Kerry – Page 5

Granny’s Kitchen Remedies & Household Hints

Granny spent a great deal of her time in the kitchen. Preparin a meal; back in the day, was a huge undertaking. All foods were home grown, prepared from scratch and cooked in a big ol’ wood stove. That was a whole pile of work. Not only was Granny cooking; she was preparing remedies to keep her family healthy. She had all kinds of household hints to share about the activities of daily living. It was all a labour of love and survival!

Holistic Living

Now; way back when, life was not easy. People worked hard to provide a good life for their loved ones. Their survival and well being depended on shared knowledge of household hints and remedies. Household hints just made life easier. Access to medicine and health care was limited. There were diseases affecting their loved ones. People looked for ways to cure, provide comfort and relief. Therefore; most cures for what ailed ya, came from nature. These were prepared in kitchens just like Granny’s.

Household Hints

Granny ; like everyone else congured up all kinds of medicinal cures like tonics, tinctures, infusions, salves, soaps, laundry soap and whatever else was required. These methods and recipes all got passed along amongst families and friends; by word of mouth or demonstration. With limited resources; they turned to nature. They were pioneers of Holistic Living and Hoistic Medicine. Although; they didnt know it!

Natural Remedies

There was a whole lot of knowledge, teaching and learning that went along with this. One had to know how to identify the plants, know where to find them, learn about the medicinal qualities of each part, learn how to plant these plants, know how and when to harvest them, learn how to dry them, how to store them and how to use them in combinations for effective usage. Its knowledge that got lost to a lot of us over the years. But; thankfully there are people who did carry it along. In todays world; we have unlimited access to new technologies in health care, treatments and medications. Today; we still practice Holistic Medicine with some of these natural remedies that Granny used. So a big shout out to people like Granny!

Wildflowers

I dabble. The more holistic approach works for me. I love the household hints and old ways of doing things. An expert I am not! There are so many plants and their usages. Its a whole education in itself. I advise you to read up and seek assistance from the experts on anything deemed risky. So do be careful. I hope you will share your best practices so we can all benefit together. Household hints are just fun and easy ways to manage life. Even if we just share a information on the plants we grow in our area and what they were used for. We marvel at the beauty of a field of wildflowers; we see along our path. And they all have a secret purpose that we all may not know!

Folklore from East Coast Shores

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Def: Folklore – are traditional beliefs, customs and stories. They are passed along; by word of mouth, amongst family members and their communities.

Folklore

These stories are community based Folklore with traditions common to a culture, subculture or group. They can be oral traditions with tales, proverbs and jokes. Customary folklore are the rituals of celebration like Christmas, weddings, birthdays and dances. These are all passed along informally to individuals by verbal instruction or demonstrations. Old folklore changes with more modern times and new folklore gets created.

East Coast Folklore

So the East Coast has a diverse culture with many old traditional customs and beliefs that we all carry along with us. It will be fun to explore the Folklore from East Coast Shores. Do you have a story, a joke, a custom, a belief, a proverb from days of old? Do you have new traditions of your own that you created within your own family? Share the tales and legends from your community that got passed along; for, eons on strange goings on in yer community. Well lets just explore all that!

Mama’s Cornbread

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Cornbread is a favoutite of ours. Thought I would share Mama’s Cornbread recipe with y’all. Heard this slang the other day about cornbread. “His cornbread ain’t done in the middle!” Happy baking!

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup margarine
1/2cup white sugar
3 eggs (I use 2)
1/2 cup chopped green/red peppers
1 can cream style corn(14 oz)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
good pinch pepper
pinch salt
good pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbsp jalepino peppers(optional)

Prep:

Combine flour, cormeal, baking powder, spices and set aside
cream margarine & sugar. Beat in eggs til light & fluffy. Add peppers,corn,cheese
Add flour mixture & blend well
Pour batter into 13×9 baking dish
Bake @325 oven for 45 minutes.(I bake 1 hour so its cooked in the middle)

Yum! Serve warm with butter! I also heat it up and pour maple syrup over top! Even yummier! Enjoy!

The Dungarvon Whooper

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The tale of the Dungarvon Whooper is a bit of Miramichi folklore from the 1700’s. New Brunswick was settled by strong and hardy people. They had to make a living from resources that only the Land and Sea could provide. Many settlers would fish or farm during the spring and summer months. When the snow set in; they were cuttin’ wood in the forests. Families had to be fed and income was needed all year round. It was back breakin’ work but they met the challenges head on.

Lumber Camps

Lumber camps were set up; in the interior of the province, to harvest the bounty of wood. These camps could accommodate many people and provided the bare necessities to survive a working life in the woods. The lumberjacks(as they were known as) would stay in the woods for weeks even months at a time. Now lumberin’ was real hard work; plain and simple. You know; there were no chainsaws in those days. At the days end from logging; a warm homecooked meal was welcomed. So the Cook in the camp was of prime importance. These men were hungry and had to be fed. ‘Magine that job!

Dungarvon River

Our story ’bout the Dungarvon Whooper takes us to the Dungarvon River. This river flows through central New Brunswick, to the Renous River and then on into the Miramichi River. In the early days; this whole area was prime for lumbering operations. It was not yet settled and possessed massive stands of lumber. Camps were set up all through out the area to capitalize on this booming industry. Work was plentiful.

Miramichi Folklore

The Dungarvon Whooper is a tale told about one of these camps in the late 1700’s. The story begins with a young fella by the name of Ryan(probably Irish). He travelled to NB from PEI looking for work. Somehow he found his way to one of the Dungarvon lumbering camps where he scored a job as a cook. On his very first day; and once the lumberjacks left for the woods, he found himself alone with the Boss of the camp. Now the Boss; who obviously had a bit of a greedy streak in him, noticed that young Ryan kept a money belt around his waist. Well; to make the long story short; a struggle soon broke, Ryan was strangled, dumped on the floor and robbed of his money.

Stormy Night

A snow storm was raging outside. The men returned to the camp to find poor Ryan lying dead on the floor. The Boss claimed he had been away for the day and acted surprised at this turn of events. It appeared to everyone that he died of natural causes. Due to the weather; it was decided to quickly bury him before the storm got worse.

Eerie Sounds in the Night

Well; after it was all said ‘n done, the men turned in for the night. They were awakened by a distinct whooping and wailing sound. They discovered the eerie sound was coming from the direction of Ryan’s gravesite. The blood curdling sounds persisted long into the the night. By the mornings light; the men high tailed it out of there. Periodically; and only at night; the whooping and wailing could be heard all through the region. It is said that a Priest(from Blackville) was brought to the camp site to perform an exorcism at the gravesite. But the wailing never ceased. Needless to say; the legend continued and no one ever returned to log at this camp!

Train Whistles

During this time; there was a nightly passenger train that ran from the Miramichi to Fredericton. This train became known as the Dungarvon Whooper. On a frosty winter night; the train whistle travelling through the night sky, resembled the skin crawling sounds of the Whooper. It was a reminder to all that knew the story. The locals soon dubbed the train the Dungarvon Whooper!.

If you ever pass through the area; on a cold winters night, beware of the whoop and wail of the Dungarvon Whooper! Thats mighty Scarey!

Guy Fawkes Night

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Celebrated on November 5th in Newfoundland.

If you are lucky enough to live in Newfoundland ; most of you are familiar with Guy Fawkes Night. Do you know just who Guy Fawkes is? Are you familiar with the origin of this celebration? Just how did his name become synonymous with Bonfire Night in Newfoundland?

The Conspiracy

Guy Fawkes Night originates from a conspiracy that dates way back to the year 1605; in London, England. It was a very daring scheme hatched up by a radical group of English Catholic people. Lead by Robert Catesby; their sole intention was to overthrow the ruling English Protestant government and establish a Catholic Monarch on the throne. So they plotted to bomb the House of Lords in Westminsterl; with King James 1 in it.

The Gunpowder Plot

Now; just how did they go about this lavish scheme you say? Well; they leased a room under the Parliament building and They proceeded to fill this room up with 2 tons of gunpowder. Obviously security; at the time, was lax and this activity went unnoticed for quite some time. But rumors began circulating in the city of a plot to bomb the House of Lords. Eventually; the authorities got wind of this dastardly deed. On the morning of November 5, 1605; King James 1 and his members of Parliament were set to re-convene. Due to the present rumors of a threat a thorough search was conducted of the Parlisment Buildings. Low and behold; they found one Guy Fawkes lurking in the cellar; guarding a massive collection of explosives.

The Capture of Guy Fawkes

Now Guy was not about to co-operate with the authorities and acted quite confused as to why he was being arrested. He confessed that his name was John Johnson and claimed he was just guarding the contraband for a local man named Mr. Percy. He was sticking to his story! King James was soon made aware of the deadly plot and Guy’s non-compliance. So; he decided a little torture was in order. Well after a couple of days of this; old Guy started singin’ like a jaybird. He gave up his true identity, implicated the co-conspirators and confessed to the crime. They were all arrested, found guilty of high treason and sentenced to hang, drawn and quartered in London. on January 31, 1606. Over the years; the scheme to bomb the Parliament became known as the ”Gunpowder Plot.”

Celebrating King James 1

To honour the King’s escape from this conniving plot; the Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the day (Nov 5) by lighting huge bonfires. This tradition began in the United Kigdom and soon spread to all the British Colonies. In present day Canada; it is mainly celebratd in Newfoundland. Due to bonfire regulations in major cities, the whole celebration has been toned down to a social event. But in the more rural communities, bonfires roar!

Who is Guy Fawkes

So what of Guy Fawkes? How did he get involved in these shenanigans? Guy was born in to a Protestant family in York, England in 1570. He converted to Catholicism after his father died and his mother remarried to a Catholic gentleman. At the age of 21 he left England to travel the continent. He soon became a mercenary for wars and associated himself with like minded individuals. And so began his scheme to start a Catholic rebellion in 1604. Upon his death; it was reported that he was not actually hung like his co-conspirators. As he was called to meet his fate; he jumped off the platform, breaking his neck and died immediately at the young age of 36. So there you have it! That’s what happened to Guy Fawkes.

To this day; when Parliament convenes in Westminster, a thorough search of the cellars is conducted. It is very much a ceremonial search by official recreators, dressed in period attire and carrying old fashioned lanterns.

So there you have it. The story of the night Guy Fawkes got caught in the great scheme to overthrow the Protestant Government. Do you celebrate Guy Fawkes Night? Do you make a roaring bonfire to commemorate his failure?

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