Do you Believe

I was looking through some of my books to see what I could blog about and came across this article, I will change the names but apparently there were many witnesses to the event or events. I am always intrigue but events that seem unbelievable. Could it be true? I feel it could be true, or there has to be an explanation somewhere or somehow.

The first appearance took place in September 1893 when a group of students said they saw a lady and a child on the school grounds, these appearances continued for long months to follow. The classroom had 22 desks in it. The children were all questioned and questioned again five weeks later and their stories never changed. All the children answered with great sincerity. Mary Cormier age twelve stated that she was the first to see the lady that September day, she had left early to go to school with her two cousins, Cecile and Leonie, she said they were all sitting on the door step of the school when she heard this exclamation “ well! Well! In a clear voice seemingly from inside the school. Then she heard three knocks like the teacher knocking on her desk. She told her friends she had heard knocking and at the same time there were three knocks again. Her cousins told her they had heard the knocks that time. Mary went went her cousins to the first window on the right of the entrance door, she saw a profile of a lady figure turned towards the east. She was dressed in white, her hands folded, her eyes seemed to be raised towards the sky, she wore a white veil and a blue sash. Her height seemed a bit taller than the ordinary women. She looked to be very sad. Mary thought it was just a mirage, after taking a stick in her hand ,she walked closer to the window to make sure there was nothing reflecting in the window, the same person was still visible. The idea came to Mary to hit on the window with her stick to surprise what she was seeing inside, or to get her attention, but the apparation stayed the same way with the same expression. At the same time Cecile was seeing the same thing while Leonie didn’t see anything. Mary said out of fright they ran under a tree in the schoolyard to wait for the other children. When the children arrived Mary told them what she saw and heard. Some of the children went to the window and many saw the same lady. Once the teacher arrived and the children entered the class room the apparation was gone. At recess around 10.30 Mary again went back to the window and that same lady was still there exactly as she had been two hours earlier. He teacher never saw her.Mary said that for many days after she looked in the window and the lady appeared again. After that first set of appearances Mary continued to say one day she saw the profile of a man with a a grey beard and near him a woman holding a child in her arms. This group appeared near the blackboard. The man was standing dressed in white, I only saw them one day ,continued Mary. A while later I saw a little child in the corner of the classroom not far from the blackboard, he seemed to have a white tunic and wasn’t touching the ground and I could not see his feet. On the bottom of his dress was a trimming of white lace. His eyes were something happy sometimes sad, he seemed above us all, his hands turned inward as if asking for something, his hair was yellow and long reaching his waist. Another one of Mary’s friends Susan saw the child too. Since Mary began seeing the child she never would see the lady. Four about four months the child appeared with a heart the color of gold on his chest. Another time she saw him he had a golden crown. Another time Mary saw this white bird on the top of the child’s head carrying a white flower in its beak.

Mary born in 1884 became a nun, she died in 1970, she was so moved by these things she saw or witnessed that she devoted her life to Mary mother of Jesus.

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Shipwrecks

Here is an interesting story from a book I bought yesterday at a yard sale ,titled “Shipwrecks off the East Coast. The author was Carmel Vivier. If you can still buy it

I would recommend it… This story is called The Royal Tar. I do hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Imagine a crisp fall day, with a touch of frost in the air. The leaves are changing colors, people are hurrying all over , and horses are hauling cards full of good up and down the road. These were all typical sights in Saint John in October 1836. No so typical however was the cargo on a group of wagons slowly making their way to the harbour. The wagons were carrying cages filled with exotic animals. In was October 21 and Fuller’s Menagerie, which had been touring Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for the last 6 months were leaving Saint John and heading back to the United States. Young and old people stood and watched as the colourfully painted wagons, some large and some small slowly went down King St. in the heart of the city to the wharf and the loading dock.

Fuller’s Menagerie was like most other travelling circuses, a mix of close knit families and performers who had been together for a long time. It had the usual circus animals, including 2 camels an elephant, a lion, a couple of tigers, ponies and horses that were used for performing and pulling the wagons. It also had an assortment of reptiles and birds. With an entire circus to move back to the USA, the owners needed a large reliable ship. They picked the Royal Tar ,a 400 ton, 160 foot side paddle steamer that could accommodate all their animals and bring them to the USA in a short period of time. The circus owners were anxious to get to New York, where they were hoping to find work for the winter. Built in Carleton New Brunswick in 1835, the Royal Tar was more reliable than any other ships because she had both a paddle wheel and sails. The captain was Thomas Reed. The Royal l Tar had a regular route, running between Digby ,Saint John, Portland and Maine. This route enabled people to reach New York from St John in less than four days. The passenger list for this 21 th day of October’s sailing totalled 93 passengers and crew, with some Irish immigrants heading to the US looking for work.

As the ship sailed out of Saint John Harbour into the Fundy Bay, the circus band played God Save the King. After the steamer started her trip, the weather began to get bad, with strong winds. The first port of call was Eastport, and the ship arrived in time, but when the ship left Eastport that night Captain Reed decided the weather was too bad to keep on going to Portland. He gave orders to steer the ship into Little River near Cutter Maine, to seek shelter. He decided to stay there till the weekend. The following Monday they left their shelter but soon after the weather was bad again so they took shelter in Machias Bay. Again they started out but the engineer didn’t notice that the water levels in the boilers were running low. The captain stopped the engines and the opened the safety valves. They dropped the anchor near Fox Island. Then they noticed smoke directly above the boilers. Now that the paddle wheel wasn’t working they had to use the sails to get the passengers to safety. The captain gave the order to man the boats, and everybody ran for the lifeboats. But the engineers, other crew members and some passengers had already lowered the biggest lifeboat and were on their way to Isle au Haut instead of getting help.

The captain didn’t want the rest of the passengers to all get in the one remaining boat because it would have tipped so he ordered everyone to jump in the water. Once they jumped he pulled them towards the boat he was in , soon the boat was full and they headed away from the burning ship. The sound of people screaming and animals screeching sent shivers down the spines of those on the lifeboat. The US cutter Veto arrived on the scene and boarded the people on the lifeboat. Then the Steward and Capt. Reed along with two seaman from the Veto made trips to and fro to the burning ship to rescue passengers . Many of the circus animals were dying of smoke inhalation in their cages, The horses and camels were backed off the shop, some other animals jumped into the water, the elephant jumped and landed on a raft full of people, tipping the raft, sending some people to their death, then the elephant swam to shore. With a boat full of passengers the Veto headed for Isle au Haut. Arriving on the island the passengers were in for some surprise, the men who had taken off in the biggest lifeboat were all there sitting comfortably around a fire at Squire Kimballs, one of the local lodgings enjoying themselves as if nothing happened. The survivors showed their appreciations to the people of Isle au Haut who gave them warm clothing, food and lodging. Captain Reed and William Brown returned to Saint John were they treated as heroes in rescuing the passengers of the Royal Tar, and the people of Saint John celebrated their bravery.

Out of 93 people on board the Royal Tar 32 died including 10 children and 3 crew members. The vessel and cargo was worth around $200,000 but nothing was insured, the strongbox from the circus with all of its earnings from an entire summer was lost . The elephant and two horses were found on shore, but the camels and exotic animals were never found. The Irish immigrants lost all their possessions, strangers in a strange land, they were left with only the clothes on their backs.

I do hope you have enjoyed reading this story which is sad but true.

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Migmaw Native Americans

Well I have been reading more on Diereville’s Voyage to Acadie and here are a few exerts. First of all the Native Americans were once called Indians and it was supposed that when the continent was discovered that it was connected with East Indies. The people on East Indies were called Indians. It sort of makes sense.

Now Diereville was an agent of a merchant company in Rouen and he spent one year in Port Royal Nova Scotia (known as Acadie back then). He frequently went with the Native Americans to their learn their ways, customs, habits and also to collect specimen of things he found in the new land, such as flowers, and plants.

The Chase was the chief occupations of the Native Americans for subsistence. Lots of wild game such as moose, caribou (deer) and wild fowl furnished them with food while the beaver, otters, martins and lynx furnished them with furs for clothing and trading with the French. Sometimes on their hunting trips they would not eat for days but when they killed a deer they ate it in a most ravenous manner, bolting down the flesh without chewing and washing it down with spring water.

Beaver was found in many streams but much skill and cunning was needed to capture him. It’s sense of smell and hearing were so accurate that it was almost impossible to shoot it. The Native Americans also had a fine sense of smell, they could smell a bear at a great distance. With the guns they got from the French they seldom failed to get enough food for themselves and also game and venison for the Port Royal garrison.

The man who excelled in the chase was raised to a high rank position in his tribe and was chosen to be the chief of 100 warriors and he was respected both in peace and in war.

A warrior had to prove himself to be a good hunter before he could have a wife. If he fell in love, he applied to her parents who at once gave their permission if he was successful in the chase. If they had any doubt at that point the was required to prove himself by feeding the whole family of his future father in law with game he killed.

The marriage ceremony was simple. The parents presented the girl to her fiancé, just saying “This man is your husband”. The newlyweds then went into the woods for their honeymoon and to hunt together. The game they killed were taken to the bride’s father’s wigwam for a feast where all the Native Americans nearby were invited.

After a baby was born, it was dipped into the coldest water available even in winter to harden the baby and fish oil or melted fat was poured into the baby’s mouth before it was allowed to drink his mother’s milk until he was strong enough to eat solid foods.

Native American feasts were given on the following occasions, the birth of a boy, his first tooth, his first walk, and when he killed his first game. (nothing is mentioned about the baby girls).

When the French first settled in Port Royal , the Native Americans worshipped the Sun as their God , they called it Nichakaminon meaning very great. They acknowledged him as their maker. They also believed in a Demon called Mendon. The Jesuit missionaries converted the Native Americans to Christianity……..

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Things from the past

Sieur Diereville

　

I came across information about Diereville’s voyage from La Rochelle France to Port Royal, and I was intrigue by it. Before I give you exerts from him journal or notes, here is a bit about him

.

Before 1699 Dièreville seems to have studied surgery at the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, if we are to believe a passage in his account, and before 1701 he published some poems in the Mercure galant. But the principal event in his life was his journey to Acadia. On 20 Aug. 1699 he left La Rochelle on board the Royalle Paix, in the capacity of supercargo, that is, of an agent appointed by the ship owner and responsible for watching over the cargo. He reached Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.) in Acadia on 13 October, after a voyage of 54 days. He spent a year in the country in search of information about the region and the French and Amerindian populations; he also gathered plants. On 6 Oct. 1700 he sailed for Europe, and reached La Rochelle on 9 November. On 21 December of the following year he became a surgeon at the hospice of Pont-l’Évêque, a post which he was still occupying on 10 April 1711.

Apart from that, nothing is known of him. Only his account and the plants he gathered in Acadia contribute to his fame. He brought back specimens of Chelone acadiensis (today Chelone glabra), which were types used by Tournefort when he described the species in 1706, and also the Diervilla acadiensis (today Diervilla Lonicera), a species of a genus which Tournefort dedicated to him. In his description Tournefort pays tribute to Dièreville as follows: “I know only one species of this genus, which M. Dierville, a surgeon of Pont-l’Évêque and very knowledgeable on the subject of plants, has brought from Acadia.”

The account bears the title of Relation du voyage du Port Royal de l’Acadie, ou de la Nouvelle France, and was published at Rouen in 1708. The author describes in detail the life aboard ship, not forgetting the cabin boy who was whipped to calm the wind and the loss overboard of part of the cargo. He shows a particular interest in fauna, and recounts his hunting and fishing trips, the fine drifting snow (which he calls foudrille) of the Canadian winter, the methods of making spruce beer and maple sugar; he describes the country of the aboiteaux (dikes), the customs of the Indians (and particularly their way of reviving drowned people by enemas of tobacco smoke), and the cooking of the Amerindians, the Acadians, and the seafarers. Culinary memories stimulate this gourmet, and the space that he allots to them makes of his account the first important work in the gastronomical literature of Canada. The first thing I want to mention was that on his vessel it was mandatory for the sailors or seamen to baptize anyone who was on the ship not baptized. They placed a tub of water in the center of the deck. Three or four sailors took the one to be baptized by the arms and legs and dipped his butt in the water over and over again. They would mischievously leave him with his legs in the air and while he was trying to get away, other sailors would throw six or seven pails of water on him ending the ceremony and bursting out laughing. Next on to Port Royal.

“Docked at Port Royal our destination where it took us 54 days to arrive. Port Royal might have ½ leagues in length and just as much in width. The homes situated there are but made of hemp ,clay and straw with a clay chimney. I asked for the whereabouts of the church which I didn’t recognize and not built any different than the other houses. I would have taken it for another barn instead of the house of God. While I was there I giving thanks to God for the grace he had given me and arriving safe, I noticed the priest coming towards me. He led me to church where he blessed me with holy water. Then he showed me his home with different variety of apples. He later led me to where I was to stay for my duration. The house was the largest one, it had three rooms downstairs, an attic and a cellar. I saw two rivers the Dauphin which as large as the Seine River, with homes on both sides far apart from one another. There are nice fields and meadows. At the top of Port Royal there are also homes and some apple orchards. These homes go nearly as far as Goat Island and a distance from Port Royal. At the top of the island, the river forms a basin that goes out to sea. The other river called Moulin is much narrower, and has three mills along it one for corn, and two lumber mills. There are three or four houses.

Thinking I was in a nice and peaceful weather related climate, and thinking I would not have to deal with the harsh winds that I encountered on the ocean, the worse happened, the winds were never so strong in Port Royal as it was on this particular day according to the village elders. It blew so hard that it broke the cable holding our ship’s anchor and a canoe attached to the ship which was filled with merchandize to deliver the next day, capsized because of the strong winds. The climate is similar to France, about the same degree, the summer is plenty hot but winters are colder. It snows nearly every day in the season, and the winds are so cold, they freeze one’s face, we don’t dare go out in these times (the villagers called it soudrilles ) when the snow and gusty winds occur at the same time. If the snow melted like in France it would not be so cold, but the snow lasts 7 to 8 months on the ground ,especially in the woods and that is what makes the air bitterly cold. The Acadians have large families one neighbour had 18 kids the other 22. In nearly every family there are 5 or 6 kids sometimes more. The Acadians love their pork, they eat it twice a day and they enjoy partridge and rabbits. Their rivers contains smelts, plie (kind of fish) ,gasparot sturgeon eel, sardines ,trout, salmon and other fish.. The Acadians store a lot of their food in their cellar, for example their apples are stored there to eat during the winter months. They pick blackberries ,raspberries, strawberries and serve them with a clear sugar. (maple syrup). This is all for this time. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog, the above were translated from French to English to the best of my ability so you can have a idea about our ancestors so long ago. Now I would like to share some of my products with you , you can find these ,Acadian products and much more at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

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Reunions and Invitations

Hello everyone, well today I would like to talk about reunions.Why?  Because a few days ago, we had a Facebook Reunion, and let me tell you, we had a great time. What a great feeling to be able to be face to face, or meet them in person. We chat online everyday, we make lasting friendships, sometimes never even knowing what these people look like, and even if we see photos it isn't the same as reunions. We were around 33 attending our reunion, we laughed, we joked, we shared stories, we took pictures and everyone left that day with a good feeling inside. Now there are all kinds of reunions, there are family reunions, these are lot of fun too, sharing stories about childhoods,children,parents, meeting new relatives. There are also family tree reunions, these are usually big reunions with folks sharing the same ancestor, such as Thomas Cormier, or Abraham Jackson and so on. There are baby showers, those have been around for as long as I can remember, as a matter of fact I made lots of them. First came the invitations, then deciding on prizes and games, and on the food. We reunite for weddings, for funerals, these are all reunions of some sort or another. We meet and greet love ones ,old friends and relatives. Reunions can be loads of fun, with things to do ,such as games, singing, dancing, chatting and most of all laughing and having a good time. So if you are planning any reunion of any kind, please have a look at some invitations I have created at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  (in my greeting card folder) and http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek*  (in my invitation folder).

 

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Darts and Dartboards

There are many dart players around the world, some are perfect players others are not and I am among the NOT. I remember trying my luck and I had to start the game with a double by the time I finally hit the double, the game was over.. I admire the players and the game, but my excuse is maybe because I am left handed. Will that suffice? Grin. It was the same when I bowled, I seem to prefer the gutter ball. You only had to say Gutter and voila, I obliged them and threw the ball in the gutter.

Now getting back to Darts and Dartboards, have you ever been interested in the history of darts and dartboards? Well it is believed that the first dart game originated with soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of a tree trunk. When the wood dried cracks happened creating sections. Later many woodworkers started making dartboards for local pubs. Traditionally dartboards used to be made of wood ,usually popular or elm. Both were easier for the darts to stick on. The first ones were cut from the end of a tree trunk and believed that the circular pattern of the rings and the way the wood cracked led to the design of the dartboard. By the late 1920s a standardised dartboard was introduced and remains the most popular dartboard today across the world. In 1930 a London company filed a patent for a new kind of dartboard. Made of biscuits of sisal fibre the dartboard was way better than the wooden one. This dartboard also known as bristle dartboard was longer lasting and when the darts were removed from the board the fibre closed the hole. Today wooden ones are very rare and bristle dartboards are seen nearly everywhere that they play darts.

Rumours say that dart games were popular during the reign of King Henry V111 of England. King Henry enjoyed the game so much that his said wife to be Ann Boleyn gave him a set or rich looking darts to win him over. It is also said that the Pilgrims played darts for fun on their voyage on the Mayflower. Today the sport is popular in Britain, Germany ,Scandinavia, North America. In the USA thousands of dartboards are sold every year and millions of Americans play darts every week, Canada is also a great country for darts, they have dart leagues, in many clubs, pubs and bars. So it does look as if dart games are here for a long time. To anyone who has a club, a pub, or a bar, and that caters to darts, here are a few dartboards I would like to share with you. These can all be found in my dartboard folder at

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For the men who play darts

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If you are looking for a gift for your special dart player , this is an ideal one.