REASONS TO RESPECT THE PIONEER PERIOD IN MUSKOKA - THERE'S A MORAL TO THIS STORY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND
STEWARDSHIP IS NOT JUST AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE. HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE NOT THE END-ALL
"BY THE ELAPSE OF THE YEAR 1873, THE FIRST TEN YEAR MARK OF SETTLEMENT OF THE COMMUNITIES OF WATT (PRESENT TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES) HAD PASSED. BY GREAT EFFORT ON THE PART OF THE SETTLERS, MUCH HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. EACH ONE TO THE BEST OF THEIR SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE, HAD LENT THEIR SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY. FROM LITTLE TOMMY ROSEN, THE BLACKSMITH, TO WILLIAM KINGSHOTT WITH HIS SUPPLY OF DRIED ROOTS, BARKS, PLANTS AND BERRIES, THAT COULD BE READILY TURNED INTO MEDICINE TO RELIEVE THE SUFFERING, OF HIS FELLOW SETTLERS AND THEIR CHILDREN. THEY KNEW OF NO OTHER THEN, THAN THAT OF DOCTOR KINGSHOTT OR OF MRS. RYAN OR MRS. MORLEY, WITH MEDICINES MADE FROM GARDEN PLANTS, PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS PROCURED BY HERSELF AND CARRIED CAREFULLY HOME, AND PLANTED IN THE GARDEN AND CULTIVATED BY HER OWN HAND. THE WORMWOOD AND THE TANSY PLANT FOR RELIEF OF PAIN, AND MANY OTHERS. MANY WERE THE GROWING CHILDREN, EACH OF THEM BEHELD WITH PRIDE AND CALLED BY THEIR FIRST NAMES; AND TO THEM COULD RELATE SOME STORY OF AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE ENCOUNTERED BY EACH OF US, AT THE TIME OF THEIR BIRTH; THEY (THOSE WHO COULD HELP DELIVER THE CHILD) HURRIED THROUGH THE WOODLAND PATHS OR TRAILS TO REACH THE CHILD'S MOTHER'S SIDE. BUT TO THESE DEAR SOULS, AGE WAS CREEPING UP ON THEM; THEY, WHOSE THOUGHTS WERE NOT ALWAYS FOR THEMSELVES BUT WERE FILLED WITH CONCERN FOR OTHERS, FOR THEY TRAVELLED NOT LIFE'S SMOOTHEST WAY." BERT SHEA, "HISTORY OF THE SHEAS AND THE PATHS OF ADVENTURE."
WHY WAS IT NECESSARY FOR REVEREND N. WILLISON, A FAITHFUL FRIEND OF MUSKOKA, TO WRITE A POETIC TRIBUTE TO OUR REGIONAL PIONEERS, IN HIS POPULAR BUT RARE BOOK, "MUSKOKA ECHOES," PUBLISHED IN SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, IN 1946? WILLISON OFFERS NO EXPLANATION HIMSELF, AND HIS BOOK HAS NO PREFACE OR INTRODUCTION. FROM THE FIRST PAGE OF COPY, HE BEGINS HIS PRAISE OF MUSKOKA. HERE IT WAS, ONLY ONE YEAR AFTER THE CATASTROPHIC IMPACT OF WORLD WAR, WHICH WAS STILL REVERBERATING AROUND THE GLOBE, AND WITH A NEWFOUND FEAR AND MISTRUST OF POLITICAL AMBITIONS ANYWHERE, REVEREND WILLISON, LIKE A MODERN ERA THOREAU, FOUND INSPIRATION, ENOUGH FOR THE FUTURE, WITHIN THE NATURE AND HISTORY OF OUR DISTRICT IN CANADA. IN PARTICULAR, HE SAW ABOUT HIM, ON HIS RETREATS HERE, GOOD REASON, TO BASE THIS FORESIGHT AND INSPIRATION, ON THE FOUNDATION LAID BY THE PIONEER PERIOD IN MUSKOKA. WHAT HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE REGION, HE DELVED INTO, EXAMINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE HISTORY WAS MADE. HE FOUND COMFORT IN VILLAGE AND CHURCHYARD CEMETERIES, WHERE THE FOUNDING PIONEERS WERE BURIED IN THE SHADE OF LILACS.
TO SOME, READING THESE BLOGS, AND EVEN A FEW OF MY ASSOCIATES IN REGIONAL HISTORY, THE HOMESTEAD CHRONICLE HAS HAD ITS DAY. IT'S RELEVANCE TO MODERN LIVING, IN THIS NEW CENTURY, JUST DOESN'T SEEM AS IMPORTANT AS IT DID BACK IN THE 1940'S, UNTIL THE MID 1970'S, WHEN OTHER HISTORICAL REALITIES SEEM TO BECOME MUCH MORE EXCITING, AND IN THE BUSINESS SENSE, TOURISM-FRIENDLY. THE POPULARITY OF CERTAIN AVENUES OF LOCAL HISTORY BECAME, BY TRENDS OF THE ERA, MUCH MORE MARKETABLE, THAN TRYING TO SELL AND RESELL WHAT AMOUNTED TO "THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD." AS I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT EARLIER IN THIS SHORT SERIES, ON OUR PIONEER HERITAGE, THE INCREASING PROFILE OF STEAMSHIPS, WOODEN BOATS, RESORTS, AND RAILWAY ANTIQUITIES, HAVE OVER-TAKEN OUR PREVIOUS FASCINATION WITH THE PIONEER ERA, AND IT DOESN'T TAKE A DEGREE IN CANADIAN HISTORY TO KNOW IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN. THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DO, TO MAKE HOMESTEADERS AND RURAL EXISTENCE IN THE 1850'S TO 80'S EXCITING. IT DOES COME DOWN TO MONEY AND THE RETURN ON AN INVESTMENT. OPENING A PIONEER MUSEUM, FOR TODAY'S MARKETPLACE? FORGET IT! IT WOULD LOSE MONEY, AS THEY SAY, "HAND OVER FIST." AN INTEGRATION OF COLLECTIONS DOES WORK, IF YOU ADD A DISPLAY OF TOURIST RELATED NOSTALGIA, SECTIONS ON THE WOODEN BOAT BUILDERS OF OUR AREA, MIX IN SOME LOCAL RAILWAY IMAGES AND COLLECTABOES, AND DON'T FORGET THE STEAMSHIP EXHIBIT. AS PART OF THE CHRONICLE, THE PIONEERING YEARS WOULD GET NOTICED, BUT LARGELY, ONLY WHILE PATRONS ARE MOVING THROUGH THE DISPLAYS, TOWARD THE AREA OF THE MUSEUM THEY FIND MOST ALLURING.
AS I'VE NOTED PREVIOUSLY, PART OF THE DISCONNECT, IS THAT THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD IN OUR REGION, GETS VERY LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE SCHOOLS, AND ALMOST NO EXPOSURE ON THE PUBLIC SPEAKING CIRCUIT; TO SERVICE CLUBS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS, THAT REGULARLY BOOK GUESTS TO LECTURE ABOUT IMPORTANT LOCAL ISSUES. SPEAKING ABOUT PIONEER LIFE IN MUSKOKA, IS SO FAR DOWN THE LIST OF POPULAR SUBJECTS, THAT IT'S NO WONDER, THE RELEVANCE OF THE PERIOD IN CONTEMPORARY MUSKOKA, HAS BECOME SERIOUSLY OBSCURED, AND NEGLECTED, DESPITE THE FACT, THERE IS SO MUCH TO LEARN FROM THE PERIOD. THE ONLY REASON IT HAS LOST ITS LUSTER, IS DUE TO THE FACT NO ONE WANTS TO INVEST IN ITS CONSERVATION. IF A TRAIN STATION NEEDS REFURBISHING, OR VINTAGE WATERCRAFT, A STEAMSHIP PERHAPS, COMPARE THE RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT EFFORT AND MINIMAL FUNDS AVAILABLE, TO SAVE A PIONEER CHURCH, FOR EXAMPLE; OR HELP RESTORE THE CRUMBLING TOMBSTONES IN THE COMMUNITY CEMETERIES. IT'S HAPPENED HERE, AND CONTINUES TO BE THE KIND OF SLIPPERY SLOPE, WE'RE ON THE CUSP OF, THAT MEANS THE NEGLECT WILL CONTINUE FOR A LONG TIME TO COME.
I DON'T REALLY EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE ATTITUDES, ON THE SCALE THAT IS NEEDED, TO BRING BACK A KEEN AWARENESS, OF JUST HOW IMPORTANT THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD IS, TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT MUSKOKA IS ALL ABOUT, BROADLY AND GENERALLY. WE WILL OF COURSE, ONLY TRULY REGRET IT, WHEN ALL SIGNS OF HOW IT BEGAN, IN THE ARCHITECTURAL SENSE, ARE GONE OR GROWN-OVER UPON THE LANDSCAPE. IT'S QUICKLY APPROACHING. EVEN IN CEMETERIES. IF THERE ISN'T MORE CONCERN ABOUT TOMBSTONE CONSERVATION, WE ARE GOING TO LOSE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OUR LOCAL HERITAGE.....BECAUSE THESE FOLKS GAVE US WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, THROUGH THEIR EFFORTS TO BUILD COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD VALUES.
"HOW SOON THEY PASS, - THE OBJECTS OF OUR LOVES! THE LILY BLOOMS, THE SONG OF BIRDS IS HEARD; THEY ARE NO MORE. LIKE FAITHFUL HOMING DOVES, OUR DEAR ONES FOR RETURN TO GOD ARE STIRRED," WROTE REVEREND WILLISON, IN HIS POEM, "A MUSKOKA PIONEER." THERE IS AN ACCOMPANYING PHOTOGRAPH OF ONE OF THE REGION'S GRAVEYARDS, PRESUMABLY IN THE UFFINGTON AREA OF EAST MUSKOKA.
"OUR LOVED ONE PASSED THE NOON OF MAN'S BRIEF DAY, THEN NOON FOR HIM WAS MERGED IN FAIRER LIGHT; LIKE ENOCH HE HAD WALKED IN GOD'S OWN WAY, AND SO GOD CALLED HIM HOME BEFORE THE NIGHT. HIS LIFE WAS HARD FROM CHILDHOOD TO THE END, AT SIX A MOTHER LOST, A BROTHER'S CARE; ON HIS YOUNG SHOULDERS LAID. HE COULD SPEND HIS TIME AT SCHOOL AND YOUTH'S ADVANTAGE SHARE. HIS LIFE WAS HARD; HIS GROWING FRAME WAS BENT, FROM DIGGING CLAY AND LIFTING STONE, WHILE SIDE BY SIDE WITH STALWART MEN HE WENT, AND DREAMED OF FIELDS THAT SOME DAY WOULD OWN."
REVEREND WILLISON ALSO WROTE, IN HIS POEM, "MUSKOKA," THAT "THE FAIREST? WHEN GLORY SURROUNDS ME, WHEN ALL THAT I SEE BRINGS DELIGHT; THE SKIES, WHEN THE SUN RULES THE HEAVENS, OR STAR-HOSTS PARADE IN THE NIGHT."
I TOOK A BRIEF HIATUS EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON, AND ENJOYED A SLOW MOTOR TRIP FROM GRAVENHURST, NORTH TO BRACEBRIDGE, ALONG THE PICTURESQUE LENGTH OF WINDING, HARDWOOD FOREST-BORDERED, MUSKOKA BEACH ROAD. I HAD A LITTLE ANTIQUE BUSINESS TO TAKE CARE OF, BUT I NEVER LET THE RIGORS OF ENTERPRISE, DETRACT FROM MY ENJOYMENT OF THE TRIP. I'D BEEN READING REVEREND WILLISON'S BOOK, BEFORE I LEFT, AND IT STAYED WITH ME OVER AND ABOVE THE MOZART PLAYING ON CBC 2. "I SEE, I INHALE, AND I LISTEN; I TOUCH WITH A REVERENT HAND; MY HEART LINGERS LONG IN THOSE HEAVENS, THAT PATTERNED THIS MARVELLOUS LAND. MUSKOKA! SO LOVELY IN SUMMER! IMPRESSIVE WHEN ROBED IN THY SNOW. I LOVE THEE! GOD KNOWS I LOVE THEE. GRANT ME THY BOSOM REPOSE."
WELL KNOWN CANADIAN POET, WILSON MACDONALD, WROTE, IN HIS POEM, "MUSKOKA," EARLIER IN THE 1900'S, "CHIDE NOT THE LEISURE OF THIS DRIFTING MOON, NOR BLAME THE LAZY LOITERING OF STARS, THAT PASS ABOVE THESE ISLES OF BEARDED STONE; NOR WONDER SHOULD THE SLOWLY WHEELING CARS, OF ALGOL AND ARCTURUS CRAVE THE BOON, TO EVER HERE REMAIN - AND NIGHT PAUSES LIKE A NOMAD WHO HAS FOUND, IN WOODLANDS STRUNG WITH MOONLIGHT WHOSE PALE RAIN, DESCENDS TO EARTH WITH NEITHER SCENT NOR TONE, THE HAVEN WHITHER AGELONG SHE WAS BOUND.
"DARK ARE THESE GROPING WATERS, DARK AS WINE, FROM A WILD CHERRY'S HEART; A LIGHT WIND COMES, WITH SPEED OF FIRE AROUND A WOODED TURN, WITHIN WHOSE DROWSY HAUNTS A PARTRIDGE STRUMS, IN DREAMS, DISTURBING SLUMBER OF THE PINE. HERE, THE WHITE POPLARS BOIL, ABOVE THE MOON-FIRES KINDLED IN A POOL, WHEREIN THE DYING HEMLOCK POURS ITS OIL, AND WHERE THE BROWN, DECAYING FRONDS OF FERN, LIE IN A DREAMLESS SLUMBER, SWEET AND COOL." THIS SHORT POEM WAS PUBLISHED IN 1926, INSPIRED BY MACDONALD'S STAY IN MUSKOKA, ON TOBIN'S ISLAND, LAKE ROSSEAU......AT WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY, WHICH DREW MANY OF CANADA'S FINEST AUTHORS AND POETS.
THE FACT THAT POETS ONCE ROAMED THE THIN LAKELAND PATHS, WINDING THROUGH THE PINE FORESTS, AND OUT ON THE PIONEER PASTURES, TO SEE MUSKOKA THROUGH THE SEASONS, DOESN'T IMPRESS, IN GENERAL TERMS, THE MODERN AUDIENCE. I'VE TRIED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, TO REMIND MUSKOKANS AND SYMPATHETIC OTHERS, HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO KEEP THESE INSIGHTS OF MUSKOKA ELECTRIC AND PROMINENT. FOR THE BENEFITS OF ALL THOSE, OF FUTURE-MINDEDNESS, WHO SHARE EVEN MILD CONCERN, THAT MUSKOKA'S IDENTITY, OUT OF NEGLECT AND INCONSISTENCY BY THOSE WHO GOVERN, IS LOOKING TODAY, MORE LIKE A CONVENIENT LANDSCAPE, FOR PROMOTIONAL ADVANTAGE.....THAN AS A SPIRITUAL HEAVEN-ON-EARTH SANCTUARY. IN HARMONY WITH WHAT THE GOOD MR. WILLISON AND WILSON MACDONALD HIGHLIGHTED IN THEIR WORK. IN REALITY, I CAN PUT FOLKS TO SLEEP WITH THIS STUFF, AND YET, THERE IS AN OVERWHELMING NECESSITY, IN MY HISTORICAL BENT, TO REPRESENT THESE EARLY DAYS AND IMPRESSIONS, REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES. I DON'T LIKE THE THOUGHT OF YOU FALLING ASLEEP IN YOUR CHAIRS, READING THESE TOMES, BUT I STILL MUST REMAIN FAITHFUL, THAT THE MESSAGE WILL EVENTUALLY IMPRINT SUBTLY IF NOT POIGNANTLY, ON THOSE OF GREAT PASSION FOR MUSKOKA.....WHO DIDN'T KNOW ITS CHRONICLE WAS BEING RE-WRITTEN, BY INTERLOPERS, WITH VESTED INTEREST, DRIVEN BY MARKET SHARE.
MUSKOKA IS MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE TO BACKDROP BEER ADVERTISEMENTS, OR FOR SELLING INTERIOR DESIGNS OF LAKESHORE LUXURY, COTTAGE-CHIC, AND HINTERLAND RUSTIC. MUSKOKA IS MUCH MORE THAN A PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE, JUST TO USE AND ABUSE, TO MOVE SOME PRODUCT OR OTHER, FOR A CORPORATION'S MARKET ADVANTAGE. MAYBE IT'S TRUE THAT WILLISON AND MACDONALD WERE ALSO EXPLOITING MUSKOKA FOR PERSONAL GAIN, SELLING THEIR BOOKS FOR A SUPPOSED PROFIT. YET, EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY A CAPITALIST INTENTION, TO PROFIT FROM THEIR WORK, AT OUR REGION'S EXPENSE, THEY HAVE STILL GIVEN US SOMETHING THAT HAS INTEGRATED SO BEAUTIFULLY, NATURALLY, AND PLEASANTLY INTO OUR CULTURAL PATINA, THAT BEER AND COTTAGE LIFESTYLE ADVERTISING WILL NEVER ACHIEVE.
"TO ME ALL THE FOREST IS VOCAL; THE TREES AND THE SHRUBS ARE MY FRIENDS, THE FLOWERS ARE LOVELIEST, SPRINGING, FROM SETTINGS THEIR HABITAT LENDS, WITH RESONANCE GIVEN BY ARCHES, AND DOMES LIKE CATHEDRALS ABROAD, THE CHORISTERS NATIVE TO THE WOODLANDS, MY ECSTASY CARRY TO GOD. I LOVE THEM! I LOVE ALL THE ECHOES, FROM THE VALLEYS AND SLUMBERING LAKES. TO VOICES FIRST HEARD IN MUSKOKA, MY HEART IN ITS DREAMING AWAKES, MERE ECHOES! BUT ROLLING FOREVER, THEIR SWEETNESS INCREASES ENROUTE, TILL GOD WHO AN EDEN CREATED, THROUGH CHRIST OFFERS EDEN'S NEW TRUST."
REVEREND WILLISON'S POETIC INTERPRETATION OF MUSKOKA, WOULDN'T SELL A HIGH POWERED SKI BOAT, OR EVEN A PAINTED MUSKOKA CHAIR TODAY, OR ANY DAY IN THE FUTURE, WITHOUT THE COMPANION POWER PITCH....THE ROCK 'N ROLL SIZZLE THAT MAKES IT EXCITING TO SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, WHILE IN "COTTAGE COUNTRY." THE FLOWERY APPROACH, WITH ITS CHRISTIAN VALUES, WOULD NOT MAKE THE KIND OF AD COPY, THAT SELLS MUSKOKA CONDO LIVING, OR ALL INCLUSIVE GOLF PACKAGES; MUSKOKA WEAR OR RESORT FINE DINING. STILL, THE PORTRAIT OF MUSKOKA LIVING, REVEALED BY THESE SAME POETS, BACK IN A MORE ROMANTIC ERA, IS THE REASON TODAY OUR REGION HAS REACHED ITS PRESENT ZENITH OF ATTRACTION. MUSKOKA'S TALKING HEADS WON'T CREDIT HOMESTEADERS, OR THE SUCCESSION OF POETS AND PAINTERS, WHO CREATED THIS CRAZY FOLK-QUILT OF HERITAGE, THAT STILL EMERGES IN SOFT FADED HUES, THROUGH THE RHETORIC OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY; BUT EVEN BY ITS DIMINISHED POIGNANCY, IT IS OF A GREATER VALUE IN POSTERITY, THAN WHAT SURFACE-SKIMMING HAS OBVIOUSLY SATISFIED IN THE HEARTS, MINDS AND WANDERLUST OF SHALLOW MODERNISTS.....WHO FEEL POETRY IS AS BURDENSOME AS WALKING THROUGH WASTE-DEEP WATER, SHOULDERING BRICKS.
TO ASSUME THAT "CONTEMPORARY THINKING," OF WHAT "MUSKOKA IS WORTH, OR COULD BECOME IF UTILIZED TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL" AS A MARKETABLE ENTITY, IS "LIVING IN THE NOW," WITHOUT ANYTHING WHATSOEVER ATTRIBUTED TO THE INTRICACIES OF THE LANDSCAPE, SEEN AND UNSEEN, IS TO SHOW GREAT IGNORANCE OF LIFE'S GRANDER SCHEME. THESE HAUNTED WOODLANDS, THE IMPERATIVE OF TRUTHFUL DIMENSION, IS THUSLY AND FIRMLY BANKRUPT, AS A RESULT.... VOID OF ITS INHERENT CAPABILITY OF CELEBRATING INCREDIBLE NATURAL AND SUPERNATUREAL EXPERIENCE. TO WALK DOWN THESE WELL TRODDEN LAKESIDE PATHS, IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, ON A SUN-DRENCHED AUTUMN DAY LIKE THIS, AND NOT HEAR THE HAUNTING, DISTANT ECHO...., THE CALM WHISPER OF THE POET'S WORDS, OR SENSE IN THE WIND'S CARESS OF THE PINERY, THE DISTANT HARP OF A MUSICIAN ONCE...., POSSIBLY THE FOOTFALL OF A CHILD FOLLOWING BEHIND, OR THE WARM COMFORT OF THEIR TINY PORCELAIN HAND SLIPPING INTO OUTSTRETCHED FINGERS, TO BE LED CONFIDENTLY ALONG THE UNKNOWN PATH, IS THE HAPLESS RETRACTION OF KEEN PERCEPTION, I HAVE THANKFULLY NEVER SUFFERED.....AS A MUSKOKA HISTORIAN, A LATENT POET, AND COUNTRY PHILOSOPHER. I HAVE ALWAYS EXPERIENCED THE ENCHANTMENT OF THIS STORIED PLACE ON EARTH, AND I'VE BENEFITTED PERPETUALLY FROM ITS MANY SOURCES OF INSPIRATION.....MANY OF THE MOST POIGNANT, GOING BACK TO THAT PURE PIONEER EXPERIENCE, THE ROUGH HEWN TIMBERS OF OUR CHRONICLE....OF WHICH EVERYTHING TODAY HAS BEEN BUILT ATOP.
I HOPE YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, THIS THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, TO HIKE THROUGH THE LIGHT AND SHADOW OF OUR PLEASANTLY HAUNTED WOODLANDS.....THE CHANCE TO SIT ALONG THE LAKESHORE, LISTENING TO THE GENTLE CARESS OF WATER AGAINST THE ROCK, THE HARP-SONG OF WIND THROUGH PINE, AND THE CALMING RUSTLE OF FALLING LEAVES ALONG THE PATH WE ARE NOW WALKING. IT WILL ILLUMINATE FOR US AGAIN, IN THE ENDEARING STORIES TOLD LATER AT HEARTH-SIDE, WHEN OUR DINNER IS DONE, AND WITH LOOSENED ATTIRE, WE THINK ABOUT THE HOST REGION, AND WHAT IT HAS DONE FOR US; THE SENTIMENTAL AND POETIC, FOR "LONG AND LONG."
No comments:
Post a Comment