
Friday, June 8, 2007
Herring Seiner Bernadine In Lunenburg Harbour

Snapshot of the Lois and Isabel

Labels:
Lois Muriel Guptill,
taken by my mum
Handlining in the Gulf of Maine

These offshore operations concluded about the year 1962 when the powered schooner Theresa E. Connor made her final fishing trip to the distant banks. Unable to find a crew for further ventures, she was purchased by the Town of Lunenburg and turned into a floating museum.
Bluenose I at Lunenburg

The Grace Darling which had a earlier refit along these same lines had a better time: During the war years and following Captain Cook's death, the ship continued to fish in Maritime waters. When Cook's sons returned from overseas duty, Captain Wilbur Cook took over as captain. From that period on, the Grace Darling was noteworthy for the number of rescues it completed at sea.
The Wheelhouse

Labels:
The Theresa Connor at Lunenburg
Bow of the schooner "Bluenose II"

Fishing Schooners Off Grand Manan Island 1890

Thursday, June 7, 2007
Southern Head, Grand Manan Island

Who was Grace Darling?

In 1838 at the Longstone Light, off the coast of Scotland, she spotted the ship Forfarshire in distinct trouble! The sea was far too rough for Grace and her father to reach the foundering ship but they did pluck nine survivors from a nearby island. Her heroism was recognized financially by The Crown and her exploits fictionalized and rendered into poetry by Wordsworth. Afterwards,
life saving craft were often named Grace Darling.
I am not sure that this was the original name given the Nova Scotian schooner which belonged to my ancestor. Probably, not! Tales tend to become legend, and this story was transferred to a local Grand Manan lighthouse, and there it may still be seen on the world wide web!
Labels:
A heroine of the Victorain Era
Topsail Schooner

My grandfather's herring fishing boat probably looked like this when it was built. According to my island folk, the first schooner was built at Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1713 by Captain Andrew Robinson. When she was launched, a bystander is supposed to have cried out: "Oh how she scoons!" This Icelandic word identifies an object moving easily over water. Robinson agreed that she was indeed a"schooner" and the name stuck! In any event, a schooner is a fore and aft rigged vessel as opposed to one which is square rigged. Note that the earliest versions could not quite break from the square rigged tradition? A schooner is still usuallyu thought of as having two masts, but there have been exceptions! The mainmast was stepped near mid-ship. In other places, aside from America, square masts were carried on the main as well as the foremast. After 1840, schooners with more masts appeared on the scene and these were designated as three-masted; four-masted; five-masted and six-master schooners. The square rigging disappeared from these very large craft.
My Great Grandfather's "Schooner"

Labels:
1901,
built Selmah,
Lunenburg Nova Scotia,
The Grace Darling
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Railway or Government Wharf

Monday, June 4, 2007
Wind, Rain and Cold Weather

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Trot In Time on Bluenose Drive
Corwith Cramer at Lunenburg

Since the local newspaper does not report news from the waterfront, I have no idea where she is from or why she is in port, but she is the third tall ship to have called at Lunenburg this spring. Most have not been in port for more than a few days.
Mahone Bay Paint On Site, July 14 & 15, 2007

Studio paintings, of a much more finished nature, will also be shown at the Civic Centre. These are typically more than $100 but are professionally framed and much more sophisticated since they involve more hours of work.
All in aid of the local Settler's Museum. Many artists including Rod and his mother-in-law, the very proficient Mary Brownless will be on site. Come and watch us struggle!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Free Electronic Publications

http://rodneymackay.com/ebooks.htm
Subject matter in pdf format includes: Algonquian Bestiary; Anglo-Saxon Word Hoard; an echtral; druidheachd; Gorbeys; oceanus deu caledonius; Folklore of Maritime Canada; Map Memorials for Atlantic Canada; mhorrigan; Myths of Atlantic Canada; Norumbega; Old Books Atlantic; samh & samhain; Witchcraft in Atlantic Canada; Whistle Down the Wind; World's Mythological Creatures; The Yule.
Archived Website going back to 1994
Subject matter in html: Bonny River Settlements; Brief History of Clan Mackay; British Calendar; Ca;ledonians; Covered Bridges; Creation Myths; Discoveries and Recoveries of North America; druidheachd illustrated; Galeic Calendar; mics and macs in Gaeldom; Mythology & Etymology of Scottish Family Names; The Utopia Monster; Nollaig; Orolog; St. Columba; Santa Claus; Travel and Travail; Uktamkoo; Voluspa; Halifax Explosion; McDougall's Diary; Men & Things on the St, Croix
In progress: A Neo Victorian Childhood
Various lengths up to 1000 pages. Some edited and spell checked; some as is where is! If the above link fails try entering from that above my photo!
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