Events this week: Christmas Memories, Carols, and Mummers

It is a busy week for intangible cultural heritage in St. John's!

This week:

Mummer Memories Mug Up at Marjorie Mews!

THU, 12 DEC AT 10:00

Marjorie Mews Public Library · St. John's, NL

Cost: Free Event!

Christmas is right around the corner, and that means lots of holiday memories. But is Christmas today exactly what it was years ago? Some of the older traditions are changing, perhaps, and there is always the danger that the stories of yesteryear could vanish.  Don't be a Grinch, and help us save the traditions of Yuletide! We want your memories of mummers, jannies, hobby horses, year-end customs, and how you celebrated the full 12 Days of Christmas. You bring a memory, we'll bring the syrup and jam jams! A free event, sponsored by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, as part of its Memory Mug Up program.

Facebook event listing

***

The Heart's Delight - Islington Christmas Carols

THU, 12 DEC AT 2:30 pm

The Rooms

Where: Level 3 Atrium

Cost: Free Event!

If you grew up in Heart's Delight - Islington, your Christmas memories might include waking up late at night to the sound of community men reverently singing two ancient carols, passed down for over a century, in the darkened porch of your home. Other communities in the area, such as Cavendish and Green's Harbour, also once practiced a version of this house-to-house caroling, but today the tradition remains strongest in Heart's Delight-Islington. Join folklorist Dale Jarvis in conversation with the local tradition bearers who are working, and singing, to keep this old Christmas custom shining bright.

The Rooms event listing

***

Mummers Parade!

SAT, 14 DEC AT 2PM

The Lantern

35 Barnes Road

Cost: Free Event!

Haul on Mudder's sized 42 bra and get your pillow-stuffed arse down to the Mummers Parade! Let's celebrate our culture and keep our traditions alive. All mummers 'llowed in!

Full details on the Mummers Festival website

Heart’s Delight - Islington Christmas Carols, live at The Rooms this Thursday!

“The Moon Shines Bright, And The Stars Give Light”
The Heart’s Delight - Islington Christmas Carols
The Rooms, St. John's
2:30pm, Thursday, Dec 12th

If you grew up in Heart’s Delight - Islington, your Christmas memories might include waking up late at night to the sound of community men reverently singing two ancient carols, passed down for over a century, in the darkened porch of your home. Other communities in the area, such as Cavendish and Green's Harbour, also once practiced a version of this house-to-house caroling, but today the tradition remains strongest in Heart’s Delight-Islington. Join folklorist Dale Jarvis (and a busload of carolers) in conversation with the local tradition bearers who are working, and singing, to keep this old Christmas custom shining bright.

Cost is free, In partnership with the Mummers Festival

photo courtesy Geraldine Legge.

Rehearsing the Heart's Delight-Islington Christmas Carols (and some archival audio).

We've been doing some work to document and share the two traditional Christmas carols that were traditionally sung by men door-to-door on Christmas Eve in the community of Heart's Delight-Islington. The group above will be performing at The Rooms as part of the the afternoon Coffee and Culture session on December 12th.

We have a couple archival recordings of the carols, none of which are of exceptional audio quality, but they will give you an idea of the tune.

First up are two recordings from an audio tape entitled "Ht's. Delight-Is. Carolers 1970-1971" from the collection of Edwin Bishop.   Edwin writes,

"As far as I can recall I recorded it myself at my sister's house (Harry and Elva Morgan) on Northeast Side. I can’t recall most of the names but pretty sure Lewis Legge or Clayton Reid was the leader. My brother James and Jim Reid, Hedley Fost and Gilbert were most likely there."

Download version one as MP3
Download version two as MP3





Next up, in this recording, Joe Crocker, Jim Reid, Fred Fost of Heart's Delight-Islington sing the carols. Recorded early 1980s. Thanks to Shirley Crocker Rockwood for the copy of the recording.
Download the MP3 here

Living Heritage Podcast Ep162 Revitalizing the Heart's Delight-Islington Christmas Carols

In days past, Christmas Eve in Heart’s Delight-Islington would ring with the singing of  their own special Christmas carols. The tradition involved the door-to-door singing of two specific carols which had been passed down over the past century. Originally, they were sung by men, who would travel to every house in the community. Other communities in the area, such as Cavendish and Green's Harbour, also once sang a version of the carols, but the tradition remains strongest in Heart’s Delight-Islington.

The custom continues with some changes over time, but more work is needed to safeguard this very special local tradition.  In this podcast, we chat with Stan Reid and Howard Sooley, two long-time carolers who are working to ensure this tradition is carried on to the next generation.  We talk about the past and present of the tradition, and where they would like to see it in the future.

Note: On Dec 12th, as part of this year's Mummers Festival, The Rooms will be hosting an afternoon Coffee and Culture with participants from Heart's Delight-Islington. Facebook event here. Photo courtesy Geraldine Legge.

###

The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

A Virgin Most Pure: A look at the Heart's Delight-Islington Christmas Carol tradition

Over the past year, I’ve met a couple times with the new heritage committee in Heart’s Delight-Islington, Trinity Bay. At our last meeting, we had a chat about how the heritage committee might work with the Town and the Recreation Committee to revitalize the Heart’s Delight-Islington Christmas Carol tradition.

The tradition involved the door-to-door singing of two specific carols which have been passed down over the past century. Other communities in the area, such as Cavendish and Green's Harbour, also once did a version of the carols, but the tradition remains strongest in Heart’s Delight-Islington. You can read more about the tradition in Chapter 7 of the book “Heart’s Delight - Islington: From Isolated Communities… To A Growing Town” Printed by Full Circle Printing for The Town of Heart’s Delight - Islington, circa 1990.

What the book identifies as Carol #1 is a variant of what is known historically as “A Virgin Most Pure” or “A Virgin Unspotted.” A few online sources suggest that the earliest known version of the text is in "New Carolls for this Merry Time of Christmas" (London, 1661).

The first verse was included in the fabulously-titled “Wyeth's repository of sacred music. Part second. : Original and selected from the most eminent and approved authors in that  science; for the use of Christian churches, singing-schools &  private societies. : Together with a copious and plain introduction to the grounds of music, and rules for learners” by John Wyeth, circa 1813-1820.

Below, you can see the Heart’s Delight-Islington version, and compare it with Wyeth’s first verse, and remaining verses which were included in a Maryland shape note song book published between 1800 and 1830. This combined version comes from The Second Penguin Book of Christmas Carols, by Elizabeth Poston, 1970. The Heart's Delight-Islington version is one verse longer;  the "Virgin Most Pure" version has a refrain which is repeated between each verse, which goes: "Then let us be merry, cast sorrows away; / Our saviour, Christ Jesus, was born on this day."

Heart's Delight-Islington Carol #1

A virgin most pure, most pure behold
Brought forth our dear Saviour, as we have been told 
For to be our Redeemer from death, hell and sin 
From Satan's transgressions, the ruler of sin. 

Near Bethelem City of Judah so fair, 
Great multitudes of people together were there, 
And they to be taxed as the custom ran so 
Twas Caesar commanded that it should be so. 

And when they had entered that city so fair, 
Both Mary and Joseph together were there. 
Their lodgings were simple; they beheld it no scorn. 
By the very next morning our Saviour was born. 

The King of all glory to this world now has come. 
Small stores of fine linen to wrap him so warm. 
Where Mary had a swaddling of a young son so sweet, 
Down in the ox manger where she laid him to sleep. 

Then God sent an Angel from Heaven so high 
To give shepherds warning in fields where they lie. 
Bidding them to be merry; drive sorrow away. 
For our Saviour, Christ Jesus, was born that same day 

Then shortly after a shepherd did spy 
Great multitudes of Angels appeared in the sky. 
And so merrily they were talking, and so sweetly did sing 
All praise be glory to our Heavenly king.

A Virgin Most Pure

A virgin most pure, as prophets foretold,
Should bring forth a Saviour which now we behold,
To be our Redeemer from death, hell and sin,
Which Adam's transgression involved us all in.

Through Bethlehem City in Jewry it was,
That Joseph and Mary together did pass;
And for to be taxed when thither they came,
Since Caesar Augustus commanded the same.

But Mary's full time being come, as we find,
That brought forth her first born to serve all mankind;
The inn being full, for this heavenly guest,
No place there was found for to lay him to rest.

But Mary, blest Mary, so meek and so mild,
Soon wrapped in swaddlings this heavenly child;
Contented she laid him where oxen did feed,
The great God of nature approved of the deed.

Then presently after, the shepherds did spy
Vast numbers of angels to stand in the sky;
So merrily talking, so sweet did they sing;
All glory and praise to our heavenly King. 

The book "88 Favourite Carols and Hymns for Christmas" printed circa 1830 includes the "A Virgin Unspotted" first line, and a different final verse:

To teach us humility all this was done
And learn us from hence haughty pride to shun;
A manger his cradle though He came from above!
The great God of Mercy, of Peace, and of Love. 

If you have a memory of this tradition (or photos!) comment below or email dale@heritagenl.ca 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep079 The Isaac Mercer Mummer Murder

Joy Fraser is Assistant Professor of English and Associate Director of the Folklore Studies program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. She is completing a book tracing the cultural history of haggis as a contested symbol of Scottishness, provisionally entitled Addressing the Haggis: Culture and Contestation in the Making of Scotland’s National Dish. For the past several years, she has also been researching the relationship between Christmas mumming, violence, and the law in nineteenth-century Newfoundland.

In this episode, we focus on the murder of Isaac Mercer in Bay Roberts, who was beset upon by mummers, hit with a hatchet, and who died of his wounds. We explore the background of mummering traditions in Newfoundland, differences in mummering traditions in different communities, the events surrounding the murder case, her research using court case records at local archives, the licensing and eventual banning of mummering, and the link between mummering and violence in the historical period.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/714/rec/1

The King of The Birds: Happy St. Stephen's Day!

(l-r) Dale Jarvis, Bev Kane, Dennis Flynn.

"King of All Birds": a public forum about NL wren traditions

“Up with the kettle and down with the pan
And give us a penny to bury the wren”

The wren is just one of several Christmastime house-visiting traditions that continues in Newfoundland and Labrador today. Typically, children or adults will visit homes within their community carrying around an effigy of a small bird—the wren. Upon visiting a home, they usually recite a poem declaring the wren the “King of All Birds” and may offer some kind of performance, be it song, joke, or recitation. Often the host will offer up food, drink, or money for the visit. Unlike other house-visiting traditions, there are no disguises involved.

On December 14th, 2016, the final night of the 2016 Mummers Festival, festival coordinator Ryan Davis hosted a public forum on wren traditions at The Rooms. The forum starts with introductory remarks by Davis, and then folklorist and storyteller Dale Jarvis shares the legend of the wren and moderates a discussion with Bev Kane of Renews and Dennis Flynn of Colliers, two people keep the wren alive in Newfoundland.  Listen in, and learn about the history of the wren tradition and how it’s happening today.

Download the mp3

In the interview, Bev Kane notes a variant version of the wren legend, posed as a battle between two legendary cities: Half a Loaf, and Windy Gap. Her written version is posted below, with a transcript after.

Here is the story, transcribed:

The King of the Birds

Years ago there were two cities named Half a Loaf and Windy Gap. Half a Loaf had the eagle and the people were always saying that they had the best bird to fly, but Windy Gap kept saying that they had the smartest bird to fly and it was the wren. The two groups decided to hold a contest to prove who was right, but first the citizens of Windy Gap had to go in the forest and catch a wren. This didn’t take long for them to catch a wren, so the two cities decided that on the day after Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, they would let the two birds fly up in the air as far as they could. The people knew that which ever bird went the highest they would know when the birds came back: If a bird only went a short distance its wings would be dry, if it went higher its wings would be wet and if it went much higher there would be frost on its wings.

On St. Stephen’s day the two birds took to flight, no doubt the Eagle went much faster, the small wren took its time but kept the Eagle in sight. After a while the Eagle got tired and started to slow down. The wren started to gain on it but the Eagle kept on going, and he was not looking out for the Wren. The wren was so smart and so small and so light in weight that it pitched on the Eagle’s back and the Eagle did not know it.

When the Eagle got really tired he had to turn back. Now the wren was feeling good after a free ride, he left the Eagle and flew much higher.

When they got back to earth the people got some surprise when they saw the Eagle had wet wings but the smart little wren had the frost on his wings so from that day to this, the wren was called “The King of the birds”.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep064 Behind the Red Suit: Secrets from a Knight of St. Nicholas

Bruce Templeton’s journey with Santa has taken three phases so far. In 1978, he was asked to "play Santa." he was an actor. In 1982, he held the hand of a dying child whose last words were "Santa, Santa." Then he became Santa. And in the last few years, he has met St. Nicholas who has joined them on their visits. Bruce has joined Santa in the parades for 37 years and they have 50 visits each year in less than 30 days. Their last visit is to the Janeway on Christmas Eve where Santa holds the newest newborn born on Christmas Eve.

In this podcast we discuss Bruce’s journey with Santa, becoming a Knight of St. Nicholas, the history and myth of St. Nicholas, the work of Mrs. Claus, the Flight to the North Pole, the Santa Claus Parade, the Teddy Bear Project, and some of his favourite stories throughout his time with Santa Claus.

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/712/rec/1

“King of All Birds”: a public forum about NL Wren traditions

The wren is just one of several Christmastime house-visiting traditions that continues here today. Typically, children or adults will visit homes within their community carrying around an effigy of a small bird—the wren. Upon visiting a home, they usually recite a poem declaring the wren the “King of All Birds” and may offer some kind of performance, be it song, joke, or recitation.

Join us for the last event of the Mummers Festival on Wednesday, Dec. 14 from 7:00 to 8:30pm at The Rooms. In this public forum, meet some of the people who are keeping this tradition alive in Newfoundland & Labrador. Come learn about the history of the wren tradition and how it’s happening today. For more information visit mummersfestival.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep057 The Wren Boys of Dingle

Aoife Granville is from Dingle, Co. Kerry (Ireland). A flute player, fiddler and traditional singer, she completed a PhD thesis in 2012 entitled at University College Cork entitled "We never died a winter yet" The Sráid Eoin Wrenboys of Dingle: Music, Community and Identity. Aoife has held lectureship posts in Music at UCC and Newcastle University (UK) and is currently working at the Folklore department at UCC. She has released two solo albums to date and is working on an Arts Council of Ireland funded project on traditional songs of The Schools Collection (Irish Folklore Commission) at present.

In this podcast, we talk about Dingle, growing up within a musical tradition, fife and drum groups, calendar customs, the routes taken by wren groups on St. Stephen’s day, parades, disguises, traditional tunes, straw hats, and the evolution of wren traditions in Ireland and Newfoundland!

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/694/rec/1

Photo courtesy Aoife Granville/Facebook

Build your own Hobby Horse and Christmas Bull

The Mummers Festival is hosting a Hobby Horse and Christmas Bull Workshop this Saturday, December 5th from 1pm to 5pm. No longer a common sight, the hobby horse is a most peculiar breed. Even more mysterious is the christmas bull, an old time holiday companion to the hobby horse. Come to a session, build a hobby horse or christmas bull, and then ride it over to the Mummer’s Parade on December 19th. We want a cavalry of holiday beasts and we need your help! The workshop takes place at the Victoria Park Poolhouse. Workshops are free and donations are welcomed. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Space is limited so get there early. For more information visit mummersfestival.ca

ICH @UVic Day 4 - Newfoundland Hobby Horses on Vancouver Island for #FolkloreThursday

Today's class was all about revitalizing traditions, using the Mummers Festival as a case study. We started the day with a talk on mummering (which some of the students had never heard of) and then we had a visit from Doretta Hollett of Burin, who came and shared her memories of Christmastime in Burin. Doretta even brought in a bottle of Purity Syrup, so everyone got to have a taste.

In the afternoon, I introduced people to the Newfoundland hobby horse, like the one above, one of the Mummers Troupe's horses, made in the early 1970s by Chris Brookes and company.  And then it was time to put their new knowledge to use. Using the template from the Mummers Festival in St. John's, I walked everyone through the process of creating their own hobby horses.  Here is a peek at how the workshop went, from start to finished ponies:

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Did Labrador have the first Christmas tree in North America?

Larry Dohey, the local archivist who runs the fabulous Archival Moments blog, posted this photo today, from The Rooms Provincial Archives: VA 118-48.2: Grenfell Mission Staff Photograph Album, of a miniature Christmas tree.

Larry argues that while the oldest documented Christmas tree in North America is from 1781 in Sorel, Quebec, the Moravian settlements in Labrador date to 1771, and that they quite possibly had the tradition there first.

Read the full blog post here.

What's happening Thursday-Saturday in Intangible Cultural Heritage

It is going to be a busy three days! Buckle up, fans of folklore!
Thursday, 12 December, 2013

12:30pm - Mummering Crosstalk on CBC Radio noon with folklorist Dale Jarvis with the Heritage Foundation of NL, and Dara Valelly, with the Armagh Rhymers. Listen online here or phone in with your memories of janneys, mummers, hobby horses, wren boys, and nalujuit! 

2:30pm - Mumming in Northern Ireland: a documentary and talk with the Armagh Rhymers at The Rooms 

8:00pm - Armagh Rhymers at the Inne of Olde, Quidi Vidi: an evening of traditional fireside entertainment with Northern Ireland's Armagh Rhymers. Come for a drink and a session of Irish songs, tunes and poetry. Facebook event listing. $10 at the door

Friday, 13 December, 2013

1:00pm - ICH Mini Forum, MMaP, Arts and Culture Centre: come see what work is happening in our community related to folklore, oral history, and intangible cultural heritage. Free, and open to the public, but you can RSVP and find more detail here. 

7:00pm - Lighting of the Boats in Port de Grave: one of the province's new, brilliant Christmas traditions. Like them on Facebook!

Saturday, 14 December, 2013 - Mummers Parade!

1:00pm - Rig up at Bishop Feild School 

2:00pm - Parade Starts 

3:00pm - Scoff and Scuff outside The Rooms, with The Concert Crowd and the Armagh Rhymers!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Christmas Cookies for Santa

Courtesy of: The Rooms Provincial Archives
VA 73-8.4; John B. Bisbee dressed as Santa Claus.
John B. Bisbee, medical student and theological volunteer.
The costume, trimmed in rabbit fur, was made by nurse Alice Bates.
Date of Creation: December 25, 1913

It's just 22 more sleeps until the big guy dressed in red shimmies down all our respective chimneys, with gifts for all the good little boys and girls. In order to butter up Santa for a heftier stocking and to thank the jolly old elf for his hard work, a common Christmas tradition is to leave cookies for Santa to snack on. Below are recipes for cookies one might commonly see around the Christmas holidays in Newfoundland and Labrador. So if you don't have your baking started, here's some inspiration to get you going!

Recipes of Newfoundland Dishes. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's. 1971.

Cookbook: Featuring Favorite Newfoundland Recipes. Compiled by George Street United Church Women's Association. Revised Edition. 1956-1957.

Cookbook: Featuring Favorite Newfoundland Recipes. Compiled by George Street United Church Women's Association. Revised Edition. 1956-1957.

Christmas Card from G.S. Doyle to Job Kean. Ca. 1900-1920
Courtesy of: Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Archives and Special Collections Division 

-Nicole
nicole@heritagefoundation.ca

Learn to make a Newfoundland ugly stick - A How-To Guide!

Early in 2010 the ICH office held a workshop on Festivals & Folklife in Cupids. One of our participants was Yvonne Fontaine, the Development Co-ordinator for the Southern Avalon Development Association. Yvonne left the workshop full of ideas, went back to Trepassey, and put some of them to good use!

2010 was Trepassey's Come Home Year, and in celebration of one aspect of local intangible cultural heritage, the organizers planned an Ugly Stick Workshop during the week of the Come Home Year Celebrations. The workshop was held 2:00 PM Thursday July 29th. They provided the beer caps and the juice cans, participants provided the mop (and the decorations of their choice).

Unless you have a time machine, you can't go back to Trepassey for the workshop. Have no fear! Here are our tips for making the ugly stick of your dreams.

7 Steps to a Beautiful Ugly Stick

1. Gather your materials.  A mop, broom handle, or cut off hockey stick works well for the base. Then you’ll need screws or bolts, beer caps or roofing felt tins, soup cans, bells, noisemakers, and anything else you can think of to decorate your ugly stick. A boot is great to add to the bottom. Try looking at second hand shops, and you can often fins good materials at dollar stores.

2. Pre drill holes in your stick where you want to place your beer caps. Space them out, and leave yourself some room so you can grip the stick while you play it.

3. Punch or drill holes in your beer caps. Make the holes a bit larger than your screws, so they rattle.

4. Assemble your beer caps on your screws or bolts, then screw them into the pre-drilled holes on your stick.  Five or six per screw is good. You can use a combination of caps and felt tins if you wish; hard-core builders boil their beer caps to remove the rubber lining.  The beer caps are the most important thing, that’s what makes your music for you.

5. Attach the bottom of your stick to an old boot. Drill a hole in a piece of wood, put the mop handle into that, and then screw the whole thing into the base of the boot, to give it stability.

6. Add a tin can somewhere to the stick. Try putting a soup can on, lower down, so that way, if there is a point in the music where you bang it, it is like hitting a drum, to get that extra sound to go along with the sound of the beer caps.

7. Decorate your ugly stick! Give it a personality, a face, some hair, a hat. Make it ugly!  Once it is done, you are ready to go mummering.

And here is a how-to makers video, from one of our long-time Mummers Festival participants!
https://youtu.be/C8Mgzr-kwnw




Want more help?

The Do-It-Yourself junkies at The Scope can help you make your own:

http://thescope.ca/diy/diy-ugly-stick

There is also a handy free downloadable pdf with instructions right here. You can print it off, and get to work building your own ugly stick.

Ugly Stick on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_stick

Mike Maddigan of The Sharecroppers shows how it is played:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBxZJWnca14

Send us a picture of your finished ugly stick, and we'll share it in a future post! Email dale@heritagenl.ca

What is Tibb's Eve? Drink up, Newfoundland and Labrador, it's December 23rd.

Merry Tibb's Eve all!

What is Tibb's Eve? And where does Tibb's Eve come from? We've got you covered!

Many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians don't need much of an excuse to have a party. One of the most inventive local reasons might be Tibb's (or Tib's, or Tipsy) Eve.

For those of you who don't know what Tibb's Eve is, in Newfoundland, it is the eve of Christmas Eve, and it has a somewhat complicated history that is both old and new. 

Originally, St. Tibb was a character in English plays of the 17th century. A "tibb" in those times was a woman of loose morals, so Saint Tibb was a comedic character, intended to represent an impossible contradiction. Since St. Tibb couldn't exist, St. Tibb's Eve was a day that would never come. Owe someone money? Promise to pay them back on Tibb's Eve, and no problem!

At some point, Tibb's Eve became associated with the Christmas season, as in "a day that occurred neither before nor after Christmas" or "a day between the old year and the new."

Image: Dictionary of Newfoundland English Word Form Slips - Tibb's Eve

Newfoundlanders, perhaps looking for a reason to enjoy a drink during the abstemious season of Advent, inserted this day-that-would-not-come into their personal calendars. Somewhere on the south coast of the island, sometime after WWII, the day got fixed to December 23rd. 

In the 1960s and '70s, the expression still largely meant a day that wouldn't come, but in the '80s and '90s, the day of celebratory Pre-Christmas lubrication became more popular. Circa 2009-2010, St. John's bars and arts organizations introduced the idea of Tibb's Eve events to townies. With the rise of social media, the concept took off, and ex-pat Newfoundlanders spread the cheer wherever they were hunkered down for an away Christmas. 

Thirsty for more? There are a few places online you can look for more details:

• First up is the article "The origins of Tibb’s Eve" by Paul Herridge of The Southern Gazette, which includes an interview with folklorist Dr. Philip Hiscock. https://www.saltwire.com/lifestyles/the-origins-of-tibbs-eve-172334/?location=newfoundland-labrador
• The Archival Moments blog has an entry "Tippling on Tibb’s Eve http://archivalmoments.ca/tag/tibbs-eve/
• Tip’s Eve or Tibb’s Eve? Corner Brook long-term care residents celebrate eve of Christmas Eve https://www.saltwire.com/news/local/tips-eve-or-tibbs-eve-116700/?location=corner-brook 
• Tibb's Eve on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibb%27s_Eve
• Last up is the Dictionary of Newfoundland English entry for "Tib's Eve" https://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/a-z-index.php#5010

In the mood for a suitable libation for Tibb's Eve? Why not try Charles Dickens's Own Punch, from 1847:

Peel into a very common basin (which may be broken in case of accident, without damage to the owner's peace or pocket) the rinds of three lemons, cut very thin and with as little as possible of the white coating between the peel and the fruit, attached. Add a double handful of lump sugar (good measure [although Dickens had rather small hands]), a pint of good old rum, and a large wine-glass of good old brandy‹if it be not a large claret glass, say two. Set this on fire, by filling a warm silver spoon with the spirit, lighting the contents at a wax taper, and pouring them gently in. Let it burn three or four minutes at least, stirring it from time to time. Then extinguish it by covering the basin with a tray, which will immediately put out the flame. Then squeeze in the juice of the three lemons, and add a quart of boiling water. Stir the whole well, cover it up for five minutes, and stir again.

Enjoy the day! Have a memory of Tibb's Eve, or call it something different? Comment below!

- Dale Gilbert Jarvis

(last updated, Tibb's Eve 2020!)