THE ASSEMBLY BROUGHT IN MANY OF THIS COUNTRY'S BEST KNOWN WRITERS, INCLUDING POETS AND NOVELISTS, AND MANY PHILOSOPHERS, WITH A KEEN FOCUS ON MODERN RELIGION. SYLVIA, THE MOTHER OF MY COLLEAGUE AND WRITING PARTNER, TIM DUVERNET, A MUSKOKA SUN PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE TIME, WAS AN EXPERT ON THE MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY, AND I HAD BEEN WORKING ON A FEATURE STORY ABOUT THE WRITER'S RETREAT, FOR ONE OF OUR PUBLICATIONS. SHE BROUGHT ME A COPY OF HER BOOK, WHICH I STILL HAVE, AND PROVIDED SOME INSIGHTS ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE TO MUSKOKA, OF ALL THESE WRITER-KIND BEING INSPIRED BY OUR ENCHANTED LAKELAND. I ASKED HER WHY SHE FELT MUSKOKA WAS SO ATTRACTIVE TO WRITERS, ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS IN PARTICULAR. WITHOUT EVEN MOMENTARY PAUSE, TO CONTEMPLATE MY QUESTION, OR WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED EVEN A SLIGHT DELAY, IN A BUSY NEWSROOM FULL OF STRANGE GOINGS-ON, AND AS IF SHE KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A QUESTION I WOULD ASK, SHE ANSWERED; "TED, AS YOU SHOULD KNOW, MUSKOKA IS A VERY SPIRITUAL PLACE ON EARTH." SHE ALSO EXPLAINED, THAT IT WAS MY MISSION TO FIND OUT WHY."YOU'RE A WRITER," SHE SAID. "YOU'LL FIND THIS OUT ON YOUR OWN QUEST; IT'S SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO DISCOVER YOURSELF, BY GETTING OUT THERE, AND BEING PART OF THE MUSKOKA EXPERIENCE." THAT WAS IN THE VERY EARLY 1980'S. I'VE FOLLOWED HER ADVICE EVER-SINCE, AND I DO BELIEVE HER ASSESSMENT WAS CORRECT. MUSKOKA IS A VERY SPIRITUAL PLACE IN ITS ALLURE…..AND I DO BELIEVE MANY HAVE FOUND THE SAME…..LIKE GOWAN GILLMOR, TRAVELLING THE MUSKOKA PATHWAYS FROM WELL BEFORE THE TURN OF THE 1900'S, OVER THE FOUR SEASONS…..FARMSTEAD TO SHANTY, LUMBER CAMP TO COMMUNITY HALL.

     TOMORROW, I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO WASHINGTON IRVING'S "STORM SHIP."

      OUR FAMILY FRIEND, SYLVIA DUVERNET, RECENTLY PASSED AWAY. SHE WAS PASSIONATE ABOUT HER TIME SPENT IN MUSKOKA, AND WAS A PROLIFIC PROMOTER OF THE ENCHANTMENTS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL REGION ON EARTH. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE ADVICE SHE GAVE ME. I HAVE BEEN ON THE ODYSSEY OF DISCOVERY, SINCE SHE POINTED THE WAY. OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO THE DUVERNET FAMILY OF TORONTO AND PORT CARLING. SYLVIA WILL LONG BE REVERED AMONGST WRITERS IN MUSKOKA.