Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Gosine's Grocery Store, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's

This week's folklore photo is of the former Gosine's Store, in Portugal Cove- St. Philip's. Katie Harvey, one of our youth speakers at our upcoming Youth Heritage Forum, collected the photo during her work as heritage researcher for the town.

Katie writes,

"This is a photograph of Gosine's Grocery Store which was located at 25 Hardings Hill in the 1950s. It was a two storey grocery store. The house that is in its location now is brand new, so unfortunately there is no trace of this store left."

The photo will be part of a collection of photographs and interviews from Portugal Cove- St. Philips, soon to be added to Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

Youth Heritage Forum 2015 Guest Speaker - Katie Harvey

Guest Speaker: Katie Harvey

Katie Harvey is a 22 year old folklorist whose primary interest is museology. Since beginning her career in the heritage sector in 2009, she has worked in a variety of capacities with the Cupids Legacy Centre, The Rooms Provincial Museum, The Museum of Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove and The Railway Coastal Museum. She obtained her B.A. in Folklore from Memorial University in 2014, and has plans to return to complete her M.A. in Folklore.

Why are you passionate about heritage?

Ever since I was a little girl I remember being fascinated with the past, and the ways in which we choose to preserve it. I'm passionate about heritage because it shows us the path which led to where we are today. It tells us a little bit about ourselves and those who lived before us. Our heritage is all around us, and can be studied in everything that we do. Museums are particularly interesting to me because they preserve artifacts and knowledge that might otherwise have been lost or forgotten. They offer a rare glimpse into the past, educating us in a variety of ways. It is so important that our customs, traditions and heritage are not forgotten, because it is a part of our identity, and we can always learn from it.

Want to hear more from Katie? Join us for Youth Heritage Forum 2015!

Registration forms can be downloaded here! 
Keep up to date, join our Youth Heritage Forum Facebook Event!

Join us for Heritage Day at the Fluvarium this Monday (Feb 16th)

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) will be celebrating national Heritage Day on Monday (February 16th), at 10:30 a.m., at The Suncor Energy Fluvarium, 5 Nagle’s Place, St. John’s.

Mr. Kevin Parsons, MHA for the District of Cape St. Francis and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development - along with representatives from the education and heritage communities and municipal and provincial governments - will join HFNL as the winners of this year’s provincial Heritage Places Poster Contest are announced. Over 1000 students from 50 schools across the province produced submissions for the contest. This contest was open to all schools in the province, and was organized through HFNL. The winning submission is featured on the Foundation's poster promoting Heritage Day in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mackenzie Boyde, a grade 11 student at Marystown Central High School, Marystown, submitted the overall winning submission – a depiction of the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Registered Heritage Structure and National Historic Site in St. John’s.

The winning submissions at the other grade levels are: 

Primary – Jakson Ganz, Grade 3, Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Corner Brook for his depiction of Bacalhao Island Lighttower Recognized Federal Heritage Building,

Elementary – Emma Tetford, Grade 6, Amalgamated Academy, Bay Roberts for her depiction of Western Union Cable Building Registered Heritage Structure in Bay Roberts and,

Junior High – Nathan Corrigan, Grade 8, Stella Maris Academy, Trepassey for his depiction of Cape Spear Lighttower Recognized Federal Heritage Building.

Judges for the event included Margaret Walsh Best, artist and art educator; and Debra A. Barnable, visual artist and consultant. Please visit our website at www.heritagefoundation.ca to view the winners.

The Foundation is also encouraging municipalities and heritage groups throughout the province to celebrate their heritage by holding a Heritage Day Proclamation and calling upon their citizens to celebrate their rich and diverse history.

Heritage Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February each year. It is an opportunity to explore the past and to discover what shaped our communities and our history.

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is a non-profit organization which was established by the Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1984 to stimulate an understanding of and an appreciation for the architectural heritage of the province.

For Further Information Contact:

Andrea O’Brien
andrea@heritagefoundation.ca
1-888-739-1892 ext 4 1-888-739-1892 ext 1

Join us for "The Fishing Grounds of Cupids" sharing session

On Wednesday February 11th at 7 pm, the Cupids Legacy Centre will be hosting a sharing session on "The Fishing Grounds of Cupids". Please join us and bring along your stories and knowledge of traditional fishing in the Cupids area.

We look forward to seeing you and hearing about your fishing experiences!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Facey's Taxi Stand, Twillingate

It's been a while since we posted one of our Folklore Photos. So here is a gem, from Twillingate, showing the Facey's Taxi Stand.

The date on this is uncertain. I'm sure someone out there can offer some suggestions, either a Twillingate native, or a expert on vintage automobiles! If you have thoughts, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Update 11 Feb 2015:

Helen White writes: ' The date of this picture I would assume would be 1931 or 32. The stand was owned by my Grandfather, Silas Facey who is the gentleman in the picture, the little boy is his grandson Walter Facey. Silas Facey died August 25th 1935 at age 69. He also owned the Tinsmith Shop across the road from the Stand."

Help find the missing words to "Here we go down, Sir Johnny Brown"

I recently wrote an article for The Telegram on singing games we used to play, about three traditional games: "Little Sally Saucer," "King William was King George's Son," and "Ring Around the Rosie." You can read more on "Little Sally" on author Leslie Lindsay's blog.

This morning, I received a response from Rosemary Thorne. Thorne now lives in St. John's, but was born in the early 1960s in Thornlea, Trinity Bay. She remembers playing Little Sally Saucer and Ring Around the Rosie.

Another song game she remembered was "Here we go down, Sir Johnny Brown," but she could not remember all the lyrics to the first verse of the song. Here is what Thorne remembers:

Here we go down, Sir Johnny Brown
This is the way to London town
.... here
.... by
Don't you hear your true love cry

On the carpet (carver?) here she stands
Take your true love by the hand
[Take] the one that you love best
Pick her out from all the rest

What a heck of a choice you made
You better be home and in your bed
Since you can no longer stay
Give her a kiss and send her away.

A quick internet search reveals little on "Sir Johnny Brown," but does turn up this fabulous query to the "Correct Manners" section on Page 13 of the Ottawa Citizen, for Monday, 1 February 1926:

Is the letter in question addressed to a real child named John Brown, or would Sir Johnny Brown be a name known to a child, presumably through some version of the rhyme related by Thorne? Does anyone have a memory of this rhyme or song? Any thoughts on the missing words? And who exactly is Sir Johnny Brown, Esq? 

Email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca if you have a lead! And I'll have none of your "monkey-shining," please.

update 9 Feb 2015:

I found this counting-out rhyme, from Indiana, printed in 1888 in "The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children: Their Antiquity, Origin, and Wide Distribution - a study in Folk Lore" by Henry Carrington Bolton (noted American chemist, bibliographer of science, lecturer, folklorist, photographer, and one of the founders of the American Folklore Society):

Oh! Johnny Brown
He went to town
Three score miles and ten;
He went at night
By candle light
And never got home again.

Youth Heritage Forum 2015 Guest Speaker - Crystal Braye

Guest Speaker: Crystal Braye

Crystal Braye received her Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2008 before completing her Masters of Arts in Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. During her time at MUN, Crystal’s work focused on documenting root cellars for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador,  with additional research on Newfoundland’s “Screech-In” customs and mummering traditions. She is presently on the board of directors for the Mummers Festival and has been working as a folklorist for the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador [WBMBL] since 2012. Crystal is responsible for WBMNL’s cultural heritage research which includes the documentation of traditional design, construction and use of wooden boats in their unique community contexts and the collection of stories and experiences of the people who built and used wooden boats throughout the province.

Why are passionate about heritage?

My passion for heritage comes from my interest in understanding the ways our culture (including our customs, beliefs and practices) shape our everyday experiences and perceptions of the world around us. Through an understanding of our tangible and intangible cultural heritage, we can gain new insights on contemporary experiences and develop appreciation for the simple things in everyday life we too often take for granted.

Want to hear more from Crystal? Join us for Youth Heritage Forum 2015!

Registration forms can be downloaded here! 
Keep up to date, join our Youth Heritage Forum Facebook Event!

Up and running with Play and Games

On Tuesday, February 3rd, Hoist your Sails and Run got off to a fine start. Folklorists and folklore students met with 8 tradition-bearers at MacMorran Community Centre to talk about where they grew up, what their neighbourhoods were like, and how they used to have fun.

We talked about alleys (marbles), jacks, skipping rope, Bonfire Night, and getting up to mischief. We shared memorable Christmastime traditions, remembered the old shops in downtown St. John's, and the events they found most exciting as children. Teresa Boland remembers watching for the Peanut Man: a man dressed head to toe as a peanut with a top hat and monocle who delivered bags of salted peanuts to waiting children on special occasions.

We even played a few schoolyard games ourselves, and we topped the morning off with a delicious lunch of sandwiches and chicken soup, made by Marg Connolly, who has lived in the community for 77 years.

Next week, we'll meet again to look over childhood photos, and the folklore students will pair off with tradition bearers to do the interviews that will become the content for the booklet. Keep an eye on this blog for updates as we start to put the pieces together!

For more information about Hoist your Sails and Run, contact me here or at 709-739-1892 ext 3.

Youth Heritage Forum 2015 Poster

Check it out! The poster for Youth Heritage Forum 2015, March 7th, 2015. Poster designed by Graham Blair Designs

Registration form can be downloaded here!