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DRAmUA IN NEWFOUNDLAND SOCIETY: THE COMMUNITY CONCERT

BY

Chesley John Skinner

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to

Michigan State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF THEATER

1984

COpyright by
CHESLEY JOHN SKINNER

1984

ABSTRACT

DRAMA IN NEWFOUNDLAND SOCIETY: THE COMMUNITY CONCERT

BY
Chesley John Skinner

This study focuses upon the Newfoundland community
concert, a theatrical production utilizing the variety and
revue style of presentation with programmes consisting of
dialogues, songs, recitations and readings, and produced by
the various communities as a primary means of raising money
to support church, school and other essential services. It
was the one dramatic event common to all parts of this
province of Canada, and until the 19503 was a major form of
entertainment which contributed positively to the self-
sufficiency and the cohesiveness of each community.

The primary source of information was the collection of
audio tapes and their transcripts housed at the Memorial
University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archives
(MUNFLA) in St. John's, Newfoundland. These were

supplemented by a questionnaire designed specifically to

 

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Chesley John Skinner

Gather information about concert traditions and further
assisted by interviews conducted in various parts of
Newfoundland with people who had, at one time, been
instrumental in organizing and performing in the theatrical
events.

The process by which these events were produced and
Presented is examined here within the historical and
sociological context in which the practices developed, and
discussed under the headings Organization, Content,
Presentation, Acting Style and Audience Reaction.

The material gathered from the different sources attests
to the widespread popularity of the concerts as major
celebrations within the framework of the communities
utilizing the available resources. It was theatrical, and
for the most part was presented in the comic mode. It drew
on the rich folklore of Newfoundland in that it presented
the songs and recitations which recorded important
happenings and situations; it allowed the dialogues to be
changed to fit the tastes of the group, and contributed to
the lore by introducing items from the outside thereby

enriching and sustaining the oral tradition.

To
Betty,
Daniel and Christopher;
their love and support have made this
project possible.

And to
my parents.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To the members of my committee I owe a special thanks for
their counsel and friendly assistance; especially to my
advisor, Dr. John Baldwin, his patience and professional
criticism have been invaluable.

I wish to thank the faculty of the Department of Folklore
of Memorial University for their advise and for
accommodating my requests for materials and for
administering the questionnaire. In particular, I am
grateful to Dr. Herbert Halpert and Dr. Neil Rosenberg for
their expert suggestions, and to Philip Hiscock, Assistant
Archivist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland
Folklore and Language Archive, who was always so prompt in
locating and sending materials and was constantly on the

lookout for new references to the subject of this

dissertation.

iii

Q

I am. indebted to all those contributors to MUNFLA who so
l<indly gave permission to cite from their materials: w. S.
.Abbott, G. Casey, L. Cole, A. L. Etchegory, W; J. Gushue,
H. Halpert, J. Hewson, J. D. A. Widdowson, Z. Johnson,
D. Kodish, M. Lacey, z. Sacrey, L. Small, G. B. Wareham, and
W. Wareham.

It is with deep appreciation and pleasure that I wish to
thank all those Newfoundlanders who so willingly gave of
their time to talk to me about the concert practices. I am
indebted to all of them: H. Antle, T. Antle, R. DeGruchy,
H. Foley, the late P. Foley, H. Jackman, M. Marsden,
R. Matthews, J. C. Osmond, W. Skinner, J. Skinner, B. Simms,
A. Simms, C. Simms, B. Wareham, and particularly Bram and
Mary Dawe, who always made my visits "home" all the more
celebratory.

To my colleagues at The University of Lethbridge I owe a
special thanks for their encouragement and for accommodating
my schedule requests during the time this project has been
in progress. I would particularly like to thank Mr.
P. Madany of the Computing Centre for so patiently teaching
me the fundamentals of word processing; and Mary Hanna who
typed the initial drafts and so graciously gave of her time

to assist in preparing the final copy.

iv

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose of Study
1.2 Justification of Study
1.3 Definition of Terms

,1.4 Methodology

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

2.1 Background

2.2 The PeOple - Origins and Roots
2.3 Church and School

2.4 Economic and Social Conditions
2.5

Post Confederation - Centralization
6 Summary

FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT: THE WRITTEN RECORD

3.1 Mummering

3.2 The Time

3.3 Theatre Tradition in Newfoundland
3.4 Summary

ORGANIZATION

4.1 Purpose
4.2 Production
4.3 Directing
4.4 Rehearsals
4.5 Stage

4.6 Summary

CONTENT

H

\lU'IWH

16

17
21
28
34
38
41

44

45
57

74
75

76
89
92
94
98
102

103

r-‘

5.1 Dialogues 105

5.2 Recitations 115
5.3 Songs 127
5.4 Summary 137
6. PRESENTATION 138
6.1 The Opening 139
6.2 The Role of the Chairman 142
6.3 The Stage - Mise en Scene 146
6.4 Costumes 157
6.5 Lighting 163
6.6 Admission 164
6.7 Summary 166
7. ACTING STYLE AND AUDIENCE REACTION 168
7.1 The Style 171
7.2 Audience Attitude 186
7.3 Summary 194
8. CONCLUSION 196
8.1 Suggestions for Further Study 202
Appendix A. Map of Newfoundland 204
Appendix B. Distribution of Communities Surveyed 205
Appendix C. The Questionnaire 206
Appendix D. Dialogue Titles 214
Appendix B. Song Titles 219

Appendix F. Recitation Titles and Text of Little Meg 227
and I

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose of Study

Newfoundland culture shows evidence of certain charac-
teristics which identify its European roots and which
reflect the forging of these Old World elements with things
unique to this island-arrested society. This uniqueness is
most apparent in the folklore and customs which have
develOped reflecting the society's prominent motifs and
beliefs. Foremost among these is a major preoccupation with
celebration and entertainment as shown by the extensive
canon of songs and stories, and by the community initiated
traditions involving drama, dancing and mummering.

During the past two decades much research and study has
been conducted into Newfoundland's lore and language, par-
ticularly with regard to the mummering practices. So too,
the songs and stories have been collected, classified, and

analyzed according to the various presentational styles and

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1
subjects. However, except for cursory acknowledgments, the

presence of drama in Newfoundland culture remains unexplored
and unresearched. The purpose of this study is to inves-
tigate that aspect by examining the one dramatic event which
was common to all areas of the province: the community
concert.

The community concert was a theatrical event which
employed the variety and revue style of presentation in that
its program consisted of songs, recitations, dialogues and,
in some cases, readings. The organizational and production
aspects of the programs, including casting and rehearsing,
were done by groups within the community using local people
as performers. Some of the materials which were presented
were written especially the events, but in most cases came
from published sources.

Initially this study was formulated as a personal effort

to examine a dramatic event which had been an important part

 

1
For example see; H. Halpert and G. M. Story, eds.,
Christmas Mumming_in Newfoundland (Toronto: University of
'Toronto Press, 1969), and Kenneth Peacock, ed. Songs of The
lflewfoundland Outports, National Museum of Canada Bulletin, 3
‘Volumes. (Ottawa: Secretary of State, 1965).

 

 

of my growing up in Newfoundland. This desire to find out
more about concerts before the old practices had died out
altogether was reinforced while a student at Memorial
University of Newfoundland where the examination of the lore
and language of Newfoundland instilled in me an intense
appreciation for those aspects of my cultural heritage and a
strong motivation to understand them within a wider context.
Finally, and most importantly, this research was undertaken
to examine the community concert as a theatrical event and
to ascertain how it was produced and presented within the
context of Newfoundland's unique sociological and historical

milieu.
1.2 Justification of Study

The community concert by virtue of its widespread
popularity was a major entertainment force within New-
foundland society. It provided a forum for their songs and
stories and an opportunity for those with the desire and
talent to present them in a theatrical setting. Until now
no attempt has been made to examine this event with regard
to its nature and the overall purposes it served. This study
will be the first endeavor at researching and synthesizing

the available information on this dramatic event.

The study will also contribute to the recent attempts to
understand the uniqueness of Newfoundland by studying one of
the entertainment modes which developed as an integral part
of the culture.

Prior to Confederation with Canada in 1949 there was very
little financial aid available to the communities to support
essential services, so in order to maintain some degree of
self-sufficiency money had to be raised at the local level.
Chief among those fund-raising enterprises was the concert.
When more money became available after Confederation the
need for the community to contribute was minimized, con-
sequently the concert was not produced as frequently.
However, now that external funding may be declining the
community has once again turned to its theatrical and
dramatic traditions to aid in raising money for Iocal
projects. To that cause this study will provide community
groups and producers with an accurate and detailed account
of how the concerts used to be presented and therefore aid
in re-establishing it as the significant form of enter-

tainment it used to be.

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1.3 Definition of Terms

Mummering

This Christmastime activity has it roots in Medieval
Europe and is still practiced in Newfoundland. Today the
custom takes the form of disguising oneself by dressing in
an array of odd clothes and going from house to house in the
community requesting permission to enter. This informal
house-visit requires that the hosts identify the mummer and
when so done the disguise is removed. During their stay in a
home the mummers may dance, sing, partake of food and drink,
or just answer, in a disguised voice, the questions of the
inquiring host.

In some. parts of Newfoundland mummers are referred to as
Jannies. The two words are defined as being the same in the

Dictionary of Newfoundland English:

 

Mummer: One who takes part in a mummering, . . .
An elaborately costumed and disguised person who
participates in various group activities at
2
Christmas; FOOL, JANNY.

 

2

G. M. Story, W. J. Kirwin, J. D. A. Widdowson, eds.,
Dictionary of Newfoundland Egglish (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 1982), s.v. "mummer," "mummering." For a
detailed discussion on Mummering see: Herbert Halpert, "A
Typology of Humming," in Christmas Mumminggin Newfoundlagg,
pp. 34 - 61.

Time
In Newfoundland a Time is a Soiree; an organized community
event usually sponsored by some organization and held in the
school, lodge, or a parish hall. The expressed purpose of
such a gathering is almost always to assist some cause
deemed important for the group. The Time includes dancing,
sale of food and crafts, and, in some cases, a concert. The
Dictionary of Newfoundland English defines a Time as:
. . . A party or celebration, especially a
communal gathering with dancing, entertainment, etc.
. . . In the smaller places during the fall and
winter months almost every night there would be a

3
time on, as any social function is called.

Dialogues

 

A dialogue is a short dramatic script requiring a minimum
of two actors and usually relies on slapstick techniques for
the desired comic results. In some cases in Newfoundland
they were written locally, but more often than not they were
obtained from published dialogue books. The Dictionary of

Newfoundland English defines dialogue as:

 

3
Dictionary of Newfoundland English, s.v. "Time."

Part of a play to be acted. A play or act
performed or spoken as a part of a concert. The
chairman then announced that those members of the
entertainment committee who had parts in the
dialogue not perfected may come back to the Hall to
practice. . . . A staged production, in a Christmas

4
concert for example, would be called a dialogue.

1.4 Methodology

The first two chapters of this study will present a
sociological and historical perspective of the context in
which the concert tradition developed, as well as a discus-
sion on the major entertainment forms which co-existed with
it.

Findings relating specifically to the community concert
are presented here under the headings: Organization, Con-
tent, Presentation, Acting Style and Audience Reaction.
These allow for a detailed examination of the production
process such as the selection of program pieces, the casting
procedures, directing, scenic conventions, and the perfor-
mance of the various pieces before an audience.

Preliminary research for this study examined the printed

 

4
Dictionary of Newfoundland English, s.v. "Dialogue."

references to the Newfoundland concerts. Except for a few
remarks made in diaries about the attendance or that it was
well received, nothing of consequence was found. The St.
John's newspapers carried advertisements for the amateur
theatre productions, but the concerts were usually un-
announced.

Except for a weekly published from 1859 to 1893 at Harbour

Grace, Harbour Grace Standard and Conception BaY Advertiser,

 

the only other Nineteenth Century newspaper outside the
Capital was published at Twillingate on the northeast coast,
’The Twillingate Sun. The latter was a fortunate discovery
which contributed immensely towards defining the concerts
traditions from 1880 to 1894, for in each weekly issue it
carried reports on the entertainment scene in Northeastern
Newfoundland. These reports include descriptions of con-
certs, what was included in the programs, as well as the
names of those who participated; they are quoted extensively
in the following chapters.

The main source of information for this study of the
community concert was the audio tapes and transcripts housed
in the Memorial- University of Newfoundland Folklore and
Language Archive (MUNFLA), a facility officially established

in 1968 as a "regional archive which concentrates upon

CV

 

 

folklore, folklife, language and oral history of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador."5 A large proportion
of the collections were deposited by folklore students and
faculty and cover a wide range of topics which the Archive
has classified under eighteen separate headings.6

Most of the tapes consulted contained references to more
than one of the subject headings with the most common being
stories, songs, and anecdotal material about life and work
in the Newfoundland communities. Many of the tapes are
conversational in nature with the student interviewers
allowing their subjects to reminisce about those things they
felt most comfortable with. However, many of the earlier
taped interviews were conducted by faculty and deal with a

particular topic such as mummering or folksongs.

Accompanying most of the tapes used in this study were

 

5

"A Guide For Users of The Memorial University of
Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive," Rev 10/79,
Po 1. (Mimeographed.)

6

These major areas include: Childlore, Custom, Documents
and Printed Materials, Folk Beliefs, Folk Dance, Folk
Language, Folk Legend, Folk Music, Folk Poetry, Folksong,
Folktale, Foodways, Material Culture and Work Techniques,
Miscellaneous, Oral History, Personal Experience Narrative,
Proverbs, Riddles and Conundrums.

10

manuscripts which had been transcribed to reflect the
accents and speech patterns of the informants. (In all cases
the tapes were checked to verify what appeared in type.) In
instances where no transcripts exist those quotations used
herein were taken from the tape making no effort to edit -or
otherwise correct the sentence structure.

Although the time spent at MUNFLA was enlightening in
terms of the oral history of Newfoundland and the unique and
colorful folk customs, it was, however, somewhat frustrating
because "concerts" was not a major heading and no indexing
had been done according to that subject. Only a few projects
had been deposited which were devoted solely to this
dramatic event. Much of what was uncovered was found
inserted in the mummer materials having been volunteered by
the informants as a kind of aftermath. Fortunately enough
references to "dem wonderful concerts we used to have," were
discovered to suggest that the practice had been widespread
and regarded as significant happenings in the life of the
communities.

Although the Archive served as the primary source for
information the study was not restricted to it. In areas
' where it was found lacking, other avenues were sought out

and examined. To this end, a questionnaire was designed in

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the summer of 1979 and later administered by some of the
faculty'in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University
of Newaundland to their students (see appendix D). The aim
was to gather as much data as possible on the subject and as
a result asked a lot of questions arranged under specific
headings.

The student responses to the Traditional Community Concert
survey were disappointingly terse, usually answered with a
simple ”yes" or "no" without accompanying commentary. Con-
sequently other subjects had to be found, so a number of
questionnaires were sent to selected people in Newfoundland
who were known personally or who were recommended by friends
and other informants.

The responses of the non-student group provided fresh
insight into the nature of the dramatic event in question,
due, most likely, to the fact that many of the informants
were older and had at one time been participants in the
community produced concerts.

The archival materials relating to concerts were further
supplemented by field research personally conducted for this
study. No particular pattern was established; in whatever
area I happened to visit resource persons were sought out

and interviewed. The interviews were conducted informally in

 

12

homes. In cases where a tape recorder was not used notes
were made immediately following the sessions.

The tape recordings of interviews conducted specifically
for this study from 1979 to 1982, as well as the Traditional
Community Concerts Questionnaire responses have all been
deposited in the Archive and have, therefore, been assigned
a Inaster accession number identified in this text by the
prefiszUNFLA. Tapes and transcripts carry the letter "C”;
i.e., MUNFLA C4858 80 - 15. Responses to the questionnaire
which was administered through the Centre all carry the
designation 0808 and appear in the citations as follows:
MUNFLA QBOB-l, 0808-2, etc.

Throughout this study certain interviews are relied upon
quite extensively, 'simply because they provided the most
significant and useful information. This is especially true
with regard to the sessions spent with Mr. John Osmond, Mr.
Rueben DeGruchy, and Mr. Wilfred Skinner (no relation). All
three gentlemen had been instrumental in the production
and/or presentation of concerts at some time in their lives.
They are not unlike many of the other informants whose
songs, stories, and reminiscences made up the collections in
MUNFLA. As an attempt to provide some indication of the

context in which this phase of the research was conducted, I

13

present short biographical notes on these three major

contributors.

John C. Osmond

Mr. Osmond was born in 1909 in the small community of
Margaree on the south west corner of the island about five
miles from Port aux Basques. He attended a one-room school
which was sponsored by the Anglican Church and left after
finishing the Intermediate level examination and was sub-
sequently employed in the fishery. When in his early
twenties he moved to Ontario where he worked at various jobs
until he returned home and once again became a fisherman. He
continued in that line of work until 1939 when he moved with
his family to Port aux Basques and worked as a carpenter
until his retirement.

It was while he lived in Margaree that he performed in
concerts as well as organized and directed them.

Mr. Osmond was interviewed in his home in Port aux
Basques, 16 April 1979; the tape and transcript of that

session have been assigned the designation C 4858 80 - 153.
ggeben DeGruchy_

Mr DeGruchy was born in 1899 in the small community of

 

 

14

Rencontre West. He was fortunate in that he was able to
attain a respectable education and at one time considered
becoming a teacher but chose instead to work in the fishery.
He worked on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and at one
time was employed in the whaling industry. At the age of
forty-eight a hunting accident cost him the use of one eye;
after that he was employed as a clerk in the local store and
continued in that capacity until the whole community of
Rencontre West was moved in the late 1960s under the
Newfoundland Government's Centralization Programme. Mr.
DeGruchy moved with his daughter and her family to the town
of Fortune on the southeast coast. He has an extensive
repertoire of folksongs and stories and during the interview
he shared many of them and recounted incidents about
performing them in concerts in Rencontre West.

Mr. DeGruchy was interviewed at his daughter's home in
Fortune, 20 August 1979. The tape and transcript have been

assigned the designation C4857 80 - 152.

Wilfred Skinner

Mr. Skinner was born in 1920 in the small: isolated
community of Richard's Harbour. Despite being employed in

the fishery with his father at the age of twelve he managed

 

15

to attain a basic education . During the interview he
related how he was prepared to write the Intermediate Level
Examinations but his family was not able to supply the two
dollar registration fee. He spent a number of years fishing
on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland until he returned home
and worked as a clerk in the local store. Like Mr.
Degruchy, he and his family were moved under the Centraliza-
tion programme in the 19605. Mr. Skinner moved to Port aux
Basques where he has been employed as a janitor in a high
school ever since. Before moving from Richard's Harbour he
served on the Select Vestry of the Anglican Church and was
therefore responsible for raising money to maintain its
upkeep; the primary means of doing that was via concerts and
Times which he organized and performed in.

Mr. Skinner was interviewed at his home in Port aux
Basques 27 June 1982. The tape of of that session carries

the designation C6193 83 —134.

16

Chapter 2

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Newfoundland community concert conventions, like other
aspects of the culture, reflect the historical milieu in
which they were developed. The prohibition against settle-
ment by the British authorities, the various streams of
immigration, the unstable economy, and the subsequent cul-
tures which evolved in the isolated communities, all relate
to the entertainment modes which, in many respects, are
unique to this island society. This chapter will present an
historical perspective on Newfoundland with particular em-
phasis on how the community concert was shaped by the
political and economical forces at work there since the time

when settlements were established.

 

17

2.1 Background

Newfoundland's recorded history dates back to the Fif-
teenth Century beginning with the voyage of John Cabot in
1497 and the subsequent explorers searching for the New
World. In 1583 Newfoundland was formally claimed as a
possession of Great Britain by the envoy of Queen Elizabeth
1, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, thus giving it claim to the title
of "Britain's Oldest Colony." The arrival of the EurOpeans
may have been precipitated by the search for the East but
the discovery of the abundance of codfish made it one of the
more significant New World discoveries of that period.
Newfoundland became like "a great ship moored off the Grand
Banks, during the fishing season, for the convenience of
English fisherman”.

Despite the laws issued by the British parliament and the
authority invested in the West Country merchants who vir-
tually had a monopoly on the Newfoundland fishery, people

did settle on the island finding refuge in the myriad of

¥

7
Reported before the House of commons by an Under
Secretary of State in the American Department in 1793.

QUOted by D. W. Prowse,A History 2f Newfoundland(London:
Macmillan and Co., 1895), p. xix.

 

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coves, harbours, and bays along the coast. The initial
settling was a slow and clandestine process, but neverthe—
less the new found land came to be pOpulated "behind the
backs" of those who sought to prevent the colony from
becoming anything but a fishing station under the absolute
control of Britain.

The Nursery for Seamen, as Newfoundland was considered,
was given legal expression in the Western Charter in 1634
thus condoning and sanctioning the traditional practices of
the West country merchants. The Privy Council had proclaimed
"that according to ancient custom every ship or fisher that
first entereth a harbour in behalf of every ship, be Admiral
of said harbour."8 These surrogate governors, or Fishing
Admirals as they were known, had absolute control over the
harbour and its inhabitants with the direct order from the
British House of Commons. The ultimate expression of the
British government to "ensure the sovereignty of the West

Country merchants was to forbid the settlers from living

within six miles of the shoreline. For people whose

 

8

Quoted by Gordon 0. Rothney, Newfoundland: A History
(Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 1964), p. 7.

19

livelihood depended on fishing and therefore access to the
ocean, this was disastrous. The West Country merchants were
so protective of their gift from the king that in enforcing
the order in Council they destroyed all houses from Cape Ray
on the southwest corner of the island all the way to Cape
Bonavista on the northeast section. Officially Newfoundland
became "simply the English fleet moving west across the
ocean in the spring ,and returning back home to England
again in the autumn."9

It wasn't until 1699 that the first sign of hope came for
the unfortunate inhabitants living in " feare, and danger of
violent death."10 A small number of Newfoundland settlers
including John Downing and Thomas Oxford were so angered at
having been attacked and at having their property destroyed
by the admirals, that they went to London and presented the

case for the settlers. Subsequent to their presentation, the

first Western Charter, a gift from the Stuart king, was

 

9
Ibid., p. 11.

10

Newfoundland historian G. O. Rothney refers to these
words of Thomas Hobbes describing men living in a "state of

 

20

replaced by an act of parliament recognizing the in-

habitants.

. . . Provided always that all such persons
[inhabitants] as since the 25th of March 1685 have
built houses and stages that did not belong to
fishing ships since 1685 shall peaceably enjoy the

11
same without disturbance from any person whatever.

The new statute became known as King William's Act and
remained as the fundamental constitutional document throu-
ghout the Eighteenth Century.

The King William's Act recognized that there were settlers
living in Newfoundland who were not directly connected with
the West Country merchants and the fishery. It was a
positive indication to those who decided to make their homes
there. With settlement having been given legal status and
some protection from the whims of the fishing admirals the
community existed in relative peace. It is at this stage
that the various traditions of the Old World began to merge

and give the communities their distinctive Newfoundland

 

11

Act of William III,An Act to Encourage Trade to
Newfoundland. Quoted in Prowse, A History of Newfoundlang,
p. 233.

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character as expressed in the entertainment forms such as
the concert which incorporated their songs, stories, and

oral literature.
2.2 The People - Origins and Roots

In an attempt to understand the community concert as a
major entertainment practice which brought together the
traditional songs and stories in a theatrical setting it is
necessary to understand something of the people who produced
them. The culture which evolved as distinctly Newfoundland
is inextricably tied to the traditions which were trans-
ported from Europe. The religious differences and the
folklore of Ireland and Britain continued as viable forces
in the lives of the immigrants, and in a place where oral
traditions were strongly at work these aspects of culture
survived.

The concerts were most often produced under the auspices
of the community churches, and as a result reflect religious
differences more than any other form of entertainment; there
were Catholic concerts which relied heavily on Irish songs
and sketches and concerts produced by the various protestant
QIOUps whose programmes, according to reports in the
TWillingate Sun, often included English folksongs as well as

hYmns and dialogues with a didactic intent.

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It is estimated that by 1775 there were 12,000 EurOpean-
descended people in Newfoundland. For a place so rich in
resources and having been known for nearly two hundred years
this is an astonishingly small number. Who were these
people who came to this part of the New World where climate
and geography did not work to provide a totally hospitable
environment? The romantic myth about the hardy and ever-
suffering ancestors must be shelved in order to discern some
aspect of the truth about the beginning immigration to
Newfoundland. One study from Memorial University of New—
foundland has attempted to present the facts regarding those
who came in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries; and
with the assistance of statistics and information gleened
from the diaries of wandering scholars and dilettantes of
the period, a picture of the early settlers becomes
discernible.12

Over-populated Ireland provided the West Country merchants

with a continual supply of young men ripe for recruitment

for the Newfoundland fishing industry. They came bringing

12
‘ John J. Mannion, Ed., The Peopling of Newfoundland
(Memorial University of Newfoundland: Institute of Social
and Economic Research, 1977.)

23

with them their Irish traditions and customs and religion
and apart from the intermingling with the English on board
ship during the Atlantic crossing they remained distinctly
Irish as the protestants remained distinctly English. In
many parts of Newfoundland this distinction is still evident
today. Only a few communities grew up in Newfoundland which
contained the two religious groups; in such places the
Catholic families settled on one side of the harbour and the

Protestants on the other.

In the 17th century the English had occupied
almost all the main harbours from Trepassey to
Bonavista Bay, and in the following century the
Irish also dispersed along this shore From the
beginning, however, the Irish tended to concentrate
on the Avalon ,particularly from St. John's to
Placentia, and were also prominent in some of the
more populous centers of summer settlement in the
bays north of St. John's to Fogo Island; elsewhere
the English dominated. The pattern is clearly dis-

13
cernible today.

The English who settled in Newfoundland came primarily
14
from Dorset, Devon, Somerset, and Hampshire. At first the

 

13
Ibid., p. 8.

14
Ibid., p. 7.

24

immigration was seasonal in that the men left their homes in
the spring and returned to England in the fall. However,
with the Newfoundland fishery on the increase it became
necessary that some people stay the winter to protect the
fishing stage, flakes, and other building belonging to the
company. The initial practice of staying one winter
naturally led to two or three, thus, creating a permanent
mode of migration.

"Ye common peOple go to Newfoundland"15was the message of
those recruiting labourers for the fishery on the other side
of the Atlantic. The common people went despite the adver-
sity of the climate and the authorities under which they
worked and, by staying on and persevering, complicated the
plans of the West Country merchants. Since the original
settlers in Newfoundland were the "common peOple" the
entertainment practices which developed did not include such
formal arts as theatre or Opera. The only theatrical event
produced was the concert and perhaps its popularity is

related to the fact that it was able to accommodate aspects

of their oral literature such as songs and monologues.

 

15

C. Grant Head, Eighteenth Century Newfoundland (Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1976). P. 86.

25

In a time when the sole Newfoundland resource was being
exploited at all costs the merchants in their
entrepreneurial zeal soon saw an advantage to having a
resident population in the colony. Newfoundland was not self
sufficient; it could provide most necessities but the lack
of an agricultural component left the residents dependent on
the importation of grain products. The Nineteenth Century
saw a rapid increase in the population of Newfoundland
particularly with regard to the Irish numbers. The movement
was away from the Avalon thus increasing the population of
other parts of the island. Until now the Avalon had received
the majority of the immigrants, especially those from
Ireland, and as a result of having to bear the brunt of the
poor economy for such a long time it was necessary that
newer fishing grounds be sought out. The concentration,
heretofore, of the population on one part of the island had

left most of the coastal areas uninhabited and unexploited.

By 1800, the permanent population was still
largely confine d to the Avalon Peninsula and the
northeast coast to Notre Dame Bay, with only a
scattering of settlements in the remaining areas of
the island to the north and west, and in Labrador. A
century later this vast area was settled, with
twelve times as many people; the Newfoundland

...e

26

maritime frontier was finally closed.16

The result of this migration away from the Avalon was to
spread the population over a large area. There was a rapid
growth of pOpulation at this time and significant changes
occurred within the traditional structure. Foremost among
these changes was the disappearance of the class of inden-
tured servants and the emergence of the colonist as an
ordinary fisherman. With the p0pulation spread over such a
large area and with communications between the different
centers nearly non~existent the communities tended to devel-
Op their own unique character as a result of the isolation.
It was at this stage that the community concerts became a
significant part of the community, both as an entertainment
vehicle and as a money raising enterprise.

St. John's became more and more the centre of trade and
commerce and the only contact with the international fishery
trade. The rest of Newfoundland became more and more
isolated and removed from the commercial activities as the
power of the local merchants declined. It became absolutely

necessary that the communities become self-sufficient.

 

16
Mannion, The Peopling_of Newfoundland, p.1

27

With this fundamental social change, the basic
structure of modern outport society began to emerge,
socially more egalitarian and occupationally less
specialized than in the previous century. Labor and
production were now almost completely organized
around the family household unit which aimed towards
a greater degree of self-sufficiency and engaged in
a wide l7range of self-supporting domestic
activities.

It was during the Nineteenth Century that the many
communities away from the Avalon Peninsula were settled and
a concerted effort made on the part of their inhabitants
towards some degree of self—sufficiency. The lack of
communication with the outside world and even with St.
John's caused a dependency within the community groups which
forged the various Old World backgrounds into traditions
which became common to a particular harbour, cove, or bay.
The isolation factor, according to Mannion, is the greatest
single factor contributing to the uniqueness of the New-
foundland character.

Newfoundland's cultural landscape is unique in
contemporary North America, not just because the

population is predominantly restricted to a necklace
of communities around the coast but because of its

 

17
Ibid., p. 11.

28

historic isolation from.the mainland; the landscape
and the technology that helped create it have
preserved until recently an Old World character.18
An integral part of the community cultures which evolved
from the Old world traditions was the entertainment modes.
These were adapted to fit in with the seasonal occupational
aspect of the community and as a result were most evident
during Christmas and the winter months. The activities of
the isolated communities included jannying, mummering, sing-

ing, story-telling, and dancing, as well as the use of drama

in the form of concerts.

2.3 Church and School

As if the problems caused by the international fishery
trade and those brought on by the natural disasters were not
enough Newfoundland was also not immune from violence and
dissension caused by differences in religion. The Nineteenth
Century was a time when Roman Catholic and Protestant
differences were very much a concern of the whole population

often causing physical violence to persons and to prOperty.

 

18
Ibid., p. 150

29

The influx of over 24,000 Irish immigrants between 1811 and
1830 sharply increased one particular ethnic group and
religion. This was a time when Representative Government was
being established and the political superiority of one
religious group over another was very much feared. The fears
and traditions brought over from the Old World surfaced on
this side of the Atlantic and manifested themselves in a
number of grisly episodes such as as the one in 1835 when
the editor of the Public Ledger was attacked by masked men
and had his ears cut off.19

The religious dissension in the 18305 aggravated distrust
of one denomination for another which resulted in com-
munities being split, separate schools built, and enormous
amounts of money and energy spent ensuring that co-Operation
remained at a minimum. These divisions were reflected in

the community concert traditions in that they were referred

to as belonging to a particular religious denomination such

 

19
From an account of the event by the victim printed in
the Public Ledggr, June 9, 1835, discussed by G. M. Story,
”Newfoundland: Fishermen, Hunters, Planters, and Merchants,"
in Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland, ed. Herbert Halpert

and G. M. Story. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1969.)

 

30

20
as the Methodist or Church of England concert. The most

significant consequence of the re-awakening of these Old
WOrld rivalries was the establishment of schools along
denominational lines with the Churches having the power over
personnel and curriculum, as well as being responsible for
the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings. This resulted
in too much time and money being spent to sustain a rather
clumsy educational system which, after the introduction of
various protestant denominations, demanded that one com-
munity have a school for each group. It was not unusual to
find a small community in Newfoundland with three or four
schools and churches. Until 1950 it was the responsibility
of the communities and the churches to maintain its school
facilities. There was a minimum of financial assistance from
the government so money for this purpose had to raised

locally, usually through such events as concerts.

¥

20
Some informants for this study attributed the
disappearance of the concert tradition in some communities
to the establishment of of a number of newer religious
groups in the 19405 and 19505 such as the Pentecostal
Assemblies. Dramatic events and other traditional

entertainment were often disapproved of by these evengelical
organizations.

31

Despite the attempts by the churches at establishing and
maintaining schools there was a paucity of educational
opportunities in Newfoundland prior to Confederation with
Canada. In 1949 the province had one of the highest rates of
illiteracy in North America. No where is this more evident
than in the journals of the Society for the Propagation of

the Gospel missionaries such as Archdeacon Edward Wix.

Assembled twenty-four persons to full service. As
not one in this settlement could read, I was
requested to read a letter containing intelligence
of the most interesting kind, of which the family
had been in ignorance, although they had had it by
them for weeks.I many similar settlements, I was
engaged in writing letters for the people to rela-
tives who had been settled, some ten, some twenty
years, in other parts of the island, and with whom
they had been unable to hold any communication since
their original settlement in the country, or, at

21
least, since their di5persion.

Similarly, the Reverend Julien Moreton recorded in his diary
his observation regarding the lack of education in

Nineteenth Century Newfoundland; he disclosed that ”of the

334 persons married in seven years only forth-nine could

21
Edward Wix, Six Months of a Newfoundland Missionary's
Q9urnal, from February to Aggust, 1835, (London: Smith,
Elder and Co.f“1836)] p. 24.

32

22
write their names". For this study of the popular culture

vis a vis the community concerts, these journals and
missionary reports have proven to be extremely useful in
that they provide a detailed picture of the social milieu of
the last century when the practice became widespread. They
present a vivid picture of a society where oral tradition is
relied upon for the preservation of its songs and stories,
as well as the day to day events. The concerts which began
in such an environment utilized these items of the folklore
in a theatrical setting.

Along with their observations regarding the lack of
education these early missionaries also recorded facts about
the quality of life in Newfoundland during their sojourns
there. The influx of people to Newfoundland and the sub-
seQuent settling of the many isolated coves and harbours
around its coast had begun to show its effects by the middle
of the Nineteenth Century and continued to do so until the

Twentieth.

22
Rev. Julien Moreton, Life and work in Newfoundland.

Bpminiscences of 13 Years Spent There (London: Rivingtons,
1863)! p. 230

33

As well as establishing the Church of England in New-
foundland the Society for the Propagation of Gospel laid the
foundation for education as well. The people whom they
referred to in their 1790 report as "a barbarous, perfidious
and cruel people" were in need of schools and the rudiments
of education.

Order was slowing being established; not through the
efforts of the government but through the churches. The
lawlessness which had threatened the existence of the
population was slowly being eliminated as the clergy took
responsibility for the educational as well as the spiritual
needs. The church had become the prime motivating force for
the peOple of Newfoundland and was to have a distinct
presence in all levels of government as they developed. By
the mid Nineteenth Century, as a result of men like
Archdeacon Wix, most of the island's population adhered to
one religious denomination or another, and as a consequent
the churches made a more concerted effort to staff the
various parishes. As the churches were established in the
many small communities throughout the island it became
necessary that these places organize to support them. The
clergy and teacher arrived and with them brought ideas as to

how to maintain the new services; at this stage the concert

34

became a regular event produced under the auspices of the

church and school.
2.4 Economic and Social Conditions

Among the factors which were inherent in shaping the
concerts traditions in Newfoundland perhaps the most sig-
nificant were those related to the social and economic
conditions, for apart from the entertainment and celebration
aSpect these events were produced out of necessity. The
community dramatic events attempted to provide some
semblance of a welfare programme for the needy as well as to
maintain certain community services.

Prominent in the Nineteenth Century Newfoundland picture
is tragedy, poverty, and disaster. The fragile economy was
dependent on one single resource leaving the whole popula-
tion at the mercy of the elements and the success or failure
of the inshore fishery. Newfoundlanders, although isolated,
were not immune from the effects of the changes in world
Politics. In 1815 France and America barred Newfoundland
fish from domestic markets by demanding extremely high duty
taxes. The action had a devastating effect, so much so, that
it brought on a commercial crash at the close of 1815. In

1817, just two years after the crash, the inshore fishery

35

failed and 1818 was one of the coldest winters on record
freezing the waters around St. John's thus cutting off
shipping. To complete the picture St. John's experienced the
first of a number of major fires in February 1816 destroying
most of the town. Other fires added to the misery of the

capital and therefore the rest of the island in 1817, 1846,
23
and 1892.

In 1860 there was widespread pauperism due to the failure
of the fisheries and nearly one third of the colony's total
revenue was required for the relief of the poor. Con-
sequently there was little money left in the government's
coffers for services such as education.(The complete picture
of education in Newfoundland during most of the nineteenth
century is to found in the annals of the Benevolent Irish
Association, the St. John's Society, the Newfoundland
society and those groups who worked under the auspices of
the Wesleyan Church.)

As mentioned at the beginning of this section it was the

23
A detailed account of the early history of St. John's
including discussion on the major fires is shown in R. G.
Moyles, ”Complaints is Many and Various, but the Odd Devil
Likes it" (Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1975).

 

36

presence of so many poor and distressed people in New-
foundland that prompted organizations to raise money to
alleviate their suffering. Quite often the fund-raising
endeavors involved dramatics as was the case in 1770 when
the Gentlemen of the Navy performed Nicholas Rowe's IEE 3335
Penitent in St. John's . An account of a similar event was
reported in the Harbour Grace Standard in 1864 when some
gentlemen of the town endeavored to raise money for the poor
in their community. Louise Whiteway in her detailed
analysis of life in Newfoundland in 1867 states that,
"concerts were given under the auspices of the Poor Relief
Association since poor relief in some form or other was ever
a pressing necessity".24 The Twillingate Sun carried a
number of reports from 1880 to 1900 of concerts which were
produced to assist the poor; one case in particular was to
alleviate the suffering of someone who had lost her house in
the St. John's fire. As the island came to be populated and
communities took on their separate identities, organizations

were established such as the Society of United Fishermen and

24
Louise Whiteway, "Newfoundland in 1867."Dalhouise Review
46 (1966 - 67): 57.

 

37

the Loyal Orange Society. Both of these groups prospered in
Newfoundland, thus they were established in nearly every
Protestant community.25 Around the same time as the frater-
nities were set up the women began to establish societies
under the auspices of the various churches and devoted their
time almost exclusively to assisting the poor through fund
raising or by other means.

Economic conditions improved slowly after 1939 with the
establishment of military bases in Newfoundland by Canada
and the U.S.A. A new era of prosperity dawned; New-
foundlanders, in the thousands, were employed by the
Americans and cash was available in unaccustomed amounts.26
The prosperity continued somewhat after the war with

politicians like Joseph R. Smallwood preaching Confederation

with Canada and the promise of a better standard of living.

25
The Society of United Fishermen (S.U.F) was founded at
Heart's Content, Newfoundland in 1862; the Loyal Orange
Society (L.O.A) was founded in 1863 and quickly spread to
all parts of the island. Both groups figure strongly in the
production of dramatic concerts and will be dealt with at in
length in subsequent chapters.

26
David Alexander, "Development and dependence in
Newfoundland 1880 - 1970,” Acadiensis 4 (Autumn 1974): 3
- 31.

 

 

38

In 1949 the "Nursery for Seamen" became the tenth province

of Canada.
2.5 Post Confederation - Centralization

The community concert tradition grew out of a necessity.
It provided a forum whereby the people could bring together
their songs, and stories, and with assistance from published
scripts were able to support important services as well as
provide a home grown entertainment. With Confederation
major changes were introduced into the Newfoundland society,
none were more significant than the government's attempt to
reverse the Nineteenth Century migration patterns by enforc-
ing a centralization programme.

Compared to the rest of Canada Newfoundland was far behind
in terms of living standards and educational opportunities.
Isolation was still the chief obstacle to the establishing
of facilities and supplying services. For the most part
communication in 1949 was still restricted to coastal
steamer and the telegraph. Although there was a railroad
connecting the east coast with the west access to it was
obtained by first travelling by boat or overland on foot.
In 1949 there were 1,500 rural communities most of which had

fewer than three hundred inhabitants. In an attempt to

39

remove the major obstacle to providing the essential ser-
vices the government of Newfoundland with assistance from
the Government of Canada undertook to centralize many of the
smaller communities. It was the expressed intention of the
government to assist the populations of the isolated settle-
ments to move to larger towns where the essential services
already existed. As a result, the number of smaller com-
munities was reduced by moving the people, and oftentimes
their homes, to what was labelled "growth centers." For

example:

In 1965 a revised version of the [resettlement]
programme was inaugurated under joint federal-
provincial sponsorship. This time the specific goal
was declared to be the complete evacuation of 600
communities and the relocation of 70,000 people in
selected "growth centers". In its first five years
the revised programme had closed 119 communities and

27
relocated 16,114 occupations.

The spread of the population in the Nineteenth Century to

make room for the immigration increase was responsible for

the peopling of the "isolated" communities.In his reminis-

g

27
Ralph Matthews, "There's No Better Place Than Here"
(Toronto: Peter Martin Associates Limited, 1976), P. 2.

40

cences gathered in The Winds Softly Sign R. G. Sparkes, who
grew up in one of these out of the way places, recalls a
visitor saying, "Dear God! I can understand a man coming
here to die; but to live? I just don't believe it."28 To the
exclusion of everything but the need to harvest the sea, and
with very little contact outside the immediate area, the
villages grew and attained their individual characters
hallmarked by a dependency on one natural resource and
tempered by the human resourcefulness which persisted
despite the difficult and trying times. That resource-
fulness3 is reflected in how these people chose to give form
to their capacity for celebration; investigating one a5pect
of that is the focus of this study.

With centralization the sense of community was disrupted
and the identity which had been forged out of the unique
background of its people and the geography of the area was
soon lost in the larger growth centers. In these centers the
people found that church and school responsibilities were

different as were the employment opportunities. The benefits

 

28
R. F. Sparkes, The Winds Softly Sigh, (St. John's,
Newfoundland: Breakwater Books Ltd., 1981), p. vi.

41

and amenities the centralization programme brought were no
doubt welcomed but that which was lost in the move must be
remembered. The concert which had been a community effort
organized to ensure a degree of financial independence
required a sense community in order to succeed. In the
larger centers that sense no longer existed and the one
dramatic event which had helped sustain the isolated vil-

lages was no longer possible nor necessary.

2.6 Summary

This background to the study has concentrated on the
economic history, the people and the settlement patterns in
an attempt to provide an explanation of the the unique
character of the Newfoundland society. It has dealt too
heavily perhaps on the written historical record which tends
to be a bit myopic for in the lateral vision the answer to
Why People stayed and survived can be discerned from their
their folk song, stories, dancing, their traditions which
touch ancient mystery via mummering, their use of drama and
performance, and their belief in the Church and in each
other. These cultural items must be accorded credit when
dealing with the intriguing question of survival in the
"great ship moored off the Grand Banks"; along with, what

David Alexander describes as:

42

its [Newfoundland's] enormous capacity to absorb
hardship without sinking into despair, and the deep
conservatism which assures survival but may indicate
an inclination to absorb change rather than to
initiate reform.29
The people with the "inclination to absorb" created a rich
legacy of oral culture, music and song, at the same time as
they battled the elements, the hostility of government, and
the lack of co-operation from geography and the climate.
With the fishery being the primary and sole occupation the
winter months became the time,not only for restoration and
repair of equipment, but one which left time for relaxation
and leisure. It was during this time of the year, par-
ticularly at Christmas, that the capacity for celebration
was attended to, in some part because of religious dictates
but mainly because it was a time when "the work was all

done" and through the auspices of the church, school, and

lodge, the communities entertained by song, dance, mummer-

—__

29

David Alexander, "Literacy and Economic Development in

§égg§e$nth Century Newfoundland," Acadiensis 9 (Autumn

 

43

30
ing, times, and concerts.

The people who settled the island of Newfoundland "behind
the backs of the west country merchants and the British
authorities" persisted in a pre-industrial society by becom-
ing master craftsmen, fishermen, hunters, and nurtured a

folklore rich in Old World and New World Cultures. They

were, above all, communities on a human scale and
societies with a consciousness, or an illusion, of
31
mastery over their environment.

30

. The newspapers consulted for this study of the concert
invariably mentioned entertainment events in the December
and. January issues. Some publications carried similar
notices in February and March but seldom anything of this
nature between March and November, except for one newspaper,

the Grand Falls Advertiser which served a non-fishing
community.

31

Story, "Newfoundland: Fishermen, Hunters, Planters, and
Merchants, ” p. 33.

 

 

 

AU
..c‘ 'M
462“":13

44

Chapter 3

FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT: THE WRITTEN RECORD

In the preceding chapter references were made to the
Newfoundland culture generally which evolved from the com—
bination of Old world traditions and the geographical
isolation exacerbated by the economic of the area. This
section will discuss the entertainment modes which identify
this culture; namely, mummering, theatre, and the Soiree or
Time, with emphasis on their relationship to the community
concert.

Information used in this chapter, besides coming from more
traditional sources, was also found in the Memorial Univer-
sity of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive.32 No
attempt will be made to draw conclusion with regard to the

entertainment modes except to present the research that

¥

32

All subsequent references to the Archive and its
holdings will be in the abbreviated form: MUNFLA.

45

provides a more comprehensive picture of the Newfoundland
society and assist in placing within its proper context the

community concerts which are the focus of this study.
3.1 Mummering

Any discussion of traditional entertainment practices in
Newfoundland must focus first on the age-old tradition of
mummering. In the Newfoundland context this practice is
identified by disguising oneself both physically and
vocally, and seeking admittance to homes within the com-
munity.33

The first printed reference to mummering in Newfoundland,
according to Story, was by the Reverend Anspach, a mission-
ary with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
(S.P.G.). In his account of life in Newfoundland The
Reverend Anspach wrote the following regarding the Christmas
practice.

‘

33

In recent years, since the establishment of MUNFLA the
traditions of mummering have been surveyed, examined, and
subjected to varying degrees of analysis by anthropologists,
fOlklorists, and journalists with the result being a
Considerable number of publications on its various aspects.
Chief among the studies is a collection edited by Herbert
HalPert and G. M. Story, Christmas Mummin in Newfoundland,
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 196%TT

46

Another custom, which is said to be still ob-

served in the North of England, prevails in

some

parts of Newfoundland, though not with general
approbation: it is called mummering; men and women
exchange clothes with each other, and go from house
to house singing and dancing, on which occasion
Christmas boxes are expected, and generally granted
previous to the performance, in order to get rid of
them. The author must, in justice to the native

inhabitants of Conception Bay, observe, that

fre-

quent attempts have been made to introduce this
practice among them, but they have been generally

34
resisted and publicly reprobated.

References to mummering in printed sources are scant.

There may be a number of reasons for this but paramount

among them is certainly the scarcity of printed sources in

general. Those people with the ability and the time to write

and who produced what documents there are

about

Newfoundland's past, usually visited the island during the

summer months when the fishery was in full swing,

during

which times any type of organized celebration would have

been difficult to find. Besides, mummering was a Christmas

*

34

(London: Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 1819), p. 475.

Rev. Lewis Amadeus Anspach, A History of Newfoundland

47

35
activity and relegated solely to that particular season.

One of the more thorough pictures of the practice, however,
is given by a British geologist J.B.Jukes who was retained
by the Newfoundland government in 1839 and 1840 to conduct a

geological survey.

The lower orders ceased work; and during
Christmas, they amused themselves by what seemed the
relics of am old English custom, which, I believe,
was imported from the West of England, where it
still lingers. Men, dressed in all kinds of fantas-
tic disguises, and some in women's clothes, with
gaudy colors and painted faces, and generally armed
with a bladder full of pebbles tied to a kind of
whip, paraded the streets, playing practical jokes
on each other and on the passers by, performing rude
dances, and soliciting money or grog. They called

36
themselves Fools and Mummers.

Like J. B. Jukes, the other reference to the mummering
practices in Nineteenth Century describes the traditions as

they were carried out in St.John's. In this case Sir Richard

35
For a detailed discussion of the European mummering
traditions see E. K. Chambers, The English Folk-Play (New
York: Russell and Russell, 1964, reprint of 1933 edition.)

36

_J- B. Jukes, Excursions in and about Newfoundland!
2E£E31_the Years 1839 and 1840, 2 vols. (London: John
Murray, 1842), 1:220.

 

 

48

Bonnycastle who visited Newfoundland a few years after Jukes
provides information on a different aspect of the mummering
tradition: the mummer play. The most common expression of
this practise was the informal house visit with the par-
ticipants disguised after the manner described by Anspach
and Jukes. However, the visiting tradition where peOple
variously disguised come into a house intent on not having
their identities revealed was, in some parts of the island,
overshadowed by a version of the Medieval mummer play of St;

George and the Drago . Although the practice of performing

 

this play has long since died out, it was, according to
Bonnycastle, a part of the Christmas celebrations held in

St. John's in 1842.

There was, and still is a sort of saturnalia
amongst the lower classes, in St. John's par-
ticularly, which lasts three days, commencing at
Christmas, with boys only.

The mummers prepare, before the New Year, dresses
of all possible shapes and hues, most of which are
something like those of harlequin and the clown in
pantomimes, but the general color is white, with
sundry bedaubments of tinsel and paint.A huge paper
cocked hat is one favorite headpiece, and everyone,
among the gentlemen, excepting the captain or
leader, and his two or three assistants, is masked.
The ladies are represented by young fishermen, who
are painted, but not masked. Some of the masks are
very grotesque, and the fools or clowns are fur-
nished with thongs and bladders, with which they
belabour the exterior mob. Much ingenuity is observ-
able in the style of the cocked hats, which are

49

surmounted with all sorts of things, feathers in
profusion, paper models of ships, etc.

They perform, at those houses which permit them,
a sort of play,[Mummer Play] in which the unmasked
characters only take a part, and which is very long
and tiresome after once hearing. It is a dialogue
between the captain and a sailor, and commences with
Alexander the Great, and continues down to Nelson
and Wellington. They are both armed with swords, and
mock battle goes on all the while, till one supposed
to be slain, when the doctor is called in to bring

37

him to life again.

Participation in the Newfoundland mummer play was
restricted to a small group of people who had been taught
the lines and the business. 8 Unlike the informal house
visit where anyone could be a mummer; with the play, people
had to be selected to become a part of the fraternity. Those
who became participants in this ancient drama were most

likely entrusted with the verses and dialogues by someone

Passing them down by word of mouth. With the play being

\

37
Sir Richard Bonnycastle, Newfoundland in 1842 (London:
Henry Colburn, 1842), p.138 - 4o.

38
An intensive search was under taken in the early sixties
by members of the Department of Folklore at Memorial
University of Newfoundland to record the mummer play. Dr.
Herbert Halpert and Dr. John Widdowson fortunately salvaged
the final remnants of this tradition.

50

presented just a few times during the year at Christmas it
would have been difficult for anyone to have learned the
lines from watching the performances.

The Newfoundland mummer play was an organized affair; it
was rehearsed as to who entered when and where and included
a march around the community going from house to house to
perform.

The formality and the fraternal aspect of the mummer play
contrasts sharply with the community concert. The former was
restricted to those who were admitted to the brotherhood
- those who had been selected to participate in the mystery.
The concert was open to anyone with the talent and the
willingness to be a part of it, and instead of using
people's homes as the performance space the concert was
stationary, with the audience coming to it, thereby making
it more of a community event.

Unlike the concert the Mummer Play uses neither song nor
music but instead demands that the dialogue be performed
according to the conventions it has always employed. There
is very little room for improvisation or spontaneity. A
Significant difference is that the concert was viewed as a
POSitive event filled with exciting entertainment; the

mummer players were often regarded a mysterious characters

51

who elicited fear. One informant recalled that the mummer

"soldiers" were extremely frightening, "particularly to the
39
children".

The practice which Bonnycastle reported in 1842 continued
until the early Twentieth Century when it finally gave way
to the more popular aspect of this Christmas activity

- disguising or mummering.

In no area have we yet found an explanation of
why the traditional performances of the play died
out, apparently shortly before the First World War.
When we contrast this with the continuing vitality,
in most areas, of Newfoundland's most popular form
of mummering, the house-visit , we can only assume
that the mumming of this latter kind has continued
to live because it serves various useful functions.
For some reason the mummer's play, perhaps because
of it formal nature, did not take on a new func-

40
tional significance, and was allowed to die out.

Whether the formal nature sparked the demise of this

custom or not, it is generally agreed that around the early

 

39
From notes taken during an interview with Mr. Herbert
Foley at Tilting, Newfoundland, August 1979.

40
Herbert Halpert, "Typology of Mumming," in Christmas
Mumming in Newfoundland, ed. Herbert Halpert and G. M. Story

(Toronto: University of Toronto for Memorial University of
Newfoundland, 1969), p. 61.

52

part of this century the presentation of the play gave way
to the informal house visit. References to this topic in
the the MUNFLA mummer collections all agree on the time when
the practice ceased. For example; "But 'tis [Mummer's Play]
died out you know, its never been here since 1907."41 A
similar claim was made in an interview conducted in another
part of the island; "I was no more than fifteen years of age
when they stopped doing dat [Mummer Play], and I'm seventy-
five now [1969].42

As previously mentioned, the practice of mummering
remained after the play had died out. The house—visit type
of mummering is still widespread in Newfoundland and is
common to all geographical regions. (The Mummer Play was
confined, somewhat, to the east and northeast coasts.)
Mummering, or jannying as the activity is sometimes called,

is practiced during the Christmas season by people of all

ages. It consists primarily of disguising oneself with a

 

41

. John Widdowson interviewing Mrs. Lambert Foley at
Tilting, March 13, 1962. MUNFLA C74 64 - 13, MS. p.8.

42

. G. B. Wareham interviewing L. Lockyer, Alex Barrett, and
W1lson Warren at Arnold's Cove, December 27, 1969, MUNFLA C
736 70 - 29’ MS. p. 11.

53

mask and unfamiliar clothing and then visiting the various
houses in the community. Two immediate aims of the mummer is
to be allowed to enter a home and to be identified (or not)
by the host. Once identified the mummer removes the facial
disguise with the successful mummer being the one who fools
the host and is able to leave unidentified.43

Mummers are frightening figures who wear homemade masks of
cardboard, oakum, etc.; dress in overstuffed clothing and
sometimes carry the grotesque hobby horse. The physical
aspects when combined with the anonymity, give the mummer a
certain respect because of his mysterious nature. Mummers
Speak very little except to answer the questions of the
inquiring host, however, when they do it is with a disguised
voice.44

The visit by a group of mummers involved dancing to

accordion music, offers of food and drink (alcoholic for

_¥

43
For an interesting discussion on this a5pect of
mummering see, Gerald M. Sider, "Christmas Mumming and the
New Year in Outport Newfoundland," Past & Present, No. 71
(May, 1975).

44

TDiss is done by changing the pitch and quite often
Speaking ingressively .

54

adults) and lasted for about twenty minutes. Those who were

identified removed their disguise but those whose identities
45
remained a mystery left without revealing them.

Like the disguisers and mummers of England and EurOpe the
Newfoundland participants in this "ancient pastime of the
citizens" did not escape the ire of the authorities.46
Particularly during the period of religious unrest in the
Nineteenth Century did the mummering practice come under
attack with laws being enacted to prevent the practise from
taking place. Fights broke out in the streets in some east
coast communities and in one place in Conception Bay a
protestant was murdered by a group of Roman Catholic
mummers. The Harbour Grace Standard issue of December 17,

1862 carried the following announcement proclaiming the

police ban on mumming.

‘

45
An extremely accurate and detailed account of mummering
in a southwest coast community both from the point of view
0f the host and the participant is to be found in Claire
Mowat' s The Outport people (Toronto. McClelland and Stewart

Limited, 1983)
46

M Clted by Violet Alford, Sword Dance and Drama (London:
erlin press, 1962), p. 52.

The

of the time.

number

55

Any person who shall be found at any season of
the year, in any town or settlement in this colony
dressed as a mummer masked or otherwise disguised,
shall be deemed to be guilty of a public nuisance,
and may be arrested by any peace officer with or
without a warrant, and taken before a Justice of the
Peace in the district of place where such person may
be found, and, on conviction in a summary manner,
before such justice, may be committed to gaol for a
period not exceeding 7 days unless he shall pay a
fine not exceeding 20 shillings. Police Office,

47
Harbour Grace, December 17, 1862.

same announcement was carried in the St. John's papers

The Harbour Grace publication carried it for a

of years, certainly from 1862 to 1865 and according

to one entry the proclamation had produced the desired

effect.

Christmas passed without too many incidents - no
larceny - people respected the law, due to the
suppression of mumming seen as the best measure

48
taken by Harbour Grace.

The community concert required no such legislation: it was

¥

 

47

"NOtice," The Harbour Grace Standard and Conception

W, 14 January 1863.

48

__The Harbour Grace Standard, 11 January 1865.

Bay

56

a community affair, organized and produced to assist some
particular cause, and compared to the mummering practice it
was tightly controlled and formal.

The Mummer Play which dealt with death and resurrection
and peopled with such diverse characters as St. George, St.
Patrick, and a Turkish Knight, was dropped from the mumming
activity in Newfoundland. There may be a number of reasons
for this change in the practice: a gap may have occurred in
the oral tradition process in that it was not passed on to
another generation; or because a director or Captain of the
Mummers could not be found; but most likely it was because
the rehearsal and performance was too formal and required
too much time from people who had very little to spare. The
remnant of the "ancient mystery” manifested in the informal
house visit required very little planning - anyone could
participate regardless of skill. And it served to bring
peOple together during the lull period. The establishment
0f such avenues of communication served to unite and to

ensure the the continuing life of the rural community.

57

3.2 The Time

In this survey of the entertainment modes common to
Newfoundland perhaps the most popular and, in some ways most
important, is the Time. In the Newfoundland idiom this event
means a soiree; a community social usually sponsored by an
organization and held in the school, parish hall, or a lodge
belonging to the Society for United Fishermen (SUF) or Loyal
Orange Association (LOA).

The Time is somewhat similar to the concert. In fact it
was generally the practice that a "Time" follow the presen-
tation of the dialogues, songs, and recitations. Both
brought the community together in a kind of participatory
entertainment with the expressed aim of raising money for
the good of the group.

Usually held during the Christmas season but not neces-
sarily restricted to any one period of the year, the Time
was the nucleus of the organized entertainment around which
the local talent and skills were allowed to be shown. Like
the concert it served to bring the whole community together
and provided them with a forum in which to let loose by way
of dancing and singing and generally having a good time. It

accommodated all age groups from the very old to the very

58

young and in a fair-like environment provided something for
everyone. Newfoundland essayist Ray Guy recalls the ”Time"

as it used to be conducted during his youth.

I can mind, when I was small, being, lodged off
down on the coats in the back of the school at
dances.

This is where they put you at about two O'clock
in the night when you commenced to get groggy and
wanted a nap. There was a row of desks shoved in
tight to the wall for all hands to put their coats
on. . . . First they had the Sale of Work. Second
they had the First Table followed by a Second and
Third Tables depending on how many was there. They
might have a Guess Cake or Grab Bags and third they
had the Dance. . . . By means of these affairs they
built schools, churches and halls, assisted dis-

49
tressed persons, sent parcels overseas.

Anecdotal writings about Newfoundland usually refer to
specific "Times" such as the School Time, the Orangemen's
Time (LOA), or the Fishermen's Time (SUF). Each organization

had a particular day during the Christmas season when their

event was held; for example, Boxing Day, January 26, was the

‘

49

. Ray Guy, You May Know Them as Sea Urchins, Ma'am, ed.
EFIc Norman (Portugal Cove, Newfoundland: Breakwater Books,
L1m1ted, 1975), p. 89.

59

50
day assigned to the Loyal Orange Association.

One informant mentioned that Times were held to coincide
with the Opening of school but they were more like picnics
and the "real Times” were held at Christmas when there was
one nearly every night.51

In his account of Christmas in Deep Harbour Louis
J. Chiaramonte explains that the Time was given throughout
the Christmas holidays and describes it as, "any function
given in the school or local Orangemen's Lodge; a card
party, a dance, or a dance combined with a soup supper maybe
given by any organization that wants to raise money".

These events were extremely important to the life of the

community for in these informal, yet structured, events the

 

50
Sparkes, The Winds Softly, Sign, p. 120; and Aubrey
M. Tizzard, On Sloping Ground: Reminiscences of Outport Life
in_ Notre Dame BayyiNewfoundland (St. John's, Newfoundland:
Memorial Univefgity of Newfoundland Folklore Publications,
1979), p. 228.

51

C. Skinner interviewing J. Osmond at Port aux Basques
April 1980, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153.

52

.Louis J. Chiaramonte, "Mumming in Deep Harbour," in
Christmas MummingLin Newfoundland, p. 81.

 

60

people were permitted a kind of revelry through dancing,
singing, performing, not unlike the license provided by
festivals (everywhere. The serious, responsible working man
was permitted to shelve that side of himself which he
presented everyday throughout the year and was allowed to
replace it with more carefree, lackadaisical, and almost
Bacchic characteristics. During this period singers would
emerge with both serious and comical songs of the folksong
tradition sung in solo performance.53 Of the few published
references to the Time as an event in Newfoundland life
perhaps the best descriptive account is given by the Rev.
G. H. Earle in his essay on growing up in the outports. What
he relates is typical of this social event of the year when
peOple spent their time involved in these carnival-like
activities.
The women too had their meetings, the highlights
for us being their two semi-annual "Times" in the
Lodge. Here would be the big cooked scoff of

saltwater birds or pork and cabbage with a grand
assortment of vegetables of which everybody partook.

—__

53
George J. Casey, Neil V. Rosenberg and Wilfred
W- Wareham, "Repertoire Categorization and performer
‘ Audience Relationships: Some Newfoundland Folksong

Examples," Ethnomusicology 16 (September 1972): 398.

61

Crowds of children would congregate around the
”fish-pond" and try their luck, others would be
pushing their hands in the bran-tub and all gobbling
homemade candy and ice cream. Later in the evening
the hall would be prepared for dancing and sets
formed wherever there was room. A fiddler would
;perch himself on a chair on top of a table in the
center of the hall and for $5 play all night,
loeating time with his feet and bathed in perspira-

tion. The instrument was not a fiddle but an
accordeon [sic] but nevertheless he was called the
fiddler. ‘ The "Time" would be the tOpic of discus-

sion for54many days, especially the comical
episodes.

Similarly the concert provided the topic of conversation
for a period following its production. Some informants
recalled that children picked up certain phrases from the
dramatic event which then became part of the regional
lore.55 Particularly funny dialogues were discussed as were
the antic of the actors, the new songs and other material.

The "comical episodes" referred to above may have included

practical jokes, slightly unabridged language, incidents

¥

54
Rev. G. H. Earle, ”I Remember Life in the Outports," The

Book of Newfoundland IV. Joseph R. Smallwood, editor, (St.
John 5, Newfoundland: Newfoundland Book Publishers Ltd.,

1967), p. 236.

55
Simms, MUNFLA 0808 - 52.

62

involving dancing, and the varying degrees of inebriety some
participants may have achieved.

In light of the history of Newfoundland as outlined in
Chapter One with its harshness and the continual struggle
against the elements, the economy, and the authorities, the
"Time“ was just that - a time out from the toil and routine
of everyday life to experience a little of the pleasure of
celebration. Perhaps not quite Dionysian but similar enough
to be recognized as belonging to that particular facet of

the human experience.
3.3 Theatre Tradition in Newfoundland

Of the three modes of entertainment discussed here the one
most like the community concert in many respects is theatre.
Ironically it is also the one with which the people of
Newfoundland were most unfamiliar. There are a number of
reasons for this. Theatre, as it is generally perceived and
practiced demands certains things of those who participate
in it. Foremost among these are the ability to read, a
knowledge of the art form, and time to prepare the product.
On all three accounts the Pre-Confederation Newfoundland
soCiety is found wanting.

There was a high degree of illiteracy in Newfoundland in

63

the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century. For example, in
1891 thirty-two percent of the population over ten years of
age was totally illiterate.( The figures for Ontario and the
Maritimes for the same period was only six percent and
thirteen percent re5pectively and in the U. S. A. in 1900
eleven percent of the population over ten years of age was
illiterate.)56 The figure for Newfoundland strongly suggest
that the ability to read a playscript and to memorize it,
and then to submit to the plan of a director would have been
a difficult undertaking for most people. One of the
considerations in selecting dialogues for the concerts was
that they be relatively simple since a number of the
participants had very little education.

Some knowledge of theatre and its traditions, and accepted
conventions are a major asset in attempting to produce a
play for an audience. It is difficult to imagine a culture
unfamiliar with this particular art form endeavoring to to
present a play from the canon of dramatic literature without

ever having seen a performance or, for that matter, ever

¥

56

. David Alexander, "Literacy and Economic DevelOpment in
Nineteenth Century Newfoundland," Acadiensis 1980, p. 8.

 

 

64

having read one. The field work for this study revealed over
and over again that many peOple failed to recognize the word
"theatre." In some instances the word drama was known and
understood by some of the older informants, but to ensure
that the interviews focused on the tOpic of inquiry the

words "concert" or "dialogue", and in some cases, "play" had

57
to be used.

Perhaps the most significant reason as to why theatre and
play production was not a major part of Newfoundland society
is that the art demands a considerable amount of time from
those who participate in it. As pointed out elsewhere the
whole outport scene was one of a continual struggle for
survival with only a short respite taken during the
Christmas season. The time available for rehearsals was
limited to preparing short dialogues, recitations, and
songs. Patrick O'Flaherty writing about the Newfoundland
outport life stresses that:

The unforgettable fact of life in the pre—1949
outport was its burdensomeness, the need which the

—*

57
This does not apply to many Newfoundlanders today since
mOSt students have encountered travelling theatre shows by
local and national companies.

65

milieu imposed upon the inhabitants for endless,
repetitive labor combined with thrift if existence
was to be kept bearable. . . . A fisherman using
trawls or hand-lines would probably spend as much
energy just getting to the fishing grounds as most

present-day salaried Canadians use during their full
58
day's work.

Certainly not the ideal environment for the production of an
art so demanding as theatre. The expression of the pre-l949
Newfoundland society was more easily given in song as
evidenced by the numerous collections of such.59

It is not germane to suggest that illiterate societies do
not have the capacity for theatre or for the use of drama.
Far from it. But the Newfoundland society was something of a
potpourri of Old world values and traditions transferred to
the isolated communities around the coast. Theatre as it had
existed in England in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

most likely was not a part of the cultural background of the

¥

58

Patrick O'Flaherty, "Looking backwards: the Milieu of

the Old Newfoundland Outports," Journal of Canadian Studies
10 (1975): 3.

59

See Kenneth Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports,
3 VOls. (Ottawa: National Museum of Canada Bulletin,
Secretary of State, 1965).

 

66

founding population. The ritual within that society was
restricted very much to the church events with the special
holidays like Christmas being times when the more distin-
guishable products of oral tradition were permitted to
surface at events such as the concert. Given the industrial
milieu, the cultural traditions which developed in New-
foundland reflected those things which had to do with
fishing, hunting, and logging.

It is not surprising that the theatre tradition in
Newfoundland's history is confined to St. John's along with
a few amateur attempts at Harbour Grace and Grand Falls. In
the case of Grand Falls the community organization was
remarkably different from the rest of the island since it is
a papermill town started at the turn of this century by the
Anglo-Newfoundland Company. At Grand Falls peOple were not
dependent on the fishery but were ensured a good wage and
the security which went with it. Unlike the fishermen the
factory worker had set hours and ample time for leisure and
recreation. In Grand Falls and its satellite centers of

Bishop‘s Falls and Windsor there were amateur drama groups,

67

60
choirs and other special interest organizations.

Despite all the factors which mitigated against the
establishment of a theatre tradition it did have a presence
there, albeit, much stronger in the Capital. This section
will outline the highlights of that presence attempting to
present a survey of the printed references to the existence
of theatre in Newfoundland. It will illustrate that,
although similar in terms of conventions, the concerts
tradition in Newfoundland did not develop as an offshoot of
theatre. Except for those people who lived in St. John's
the rest of the population was unfamiliar with the produc-
tion and presentation of full length plays. However, the
revue type theatre or concert was widespread. The study of
the theatre does point out one similarity, however, with the
concert; both were produced initially to raise money to
assist the poor and needy.

The first reference in the early newspapers of a theatre
event in St. John's was an advertisement carried in the
BQYal Gazette, March 18, 1817:

—‘

60
The development of these Central Newfoundland towns is

well documented in the Grand Falls newspaper, The Grand
galls Advertiser.

 

68

For the Benefit of the Poor

Theatre in St. John's At the Store lately oc-
cupied by Mr. William R. Row This Evening Will be
performed the celebrated tragedy of The Fair
Penitent. Doors to be Opened at half past 6 O'clock
and the performance to commence 1/2 past 7.

Tickets - at 55. each, to be had at this office,

61

and the office of the Merc.[entile] Journal.

The Fair Penitent, as were subsequent amateur production
of that period, was undertaken to raise money for the poor.
In a prologue written for the occasion by Mr. Wakeham of HMS
Pike a rather grim picture is painted of the human condition
complete with images of mothers mourning starving infants.
The players in the drama were there, it said, to momentarily
deliver the distressed from their plight and asked that such
a noble objective might excuse their shortcomings with
regard to skill. Mr. Wakeham, the writer of the prologue,
was certainly no stranger to British drama of the early
Nineteenth Century. The form and style used is not unlike
that spoken by English actors and managers to introduce,

excuse, apologize for the play, or to assist in setting the

stage for the event. His references to the "buskin'd stage"

‘

61

”Advertisement," The Royal Gazette [St. John‘s, Nfld.],
18 March 1817.

69

and the treading of same to "portray the growing passions
which our bosums show,” and to "shew fair virtue's native
loveliness,” distinctly show a familiarity with the sen-
timents and language of the late Seventeenth and early
Eighteenth Centuries. It is safe to speculate that the navy
and army personnel stationed in St. John's in 1817 who had
had some previous experience with theatre initiated this
significant project.

The Fair Penitent was successful in raising money for the

 

poor and subsequent productions were mounted. April 15, just

a month after their first show, the gentlemen of the navy
62
and army presented The Point of Honour to a full house.

 

Like other newspaper reports of productions staged during
this period the Royal gazette drew 'attention to the

worthwhile nature of the cause they supported.

Great praise is due to the young Gentlemen for
their enterprise in bringing forward such perfor-
mances, and it is but justice to say, that the
Characters both Male and Female, were well sup-
ported, and that the discerning audience bestowed on

¥

62
Described as a "melo-drama" by the newspaper this play
was one of many by Charles Kemble, 1775 - 1854. There are a

number of publications of A Point of Honour the first being
in 800.

 

70

them the applause which their merit so justly
deserved. A considerable sum of Money has been
raised in consequence, for the distressed objects of
the Town. . .the community has been highly gratified
and amused, and the Gentlemen who were the actors
.have given scope to their talents, which is of
itself commendable. . .We feel not the least wish to
criticize or point out the merits or demerits of one
‘performer above another, because when their motive
is considered, it would be palpable
injustice-- Every encouragement should be given to
such laudable undertakings. Several Gentlemen of
the Town volunteered their services with their
Musical instruments, which added much to the
63
pleasure of the Evenings' Entertainments.

The first, and one of the very few, references involving

professional theatre in St. John's was in in 1806 when

Governor General wrote:

Gentlemen - the four persons named in the margin,
who are arrived here from Quebec, being players,
have requested I will allow them to exhibit their
theatrical representatives in St. John's. You are to
do so, so long as they shall continue to conduct

64
themselves in an orderly and decent manner.

Note that the license was to perform in St. John's only.

__

63

the

"Theatre, St. John's," The Royal‘Gazette, 15 April 1817.

 

64

Litx. p.237.

Celonial Records, 1806, quoted in O'Neill, The Oldest

 

71

Both Sir Richard Bonnycastle and J. B. Jukes, visitors to
Newfoundland in the Nineteenth Century, make reference to
amateur theatre in the capital. Jukes reported that in
1840, "there was an amateur theatre, the profits of which
were devoted to charitable purposes and a performance took

place once every fortnight in which several parts were well

65
sustained by actors and the audience". Bonnycastle made a

similar observation and added a note regarding the make up

of the audiences which attended these amateur affairs.

A theatre has long been established by amateurs
in which a company of players have been performing
this winter; but the taste for this is not very
great amongst the wealthy classes who do not mingle

66
very frequently in public.

The preceding account of theatre traditions in New-
foundland refers only to the the capital of Newfoundland,

St. John's. As pointed out earlier in this section the rest

Of Newfoundland encountered very little along the lines of

__

65

Jukes, Excursions in and about NewfoundlandJ During? the
Isars 1839 and 1840, p. 221.

66
Bonnycastle, Newfoundland in 1842, p.100.

 

72

formal or professional theatre. Unlike St. John's the other
(xmmnunities did not have a non-fishing population with the
time cu' skill to _attempt this. Even in St. John's those

achors who produced the first play, The Fair Penitent, were

 

not citizens of the city; they were gentlemen of the navy
and army, people who were educated and, being officers, no
doubt had sufficient leisure time to attend to the art.
Apart from St. John's the only other center which sup-
ported an amateur drama group in the Nineteenth Century was
Harbour Grace. As in St. John's the "young men” of this
major center produced their plays for the benefit of the
poor. What was presented was the archetype of the community
concert consisting of a programme of songs, poetry readings,
minstrel dialogues and the short play Box and Cox, plus a

67
stump speech. The newspaper, The Harbour Grace Standard,

 

 

diligently reported the events of the evening, but as with

__

67

. Defined by Wilmeth as: "A comedy feature primarily in
minstrel shows and vaudeville; a version of the traditional
StorY-telling monologue. . . . the major part of the variety
section, in which minstrels concentrated on the misuse of
ianguage, making the stump speech more an exercise in the
1nf1nite possibilities for malapropisms and nonsequiturs
than a commentary on the subject of the lecture”. Don
3- Wilmeth, The Langpage of American Popular Entertainment
(weStPOrt, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981), s.v. "Stump Speech.’r

73

the St. John's reports, the purpose overshadowed the artis-
tic component.
The relief of the poor being the highly laudable
Object had in view, we are sure that the corps will
meet with continued encouragement, particularly,
too, that as .beginners the members have evinced a
remarkably aptitude for their work.68
The first performance of the Harbour Grace theatre corps
had no less than two reports in the next issue - one in the
form of a letter to the editor and the other a column by the
editor himself. As well, the corps published a list of their
expenses along with the sum they had donated to their
objective. It is of interest that included in the expenses
was eleven shillings paid to the police constable!
Theatrical traditions play a considerably small role in
the development of Newfoundland. This does not, however,
imply a "all work and no play" mentality; far from it. The
social history of Newfoundland when juxtaposed with the

harsh economic history‘ is a testament to what David

Alexander calls "its enormous capacity to absorb hardship

¥

68

"Amateur Theatricals," The Harbour Grace Standard, 1
March 1865.

 

74

without sinking into despair and the deep conservatism which
69
assures survival”.

3.4 Summary

Three important Newfoundland entertainment traditions
which a whole community could participate in were mummering,
the Time, and, to a lesser extent, theatre. Except for the
mummering which was a small group activity, the other two
were organized for the benefit of the needy and to raise
money in support of the church and school. However, neither
of the two fulfilled that function as well as the concert
- the only dramatic event common to all parts of the island.
How it was able to do this is the subject of the following

chapters.

¥‘

69
Alexander, Literacy and Economic Development, 9- 7-

75

Chapter 4

ORGANIZATION

As indicated in the preceding chapters, the community
concert develOped as a popular entertainment form in New-
foundland and persisted as such until the 19505. Its
widespread popularity was due, in part, to the fact that it
fulfilled important needs in the community. It provided a
safe environment for celebration as well as assisting in the
running and maintenance of those institutions which were
vital to the community. These events were produced on a
regular basis without the aid of specific interest groups
such as drama societies and without the expertise of someone
fandliar with theatrical conventions or possessing formal
training in the art. This chapter will discuss how these

concerts were organized, produced, and staged.

76

4.1 Purpose
70

The primary purpose for producing a concert has always
been something other than to provide entertainment. However,
in all instances the informants for this study remembered
quite vividly good times accorded them as a result of the
entertainment event. From the first record of dramatic
activity in Newfoundland in 1812 by the Gentlemen of the
Navy when they "tread'd the buskin'd stage" in order to
raise money for the poor, down through to the concerts of
the late Nineteenth Century and to those of recent times,
the proceeds have all gone to some charitable, civic or
religious cause.

It was established in Chapter One that prior to becoming a
province of Canada the Newfoundland communities were almost
totally responsible for the building and maintenance of
schools. The finances to ensure that the buildings were kept
in usable condition and that there was fuel such as coal and

wood to heat them, were almost all raised through community

__

70

Purpose is used here in reference to the community need
the concerts were intended to finance or attend to.

77

efforts. Paramount among those efforts was the concert
consisting of songs, recitations and dialogues. Early ac-

counts in the Twillingate Sun attest to the needs of the

 

communities being met via this entertainment event.

Sunday schools "worked up" concerts to raise money for
church related causes and community groups "put off"
dramatic entertainments to support more immediate and press-
ing needs as was the case in October, 1892 when members of
the community of Twillingate "got up" a concert to raise
money to assist a lady who had lost all of her possessions
in the St. John's fire of that year. An advertisement for

the event appeared thusly:

The entertainment, in behalf of a fire sufferer,
as announced in previous pages, will take place in
the court house on Wednesday evening next to begin
at seven o'clock. The programme for the occasion is
likely to be a very interesting one and as the
admission fee is only twenty cents it7is hoped a

1
large audience will greet the performers.

A subsequent issue of the newspaper carried a description

of the programme and some anecdotal material regarding the

_E

71
"Local and General," Twillingate Sun, 24 September 1892.

78

production of the concert. It apparently introduced a
novelty - a Twillingate Minstrel troupe which took up the
second half of the event. Significant too with regard to the

particular concert was that one of the organizers was the
72
then famous opera singer, Georgina Sterling.

The lady for whom the concert raised the money expressed

her gratitude in the same publication.

Mr. Editor,- Miss Pride wishes through your
columns to return her very sincere thanks to Misses
Sterling and ladies and gentlemen who rendered them
such hearty assistance in the late entertainment
gotten up for her benefit, also to the general
public who so liberally patronized the Festival, as
the handsome amount realized testifies.

She hopes that the future of all will be free of
disaster, especially such as she was called to pass

73
through. Yours truly, Friend.

An interview conducted in 1972 by a Memorial University of

l

72

Georgina Sterling was born at Twillingate, Newfoundland,
Studied voice at Toronto and became a prominent Opera star
of her time, even singing at La Scala. A number of
references are made in the local press to her visits to
Twillingate and of her contributions to the community such
as singing in concerts and assisting with their
Organization.

73
"Card Of Thanks," Twillingate Sun, 8 October 1892.

 

79

Newfoundland student revealed that, consistent with the
majority of MUNFLA's contributors, concerts were a part of
the informant's past. And, as with other such events, the

financial side of the productions was an important aspect.

Well I took part in most everything was goin' on,
we used to get up plays. . . Christmas concerts
[were] something that everybody looked forward to. .
. . I've known Christmas concerts here in 1918 when
we would take a hundred and thirty-five dollars to
one hundred and forty dollars [from tickets at forty

74
cents each.

Again, like so many of the Newfoundland people who con-
tributed to this study, this informant stresssed that
although raising money was the primary motive in getting the

concerts started it soon gave way to a greater and perhaps

stronger one: the creating of an environment wherein people

 

could enjoy themselves. "The main reason was for enjoyment.
75
. . but we also used to raise quite a bit of money."
The numerous reports on concerts published in the
74

Lewis Cole interviewing Victor March at Green's Harbour,
February, 1972. MS pp. 9—10, MUNFLA C1288 72 - 98.

75
Ibid., page 100

80

Twillingate Sun from 1880 to 1898 all stress the purpose
which the productions were intended to serve. Such was the
case in 1894 when the small community of Herring Neck on the
northeast coast reported the entertainment news to the

regional newspaper.

An entertainment which was to have been given in
Green's Cove schoolroom of the 5th ult. (Shrove
Tuesday) for the purpose of raising money towards
getting new windows and otherwise repairing the
School Chapel there, was postponed owing to the icy
hand Of death being laid upon a near and dear

relative of one of its chief promoters. It was
further postponed to Thursday 22nd ult., when it
76

took place in St. Mary's schoolroom, Salt Harbour.

Similarly a concert was held at Pilley's Island on St.
Patrick's Day 1894 in "aid of the liquidation of the debt on
the Church of England."77

Things seem not to have changed with regard to purpose of

the concert as evidenced in a letter from an informant who

had recently produced a number of these entertainment events

__

76

”Entertainment at Herring Neck," Twillingate Sun, 9
March 1894.

 

77
"Pilley's Island Notes," Twillingate Sun, 28 April 1894.

to raise money for a community cause; "About seven years

ago, we revived the custom of variety concerts to raise
78
money for a proposed swimming pool for our town." Recall-

ing the concerts held in the 19205 an informant commented on
the worthwhile nature of their purpose which he felt

contributed to their box office success.

In those days fifty cents was a lot of money, but
at the same time people didn't worry too much about
what they had to pay to get in because it was all
for the church . . . and when you are doing it for

79
that nobody questioned the price.

Not all reports, however, emphasized the financial motive.
Some such as the record of a concert held at Marshallville
in 1894 stresses the pedagogical nature of the enter-

tainment; not surprisingly, since it, like many of these

community efforts, was sponsored by the Sunday School.

Such entertainments in those places are cal-
culated to improve the rising generation and lead to
much good. The children in the outports generally

_‘

78
Letter from Ruth Matthews to C. Skinner, 20 March 1982.

79

.C. Skinner interviewing J. Osmond at Port Aux Basques,
April 1982, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153.

82

are smart and intelligent and with the develOpment

of the faculties with which nature has endowed them,

and capable of holding their own against children

who are living in centres surrounded from their

earliest childhood with all the educational ad-
80

vantages possible.

Some of the Nineteenth Century reviewers were not as
serious in stating the motive and purpose. In a number of
instances the writers of the social events columns for the
communities in Notre Dame Bay spoke of the reason for the
event in more secular terms. One such event held in
Laurencetown in 1894 was produced because "it was so dull
all winter until the seals came . . . after[wards] we got up
a concert."81

Those students who reponded to the questionnaire on
concert production indicated that they were familiar with
school concerts and that the purpose for their production
was entirely for entertainment. The concerts organized by

SChools were produced by teachers and students usually for

_h

80
"Marshallville Sunday School Anniversary," Twillingate
.8112, 28 April 1894.

81
”Laurencetown Concert," Twillingate Sun, 12 may 1894.

83

the benefits of family with very little attention paid to
raising money. Such concerts were presented just before the
Christmas and Easter vacations or sometimes before the end
of the school year.82

The church-sponsored concerts were usually produced by the
organizations of the various denominations. For example, the
Anglican Church ‘WOmen's Association was a pOpular producer
of concerts.

The organizations which are most often associated with
concerts were the Society Of United Fishermen (SUF) and the
Loyal Orange Association (LOA). These organizations usually
had a lodge which provided a performance space for concerts
and was large enough to accommodate most of the community.

The Twillingate Sun carried reports of the SUF and LOA
annual meetings describing in detail the events which marked
the respective day of each group. Along with descriptions of

the parades, the church visit, and the banquets, were the

contents of the concert programme and the names of those who

 

82
.The school concert is attended to in this study inasfar
as it reflects the practices of the adult community concert.
In many cases the teachers organized and directed both types

Oihevents, thereby ensuring a carry over from one to the
0 er.

84

performed each item. As mentioned previously, these reports
seldom commented on the quality of the performance except to

mention that everyone did their parts well.

According to custom, this Society (SUF) had its
anniversary on Feb. 2nd . . . . In the evening later
on, an entertainment was given in the name of the
lodge, by the help of friends, who willingly as—
sisted to make the anniversary a success. And
certainly we have seldom attended an S. U.
P. gathering which judging by the applause and the
good order maintained throughout, has given greater
satisfaction to all present. And much gratitude is
due to those who worked up the dialogues, and

83
practised the music.

Similarly, the LOA ended their festivities with a concert.

After doing our best to lighten the tables of
their burdens, the Hall was cleared Of tables and
c., and seats placed for the concerts. Owing to the
state of the weather lately, those getting up the
Entertainment had short time at their di5posa1 but I
think nevertheless they are to be complimented on

84
their success.

Sometime in the Nineteenth Century the Temperance Movement

 

83
"S. U. F." Twillingate Sun, 6 February 1892.

84
"Sermon to Orangemen," Twillingate Sun, 31 January 1891.

 

85

took hold in northeast Newfoundland. This particular
organization was aligned with the Methodist and Con-
gregationalist churches and spread their message of the
destructivenss of alcohol both from the pulpit and the
stage. In the case of the latter, reports of their concerts

which occurred in the Twillingate Sun reflect a didactic

 

purpose.

On Tuesday, March lst the members of "North Star"
Division No. 15, and Central Stream Band of Hope
assembled in the Hall at 1 O'clock to celebrate the
28th anniversary of the institution of the division.
A (concert) was given in the evening at 7:30. A
good programme of recitations, dialogues, songs,
addresses etc. was well executed and duly ap-
preciated. . . . We think the cause of Temperance is
to have strong defense in the rising generation, and
that as those older who drop from the ranks one by
one, young strong hands and earnest will take up the

85

work and carry it on towards completion.
Items on that particular program included dialogues ap-
propriate to the Temperance Movement such as The Young

Teetotaller, Why They Smoke, interspersed with songs en-

titled "Dare to Say No" "Firmly Stand," and "The Temperance

85
”S of T,” Twillingate Sun, 31 January 1892.

86

86
Light."

Like the reports of SUF and LOA concerts, those detailing
similar events of the Temperance group did not list a
specific cause for which the money was raised. In fact, it
would appear that in the 18905 in the Twillingate area of
Newfoundland the fraternities produced some concerts for
their annual celebrations solely for the entertainment of
family and friends of the members. Except, of course, in
the case of the Temperance-sponsored events which sought to
edify as well as entertain; in a number of instances their
programs carried the note that the various pieces were
”interesting, but instructive."87

The Newfoundland society which emerged in the Eighteenth
and Nineteenth centuries gave form to the dramatic impulse
through the variety concerts; always under the auspices of
some community project. In the Pre-Confederation days when
government grants were not in the least sufficient to

support schools the only way a facsimile of a formal

86
Ibid.

87
"Methodist Church" Twillingate Sun, 7 April 1887.

 

87

education could be assured was by the financial respon-
sibility being met at the community level. The capacity for
celebration served the society well: it found an outlet in
the song and dance during the holidays and perhaps most
distinctly in the form of the concert which provided an
environment where the song and dance could be presented
along with a program of dialogues and recitations.

The communities pooled their resources and after some
preparation presented a product to the rest of their members
which provided an outlet for the dramatic impulse thereby
satisfying the fondness to "imitate and to Observe
imitation."

People have always felt the need for some kind of
entertainment, and if it's not been readily avail-
able in its traditional forms they have it in other
forms.88

The production of the concerts was inextricably tied to

fulfilling two important needs of the community. Although

the financial component is given preference in the written

88

Myron Matlow, ed. American POpular Entertainment
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1979), p. 3.

88

accounts the entertainment aspect is remembered most vividly
by the informants. The first was taken for granted - it was
understood that someone would benefit from the money raised
at the events; but the second, in many ways, was just as
immediate and perhaps more significant in maintaining the
society which had developed. It was at the concerts that
they learned new songs and recitations and participated in
the production of dialogues where they could "act the fool"
and generally have a good time. Typical of the enthusiasm
with which the events were remembered, is in this reply to
one interviewer's question as to whether concerts were held

in the community at one time: "Concerts! That's what we
89
did. And good ones too!" Or this response to a similar

question: "We used to have wonderful concerts in dem days."
90

 

89
Sacrey, MUNFLA C594 69 - 23.

90
IV. S. Abbott interviewing Raymond Fagan at Kelligrews,
16 March 1974, MUNFLA C1984 74 - 145.

89

4.2 Production

The "getting up" and the subsequent "putting off" of the
concert paralleled, to a certain extent, the production
process of any theatrical event. It involved the organizer,
the person who "got it up" by asking people to take a part
in the concert and then the arranging of the rehearsals and
ensuring that the participants were ready for the audience.

All the sources contributing to this study, including the
questionnaire and MUNFLA holdings, revealed that the or-

ganizer cum director was almost always the teacher.

Well the person who was responsible would be the
poor belaboured, tired-out school master. He had
the job of organizing all this [concert] the decid-
ing whether they should pay 10 cents or 15 cents for
admission . . . . And he had to supervise the acts .

91

One respondent expressed his belief that "Concerts were the
highlight of the year in Grole [south west coast]. I believe

that a teacher's competency depended on the type of concerts

—¥

91
William J. Gushue interviewing Ted Bugden at Corner
Brook, 28 December 1966, MUNFLA c344 66 - 20.

90

92
he could produce."

The practice of depending on the teacher to organize and
produce the concert was in effect during the beginning of
this century as revealed in a conversation with an eighty-
four year old gentleman who related this about the enter-
tainment event: "Concerts-~them old things--lot of fun I.
tell you. I used to be in them all the time. Didn't have
them every year—-only when the teacher got them up."93 The
comment is virtually the same throughout the Province. The
teacher was the person whom peOple looked to for leadership
in arranging community events relating to church and school
affairs, and especially in the production of the concerts.
This is not surprising given the educational milieu Of the
first half of this century. As mentioned earlier, there

were very few people who could read, and even fewer with the

92
Jackman, MUNFLA 0808 — 43.

93
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982.

91

94
knowledge to "put Off" an event such as a concert.

A report of a concert in the Twillingate Sun praises the
teacher for his efforts in producing the event and then
commends the school board chairman for hiring him." . . . is
to be congratulated on his choice of a teacher for Tilt Cove
as he could not have chosen one more suited to the place and
community."95

The concerts which were organized by people other than
teachers were usually produced during a time when the

community had been unable to procure the services of one."

In olden times it was always the teacher but later on (1950)

 

94

The role of the teacher in Newfoundland schools until
recently encompassed much more than attending to the
learning process. In many cases the teacher was the only
person in the community with more than a few years of formal
schooling and was expected to write letters for the
residents, petition government for assistance, and represent
the clergy. In fact the teacher was much like a surrogate
clergyman who in the absence of the minister conducted all
the church services including baptisms and burials.
References to the teacher's role in the community can be
found in Rowe, Development of Education in Newfoundland.
Many of the interviews conducted for this study attest to

the importance of the teacher in Newfoundland community
ife.

 

95
"Tilt Cove Jottings." Twillingate Sun, 4 April 1894.

92

96
some people with a bit of learnin' got up the concerts."

4.3 Directing

"Getting up" a concert entailed much the same in terms of
responsibilities and duties as does producing any event for
the stage. It is clear from information gleaned from the
various sources that once the teacher had decided to produce
the concert the next step was to procure dialogue books and
other suitable material to include in the program. Inquiries
as to where the scripts of dialogues and recitations were
obtained revealed that the popular Newfoundland supplier was
a St. John's stationery store, Dicks and Co. The other
source for these sketches and concerts pieces was the T. S.
Denison & Company of Chicago.

It [the concert] was mostly dialogues. I used to
send away to a publishing company in Chicago. I had

97
their catalogue - they had some really good plays.

¥

96
C. Skinner interviewing Wilfred Skinner at Port aux
Basques, 27 June 1982.

97

4"Profile," Newfoundland Herald TV Week, 8 November 1979,
p. o

93

Another organizer related his experience regarding the
dialogue books:
The teachers had them [dialogue books]. I had a
set come one time--one of the clergymen sent me a

set of concert books. They was hard-~wasn't good

plays in them. All right I suppose if you had a
98

good education to learn it--could put more to it.
The accounts of concerts in the Twillingate Sun did not
mention anything about the scripts; however, the published
lists of the program items would suggest that there were
many different sources since concerts seldom repeated a
piece.99 Very little was found regarding the directing
process. Those who had participated in concerts at one time
remembered the "good times they had at practice" but few
could recall how the pieces were directed. One man who had
”directed" the community events for a number of years

volunteered that he did very little except get the dialogue

books and get people interested. It seems from his comments

E

 

98
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.
99
. A. number of similar titles are included in Baker's Gay
Ninet1es Scrapbook (Boston: Baker's Plays, 1941). see

 

appendix D.

94

that the directing as we know it was arrived at by the group

process and a lot of help from the stage directions.

4.4 Rehearsals

We'd make up our minds we would have a concert--
you'd send around the harbour get so many names--ask
them if they wanted to take a piece in a concert.
When you think you had enough [names] you'd all go
to the school--everybody would write off their own

pieces --take it home then and after a couple weeks
or so when you'd have it learned you'd have prac-
100

tises - five or six.

Apart from the school concerts most others followed a
practice routine similar to that quoted above. The selec-
tion of the dialogue pieces appears to have been done by the
whole group with the director making sure they followed the
stage directions suggested in the script.

We'd send to St. John's and get the dialogue
books and we'd pick the dialogues that we liked.
We'd all go through it and everybody would make

suggestions--I like this one, or that one, or the
other one, and so on . . . and don't you think some

‘

100
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

95

101
of them weren't "rough."

The short rehearsal time was common to most of these

theatrical events. People often referred to practising for

just a few nights, or as in one case, a week for a three act

play.

We used to practice a week before the concert.
We used to study at home--go around to one anOther's

houses . . . . This [blocking] was all written in
102
italics like A§_she stands there 21 the window.

I

 

 

The reports of the concerts which were carried in the
Twillingate Sun from 1880 - 1896 often prefaced their
cautious criticism with references to how little time was
available to the players for practice. One special concert
held in August by the Masonic Lodge to celebrate the visit
of the Worshipful Master was apparently put together at very
short notice with apologies to that effect being made to the

"respectable and intelligent audience."

 

101
. C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153. BY "rough" the
informant meant that the dialogues were comical, funny.

102
C. Skinner interviewing Jane DeGruchy at Fortune, 20
August 1979, MUNFLA C4857 80 - 152.

96

Bro. Joseph expressed the pleasure it afforded
him in appearing before a Twillingate audience for
the first time and desired them to overlook the
shortcomings of his Little Bay friends who took part
in the evening's concert, as they had but little
time for prat03ce and were doing so under much
inconvenience.

The inconvenience to which the chairman referred was no
doubt related to the fact that this event took place during
the peak of the fishing season, therefore, requiring the
performers to give up valuable time for rehearsals and
preparations. In a society such as Nineteenth Century
Newfoundland, where people depended entirely on the fishery,
leisure time was a scarce commodity. It is not surprising

that such short periods were given to the rehearsing of

these entertainment events.

The entertainment of which notice was given in
our columns sometimes since, came off in the town
hall on Wed. the 3rd inst. The programme, which was
an elaborate one, was very well gone through, but
owing to the shortness of time for preparation some
parts were not rendered so well as they otherwise
would have been. The proceeds amounted to 4 pounds

 

103
”The Concert,” Twillingate Sun, 29 August 1891.

 

97

12 shillings 3 pence, clear of expenses.104

Church and school-sponsored concerts were rehearsed in the
school building with groups such as SUF, LOA and Masons
using their respective lodges for that purpose. Only one
reference was made to using space for practice in some place
other than those mentioned. In 1894 a Mr. Herbert was
thanked in the Twillingate Sun for "kindly placing his house
at their disposal for practice.105 Those who "worked up” the
dialogues seem to have selected the pieces, learnt their
lines and then did them in a specific order interspersed
with songs and recitation. According to reports in the
Twillinggte Sun some attention was paid to costumes and
setting. However, if parallels can be drawn between the
traditional and the revivals it becomes apparent that
suggestions for costumes such as beards, hats, fishermen
outfits, were used rather than anything resembling the total

dress. Nevertheless, one event did attend to details of

costumes even claiming historical accuracy.

 

104
”Entertainment," Twillingate Sun, 12 January 1882.

105
”Entertainment," Twillingate Sun, 28 April 1894.

98

The Rev. Mr. Geddes prepared the dialogue by
offering ideas and suggestions and assisting to
furnish the paraphernalia in accordance with the
custom of ancient times, which appeared to be
imitated in good style, judging from the description

106
of these warriors which history furnishes.

During rehearsal time which ranged from a few weeks to
just a few practices the cast ”worked up" their pieces, as
already indicated, according to the stage directions in the
books and interspersed the scripted dialogue with words of
their own. The material, when presented, lasted anywhere

from one hour to three and usually was followed by a dance

or Time.

4.5 Stage

All references to the presentational space vis a vis stage

indicate that the proscenium arrangement was the only one

107
used by the concert organizers. Schools usually had a

 

106
"Concert," Twillingate Sun, 14 April 1888.

 

107
In the Newfoundland idiom the word "stage" is quite
common; however, its reference is to a fisherman's warehouse
and wharf unit; consequently, questions dealing with this
topic had to be prefaced with the definition in order to
avoid confusion.

99

permanent stage at the end of one classroom. So too, did the
Society of United Fishermen (SUF) and Loyal Orange Associa-
tion (LOA) lodges, where the raised platform served as
podium as well as a presentational area for fraternity
rites, meetings,and concerts.

In schools where there was no permanent stage one had to
be built for the event. In some cases this involved
arranging student desks at one end of the room and with the
aid of curtains creating a performance space about four feet
off the ground with two dressing areas--one on each side.108
A more detailed account was given in an interview with a man

who, at one time used to organize and direct concerts in a

small community on the southwest coast:

Every time we had a concert we had to build a
stage. We used to get loan of lumber from the trade
[businesses] and everybody would have a little bit
of their own . . . . School was only about 30 feet
long by 15 feet. We'd build a stage with two rooms

109
on each side--one for women and one for men.

 

108
A number of those who responded to the questionnaire
referred to this practice; Simms, MUNFLA 0808 - 52; Jackman,
MUNFLA QBOB - 43.

109
c. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

100

Similarly, another informant recalled the practise of
constructing a temporary stage for the concerts during the

1920's.

No dressing rooms at all-~instead one person

would be in charge of holding a big blanket in front

of the person changing--you entered the stage from
110

the school floor by way of a wooden box.

Chairs used for the audience consisted of those used by

students or provided by the lodge or hall (in many cases
these were benches). However, one person remembered stu-
dents being sent around the community to collect chairs for

the event.

A seating plan Of the hall [school] was drawn up
and tickets were sold in advance, door-to-door. The
day of the concert the school pupils would go all
over the place collecting chairs. Thus the seating
for the audience was the kitchen and dining-room

111
chairs of the community.

 

110
Margaret Perview interviewing Catherine Hartley at Cape

Broyle, 6 July 1981, MUNFLA 0808 37.

111
Letter to C. Skinner from Ruth Matthews, March 20,

1982.

101

Most communities did, however, have a building with a
platform of some sort which was used as a presentational
space for theatrical events. Apart from the lodges and the
school the other community building which became a popular
place for presenting concerts was the "parish hall." This
structure belonged to a particular church and was used
primarily for social functions and money raising affairs;
since both could be fulfilled via the production of con-
certs, the result is that most parish halls have a per-
manently erected stage.

Today in Newfoundland the majority of the high schools
have a stage equipped with a few lighting instruments and
separated from an audience area by a curtain.112 The
curtain, or screen, as it was often referred to by the older
informants and those who wrote for the Nineteenth Century
Twillingate Sun, served much the same purpose as it does in
any theatrical event: to conceal the actors and action until

ready to begin, and to give focus to the individual parts of

k

112
Nearly all of the questionnaires completed by the
Folklore 1000 students at Memorial University of
lNewfoundland describe a formal proscenium stage equipped
‘with lighting and sound equipment.

102

the program. It was used in the conventional way for making
set changes and at the same time providing a back drOp for
someone giving a recitation or singing a song.

Significant perhaps with regard to this tOpic is the size
of the school room in which many of these events were held.
Many of the schools consisted only of one classroom and were
relatively small, generally no more that 20 feet by 30 feet,
and with a stage built at one end the size was reduced to
around 20 feet by 25 feet. Given those dimensions it may be
safe to assume that the performance was intimate! E5pecially
when you consider that during the two night run nearly

everyone in the community saw the production.

4.6 Summary

This event was indeed a community undertaking in every
aspect, perhaps providing the sole Opportunity for its
coming together in one place for the purpose of celebration.

Here, songs and other material from the regional lore, along
with items from published sources were presented by members
of the community after their own style which emerged from a
production process not unlike that demanded by any theatri-
cal presentation. The next chapter will deal with the
Inaterials which the organizers selected, rehearsed, and

eventually performed for the audience as the concert.

103

Chapter 5

CONTENT

With but one exception, the sources consulted for this
study all dealt with community concerts made up primarily of
dialogues, recitations, and songs.

In a few instances a program included dancing and readings
but not frequently enough to suggest they were ever an
essential part of the traditional format. Readings were
close to recitations in their presentational style and will
therefore be considered in this chapter under that category.
Given the small dimensions of the stages on which many of
the concerts were presented, dancing, the other minor
component, would have been restricted to solo performances
such as step and tap.

The one exception referred to above when a concert did not
(present a variety of materials was solely a musical event
given in Twillingate in 1883; it was not a success. Perhaps

its failure to draw a large audience might have determined

104

the program format of subsequent theatrical events in that

area.

. . . the taste of some of our Twillingate people
is not sufficiently educated, to appreciate an
entirely musical evening. It might perhaps have
been more successful, therefore, in the matter of
applause, laughter, ac., had the music been inter-

113
spersed with humorous Readings, Dialogues &c.

Similarly, Louise Whiteway refers to a musical concert
given in St. John's in 1898 which included a dialogue among
the items presented, and suggests that the variety concerts
held since that time in the city resulted from the success

of that event.

The Easter Monday Concert of 1898, held in St.
Patrick's Hall, ended unprecedentedly with the amus-
ing farce "Freezing a Mother in Law" and in so doing
perhaps set the pattern for many future St. John's
concerts which would conclude their miscellaneous

114
offerings typically with a "sketch"

113
"S. U. F." Twillingate Sun, 9 February 1883.

114
Louise Whiteway, "The Athenaeum Movement: St. John's

.Athenaeum (1861 - 1898)," The Dalhousie Review 50 (1970 - 1)
:549.

105

Even in the few Newfoundland towns where three-act plays
were performed the masque-like nature of the concerts was
retained. The Grand Falls Advertiser carried notices and
accounts of community drama productions from 1930 to 1950
always noting that "there were specialities consisting of
songs, recitations, and dancing between the acts."115 It is
of interest to note that even though some communities began
to produce full length plays they still retained the
traditional concert format in that they provided songs and
recitations during intermissions and between acts.

This chapter will review the three main types Of material

which are synonymous with the traditional community concert

program: dialogue, recitation, and song.

5.1 Dialogues

Although the dialogue shared the bill with recitations and
songs, it was, however, regarded by most informants as the
part which generated the most excitement and in many ways

that which made the event truly a concert.

¥

115
"Andopians," The Grand Falls Advertiser, 13 April 1940.
The unique status of this community was discussed in
Chapters One and Two.

 

106

Two weeks before Christmas we started getting
ready . . . we'd go around and ask the randy ones.
Songs, recitations in between the dialogues which

116
made up the main part.

I would have to say that the dialogues made up
most of the concert. We used to have children before
the dialogues; they would have short recitations.
The chances are we'd have a song; but dialogues were

117
the main part.

From 1883 to 1894 the Twillingate Sun listed over eighty

 

different dialogue titles in its reports of concerts
presented in that part of Newfoundland. Very few titles
were repeated. Unfortunately, the research for this study
did not locate any copies of the dialogues listed in
appendix D. The closest to the kind of material presented at
the Nineteenth Century concerts held in Twillingate is the
collection currently published by Baker Plays entitled Gay

118
Nineties Scrapbook. The interviews with persons who

116
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982.

117
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153.

118
John G. Fuller, ed. Baker's Gay Nineties Scrapbook
(Boston: Baker's Plays, 1941).

107

remembered concerts produced from the beginning of century
onward plus the few terse statements made about them in the
written reports, all acknowledge to the comic nature of
these dramatic presentations. Not one reply to the ques-
tionnaire stated that dialogues were anything but comic.
Tape recordings of some recent revivals strongly reinforce
the comic nature of the concert for whether laughing at the
performers or situation or language the modern audiences
found the whole programs "funny and hilarious from beginning
to end with the exception of some of the songs".119 The
dialogues performed at the recent events held at Arnold's
Cove and Burin were almost all locally written and dealt
with topical issues of a regional and provincial nature.
Those not about the immediate area included parodies of
television shows such as the Beverly Hillbillies.

Minstrel dialogues were commonly produced in the 19th

Century concerts and referred to in print as "Darkey

119
"A. C. W. A. Concert at Arnold's Cove," 9 June 1976,
Recorded by D. Kodish, MUNFLA C 2800 76 - 501.

108

120
Dialogues." Dialogues about Sambo reoccur in the

programs, particularly the title How Sambo Fooled the

 

Dentist. One account of a similar piece recorded that;
"‘Uncle Sam' followed in his marvelous Nigger costume,
electrifying the youngsters by his comical movements and
peculiar manner of performance. He sang [a song entitled]
‘Uncle Ned.'" The reporter goes on to say that Uncle Sam
came on again and sang, "Nellie Gray," and "received so
rapturous an encore that in spite of the heat he was
compelled to add a little more to his intended
121

performance."

The minstrel show material must have been enthusiastically
received because in 1892 Twillingate is reported to have a
local "Darkey Troupe" and described as, "quite a novelty."

122

Dialogues involving blacks appear to have been a part of

 

120
Perhaps the fascination with the minstrel character is
due in part to the fact that the majority of Newfoundlanders
at that time had most likely never seen a black person.

121
"S. U. F."The Twillingate Sun, 5 February 1887.

 

122
"Entertainment," Twillingate Sun, 8 October 1892.

 

109

concert in other parts of the island and in the 19205 they

were produced in one such event on the southwest coast.

I was a black man- another fellow and I. The Old
man chased us out of his cornfield - he had a whip
made of a cow's tail. We made ourselves black with

123
burnt cork - some hard to get off.

Three dialogues which were repeated in the Twillingate
area were considered worthy of description by those who
wrote to the newspaper. They were presented last on the

programs in all cases and were important enough to warrant

special scenery.

The curtain was lowered, and the celebrated case
of Bardell vs. Pickwick was gone through at length,
while once again that clever counsel Serg't Busfuz,
succeeded in throwing dust in the eyes of the jury
in spite of Sam Weller's dogged determination not to
say anything to his master's injury. Perhaps a
little previous explanation might have made the
trial even more interesting to those among the
audience who had never had the advantage of making

124
acquaintance with Mr. Pickwick.

 

123
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982.

124
"S. U. F." Twillingate Sun, February 5, 1887.

110

A description of the stage setting and the dialogue
involving a scene on board an icehunter (the Sunbeam)
provides a rare look at the staging style and certainly of
the audience's attitude towards the presentation.125 Most
of the titles listed suggest a wide range of topics and
situations. Domestic scenes were popular if one can go by
the title such as How She Managed Him, Matrimonial

126
Advertisement, Courtship Under Difficulty, etc. As stated

 

 

earlier the Temperance Movement presented dialogues which
were didactic in nature. The school concerts dealt with
scenes involving young children, and the problems of learn-
ing. Few of these warranted much attention from the
newspaper reporters, except to list the titles and in some
cases who performed in them.

Although many dialogues were obtained from books the
performers changed them considerably, either in rehearsal or

during the presentation. Some informants drew attention to

 

125

"S. U. F." Twillingate Sun, February 4, 1888.These
episodes will be dealt with at length in Chapter Seven.

126

A complete list of dialogue titles is included in
appendix D.

111 o

the fact that the difficult words were a problem in some
cases and were substituted for something else which did not

necessarily have to make sense.

. . . We'd always get the dialogues out of books
- little short things. We couldn't have it too long
because a lot of the people [performers] didn't have
much education . . . the harder [difficult] words
- they used to put something else there - used to be

127
some funny.

Another informant referred to the changes as "helping the
dialogues along" while another stressed that they were made
during the rehearsal process and kept depending on whether

it might bring a laugh when performed.

NO, we didn't write our own dialogues. The only
thing that we did was add to it in some cases.
Someone would say something - Devil knows what you'd
come up with- but if you got a laugh you keep it.
When we were practising there would be some players
watching and if they laughed at what you'd say or do

128
you'd be sure to keep it in the dialogue.

And a contemporary of the previous informant recalled people

127
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

128
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 15.

O!‘

CC

Cm

112

writing dialogues after the style of Amos and Andy, ". . .
two foolish peOple would get together and make up something

and practice it and then add a little on and continue to

129
practice until you had a dialogue." He, like so many

others, recalled the locally-embellished pieces as being the

funniest.

And they'd have dialogues, some they'd take from
books. . . . There were people here smarter and
more clever than the people that wrote those
dialogue books. [They] could make up better and
more comical [than those in dialogue books]. And
people enjoyed it. Dey wasn't too modern den, dat
was the kind of stuff they liked. Dere was people
here could make up anything in the shape of

130
dialogues and entertainment.

None of the sources consulted contained actual scripts of
the dialogues but fortunately one gave a detailed descrip-
tion. This exception was recorded in 1969 in which a

one-time participant in concerts gave a synopsis of what he

considered a funny dialogue which had been written locally.

129
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4855 80 - 152.

130
G. Casey interviewing Herbert E. Sullivan Of Pouch
Cove, 5 May 1969, MUNFLA, C1009 71 - 57.

113

We didn't have many dialogue books like they have

now. [We] made our own dialogues - set down and
make the story and then play it, used to have real
131

plays then.

The example which he gives as a "real play" involves a
scene in a barber shop with an apprentice barber using a
pair of shears made out of two large pieces of tin, meat
knives for razors and a saw for a comb. The scenario which
he recalls having been acted in that setting involved,
besides the barber, a Norwegian customer wearing a mask made
by applying molasses and feathers to the face and head.

When the door come open and in comes this big
'ead, full of feathers, now there was some laughing
done. They took those big shears and they hauled
the feathers off of 'em, and he talked Narweigan
[Norwegian] to 'em, and they got the feathers off.

132
That was the play.

This treatment of the dialogues in terms Of presentation

is in keeping with an account of a concert from the east

 

131
Z. Sacrey interviewing P. Decker, Woodstock, W. B., 31
January 1969, MUNFLA C594 69 - 23.

132
Ibid., p. 15-160

Kl

114

coast in which the informant recalled a particular dialogue
about a teacher and dunce where the strapping was for real
and the actor almost cried. It shared the bill with a piece
in which they used a real goat.133

The major component of the concert, the dialogue, whether
from a book or embellished with local references, was the
only part of the event that required rehearsal, and for the
participants this was an added bonus. The camaraderie, and
the cementing of relationships which occurred during the
rehearsals certainly had a positive effect upon the day-to-
day life of the community. The cohesiveness which a
community requires in order to maintain its survival as a
functioning group was sustained in part by events which
required cooperation such as the concerts. The dialogues
required more work and more commitment on the part of the
performers (songs and recitations were already known) to
learn the lines, to practise and eventually to perform in a
form quite different from anything else on the program.

The major difference between the dialogue and the other

 

133

W. Sandra Abbott interviewing Raymond Fagan at
Kelligrews, 16 March 1974, MUNFLA C1984 74 - 145.

115

types of material used was that it required performers to be
someone else in order to assume some facade of a character.
Not a few informants recalled "having to be someone" such as
a policeman, teacher, postman, or in one case a dunce!
Interestingly, none of the persons contributing to this
study could remember any lines or even phrases from the
pieces they had performed in. They were, however, able to
communicate the excitement of having been a part of these
events and particularly in playing the role demanded by the

dialogue script.

5.2 Recitations

The recitations, along with the songs filled out the
program, often serving as afterpieces to the dialogues and
thus enabling the performers to prepare for the next item.
However, to suggest that this was the only function of the
recitation is to denigrate the monodrama. It most certainly

served other purposes as its popularity both in Newfoundland

La

the
rec
Rer-

F5

116

134
and elsewhere must attest to.

The recitations popular in the Newfoundland concerts were
taken from published sources, passed along by oral tradition
or, in a number of instances written by someone in the

135
community for the occasion. The Twillingate Sun's record

 

of the concert program lists 150 different recitations, some
performed by children and others by adults. The titles
suggest that the recitations like dialogues dealt with a
variety of situations including domestic scenes, special
occasions, religious instruction and, in the case of the

Temperance Movement, pieces which set forth its main Objec-

 

134

N. 0. Ireland catalogues over fifty publications
dealing with monologues, recitations and monodramas for
special occasions and community events. N. 0. Ireland, An
Index to Monolggs and Dialggg (Boston: The F. W. Faxon
Company, 1949); An Index to Monologs and Dialogg,
Supplement, (Boston: The F. W. Faxon Company, 1959). A list
of the recitation titles encountered during this study is
included in appendix F.

 

 

135
Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and
Language Archive recently was presented with an "Old
recitation book" by someone who used to be a participant in
the concerts. The book contains many of the popular
recitations. Herbert H. Taylor, ed. Taylor's POpular
Recitations. (New York: (J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company,

1903).

117

tive, as was no doubt the case with those entitled The

Grogseller's Dream, Drunkard's Inventory, and I'm Teetotal.

 

The recitations which proved pOpular in Newfoundland were
generally written in poetic form with many of the locally
composed pieces written after the style of Robert Service.
Those written in prose were usually classified as a

136
monologue.

Those pieces written locally were often done so for a
concert program. People in the community who were noted for
the repertoire of recitations and their ability to perform
them were either a part of the rehearsal process of the
concert or would be at the concert and wait to be invited.
Mr. DeGruchy, quoted extensively in this study, was known as
someone who could recite as well as sing, and his participa-
tion in the concert was via invitation from the master of

ceremonies or from the audience during the performance.

During my interview session with Mr. DeGruchy he recited The

 

Face on the Barroom Floor, after which he added:

 

136
W. Wareham found this to be true in his fieldwork on
recitations and songs. W. W. Wareham, ed.,"The Monologue in
Newfoundland,” in The Blasty Bougn (St. John's, New-
foundland: Breakwater Books Ltd.), pp. 196 - 199.

118

I was known well enough for songs and recitations
and people would say, ”Sing a song or say a
recitation." Whenever I was asked I would do it, if
I could. Sometimes it'd be at a concert. Oh, yes,

137
I recited at concerts.

The person in the community known for his skill in this
form Often wrote recitations for and about specific events

as they occurred. W. W. Wareham prefaced the recitation The

New School Marm with this note:

Composed about 1973 by Moses Ingram from
Kingswell, Placentia Bay. Moses first said this
monologue at a community concert which was being
held to raise money for the building of a new church

138
at Arnold's Cove.

Similarly that practice was carried out at other parts of

the island as suggested by this excerpt:

Uncle Abe, now he was the boy for recitations.
He'd sure to have a new one for every concert.
Little Meg and I was one he used to do. . . . some
he'd get from some place else but most of the times

 

137
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4855 80 - 152.

138
Rose, The Blasty Bougn, p. 205.

119

he'd make them up himself.139

The composing of recitations about local events appears to
have been quite common. One example was recorded in an
interview conducted in 1970 of a rather humorous episode (at
least in retrospection) involving a concert and a tOpical
recitation. Apparently a Portuguese ship had arrived with a
load of salt and while unloading it they found quantities of
caster beans left over from a previous trip to the West
Indies. A number of the local children discovered the beans
and ate them - with serious results! For the next concert

the minister wrote a recitation:

Oh, boy, it was wonderful, I only wish I could
remember it. I know it ended with "Tom Reid ate

nineteen" because when he recited it everybody
140
laughed and Tom's mother got up and walked out.

"Saying recitations" was a specialty of certain peOple in

 

139
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 134. The text of Little Meg
and I is included 1n appendix F.

 

140
W. Wareham interviewing Sam Butler at Arnold‘s Cove,

CJuly 1969(no day given), MUNFLA C680 70 - 8.

120

the community and recently, through the effort of Memorial
University of Newfoundland Folklore Department and the
interest in revival of folk arts many of them have performed
at festivals and have had some of their work recorded. One
such person, Mr. Francis Colbert, sometimes referred to as

"the man of a thousand monologues" was, as previously

141
stated, a concert organizer and performer. He discussed

his repertoire of recitations and how he came by them in a

1978 interview.

I learned them from people who used to recite,
and I learned some from books. "St. Peter at the
Gate," I believe, was one of the first I learned.
Then I got a book of Robert Service poems and I
learned a few of them like "Bill McCoy," "Sam
McGee," and "Old Pious Bill." And I wrote some of
me own poems too, you know. They'd be about local

142
people.

Mr. Colbert's mention of Robert Service serves to point out
the popularity of the poet's works with those who "said
recitations". The Face on the Barroom floor occurred fre-

quently during this study, particular in answer to the

 

141
Rose, The Blasty Bough, p. 207.

 

142
”Profile," Newfoundland Herald TV Week, 8 November
.1978, p. 4.

 

121

143
question on what were the more pOpular recitations.

Service's poems also served as models for local compositions
especially so in the case of Mr. Colbert.144 Mr. Colbert
recites a number of recitations from his repertoire among
which are some of his own compositions, all in rhymed form
much like "The Face on the Barroom Floor."

Another piece which vies for attention as a popular

recitation is Little Dickie Melbourne which was recorded a

 

number of times during this study and always prefaced by the

older informants as a "favorite" and that "it was some good
145
acted out." It was by the process of oral tradition that

 

143
Although commonly attributed to Robert Service, 322
Face on the Barroom Floor was, in fact, written by
H. Antoine D‘Arcy in 1877 and was used as a model by Robert
Service for The Shooting of Dan McGrew. Its widespread
popularity in Newfoundland may be due in part to the fact
that it was included in Taylor‘s POpular Recitations.

 

144
Deborah Kodish interviewing Mr. Francis Colbert at
Job's Cove, September 11, 1976, C2795 76-501.

145
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982. Memorial University
of Newfoundland Folklore fieldworkers have recorded a number
Of versions of this piece throughout the island which attest
to its popularity as well as the effectiveness of oral
tradition.

122

recitations spread through all parts of the island. Men who
worked for most of the year on fishing schooners learnt
recitations and songs thus sharing the popular culture of
their communities with that of others.

The folklore fieldworker intent on placing his findings
within their social and cultural context will ask the
informants where they first heard a piece; generally the
answer from the older persons was; "from other people who
used to recite." These two examples point out two major
aspects of the oral tradition with regard to recitations and
other such items. The traditions are perpetuated by the
informed teaching the craft to the uninitiated, and new
practices are introduced by those who visit the region or by
those who return from having worked in another area.

A prominent factor in the spread of the culture of one
area of Newfoundland to another was the teacher who as
organizer of community concerts brought with him/her the
pieces used in previous entertainments in other parts of the
island. One gentleman at the age of eighty—four recited a
piece known as the "Victory Song," a mildly anti-Temperance
piece where one word in each line is spelled out as in V - I

- C - T - O - R - Y. He recalled that he had learnt the

123

146
piece from a teacher many years ago. As was the case

with Mr. Marsden so it was with Mr. Colbert who credits his
teacher with sparking his interest in concerts and par-
ticularly recitations about fifty years ago.147

The performance of recitation was stylized utilizing wide
and sweeping gestures. While Mr. DeGruchy shared his recita-
tions during the interview conducted for this study, he
maintained eye contact with the members of his audience and
often used his pipe to point certain words and accentuated
others by tapping those close to him on the shoulder or
hand. Performing the same recitation for a larger audience
would have demanded even more prominent gestures embellished
with facial expressions to match the mood of the stanza.
The taped interviews revealed a performance style tending

towards the homiletic with the volume drOpped at the end of

each line and a pause intended to allow the tone to take

 

146
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982. The same song was
recorded by H. Halpert and J. Widdowson in an interview with
Charles and Martha Hutchings at Cow Head, February 3, 1973.
MUNFLA C246 66-24.

147
Rose, The Blasty Bougn, p. 212.

124

effect. "He maintains a literal interpretation of the

material and assumes a voice that is at least slightly more
148

assertive than ordinary conversational tone."

Wilfred Wareham in his study of the recitation found:

. . very little dramatization and projection of

self. The monologist on the other hand usually
stands back and performs in a theatrically-mannered
way. This is done in a number of styles. For

example, if the content is serious, the message is

generally not communicated literally. The performer

may use a wide range of vocal characterizations,

grimaces and gestures to undercut the seriousness .

. . the humor is not so much in what is said as in
149

how it is said.

Mr. Wareham's research deals primarily with the performer
in an informal situation such as a gathering at someone's
home. The recitation performed at concerts was oftentimes
embellished with costumes and properties. It would appear

that in the case of a rehearsed piece for a concert the

 

148
Debra G. Kodish, When is a Recitation not a Recitation?
Questions and Considerations on the study of the Recitation
in Newfoundland. 16 December 1976, MS p. 17, MUNFLA 76
- 501. Similar observations are made by Kodish based on a

taped interview with Mr. Power, MUNFLA C2794 76 - 501.

 

149
Rose, The Blasty Bough, p. 212.

 

125

visual aspect was given some thought. A performer in an
1894 concert was costumed to deliver his recitations. "A.
Luff in the disguise of Jimmy Brine appeared exceedingly
ludicrous . . . a burst of applause always greeted him."150

Many informants prefaced their recitations performed for
this study with, "Tis no good sitting down, you wants to get
up and act it out." Mr. Colbert demonstrated the difference

between a recitation said sitting down and one performed

standing up--the latter being the way to do it, to act it
out.151 Performing the recitation while sitting down
restricted the performer's movement to hand gestures and
some facial grimacing whereas when performing the monologue
while standing he was able to use his whole body and had the
freedom to punctuate certain phrases and sentiments by
touching members Of the audience and by affecting his
posture and stance. When performed as it should be the

recitation was embellished with costumes and simple set

pieces.

 

150
"S. U. F." Twillingate Sun, 24 February 1894.

 

151
Kodish, MUNFLA C2795 76 - 501.

126

Although not the major part of the concert the recitation
held a prominent place in the community's entertainment
forms. They required a special skill to perform and those
who possessed it were in demand to ”say their recitations.”
Such a request was not restricted to the formal setting such
as a concert but could be made at a party or an informal
gathering at someone's house. Often they were funny, but
just as often they were of a serious nature as they
romanticized about a mother's love, or recounted the
courageous efforts to save shipwrecked sailors.

As indicated earlier, Reading' sometimes shared the bill
with dialogues, recitations, and songs. However, the only
evidence of this practice is what is reported in the

Twillingate Sun, none of the questionnaires nor interviews

 

referred to Reading' as being a part of the concert program.
They appear to have been a minor part of the Nineteenth
Century presentations in that they were listed by title but
seldom warranted any other mention. Frequently the clergyman
was the reader and it was usually placed at the beginning of
the program. However, unlike the other items the Readings

were repeated year after year. The piece entitled Darby's

Visit toQuebec was presented a number of times and once

127

152
drew the remark that it "had brought the house down."

Another piece, Darby and The Ram was a favorite as was

 

Victim of the Toothache, and Miss Claude's Curtain Lecture

 

on Shirt Buttons, the last two performed twice by the
153
minister, and the first by a doctor. It might be safe to

 

suggest that the presentational style of the the readings
was similar to that of the recitation. Both are monologues
and would depend on the embellishment the performer was able

to bring to it.

5.3 Songs

All concerts contained songs and the sources surveyed show
that they ranged from the operatic pieces performed in
Twillingate in the late Nineteenth Century through tradi-
tional folksongs to Country and Western and other contem-
porary types. (See appendix E.) In some cases the songs

were included in the program but, like recitations, they

 

152
"Entertainment at Pilley's Island," Twillingate Sun 28
April 1894.

 

153
"Entertainment at Herring Neck," Twillingate Sun 9
March 1894. "S. U. F." Twillingate Sun 4 February 1888.

 

 

128

were often performed by invitation from the stage or from

members of the audience.

We asked if someone in the crowd [audience] would

like to come up on the stage to sing a song - some
of the Old folks you know, they'd come up and sing a
154

song we'd never heard before.

A number of informants referred to the practice of saving a
place in the program for the good singerls] in the com-
munity. This meant that some time during the performance a
call would be made for a particular singer and one of his
songs. R. F. Sparkes recalls this as being a part of the

concert event during his youth.

The M. C. would call for quiet. "Order, order,
ladies and gentlemen, I am now going to ask Uncle
Tom Wicks if he will be kind enough to sing a song
for us." Loud applause and shouts Of "Hooray! Come
on, Tom, get up there boy." Tom would be trying to
make himself invisible, saying at the same time,
"Nay, boys. I can't sing. Lord save us, what he
want ask me fer?" His reluctance would be easily
overcome and he would allow himself to be pushed to
the steps, encouraged by shouts of "Now, Tom. Up
there, boy, and heaveit out 0' es." Other per-
formers would follow the same pattern of self-
depreciation, assumed reluctance, and final graceful

 

154
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

129

yielding to popular demands.155

Similar behavior was exhibited during interviews when
"good singers" would have to be coaxed into performing a
favorite recitation or song. Mr. DeGruchy said that he
couldn't remember the lines nor could he sing anymore. The
request was withdrawn until the subject of introductions of
various pieces was discussed at which point the interviewer
interjected with "What if I were to say, 'The next thing on
the program would be Rueben DeGruchy reciting Face on the

Barroom Floor?'" He quietly replied, "Well, you'd get it,”

 

and proceeded to share his repertoire of recitations and
songs stopping only a few times to re-word something. This
reluctance it seems was also exhibited at community concerts
on the part of those invited to perform during the event.

Of all the arts, singing seems to have held the most
prominent position by virtue of its popularity as manifested

in the volumes of Newfoundland songs which have been

 

155
Sparkes, Winds Softly Sign, p. 101.

130

156
collected, studied and published.

The songs about Newfoundland life documented the hard
times as well as the good, immortalized local heroes,
commemorated tragic events and often reflected a character
which persevered throughout the tumultuous history. Songs
such as these were, of course, locally written and often-
times held interest for those within the region. On the
other hand a large part of the Newfoundland song collection
is made up of songs from elsewhere such as traditional
English and American folksongs and those commercial pieces
disseminated via radio, phonograph and the printed media.
In fact it is from the latter group that the concert pieces
were taken. The traditional folk songs of Newfoundland are
glaringly absent from the list of those performed. Cer-
tainly none of those from the Gerald 8. Doyle books or the
tourist booklet, Historic Newfoundland, such as "The Squid

Jigging Ground," "Ise the B'y," or "Fellow from Fortune,"

 

156
Doyle, Gerald S., Old-Time Songsyof Newfoundland, St.
John's: Gerald S. Doyle, ed., 1966. Karpeles, Maud. Folk
Songs from Newfoundland (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1934). Kenneth Peacock, Songs of the Newfound land Outports
(Ottawa: National Museum),Bulletin No. 197, Anthropological
Series No. 65. 3 Volumes.

 

131

would have been performed by a singer either in a concert or

in the informal setting of someone's home simply because
157
they were "too common."

The list of songs performed in concerts in the Twillingate
area in the late Nineteenth Century include traditional
folksongs, lovesongs, religious and Temperance songs. In-
formants discussing concerts from 1920 to the 19505 seldom
referred to Newfoundland songs. One person listed ”Put My
Money on a Bob Tail Nag" as a favorite.158

In recalling the concert traditions one informant con-

tributed the following with regard to the song component:

There always Opening and closing choruses in
addition to the "Ode to Newfoundland" and "God Save
the King." Frequently, "Rule, Britannia" was one of
the choruses. Somehow "Newfoundland" songs were
never considered "proper" or "good enough" for a
concert; rather the Stephen Foster type was fre-

 

157
Similar point is made by George J. Casey, Neil
V. Rosenberg, and Wilfred Wareham. Repertoire Categorization
and Performance-Audience Relationship: Some Newfoundland
Examples in Ethnomusicologx: Canadian Issue #3, Vol. XVI,
September 1972, pp. 397-403.

 

 

158
MUNFLA C4858 80 153.

132

159
quently sung.

Although the "Newfoundland Song" as popularized by the
tourist booklets were not usually on a program the locally
written pieces were extremely popular both at the concert
and at informal gatherings such as parties. Many of the
informants recorded by MUNFLA in the 19605 and 1970s
referred to composing the songs.

They'd sing the closing chorus, and the closing
chorus is generally made up by a local poet. They'd
make up all sorts of songs; one about a vessel that
was lost, another one about a schooner that went to
Sydney for a load of coal and she got lost; all
these formed part of the concert. . . . You'd hear
the announcement, "We're going to have a concert and
Joey BAfiflitt is going to sing a new song he got
wrote."

In one interview a local songwriter referred to composing

for concerts and saw the event as one which made him try a

 

159
Letter from Ruth Matthews to C. Skinner, 20 March 1982.
A check on the titles included in Appendix E reveals that
the majority of the concert songs were of English, Irish,
Scottish, and American origin.

160
William J. Gushue interviewing Ted Bugden at Corner
Brook, 28 December 1966, MUNFLA C344 66-20.

133

little harder, therefore, causing him to write some of his

better pieces.

Through the years we have [had] a song about
every little old thing that occurred, the latest
being back in 1964 when a Panamanian freighter went
ashore just outside Renews Harbor with a lot of
liquor on board! Yes it's happened with some of our
concerts whereby some of the people [organizers]
have come up and said "I'm out of material, I'd like

161
something new, how about writing a song?".

In many ways the concert became the forum to present the
work of local writers and to share the songs and recitation
picked up during the year from radio or from co-workers;
"Someone was bound to have a new song".162

In their quest for original material it was often the
practice to rewrite some of the more familiar ones simply by
localizing them and changing names to those of people in the
community. Such was the practice of one organizer:

[She] localized many of the old Newfoundland
songs for various performances. She changed them to

 

161 A
Zita Johnson interviewing Loyaola Hearne of Renews, 3
February 1969, MUNFLA C553 69 - 33.

162
Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

134

refer to people in St. Lawrence such as the time you
changed "Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" to "Lawn
Beach," and included the names of people
[performers] in the concert.163
The local compositions and those produced for concerts as
well as those new to the community soon became a part of the
repertoire of the community's singers and was requested at
informal gatherings thereafter. For many people in the days
before radio it was the concert which gave people the
opportunity to hear new songs; consequently, the singers
often acknowledge it as their source. "The first time I
heard it was in a concert."164
According to the responses to the questionnaire the type

of song popular at today's concerts varies from contemporary

pieces taken from the hit parades to the traditional

 

163
Margaret M. Lacey, Concerts in St. Lawrence and the
Part Played by Isabel Farrel, December 1, 1978. MUNFLA
79-318. MS p. 34. The community of "Lawn" is just a few
miles from St. Lawrence; the song is widely popular and the
change would have been easily spotted by those in the
audience.

 

 

164
A. L. Etchegory interviewing Sylvester Slaney, et al.

at St. Lawrence, January 4, 1969. MS p. 15. MUNFLA 572
69-12.

13S

Newfoundland pieces. In the case of the latter, they
usually serve as something to be acted. Generally the Roman
Catholic communities performed mostly Irish songs, espe~
cially during the St. Patrick's Day concert. These too were
performed as a pantomime. A number of responses mentioned

songs like Finnigan's Wake being acted out with setting and

 

appropriate properties and costumes.

Whatever the type or genre of song, whether locally
written or improvised, it was an important part of the
concert program. Usually the songs were placed after a
dialogue and duly introduced by the Master of Ceremonies
showcasing the talents of those in the community whose forte
it was to perform in that capacity. The song was sung "just
standing up," as one person said, with the performer
utilizing gesture and movement, as was his/her individual
style. More often than not the songs were presented by a
group with one person singing while the others "acted it
out" accordingly with an appropriate mise en scene. For

165
example, the popular piece "The Squid Jiggin' Ground" was

 

165
A popular Newfoundland folksong by Arthur R. Scammell
included in a number of anthologies. See Edith F. Fowke,
ed., Folk Songs of Canada Waterloo, Ontario: Waterloo Music
Company Limited, 1954), p. 51.

 

136

frequently performed simply because it was considered to be

theatrically exciting to stage.

They used to act out songs—~old-time songs like
"Masah's in the Cold, Cold Ground"--those old songs
from the old Golden Book of Songs. I remember 'em
takin' somebody by the collar and takin' him off for
"0 Boys Carry Me Along Till I Die." . . . And the
"Squid Jigging Ground"--we used to act that out with

166
the dory on stage and all.

Contemporary concert organizers treat the Newfoundland
song in a similar fashion presenting it not so much as a
work of a sole performer but more as a dialogue or skit,
thereby playing it for the humor and often parodying its
intent by taking license with its content and meaning.

Many of the younger informants referred to the
"Newfoundland song" as old fisherman or old-time songs, and
commented frequently that the performers dressed in fisher-
man clothes and performed it in pantomime while someone sang
it. It seems that those Newfoundland songs popularized by

the songbooks are most often performed as scenarios for

dialogues and pantomime.

 

166
C. Skinner interviewing Jane DeGruchy, 20 August 1979,
MUNFLA C4855 80 - 152.

137

5.4 Summary

Of the three major types of materials presented at
community concerts the dialogue produced the most excitement
from performers and audience alike. It also required more
work to prepare than did the other two since these were solo
acts and utilized materials already known. The scripted
pieces had to be obtained from elsewhere thereby introducing
some element of the world outside the community. These comic
pieces were selected and rehearsed, augmented with im-
provisations, and finally performed by community members
in-character.

.Recitations and songs complemented the dialogues, often
including familiar and traditional, but at the same time
introducing local compositions as well as new pieces from
outside the region.

The next chapter will present information on how the three
varieties were presented at these community initiated

dramatic events.

138

Chapter 6

PRESENTATION

This chapter will describe the methods of presentation
used in concert production including the opening and closing
practices, the stage and scenic conventions as well as a
discussion on the type of costuming employed. Conclusions
are drawn from information gleaned from all sources: The

Twillingate Sun, The Harbour Grace Standard, the question-

 

 

naire, MUNFLA interviews, and and field work carried out
especially for this study. In each case the commentary
provided was rather sparse but enough signals remain to give
a picture of how the Newfoundland communities presented the
variety of dramatic pieces in their attempt to provide a
popular type of entertainment as well as to ensure the
maintenance of the religious and civic services vital to

their well being.

139

6.1 The Opening

From the earliest reports in the Twillingate Sun to the

 

most recent revivals, the concert has always had a special
opening piece. The SUF and LOA concerts were opened with a
song or musical number followed by a special address by the

lodge grand master or the clergyman.

The Worthy Master presided, and his speeches were
167
brief but interesting, and appreciated.

The [concert] was very successful, and had been
most carefully prepared, especially the dialogues,
about which great pains must have been taken.

The Chaplain having been requested to take
charge, said he felt himself more in the position of
the skipper of the craft, as he was there to

168
discharge the cargo.
The "cargo" he discharged at that performance began with an
overture performed by the Society of United Fishermen band.

There does not appear to have been a rule with regard to

the opening procedures. In many cases a song or musical

 

167
"SUF Anniversary," Twillingate Sun, 10 February 1894.

168
"SUF Anniversary," Twillingate Sun, 7 February 1891.

 

140

number was the first item on the program followed im-
mediately by the opening speech; but in some instances it

was the other way around.

[It] began with a few words from the chairman of
the Anniversary Committee who in a few well chosen
words asked for order from the younger portion of
the audience and introduced the program.169
The numbers which opened the Nineteenth Century concerts in
northeastern Newfoundland were often of a patriotic nature
praising Queen and country such as a glee entitled "England
and Her Queen", or "the favourite old song, ‘Ye Gentlemen of
England,’ sung by the entire group."170
The prevailing theme of the opening addresses and speeches
was patriotism with particular emphasis on the British
connection. The fraternal organization such as the Society
of United Fishermen and the Loyal Orange Lodge stressed

loyalty to their founding principles and outlined the duties

of the membership in speech and song. Parenthetic to the

 

169
SUF, Twillingate Sun, February 6, 1886.

170
"SUF" Twillingate Sun, 4 February 1887.

 

141

main theme expressed in the opening addresses (as reported

in the Twillingate Sun): were apologies for having taken

 

time off from working to provide this exercise in frivolity.
One chairman Opened the concert "with a few remarks on the
advisability of not keeping the sheet too taut; but allowing
Jack a little play."171

The church-sponsored concerts began with an appropriate
address given by the clergyman, who in many cases con-
tributed to the program by singing a song or doing a
dramatic reading. It appears that the resident clergymen
were called upon to perform the duties of the master of
ceremonies more often than anyone else in the community.
This was no doubt due to the fact that the church played a
prominent part in the community and that ultimately it was
the church that benefited from these events. The question—
naires revealed that the clergy continue to perform as
chairmen of concerts and similar community affairs. A
number of such events, especially those presented under the
auspices of the Methodist Church and the Temperance Movement

were opened by a prayer followed by a hymn.

 

171
"SUF," Twillingate Sun, 4 February 1887.

 

142

Similarly, the closing of the concerts was accorded a
special focus by the organizers of the earlier concert. The
chairman concluded the event with an address followed by a
recitation, or a song performed by the ”group all on the
platform", and finally closed with the singing of "God Save

172
the Queen."

6.2 The Role of the Chairman

Reference to the chairman or master of ceremonies was
found in all sources dealing with this subject. It was
filled, it seems, by someone with a good education, usually
the priest, the teacher, the doctor, or the local merchant.
In nearly all cases the chairman was not the director of the
concert, but was usually invited by the group to fill the
role because, as one questionnaire respondent said, "He
always did it and was considered good at it." By ”good at
it" the observer was referring to the master of ceremonies'
ability to tell jokes and to keep everything running on
time, and perhaps most important, to maintain order and

quiet among the audience. The Twillingate Sun reports attest

 

 

172
Ibid.

143

to the disciplinarian aspect of the chairman's role by
making references to them having to ask certain portions of
the audience to be quiet. A tape of a recent concert would
indicate that, now as then, the need for someone respected
by the community to demand silence and COOperation on the
part of the audience is of the utmost importance. During
that concert the din which the performers had to contend
with was alarmingly high and obviously created problems for
all concerned. With that particular responsibility to deal
with the master of ceremonies would have to have been
someone with authority in the community in order to
diplomatically keep the audience in a c00perative state.
Although quite different in many ways the role of the
chairman of the early English music halls bore some
semblance to his concert counterpart. In his own words,
recorded by a writer in 1870, one music hall chairman

focussed on the policing aspect.

I commence the evening with a few raps, and then

announce the first singer thus: "Ladies and
Gentlemen, Mr. will appear and sing the
first song." It's sometimes very hard work on my

part to get the audience to listen to a second, and

144

173
harder still to a third.

The master of ceremonies introduced each piece with some
remark about the performers or performance, usually begin-
ning with "The next thing on the program is." One informant
referred to the master of ceremonies as introducing each
piece in the concert by saying, "Now let's put another
herring on the griddle."174 However, all the responses to
the questionnaire indicate that the the most commonly used
expression was the first one.

The master of ceremonies contributed more to the event
than merely introducing the various pieces with, "the next
thing on the program". He provided commentary on the

performances and often made references to, "unusual events

that had occurred during the past year involving the

 

173
McKechnie, Samuel. Popular Entertainment Through the
Ages (London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co., Ltd.), 9?. 134
- 135' N/Do

174
C. Skinner interviewing Mrs. H. Priddle at Port aux
Basques, 20 May 1980. Mrs. Priddle was seventy-five years
old and was referring to concerts held during her youth at
the small southwest community of Richard's Harbour.

145

175
performers and members of the audience."

Perhaps the most important role of the master of
ceremonies was to fill up the "dead air" as the next item
was made ready for presentation.176 Here he could tell
jokes and stories, single out certain performers and members
of the audience, make special announcements, remind] the
spectators of the amount of work invested in the production
by all concerned and to make mention of the dialogue,
recitation, or song just finished. In reviewing the

community concert which R. Matthews produced and wrote about

in her letter, 20 March 1982, The Evening Telegram singled

 

out the chairman and emphasized the important role he played
in the production.
Jim Reddy was an excellent Master of Ceremonies,

and his light touch drew the audience into the
spirit of things and enhanced the sense of a

 

175
Simms, MUNFLA 080B - 52.
176
Frequent references to this function were made in
questionnaire responses: Pittman, MUNFLA QBOB - 11;

Pieroway, MUNFLA QBOB - 10; Mullaly, MUNFLA 080B - 28.

146

177
close-knit and affectionate community.

6.3 The Stage - Mise en Scene

Features of the physical stage on which these dramatic
events were performed were discussed in a previous chapter.
This section will deal with the setting and the scenery used
to enhance the presentation of the various pieces which made
up the community concerts.

The Nineteenth Century concerts were held in halls that
had been decorated to celebrate the annual meeting of the
SUF or LOA lodges, but seldom do the reporters make mention
of the stage or platform on which the dramatic performances
took place. (Incidently, the SUF and LOA lodges were
permanently decorated with symbols and pictures pertinent to
their respective traditions.) However, the few instances in

the Twillingate Sun where scenery is highlighted serves to

 

indicate that, despite the small size of the performance
space, some consideration was given to this production

aspect.

 

177
Anne West, "Crowds Turn Out for Annual Revue." St.
John's (NFLD.) Evening Telegram, 11 March 1981.

 

147

It is evident from the various reports of concerts held in
northeastern Newfoundland in the late Nineteenth Century
that the recitations and songs warranted neither scenery
pieces nor prOperties; and only in rare cases were some
dialogues staged with scenic pieces and appropriate
paraphernalia. To have used an individual set for each item
on the program would have been an encumbrance rather than an
enhancement. The halls in which these concerts were
produced were small and seldom provided backstage or wing
space. Consequently, scenery pieces would have infringed on
the already too limited performance area. The few
references to the tastefully decorated platforms may simply
mean that the upstage wall was dressed to match the occasion
with table and chairs set out to accommodate those pieces
which required a localized environment.

One of the few reporters to the Twillingate Sun who gave

 

more than passing notice to the scenery informs the reader
that the organizers were aware of the use of that dramatic
element and for one particular dialogue took the time to
construct scenery. The fact that this was a community of
fishermen and that the piece mentioned took place onboard
ship would have made it easy and inexpensive to construct.

Perhaps most indicative of the effect they tried to attempt

148

is that they used "live seals" and that the whole hall was

included in the mise en scene.

A mast was erected at the end of the hall fully
rigged with ropes, yards and sails, an imaginary
vessel was manned by a crew of hardy fishermen, who
seemed to be prepared to battle with the Jack Frost
of the North Pole himself. Great excitement
prevailed on board on getting the vessel along
through the ice until the lookout aloft (on the
topsail yard) sent down the welcome news to the
captain that the men who had gone out to search the
ice were coming back. The sails were then drawn up,
and soon the seals (real ones-—young ones taken this
winter) were on the deck of the Sunbeam. The crew
reported having seen another vessel, and ere long
her Captain (Kelly) was alongside and renewed his
acquaintance with Captain Murphy (of the Sunbeam).

Capt. Kelly brought Old Neptune with him whose
purpose it was to shave the youngsters. A great
confusion ensued, and when that was past harmony

178
again prevailed.

 

A number of theatrical conventions were utilized in the
production of The Crew of the Sunbeam. The set which
represented a ship included practical sails and ropes that
extended into the auditorium, thus serving to incorporate
the total space within the design. The mast, which was

equipped with block and tackle, served a functional purpose

 

178
"SUF," Twillingate Sun, 4 February 1888.

 

149

and therefore had to have been sturdily constructed to allow
actors to climb it. The mast also provided the central
element in the design, which, with ropes attached it,
directed focus on to the deck of the Sunbeam where all the
action took place. The acting space was not restricted to
the stage floor, the mast allowed them access to the ceiling
of the performance area. This convention utilized vertical
space and provided an ideal platform from which to announce
the entrances of new characters and to alter the locale
slightly by hoisting and lowering the sails. The set pieces
and equipment were workable items in order to allow for such
things as changing sails. The mast had to accommodate
people climbing it as well as the construction of a platform
at the t0p of it.

The first part of this dialogue appears to have been
fast-paced as it lead up to the arrival of the third party.
At that moment in the play the stage was crowded with
actors, equipment, and animals occupying various levels on
the performance platform.

The Twillingate Sun account of the production of the Crew

 

of the Sunbeam suggests that there was a degree of theatri-

 

cal unity about it with the action being enhanced by the

scenic devices used to create the deck of the ship.

150

Q

The other description of scenery which appeared in the

Twillingate Sun also deals with a ship. As did the

 

dialogue, The Crew of the sunbeam, this one too was

 

presented during the second half of the program and was
179
singled out as been a novelty item. The scene took five

minutes to set up and when the curtain was raised "disclosed
the deck of the Lively Polly with her crew busily at

180
work. Like The Deck of the Sunbeam the LivelyiPolly had

 

 

 

distinct characters that needed to be identified by costumes
and action.
Neptune with his usual attendants, Mrs. Neptune
(or Amphitrite),as she is usually called, the in-
evitable Baby, the Barber, Boreas, and others, came
181
on board.

The conflict centered around the custom of shaving those who

were crossing the equator for the first time giving rise to

 

179
This is the only reference to a concert being divided
into two parts. All others appear not to have had
intermissions.

180
"S. U. F.," Twillingate Sun, 6 February 1886.

 

181
Ibid.

151

a scrimmage which resulted in the Polly's men being vic-
torious, "testifying that it is Britannia not Neptune who
rules the waves."182 Acting space was defined by the ship's
deck, filled with mythical characters in conflict with
Irishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen, who in the course of the
action produced the "lance of his own country" and caused
the conflict to be resolved in favor of Great Britain. The
piece required costumes as well as Specific properties;
i. e., lances, and the reports suggest that they were
identifiable as such.

In 1883 a single report of a concert produced by the
Little Bay Music and Dramatic Club183 bemoans the fact that
the audience was made up almost entirely of junior members
of the community and chastised the adults for not supporting

the club's endeavors, "especially when we are informed that

the expenses of new scenery and costumes cost something like

 

182
Ibid.

183
No other reports on this club's activities were made in

the Twillingate Sun.

152

184
$100.00." The one hundred dollars provided scenery and

costumes for three separate dialogues which included an

Irish comedy, Every Inch a Gintleman [sic], and two minstrel

 

pieces, Dars the Monkey and From Pumpkin Ridge or Belinda

 

and Jonathan. Altogether fifteen men took part in the three

 

dialogues. Except for policemen uniforms the list of
characters would indicate that very little was required
along the lines of special costumes. In the case of Belinda
and Jonathan, the part of Belinda is played by two people, a
man and a woman, leading one to conclude that the identical
costumes were most likely used.

The instances when the scenery was given major considera-
tion are few compared to large number of reports on concerts

made to the Twillingate Sun in the late Nineteenth Century.

 

There are, however, consistent references in the reports to
those who "worked up" the various pieces, wherein the
organizers are thanked and recognized for their efforts.
One would surmise that if the setting had been a major
element it too would have been included under some heading

such as "those who prepared the platform."

 

184
"To the Editor of the Twillingate Sun," Twillingate
Sun,12 March 1883.

153

The scenic and staging conventions employed in concerts in
other parts of Newfoundland during this period are not known

as no reports such as those in the Twillingate Sun have been

 

found. However,. given the smallness of the stage and the
fact that it was often built for the events and taken down
afterwards, it is difficult to imagine it as being anything
more than an unspecified space.

Twillingate was a major center during the late Nineteenth
Century and would, therefore, have had more to offer than
most parts of the Island. Being a major port of call would
have ensured that stores were better stocked and transpor-
tation to St. John's more frequent, where vestiges of the
pOpular North American culture could have been experienced.

One informant, commenting on concerts in the 19203,
alluded to the minstrel show variety and recalled having
been "chased by an old man with a whip made of a cow's
tail;"185 and remembers how painful it was being hit with
it. He also noted that he blacked himself with burnt cork
for that particular piece. In the same interview Mr. Marsden

recounted another episode which reveals something of the

production methods utilized:

185
Marsden, 26 June 1982.

154

Once I remember this man reading the paper and
the paperboy sitting at his feet-~I ran in and asked
for his daughter's hand in marriage when all of a
sudden the paper caught on fire. Never had that one

186
again, people didn't like it.

The use of properties was most certainly employed, but of
interest is the fact that they were real and used as such,
as was the case with the whip, and the one-time use of fire.

The use of the real everyday item was an integral part of
the concerts as informants attest to with their zealously
recounted stories of seeing a dory on stage or someone
coming out dressed in his fishing apparel to sing a song or
perform a recitation.

Uncle Abe would be sure to have a new one
[song/recitation] every year. He'd come out on the
stage with his long rubber boots on carrying his

187
jiggers and trawl lines.

The same informant referred to a dialogue which involved a

wedding and following local custom the people backstage

 

186
Ibid.

187
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

155

fired guns out through the window. He also pointed out that
the only set pieces used were a table and chairs. No
attempt was made to paint backdrops or to hang things from
the stage ceiling to assist in transforming the space to a
different locale or environment. As previously cited, they
did use a boat and fishing equipment to provide a setting
for local songs that had to do with the sea but the pieces
chosen from the dialogue books were produced with a minimum
of stage devices or scenery.

The questionnaire, which provided information primarily
about school concerts indicated that some attempts were made
to create an environment, usually following the descriptions
given in the playscripts. Cardboard cutouts for doors and
windows were not uncommon, as were the pOpular dory and
fishing scene for the Newfoundland songs and locally written
dialogues.

At one particular Newfie concert [we used] all
Newfoundland material. A net was strung on the back
of the stage complete with killicks [locally made
anchors] and a dory in the corner sitting on waves

188
made from blue paper. .

 

188
Dohey, MUNFLA Q8OB - 24

156

I remember one concert when the stage was beauti-
fully decorated with a fence and a trellis. Once
there was a skit about a Newfoundland fishing scene

189
complete with a dory on the stage.

The style of scenery employed in community concerts today
appears to be very similar to that used in the school
sponsored events, and at the same time reflect a continua-
tion of the traditional practices. R. Matthews, a concert
organizer and director, wrote that the style of scenery is a
reflection of the budget and that as a result everything is
minimized.

We keep costumes and scenery as simple as pos-
sible as there is no budget for this. We have made
the profile of a boat out of cardboard, likewise the
front of a car. A kitchen stove would be made out
of a large carton, covered with black plastic
garbage bags. We try to keep properties very much
to the minimum improvising as much as possible. We

190
don't change scenery, just props.

Two photographs of her latest production show scenes from a

locally written dialogue dealing with the discovery of

 

189
Pervier, MUNFLA Q8OB - 37.

190
Matthews, 20 March 1982.

157

Newfoundland by John Cabot in 1496. The central set item is
a very modern rubber raft with pieces of blue carpet strewn
around the stage to represent the sea. Costumes consist of
Robin Hood type hats with a tunic-like outfit worn over
shirts and tights. One character (not of the crew) is
wearing an apron over a contemporary dress as well as eye
glasses! Obviously, some attempt was made to give the
actors something to help place the piece in another time.
Certainly, the notion of a set design is as foreign to
today's organizers as it was in the past; but its potpourri
nature must contribute to the spontaneity and the hilarity

synonymous with these events.

6.4 Costumes

The practice of dressing up as someone else and of
disguising one's person by means of clothing and masks is
not uncommon to Newfoundlanders since, as mentioned
previously, it is part and parcel of the popular Christmas
custom of mummering. This same practice was carried over to
the concerts, for in a some of the interviews and the MUNFLA
transcripts there is mention of what the participants wore
during the dialogue, song, or recitation.

A 1969 interview focusing on mummering provides some

158

insight into the costuming practises employed in the con-
certs in Newfoundland. The informant describes a mummering
episode when a group of people "rigged out" and visited the

houses in the community.

I was a clergyman with this big ledger. The
others were dressed just the same as a bride and
groom. I had on this hammertail coat and a high
beaver hat. We was dressed up just like a concert

191
(emphasis added).

 

The phrase "just like a concert" suggests that these
theatrical events were associated with dressing up, and as
in this particular instance, it assisted the mummer in
becoming someone else. The mummers used costumes as the
primary means of disguising themselves and facilitating: the
transformation to a character such as the clergyman. In her

book The Outport PeOple Claire Mowatt relates her first

 

encounter with this dressing up practice - just like a

concert.

So once they had unveiled they didn't say a word.
In disguise they had been quite bold. We would see

 

191
L. G. Small interviewing C. Small at Moreton's Harbour,
22 AUgUSt 1969. MS p. 50 MUNFLA C848 71 - 73o

159

this transformation again and again. People who

were shy to the point of repression turned into

clowns, dancers , actors and singers when they went
192

out mummering.

The costumes fulfilled a function similar to the one it
serves in any theatrical undertaking. Moreover, in a
dialogue, song, or recitation where character identification
must be immediate, the costume is of paramount importance.
In such short pieces there is no time for character
development so the first impression is the critical one it
that it identifies the actor and places him within the

proper social group and occupation.

The Twillingate Sun reports simply listed the purpose of

 

the concerts, who performed in them, and the titles of the
various pieces, but very little with regards to descriptions
of the costumes. However, enough signals exist to indicate
that costuming was a considered aspect. For example,
references such as this: "Two niggers appeared," or "As the
scene opened the Captain was taking his bearing," or, "A.

Luff in the the disguise of Jimmy Brine appeared

 

192
Mowatt, The Outport People, p. 48.

 

160

ridiculous," suggest that the physical appearance had
received attention.193 Significant portions of the concert
dialogues were minstrel pieces. One of the first mentions of
this type of drama was in the Harbour Grace Standard in its
report on the first theatrical and musical performance by
the Amateur Dramatic Corps. This event, a precursor of the
concert, used appropriate minstrel costumes which were
described in some detail.

The curtain is down, the audience is on the
tip-toe of expectation, up it rises and low! there
are the Ethiopians, sitting around in half circle,
with their pompous dress of black clothes, and the
"sensational" white chokers in strong contrast with

194
their black faces.

The same event included a stump speech "spoken in character"

and performed according to the accepted style using an

 

193
"Entertainment by the P. B. C. of Exploits,"
Twillingate Sun, 24 February 1894.

 

194
"The First Theatrical and Musical Performance," Harbour

Grace Standard, 17 February 1864.

 

161

195
umbrella to accentuate and to emphasize. In 1883 a

concert held in Notre Dame Bay presented two minstrel
sketches, Dar's the Monkey and From Pumpkin Ridge or Belinda

and Jonathan. In the second piece the role of Belinda was

 

played by two people - a man and a woman. In such a case

identical costumes would have been required in order to
196
present it successfully.

Interviews with people who participated in concerts in the
19205 through to the 19503 revealed that costuming was a
significant part of the presentations. One informant
recalled coming onto the stage dressed in a policemagé:

uniform he had made himself "complete with cap and all.”

Another participant related how the women made the costumes

 

195
For a detailed account of the evolution of minstrelry

in America and the costumes used, see Robert C. Toll,
Blacking Up: the Minstrel Show in Nineteen—Century America,
New York: Oxford University press, 1974.

196
"To the Editor of the Twillingate Sun," Twillingate

Sun, 12 March 1883.

197
Skinner, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153.

162

198
if anything special was needed. You may recall that the

actor who played a goat had a "big pair of horns stuck on
199
his head, and the account which described an actor

playing a barber shop customer who sported a beard made from
200
feathers adhered to his face with molasses.

Mr. Francis Colbert, a onetime organizer of concerts and
performer in dialogues and recitations, described an item
which he wrote and produced during World War II. It was a
patriotic piece involving a boxing match between Hitler and
Chamberlain. In recounting the dialogue the author focuses
on Hitler's ”little fake moustache" which was arranged to
fall off at a predetermined moment in the play; "When

Chamberlain hit Hitler the moustache went flying across the
201
stage.”

 

198

Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.
199

Abbott, MUNFLA C1984 74 - 145.
200

Sacrey, MUNFLA C594 69 - 23.
201

Kodish, When is a Recitation Not a Recitation,? MUNFLA

163

Local and traditional songs were usually performed "in
character" with the singer dressed appropriately as a
fisherman or else a group of actors performed in pantomime
while he sang. The questionnaire responses suggest that this
was popular in the high school concerts as well as the
community events.

Pictures of recent concert productions reveal that cos-
tumes are being used to give some indication of character
but more importantly to enhance the the incongruity which

this type of theatre demands.

6.5 Lighting

Until the introduction of electricity to the province the
lighting was provided by candles, oil, and gas, with the use
of gas being restricted to St. John's and a few major
centers such as Harbour Grace and possibly Corner Brook.
Until the 19503, most schools were equipped with kerosene
lamps which were used to light evening and night functions
such as Times and concerts.

The questionnaire revealed that some informants had grown
up during a time when lamps were used and the idea of using
Special lighting for concerts was foreign to them. Younger

respondents who commented on concerts produced in high

164

schools were aware of lighting the stage and indicated that
a few spotlights existed which were turned on and off. For
recent productions the audience part of the hall was
darkened but that practice was unknown to many of the older
informants.

The traditional concerts produced by the community and
held in the small school room provided no delineation
between actor and performers. It would seem then that the
practice of audience singing along with the actor and
members called on to perform was encouraged by the setting

itself.

6.6 Admission

Consistent with all concerts regardless of when they were
produced was a cost of admission. Since one of the initial
purposes of "getting up" the concerts was to raise money it
follows that some attempt would be made to collect from the

audience. Reports in the Twillingate Sun indicate that

 

admission to the concerts in the Notre Dame Bay area between
1880 and 1899 ranged from five cents per person for school
concerts to twenty-five cents for adult productions. Con—
certs held at Francois and Richard's Harbour on the south-

west coast admitted people for twenty-five cents until the

165

19503. However, the current prices for tickets to such
events fall within the two to four-dollar range.

No concerts, regardleSs of when produced, whether in the
18903 by the Temperance Movement or today to raise money for
civic causes, were advertised as being free. However, a
number of people did indicate that if someone could not pay
they would beallowed in. One organizer recalls that during
the Depression when money was scarce patrons would "knit
sockls] or mitt[ens] to get in.202 With inordinately low
cost of admission the Newfoundland communities before Con-
federation were able to maintain church and school, assist
the "poor overseas," and raise money for the war effort in
the 19403, and today where the community spirit is suf-
ficient to do so, money is being raised to build swimming
pools, town centers, youth clubs, and to facilitate senior
citizen activities.

The concerts generally began around 7:30 in the evening

and lasted from two to three hours. Following the dramatic

presentation there would be a dance, during which, efforts

 

202
Margaret Lacey interviewing Isabel Farrell at St.
Lawrence, December 1, 1978. MS, p. 19. MUNFLA 79—318.

166

were made to raise money via the sale of food and crafts.
In other words the concert was a part of a community time
and consistent with the practice everywhere in Newfoundland
it ensured a degree of self sufficiency within the com—

munity.

6.7 Summary

From the examination of the presentational methods used in
concert production it is apparent that these events were
loosely organized and controlled. The chairman or master of
ceremonies was entrusted with the responsibility of seeing
to it that the program was dispensed according to plan, and
at the same time ensuring that there was some control on the
audience.

Spectacle was a considered aspect and tended to be
strongest when the setting required local items and
materials. In most cases, however, it was present in the
form of simple set and costume pieces.

Whatever the scenery or program the concerts are remem-
bered (and recorded) as having been exciting events which
brought the whole community together to celebrate and to
generally have an enjoyable time. The next chapter will

discuss specifically the reaction and attitude of audiences

167

towards these locally produced events, and attempt to
discern something of the style of acting associated with

them.

168

Chapter 7

ACTING STYLE AND AUDIENCE REACTION

Of all of the aspects of these community events which
utilized dramatic performance, the nature of the acting
style; and the audience reaction and attitude towards them
are most difficult to ascertain. The task of attempting
this discussion is made even more risky due to the fact that
no detailed written critiques or Samuel Pepys-type diaries
have been found leaving the penurious references to this
subject in the Twillingate Sun the sole record of what
happened. With regard to the newspaper reports the comments
on acting and the total performance were of an encouraging
nature rather than critical. This is typical:

. . . it is unnecessary to comment as to the
manner in which different pieces were rendered,
suffice to say that though some may have excelled

203
yet all did their parts.

g

203
"Entertainment Exploits," Twillingate Sun, 9 June 1894.

 

169

However, it is understandable that only terse mention
would have been made of performance of an individual or of
the troupe as a whole. These were, afterall, community
affairs involving local people who gave of their time to
provide the audience with a type of entertainment it
enjoyed. They attempted to "cater to our [community]
amusements and to relieve the wants of the suffering poor."
204 With that as his preface the reporter for the

Twillingate Sun wrote about the "harmless entertainment" in

 

an encouraging manner always cautious not to make a critical
remark. For example:

They, without exception, went through their dif-
ferent parts with credit, notwithstanding the dif-

205
ficulties they had to contend against."
No mention is made as to the nature of the "difficulties”--
certainly it was not the lack of audience, since it ran two

nights having had to turn people away at the first perfor-

mance o

 

204
”Amateur Theatricals," Harbour Grace Standard and
Conception Bay Advertiser, 7 February 1864.

 

205
Ibid.

170

It is, however, very clear that what they produced was,
like those presented throughout the island, welcomed by all
those in the communities and "receive[d] the thanks of the
community for theirzgéndness in banding together for such a

laudable object.” In every report carried in the

Twillingate Sun and the references made to concerts in the

 

MUNFLA transcripts the concerts are positive events and
occurrences, and referred to in enthusiastic terms. Always
the hall or school was filled to capacity. Nowhere in any of
the sources were there references to concerts which were not
well attended. Typical of the responses are the following.
The Hall (0 that it were made of India rubber!)

was packed to overflowing by an appreciative

audience and usually good order was kept throughout

the entire evening.207

The Entertainment began at 7:30 p.m., but long

before Ithat time the hall was filled with eager

 

206
Ibid.

207
"S. U. F. Anniversary,"Twillingate Sun 10 February

1894.

 

171

208
waiters

The spacious Hall was filled to the stage . . . I
should say the audience was composed of three
hundred persons, making it a pleasing fact to those

209
who had the trouble of getting up this concert.

I suppose everybody and anybody'd come to the
concert --if you could crawl you'd get there-~young
210
and old alike.

7.1 The Style

The popularity of. the concert is well documented in the
various sources used for this study, so too is the content
in terms of the variety of forms of which concerts were
comprised. What is not so “readily available is how the
dialogues and other pieces were acted at these events. Who

was considered a good actor and why, is a personal opinion

 

208
"S. U. E. Anniversary," Twillingate Sun, 4 February
1888.

 

209
"Terra Nova/Billiard Cove Concert," Twillingate Sun, 16
May 1891.

210
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

172

at best, and with the filtering process which accompanies
oral tradition the answers obtained from the interviews are
perhaps closer to myth than to truth. Interestingly, the
best actors had died long ago and were, in most cases,
related to the informant or had been a good friend. One man
recalled that his father was a "real actor," another
referring to a close friend said, "Now, that's the boy who
could act." When asked why they would assign that par-
ticular label to these people the informants were at a loss
to explain, except to say that they could make you laugh.
Indeed, it was an unfair question, but it served to point
out one aspect common to all concerts: they were funny, and
the person who could maintain that comedy by making peOple
"laugh no matter what they did" was labelled a good actor.
One elderly gentleman stressed that they would get the
"randy ones" to take part in the concert. By that he meant
those who did not care one way or another and were always
looking for a good time.211 Mr. DeGruchy referred to the

actors as the ”foolish ones," meaning they did not mind

 

211
Marsden Interview, 26 June 1982.

173

212
making fools of themselves. Mr. W. Skinner who organized

and directed concerts until the 1950's, said that there were
definitely some people in his community who were good
actors, he referred to them as people who did not care what
anyone thought about what they did, they would just jump in

213
and have a good time.

In the three instances cited above, there is a common
thread with regard to the definition of "good actors". They
were the people who could relatively easily break the
pattern of their everyday role as serious worker and become
someone else via the dialogues and concert pieces. They

could, it seems, very quickly assume a role, character, or a
different set of behavioral patterns whether it was to play
Hitler in a dialogue or the "little boy who got it right in
a eye" in a dramatization of "a Squid Jigging Ground." One
such actor, according to the Twillingate Sun was a Mr.
Crocker whose, "inimitable acting as Sambo in the Dialogues,

"Telephone" and "Doctor," as well as his discourse on "Fun

 

212
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4855 80 - 152.

213
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134.

 

174

and Amusement" as the Rev. Tedekiah Squash were deservedly
much appreciated."214

The Mr. Crocker types, despite the cautionary approach
taken by the reporters, managed to get singled out with the
few carefully selected phrases that made it to print. One
example was a Mr. R. R. B. who delivered the Stump Speech
which, "for real genuine humor, laughableness and

originality it far excelled all other performances and the

manner in which it was done places Mr. B. among the first on
215
the list of the club.

The Stump Speech requires a specific style of performance

encompassing exaggeration of gesture, grimace and voice, all

aided by a property such as an umbrella or a cane which was
216
used to accentuate and emphasize. It is interesting to

note that in these early concerts the actors performing the

Stump Speech and the minstrel dialogues garnered special

 

214
"S. U. F.," Twilliggate Sun, 4 February 1887.

 

215
"Amateur Theatricals," Harbour Grace Standard, 1 March
1865.

 

216
Don B. Wilmeth, The Language of American Popular
Culture (Westport, Ct: Greenwood press, 1891).

 

175

notnxh suggesting perhaps that audiences especially favored

these items.

me did audiences in Nineteenth Century Newfoundland find
the nflnstrel show so appealing? The dialogues which
.hufluded the blackface characters were somewhat ubiquitous

judging from the references made to the "black" character in

the interviews and newspaper reports. In a way, Newfoundland

was not unlike the rest of North America in its interest in
the minstrel entertainment and with the myriad of publica-
tions of dialogue books on this subject it is understandable

that the concert organizers would have had access to them.

The popularity of the minstrel show was not a result of

the local population having been exposed to professional

troupes. For, as pointed out earlier, except in St. John's

and surrounding communities the rest of Newfoundland was

only accessible by boat, thus making travel slow and

undependable-—not a situation entertainment entrepreneurs

would have exploited. However, the fascination which was

present in Harbour Grace in 1865 was still present and given

fornltxb in this century as documented by John Mollay Byrnes.

One of the best amateur productions ever given in
St“. John's was a performance of The Mikado in the
«old In A. Hall . . . . The house was packed for two
performances, and each character was played in

 

 

176

blackface, although dressed in regulation Japanese
217

costumes. (Emphasis added).

Although somewhat different from the fare performed at
concerts, the Mikado production cashed in on a popular
convention. The same fad was present in northeastern
Newfoundland in the 18903 since the community of Twillingate
had a minstrel troupe, and reports from its neighboring
settlements attest to the popularity of what the paper
called "darkey dialogues."

Apart from the worldwide interest in the minstrel show in
the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the availability of
dialogues and stunt books there is perhaps another reason

for the fascination with this particular form. It is tied
in with the notion of acting and who was considered a good
actor. Simply, acting involves the process and ability to
assume behavioral patterns and general characteristics of
someone else usually emphasizing Speech and movement. In a

short dramatic piece such as a dialogue there is generally

 

217
J. M. Byrnes, The Path to Yesterday, Memoirs of Old St.

John's Newfoundland (Boston: Meador Publishing Company,
1931), p. 56.

 

 

177

very little time to create a character so actors resort to

employing caricature and conventions. Some sketches allow

for this but there are others where the characters are not

much different from the peOple who act in them. Such

dialogues would not lend themselves to these dramatic events

where everything was geared to comedy. Therefore, the

minstrel dialogues with the blackface characters, the

caricatured features, as well as highly stylized movements,

speech and gesture would have been the kind of piece the

organizers would have wanted. They were fast paced, had a

joke which was easily understood, and an identifiable

character with a ”mask" to help the transformation and

provided ample opportunity for the local "good" actors to

improvise and get the laughs necessary for the success of

these events. Those actors with the daring to black up

their faces with cork, and the agility to perform some of

the stunts required found the perfect vehicle in the

minstrel drama. An example of this type of dialogue

received special comment in a report of a concert given in

1894.

As the curtain rose two niggers, Messrs. Ball and
Sevior, appeared each carrying a jug containing
respectively kerosene and whiskey. Unwittingly
"Uncle Mose" imbibed too freely of Sam's kerosene

‘1

 

178

and was therefore compelled to turn to the most

amushm series of somersaults imaginable to the
218

delight of all present.

The titles published in the newspaper suggest that more
minstrel pieces were included on the same program. Cer-

tainly the item which followed was of the same type since I

 

bun Ball and Sevior appear in it; "A character song 5
‘Jubiloo' during which excitement ran masthead high."219
Reminiscing about concerts and acting in them prompted one
informant to describe his father as a "real actor." He
related one particular event where his father played a goat.
"They had him tackled up just like a buck--cou1d he ever
bawl, just like a goat. They had a pair of horns stuck on
his head."220 Implicit in Mr. Fagan's account is the notion

that good acting was inextricably connected to the man's

ability to "bawl like a goat" and his willingness to be

 

218
"Entertainment by the P. B. of Exploits," Twillingate

Sun, 24 February 1894.

219
Ibid.

220
Abbott, MUNFLA C1984 74 - 145.

179

'wadded up" for the good of the Show. The tape on which

this interview was recorded reveals that a number of other

people were present during the recording, a number of them

conceded that Mr. Fagan was right in his critique of his

father and they all laughed uproariously as the goat episode

was related!
Another account by the same party of a dialogue with "good

actors" in it had to do with a teacher and a dunce.

Oh my God! I was up there [S. U. F. Hall] one
time and Herbert was the school teacher and Tom was
the dunce. They [class] were all lined up and the
teacher asked each of them something but when he
came to poor old Uncle Tom Pittman he didn't know a
word--not a word. Herbert [teacher] had a big
blackboard and bloody big long stick; (they was half
drunk a lot of them). He put the stick on a word
and say, "What's that?" Tom would stammer and say
he didn't know--well, Herbert would up with the
stick and come down. Poor Tom used to screech. He
said afterwards that he had a mind to cry but he

didn't want to spoil the concert. After the act was
221

over Tom was some mad at Herbert.

The account of the school teacher and the dunce points out

two aspects of the acting style associated with the con-

 

.221
I have freely transcribed Mr. Fagan's story making no

attempt to copy his accent. Abbott, MUNFLA C1984 74 145.

 

 

180

certs. One, no attempt was made to ”act" the beating,
instead the teacher actually hurt the man playing the
student. He made him cry out and in his enthusiasm forgot
to make believe. This same feature was apparent from other
stories from other parts of the island. The dialogue about
Hitler and Chamberlain was actually a boxing match performed
by two actors trained in the sport. The unfortunate actor
who played the dunce was remembered fondly by the informants
as someone willing to put up with the indignity of being hit
on the stage and although obviously suffering did not ruin
the concerts by putting a halt to the action. Those points
in the story which elicited laughter from the party indicate
that the comedy resulted from the incongruity of having a
respected man in the community subjecting himself to the
business and action of the dialogue. What was said in the

dialogue such as actual speech was passed over; it was the

business which was remembered.

Similarly, another man recalled the concerts and the
business which the dialogues required; he mentioned an
incident when a prominent member in his community "dressed
up on stage with blackened face" and rendered either a song

or recitation he had written.

The second point regarding the acting style, as il-

 

181

lustrated by Mr. Fagan's story of the school teacher and the
dunes, is that the "whole lot of them," meaning the actors,
were half drunk. This is not to say that it was a common

practice among those who performed in concerts everywhere,

but the same remark, often made parenthetically, occurs in a

number of accounts. Having "something to drink" for
Christmas meant having a small cache of alcohol for the
holidays which, it seems, served to enliven the festivities

and ensure that the local singer and performers would be
more than eager to share their repertoire.

Mr. Fagan recalls that the "teacher” was not aware of the
force behind the blows mainly because he had a ”good drOp
in." Interestingly, the party interviewed did not condemn
the action but saw it as contributing to the hilarity of the

One can only imagine that the effect of the alcohol

by
222

event.

served to "loosen the tongue and feet" of the performers

assisting in separating the role from the personality.

Mr. DeGruchy who sang a variety of songs and "gave" some

recitations during an interview session commented on the

correlation between a good Christmas and the availability of

 

222
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4855 80 - 152.

 

182

alcohol. By "good Christmas" he meant that the festivities

would be maintained for the holiday season (twelve days) and

a major part of which was the concerts, dances, and times

plus the informal house visits by pe0ple within the com-

munity, at any of which, songs would be sung, stories told,

and recitations performed. The relationship between the

of the concert and liquor was not

entertainment value
restricted to the latter two parties; this comment indicates

that the attitude was held in other areas.

I met Uncle Bert and he said, "You goin' to have
a good concert." I said, ”Nah, not goin' to be no
good." I said, "Sure there ne'er drop of stuff

[alcohol] in the place [community].” "You in it,"
he said? ”Yes," I said. "I'll see that you gets a

223
drink,” he said.

The questionnaire asked who, if anyone, in the community

was considered a good actor or actors. All responses

indicated that there were such local actors but few made any

attempt at expressing why these people were so considered.

Generally very little insight is given into this phenomena

 

223
Cove,

Wilf Wareham interviewing Sam Butler at Arnold's
July 1969, MUNFLA C680 70 - 8.

 

 

 

183

except to re-iterate over and over again the comic nature of

the events, and the people who could produce the comedy were

considered "good at acting.” The question of why they were

able to make people laugh was not dealt with specifically

but comments such as, "someone who didn't act like

themselves," serve to emphasize the importance of charac-

224

terization to drama. The reviewer for the St. John's

Evening Telggram singled out a character named Aunt Jen as

the high point of a concert at St. Lawrence.

One of the high spots of the evening was a
monologue by that well-known character Aunt Jen, who
appeared year after year to regale the audience with
her pithy humor. Aunt Jen, in slippers, print dress
and ample pinafore, with a hairnet confining her new
curly perm, sat rocking in her chair and told about

her tripZSto St. John's for removal of her gall

bladder.
Such a person as the woman who played Aunt Jen is a

paradigm of the good concert; dressed as the uninformed

 

outport woman She plays a caricatured Newfoundland. Easily
224
Chaffey MUNFLA Q80B - 23.
225
Anne West, "Crowds Turn Out for Annual Revue," St.

John's (NFLD) Evening Telegram, 11 March 1981.

 

 

184

 

recognizable by everyone in the audience and in a speech
using malapropism and such devices the Aunt Jen actor would
be considered "comical" in any part of Newfoundland. Cer-
tainly, judging from the tapes of some recent concerts the
same type of character was strongly present and greeted with

226
uproarious laughter whenever she spoke. In examining

 

these tapes another aspect of the revived concert style
becomes apparent: that of women playing men. This may have
to do with the fact that a women's group produced them, but
what is interesting is that laughter was not engendered by
the incongruity of that convention but by the situation and
the characters involved. For example, One locally-written
piece about unemployment insurance centered around a domes-
tic scene involving a husband and wife—~both roles played by
women. The husband-role was typical of the stereotyped
Newfoundland character complete with affected accent (by an
actor who already spoke with a distinct one) focused by the
dropping of the "h" and adding to words beginning with

vowels. The husband preferred getting the unemployment

 

226
ACWA Concert at Arnold's Cove, recorded by Linda Slade

for D. Kodish, 9 June 1976, MUNFLA C2800 76 - 501.

185

Chane tn working and when the "wife" won the lottery

sweepstakes he tried to convince her not to accept it for if

sMedidlm wouldn't get his unemployment insurance benefits.

The speeches were delivered inordinately loud (perhaps to

cover the din in the audience) with punch lines, and those

cxmtahuhg "good Newfoundland" euphemisms and figures of

speed) were given in a near-scream pitch. (No attempt was

madelnrthe woman playing the husband to disguise her

227
voice.)

Of the two ladies performing the "Unemployment Dialogue"

the one playing the man, according to the. questionnaire

responses, would be considered the "good actor." She

appears to have enjoyed the event and was able to work with

the audience's reaction by pausing and often ad-libbing.

The actress playing the wife sounded staid and somewhat

making her speeches seem "read" or "recited.”
in

uncomfortable

If one is permitted to assume that present practices are

some ways reflections of past traditions then the style of

actiru; in the revived concerts connect in some ways with the

conventions used in concert production and presentation of

 

£227
Kodish, MUNFLA C2800 76 - 501, C2801 76 - 501.

 

 

186

The comic actors of 19th Century Twillin-

for an

previous times .

gate who were compelled to come back onto the stage

encore were popular basically because they could make people

1amfl1 and provided a respite from the everyday realities of

in today's community concert are

that time. The actors
like their predecessors for their abilities to

singled out
to the facilitation

make people laugh and thus contribute

and preservation of the community spirit via this single

event.

7.2 Audience Attitude

The audience attitude towards the concerts is inexplicably

related to the persistence on the part of the contributors

to this study that these events were major happenings which

brought considerable joy and celebration to the community.

A testament to the comic and celebratory nature of these

entertainment events is the widespread Newfoundland expres-

"as good as a concert." Fieldwork for this study

sion,
revealed that all informants were familiar with the expres-
sion and used it when referring to a funny situation which

they observed first hand. Normally it came after a funny

joke in which the narrator got mixed up and began to tell it

wrong and a number of people in the "audience” had to

 

 

187

mnxect him despite his adamant objection to their assis-
tance; the consequence being a lot of talking and even more
laughter. Another instance which sparked the "good as a
concert remark" was when the husband began telling a joke
whihe slightly inebriated, and the wife tried to stop him
because it was "too dirty." Her efforts to that end included
putthx; her hand over his mouth, threatening to tell
something personal about him, with the result being a vocal

and physical wrestling match and all the guests in a state

of uproarious laughter. When the antics had ended and the

laughter subsided, someone said as a kind of denouement, "My

God, that was as good as a concert."

A study of the "good as a concert" expression reinforces
the notion that these dramatic events were comic in nature
and performed in an atmosphere where hilarity was expected
and appreciated.

The concerts were for and of a community in that it was
initiated to meet a need, organized and cast using the local
population and eventually presented for the whole community.
sometimes people in the community wrote dialogues, recita-

tions, and songs, which dealt with local and regional
as well as jokes, stories and actual happenings.

concerns ,

Sometimes they "helped along" the scripted dialogues with

C" ‘_

 

 

188

impnndsation and interjections about performers and

audience members. The concert was in every way a community

event arranged to coincide with the only holiday period for

fishermen in the year—-Christmas.

Thecxmcerts were, in many ways, home-grown for the local

cmmmndties and seem to have been produced solely for the

local population with very little effort made towards

sharing the event with people in nearby villages, since the

concerts were generally presented at Christmastime, and

certainly during the winter months the severity and un-
predictability; of the weather would have discouraged
228

travelling. Another reason why the concerts were not

taken to neighboring communities was the expressed concern

that the product may "be alright for us but not good enough

229
for outsiders." One report to the Twillingate Sun in

1894 points out that "the three hours entertainment given

 

228
It was not until 1950 that automobiles replaced boats

as the major method of travel in Newfoundland.

229
Tfliis comment was made a number of times during the

interviews, and not one of those who responded to the
questionnaire mentioned taking a concert to another
80

community. MUNFLA C6193 83 - 134; C 4858 80 - 153; C4857
- 152.

 

 

189

wouhfl compare favorably with those given in the
230

outports." One organizer reported that he once had a good
concert and wanted to take it to a neighboring community

(finch um3.much larger but the participants refused thinking

231
they were not good enough. Since they were the creations

of a: community the productions reflected‘ the skill and
knowhhow of its people and to display the product for others
wOuld have added a competitive component to the undertaking.
It was one thing to create this fun-filled event for

themselves but quite something else to do it for another

village and leave themselves open for comparison and even
-criticism.

The concert rehearsals were kept a secret from those not
participating in them, thus ensuring that when the audience
came they would have no idea as to what they would see. The

secretive nature of the practices was widespread. Everyone

consulted in conducting this survey replied affirmatively to

 

230
"Enrtertainment at Herring Neck," Twillingate Sun, 3

March 1894.

231.

 

 

190

the question of whether rehearsals were kept a secret. Some

of the older informants added that the school windows were

boarded up for the duration of the practices.

We'd keep it [rehearsals] all secret. Nobody
allowed who didn't have a part. And all windows
barred up. Because we'd go and put up a concert and
next thing you see some feller climbing up looking
in through the window--and not a youngster either--

232
so we'd bar up all the windows.

The audience it seemed could expect each year's concert to

be a surprise and, having been kept a secret, maybe even a
little mysterious.

The bits and pieces presented at the concerts are well

documented and discussed in preceding chapters, but apart

from the general consensus that they were "all wonderful and

funny" not much else is known of Specific attitudes. It is

obvious that they were enjoyed and that the players' and

audiences' interests were protected by enforcing secrecy.

However, one episode shows a particular audience's sen-

sitivity to the performer as well as points out the informal

atmosphere present at these events. Certain protocol was

 

232
Ibid.

 

 

191

employed but the audience was really a part of the event and

apart from

singing along with the performers and sometimes

:hmisthm certain audience members go up onto the stage they

couhL as in this case, forgive someone for losing their

lines and insist they try again.

was supposed to say a recitation. She

came out on the stage, bowed, and she said the

name

of the recitation and went blank. She couldn't

remember and she bowed and went off of the

stage.

They [audience] clapped. They thought [at first]

that was what it was supposed to be. That

was big

on the stage. . . . started to cry and they
clapped her back on the stage. They called out to
her to come back on. They used to have good

233
concerts then.

On the one hand the audience was accepting

mistakes,

someone deliberately giving a poor performance.

They asked him to say that [The Twelve

of honest

yet on the other hand they could be intolerant of

Days of

Christmas] on the stage one Christmas and he got up
and he was makin' such a fool of himself. He wasn't

sort of sayin' it properly--well something

wasn't

right about it--and Alfred [M. C.] went up and took

 

233

(I. Widdowson and John Hewson, MUNFLA C107 64-15. Names

of informants omitted at the request of the collector.

 

 

192

234
hhndown off the stage.

Unflnmunately that interviewer terminated the questioning

(unconcerts at that point without enquiring as to how the

audience reacted to the episode or how the performer felt at

having been interrupted and removed from the stage. Apart

from the interpersonal implication this kind of action may

have had, it does, however, point out a problem in inviting

people from the audience to perform. In fact one present-

day organizer responded to the question on that same

practice by saying "Good heavens, no!, they might not be

235
tasteful." Another informant in discussing this practice

emphasized that they would generally accept "almost anything
236

as long as there wasn't any blackguardly dirty language."

Therefore, any singer with a repertoire of bawdy songs would

have to be checked. In view of the fact that the audience

was made up of everyone from the community--old and young

 

234
Wareham, MUNFLA, C680 70 - 8.

235
Matthews, 20 March 1982.

.236
C. Skinner, MUNFLA C4858 80 - 153.

 

 

 

193

alike--and that the church was Often instrumental in or-
ganizing the event, it would be extremely important that the

moral sensitivities of the people not be offended.

AS already established, audiences looked forward to the
concert as one of the chief events in the year when the
community came together in a spirit of celebration to see
some of their own entertain them for a period of three hours
using material which was nearly all funny. It would seem
that all they expected of the performers was . that they be

comical in the dialogues and as long as they did it without

offending, these events became a part of the lore of the

community and were recalled with pride and enthusiasm as

"the wonderful concerts we used to have.”
Today the community concerts still attempt to be humorous

and to avoid the "corny material” available from publishers

they resort more and more to writing their own, thereby
ensuring that the audiences get what they want. There is a

different aspect to the audiences in that they are no longer

performed solely for one community. With the use of

advertising and convenient transportation the audience could
consist of pSOple from anywhere within reasonable driving

distance Of the performance. The final result must,

therefore, stand up to the larger audience and, in some

 

 

 

194

cases, be subjected to a review for the local and regional

newspaper.

7.3 Summary

Thegnedominant style of acting exhibited in the community

concerts relied heavily on slapstick techniques, thus creat-

ing a theatrical presentation which was geared ’to make

'audiences laugh. Those members of the community who were

good actors were those able to break the pattern of their

everyday role as serious worker and become someone else

either in the dialogues, minstrel routines, or pantomimed

songs. The incongruity which resulted from having a

respected member of the community being subjected to the

requirements of the texts was one of the chief causes of the

comedy the audiences wanted.

Throughout Newfoundland in nearly every community the

concerts were regarded as major entertainment and social

events which contributed Significantly to the cohesiveness
of

of the community. During the two or three night run

these events everyone participated in the drama, either as

an audience member or a performer where the only restriction

was that the material presented not be bawdy or offensive.

A testament to the celebratory nature of the concert is the

 

 

19S

widespread Newfoundland expression, "As good as a concert,"

used to refer to something considered uproariously funny.

 

196

Chapter 8

CONCLUSION

This study of the Newfoundland community concert as a
theatrical event with emphasis on its production and presen-
tational style is inextricably tied to an examination of the
sociological and historical milieu in which the tradition
developed. The historical perspective presented in Chapter
One focuses on the economic and political factors which
contributed most Significantly to the develOpment of New-
foundland society and its unique character. The original
attempts to establish settlements on the island were
violently opposed by the British authorities thereby com-
pelling the pioneers to seek refuge in the isolated harbours
and coves around the coast. These communities were, for the
most part, cut off from contact with the outside world until
this century. It was this extreme isolation which determined
the nature of these settlements as complete units with their

own unique customs, dialects, and traditions reflecting the

197

influence of both the Old World as well as things peculiar
to the immediate region.

Newfoundland history is hallmarked by a dependency on one
industry, the fishery, and as a result of inefficient
political controls, fluctuating world markets, and a form of
pre-industrial technology its most consistent characteris-
tics have been poverty and economic disaster. These were
most apparent in the island's communities by the lack of
essential services such as health care and education as well
as near non-existence of financial aid from the government
to alleviate the plight of the people. Help, with regard to
these matters, came from two sources; first of all the
churches established schools and made in-roads towards
maintaining social order; and second, the people drew
support from the various forms of entertainment and celebra-
tion they had inherited or otherwise created.

Among the community entertainment practices; that is,
those events and happenings which were organized for
everyone's benefit as Opposed to something intended for
individual or family purposes, the one dramatic event
familiar to all Newfoundlanders, was the concert. These
theatrical affairs were organized, directed and produced in

the villages and hamlets throughout Newfoundland to fill

198

both the need for entertainment and for financial assistance
to individuals, the church and school, thus ensuring some
degree of self-sufficiency and contributing to the cohesive-
ness of the community as a whole.

Although the concerts were an integral part of the
Newfoundland community life it was seldom initiated by
members of the local population; Since very few of the
peOple possessed either the time or the education necessary
to conduct such an undertaking. It was the teacher who, in
most areas, was instrumental in producing the event, and was
therefore responsible for procuring suitable materials,
directing, and the arrangement of the program.

The variety of items which generally made up the programs
of the Newfoundland concert fell into three categories:
Dialogues, Recitations, and Songs. The first of these
presented the greatest challenge and in performance elicited
the most excitement. They were, to a large extent, obtained
from published dialogue books and were selected for inclu-
sion in the program on the basis of their comic potential.
The challenging aspect relates to the time required to
rehearse the dramatic pieces and the memorization of the
dialogue, plus the effort on the part of the director and

the actors to alter the formality of the speeches with

199

improvisational inserts using the local dialect and expres-
sions. ‘

Unlike the dialogues, songs and recitations did not figure
prominently in the rehearsal process. Often they were pieces
which were already known by the performers and simply
required a pre-arranged spot on the program or, as in some
cases, a request was made by the master of ceremonies or
members of the audience during the show.

Most of the songs presented at the concerts were not the
traditional Newfoundland type; instead, the programs usually
contained numbers which originated in the U. S. A. and Great
Britain. However, the popular Newfoundland folksongs, those
published in booklet form and tourist brochures, were seldom
presented in a serious mode as a solo performance; these
were performed as pantomimes with actors treating it more
like a dialogue than song.

Very little spectacle was utilized in the presentation of
the dialogues, songs, and recitation. The stages were
extremely small - often built for the events at one end of a
schoolroom, thus, allowing little Space for sets and
scenery. Most attention was paid to this aspect of the
presentation when the dialogues or songs required local

items and materials for prOperties and costumes.

200

A significant role in the presentational process was that
of the chairman or master of ceremonies, which was usually
carried out by a member of the community who held some
particular status such as the clergyman, merchant, or
teacher. It became his job to ensure that the program ran
smoothly, to entertain between items as well as to invite
certain audience members to participate.

The final Section in this study was devoted to the acting
style and audience reaction to the concerts generally. With
regard to the former it was established that certain persons
in each community were considered good actors which, in all
cases, meant that they were able to make the audience laugh.
Their ability to "act the fool" by getting outside of their
everyday selves was appreciated in those who played in the
minstrel routines as well as those who played in the
dialogues and pantomimed the Newfoundland folksongs.

Those who performed songs and recitations were not judged
by the same criteria as the "actors" since comedy was not
always the intended effect with these items. The reputations
of these performers were not necessarily made at the
concert, they were established at parties, informal house-
visits, as well as at Times. The essential requirement for
someone to be a pOpular performer in this category was that

they have an extensive repertoire of songs and monologues.

201

An examination of the audience reaction and attitude
revealed that these theatrical events were regarded throu-
ghout the province as major celebrations in the life of the
community where the people came together to see some of
their friends and family members entertain them with tradi-
tional and contemporary material. The magic of seeing a
member of the community appear on stage in black face or
with a local everyday item such as a dory impressed people
to such a degree that the contributors to this project (many
in their seventies and eighties) could still recall the
excitement engendered by the community concert. A testament
to that attitude is the frequently used Newfoundland expres-
sion, "As good as a concert," used to describe an
uproariously funny situation.

The audiences were usually tolerant of poor performances
but were not accepting of items which used bawdy or
otherwise Offensive language. This precaution was necessary
since the concert audiences were made up of nearly everyone
from the community.

The concerts were a viable form of entertainment within
the framework of the communities utilizing its available
resources. It was theatrical, and for the most part was

presented in the comic mode. It drew on the rich folklore of

202

Newfoundland in that it presented the songs and recitations
which recorded important events and situations; it allowed
the dialogues to be changed to fit the tastes of the group,
and it contributed to the lore by introducing items from the

outside thereby enriching and sustaining the oral tradition.

8.1 Suggestions for Further Study

Based on the findings of this study, the following
recommendations are made with respect to further inves-
tigation of the Newfoundland Community Concert tradition.

l. The role of the teacher in the production of the
concerts should be examined more closely as a way of
explaining why the presentational style, the programs varied
so little from one part of the island to another.

2. In order to better understand the nature of enter-
tainment and the role it plays in the life of a small
community a project which involves an in—depth study of its
forms of celebration should be attempted. This should
require the person conducting the research to live for a
period of time in the area and become familiar with the
social context in which the practices are carried out.

3. Throughout this study references have been made to the

fact that interest in the concert tradition waned con-

203

siderably since the 19503. A study should be designed to
explore some of the influences and changes in the community
structure and environment which brought about the change in
the entertainment practices. Consideration would have to be
given to the effects of the Centralization program and the
concomitant changes the local school system.

4. Theatrical related entertainment similar to the New-
foundland forms are to be found in other parts of Canada.
Therefore, a comparative study of the concert and the
variety show, the revue, or the Chautauqua would reveal new

insights into dramatic activity at the grassroots level.

APPENDICES

204

Appendix A

Map of Newfoundland

 

 

PROVINCE OF NE WFOUNDLAND

I Provincial Capitol
° Population Centre

O Anthony

    

 

0
Labrador "’"°"'
6
I
I ll iv
w! 5*. ‘
, v 7';
. V
\ " oG'°"d “Gander '
' ' nor Fall: %
Ir h
00 v Ionovéno
“Show“. NEWfound'and
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I . "a",
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2" ' 22w
, 4' j d ' $7.;
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Breton - Placentia

 

F. I .
L A 5.0 , “Ln - Fortune , "y and
Kilomflru ST. PIERRE 5'1"."5.
O
0

”IOUELON
(h)

 

 

 

205

Appendix 8

Distribution of Communities Surveyed

 

 

 

o
o 9
A CONCERTSI a distribution 01
’ communities surveyed
6
. ‘Arvcg
> 4):? s30 '52:, .
. , ' , _‘
’ A .fi/
V A AA A '
/ -
I
Neanrfomincilartd ‘/
/ I
t"
" ‘ /' . . I
A ‘ , .AA ‘
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0 so no ‘ '
‘ ‘ ‘ 0

Kilometres .

 

 

206

Appendix C

The Questionnaire

MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND
FOLKLORE AND LANGUAGE ARCHIVE
QUESTIONNAIRE 0808

TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY CONCERTS

The subject of this questionnaire is community concerts
particularly those organized and produced by the community
as a whole and held as traditional yearly community occur-
rences. Although not as commonly encountered today as in
the past, such concerts were once common to most parts of
the province. They are made up of songs, skits or dialogues
and recitations, and they are major happenings in the
communities.

The questions are provided to assist you and/or your
informant in recalling details about the concerts. They are
by no means all-inclusive and are not meant to be treated as

an official form to be filled out from beginning to end.

207

Although questions are phrased in the past tense ("Who
organized?"), we are also interested in the way peOple put
on concerts today, and in the changes between past and
present.

An informal essay and/or a tape—recorded interview would
be much appreciated. We are particularly interested in the
skits (dialogues) and songs used in the concerts. Any
fragments of these Should be recorded along with the
description (however brief) as to how it was acted.

Thank-you, and please add other details which you would

like to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAME DATE
BIRTHDATE BIRTHPLACE
PRESENT ADDRESS TELEPHONE
HOME COMMUNITY BAY
RELIGION ANCESTRY
(FOR EXAMPLE, ENGLISH, IRISH)

OCCUPATION
Please provide information about your informant(s):
NAME: AGE: ADDRESS:

A.GENERAL

1. Are concerts still being held in your community?
a. If not, were they ever, and when did they
stop?

b. If so, at what time(s) of the year did they
take place?

2.

208

How long were the concerts? What time of the day
did they usually start?

a. Did a dance or time follow the concerts?

Did you ever participate in a community concerts?

a. When?

b. What did you do?

Did your informant ever participate in a concert?

a. When?

b. In what capacity?
B.ORGANIZATION OF CONCERT
Why usually organized? (Individuals, church,

lodge, community group).

How long before the event did peOple start
getting the concert ready?

Who was in charge of the concert?

a. Did he/she select the people to be in the
concert?

Who made up the programme?

a. How did he/she/they select what songs,
recitations, dialogues, etc. were to be
included?

209

5. Was the programme kept secret from people not in
the concert?

a. Where were the practices held?
6. Was there someone in your community who always
played (plays) in the concerts? Who?

7. Who was considered a good actor or actress?

8. Can you explain why such persons were regarded as
good performers?

9. How did someone get a part in a concert?
(Volunteer? Asked to do something specific?)

10. How many people were usually in a concert?

- Men?
- Women?
- Children?
11. Was there a master of ceremonies or more than
one?
a. Who were the masters of ceremonies?
b. Give names if possible.
c. How were they selected?

12. Did the master of ceremonies introduce each
concert piece?

a. DO you remember how he/she used to do it?
("The next thing on the programme...").

13.

14.

210

b. Did he/she ever praise in advance or make
some humourous comment? Give examples.

c. Did he/she ever comment on a piece after it
was performed? (Examples)
Were the concerts advertised? How?
Were concerts from one community presented in

other communities?

a. Where? Do you remember any incidents that
occurred while doing this?

Were there people from St. John's or other
distant parts of the island ("strangers") who
travelled to various communities presenting con-
certs? ‘

C.STAGE

Where were the concerts held?

Was the stage permanent?
a. If not, was one built for the event?

Describe the stage. (Size, how high off the
floor, where were the change rooms located, where
did the actors come onto the stage from?) A rough
diagram or pictures would be helpful.

Which diagram best represents the stage (S) and
audience (A) arrangement?

 

 

 

 

A S A S A S i

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

211

Did you make any attempt at having special
lighting on the stage; e.g., candles, lamps,
etc.?

a. Was the audience part of the hall darkened?
Was there a curtain or screen? What was its
purpose?

Were costumes made especially for the concerts?

a. Can you describe any of them?

What did the scenery consist of? (E.g. windows,

'doors, tables, a stove, boat, etc.)

Was the ,scenery changed during the course of the
concert?

D. THE CONCERT

What kinds of things were done in concerts?

Were there printed programmes?
a. Do you have any that we could copy?

How was the concert Opened? (Special song,
prayer, etc.)

a. How was it closed?

Were songs, recitations, and dialogues written
especially for the concerts?

10.

ll.

12.

13.

212

a. Were they usually comical? (Examples)
b. Who were the authors?

c. Do you have COpies of any locally written
pieces?

Can you remember any of the dialogues (skits)?
Record even the smallest piece, i.i. who was in
it, who it was about, what they wore, what was on
stage etc.

Were some of the dialogues taken from dialogue
books?

a. Where did you get the books? Do you still
have any? What were the names of some of
the dialogue pieces?

Were the dialogues always funny?

DO you recall any dialogues and other concert
pieces that were serious?

Do you remember a recitation that was popular at
concerts? (Record if possible).

Were recitations acted out while someone said
them?

Were songs and recitations performed in front of
the curtain while the rest of the people got
ready for the next dialogue?

Were songs ever acted out?

a. Can you recall one in terms of how it was
done?

Did the audience ever sing along with the per-
formers?

213

14. Were any people ever called onto the stage to
sing or recite?

15. What songs were pOpular as concert pieces?

16. Do you remember a particularly good concert?

a. What are some of the things you remember
about it?

214

Appendix D

Dialogue Titles

The dialogues titles listed below were, at one time or
another, included in the program of a Newfoundland Community
Concert.

Art Critic, An

Barber Shop

Bardell vs Pickwick

Barking up the Wrong Tree

Book Agent

Both sides Of the Fence

Bungtown Lycean

Cannot Be Defeated

Carpet Bagger

Cat Pie

Cat Without An Owner

Cats

Changed Housewife

215

Cinderelly

Confirming Echo
Courting Melinda
Courtship Under Difficulties
Crew of the Sunbeam
Defending the Castle
Discovery

Doctor, Doctor
Enrolling Officier
Every Inch a Gentleman
Fast Colours

From Down East

Getting A Photograph
Getting Up a Debating Society
Girl in the Rain

Going to a New Home
Going Whaling

Have You Heard the News
Heavy Shower

How He Teased Ned
Hospitality

How She Managed Him

How Sambo Fooled the Dentist

216

I Am a Man of Fashion
Imps of the Tank Room
Inhuman Monster

Irish Schoolmaster and His Pupil
Irish Servant

Knights

Learn to be content
Little Brown Jug

Little Mimics

Little Gossips

Living Statues

Lively Polly

Lochiel's Warning

Married By the New Justice of the Peace
Matrimonial Advertisement
Metals

Minister's Mistake, The
Miss Daisy Mae Floosey
Missionary Work
Moderation

New Generation

Newly Invented Telephone

Next Morning

217

Obtaining a Promise
Our Sam's Scrubbing Brush
Painted Calf

Playing School
Prophecy, The
Rainless Kilarney
Ready Answers
Rejected

Reaping the Fruits
Rival speakers

Rose and a Thorn, A
Rumpus in a Shoemaker's Shop
Scandal on the Brain
School Daze

Servant Girl
Shoemaker's Troubles
Sister Mary's Wedding
Sloman's Angel
Snapping Virago

Snowy White

Soap Salesman
Soldier Returns, A

Three Blind Mice

218

Three Little Fools

Tim Finnigan's Wake

TOO Greedy by Half
Trial of Ting wing
Twenty Dollars a Lesson
What we Have

Which Will You GIve Up?
Who's Got the Ball

Who on Airth is He?

Why And Wherefore

Why They Smoke
Wrangling Prayer

Young Teetotaler

219

Appendix E

Song Titles

All the titles listed below, were , at one time, a part of
Newfoundland community concert program.
Albien Nancy Lee

Annie Dear

Annie Laurie

As I'd Nothing Else to Do

Baby Boy

Back to the Woods

Banks of Sweet Dundee

Bay of Biscay

Be Not Deceived

Beautiful Songs of Spring

Belle of Baltimore

Bells of Eve

Better Bide a Wee

Better Luck Tomorrow

220

Bills I Have to Pay, The
Black Sheep

Bogie Man, The

Bride Bells

Brightly the Moon Tonight
California Brothers
Captain and His Whiskers, The
Captain Jinks

Come and Be Happy

Comin' Through the Rye
Committed to the Deep
COmrades

Cork Leg

Country Couple, A

Crocus

Dawning of the Day

Death of Nelson

Down in the Coal Mines
Down the Stream the Shadows Darken
Dinah's Wedding

Dream Faces

Dream the Impossible Dream

Drunkard's Dream, The

221

Dublin Boy

Ehren on the Rhine

England and Her Queen
Every Bullett Has a Billet
Fair is the Morning

Fairy Revels

Finnegan's wake

Forest Echoes

Firmly Stand

Fisherman, The

Fisherman and His Child, The
Five O'Clock in the Morning
Flowers

Fly and That Was All, A
Fly Away Dive, Far Away
Full and Harmonious

Galway Bay

Gipsies' Wedding

G-L-O-R-Y

Gold, More Gold

Golden Shore

Good Old Times

Grandma's Advice

222

Hard Times

Happy Are We

Holy Moses

Home

Home Sweet Home

I am the Merriest Girl

I Wait for Thee

I Will Marry My Own Love

If You're Irish

In the Starlight

I'll Sing You a Song in the Commical Style
Keep the Temperance Banner Waving
Killarney

Kind Words

Jack O'Hazeldean

Jack's Return

John Fury and John Joe
Johnathan, Joseph and Jeremiah
Just Before the Battle

Just Drop a Line to Mother
Life Let us Cherish

Light Canoe

List to the Convent Bells

223

Little Annie Rooney

Love and Our Ocean Home
Love's Golden Dream

Lover's Letter Box

Lovers' Quarrel

Low Backed Chair

Lukey's Boat

Maggie May

Master is Coem, The

Meet Me in the Lane

Minstrel Boy

Miser and His Money Bags, The
Mr. Galliger and Mr. Sheehan
Mistletoe Bough

Moon is Beaming over the Lake, The
Mother's Love is a Blessing, A
Mother Malone

Move Forward

Murmur Gentle Lyre

Murmur Shell

My Nannie's Away

Old Grandma

Oh Me Britches are Full of Stitches

224

Oh Me Master's Gone to Market
Our Jack's Come Home to Stay
Over the Fence

Nancy

Nancy Dee

Nellie Gray

Never Miss the Water

Paddle Your Own Canoe

Papa I'M So Sad

Passing under the Rod

Poor Benny Primrose Farm

Put My Money on a Bob Tail Nag
Red, White and Blue

Riding the donkey

Riseover, The

Row Gently Row

Sailing

Sailor's Lullaby

School Days

Seven Old Ladies

Shoulder to Shoulder

Silver Chimes

Skipper of the Fairy Jane, The

225

Skipper of St. Ives, The
Soldier's Farewell

Song of the Fountain

Song of the Soldier

Starry Night for a Ramble
Summer Shower

Surly Joe

Sweet Katie Conner

Take Back the Heart

Tar's Farewell

Thank God We're Surrounded by Water
That Horrid Girl

Thou Hast Learnt to Love Another
Three Jolly Sailor Boys
Three Little Pigs

Three Maids of Lee

There's a Hole in the Bucket
Tit for Tat

Tread on the Tail of Me Coat
Tripping Through the Meadow
Uncle Ned

Under the Willow

Vive Le Roi

226

Waiting for Father

Wait Till the Clouds Roll By
We Are Merry Little Cooks
Weeping Willow Lilly Dale
Welleo Tide a Wee

Where Are You Going
Widow, The

Wild Sea Flowers

Willie's Such a Tease
Wishing Cap

Won't You Tell Me Robin
Ye Gentlemen of England
Ye Songs of Temperance
Yellow Rose of Texas
Yeomen of England

Yes I'll Meet You Dearest

You'll Never walk Alone

227

Appendix F

Recitation Titles and Text of Little Meg and I

 

The recitation titles listed below were, at various times,
included in a concert program:

Adventures With a Pig

Anxiously Waiting

Aunt Jen's Operation

Bells of Shannon

Beautiful Hands

Berthie Roberts

Bessy's Boil

Bewitched Clock

Boy's Suggestion, A

Boxiano

Brave Old Train

Burgler, The

Bygone Days

Canoe Adventure

228

Captain's Story, The
Castor Beans

Census Collector
Charlotte De Bourbon
Christmas Story, The
Cheer Up

Come Home, Come Home
Crossman's Goat

Curious Custard

Darby and the Ram

Darby Doyle's Visit to Quebec
Dare to Say No

Dangerous Dan McGrew
Dinner and a Kiss
Disconcerted Supernaturalist
Don't be Teasing

Drifted Out to Sea
Drifting With the Tide
Drunkard's Inventory
Drunkard's Soliloguy

Ears

Face on the Barroom Floor

Fare Thee well

229

Fisherman's Dream

Fishes

Flag Raised Here in 78

Fun and Amusement

Gaining Ground

Gentle Jenny Gray

God Bless the Fishermen
Gottingen Barber
Grogseller's Dream

Halfway Lion

He Never Smiled Again

Here I stand Upon the Stage
High Top Boots

The Hymn That Bore Him Home
I Am a Man of Fashion

I'm Teetotal

I Can't Stand Mrs. Green's Mother
In a Mining Town

Imprisoned in a Wreck

Irish Immigrant's Lament, The
Irish Jubilee

Irish Letter

Irish Philosopher

230

Jean Findalater's Loom
Johnnie's Poetry

Judge Not

Katie's Love Letter
Kiss at the Door, A
Lady O'Dee

Lawyer Outwitted, The
Lay of the Last Chicken
Life on the Ocean Waves
Little Dickie Melbourne
Little Farm Well Filled
Little Meg and 1*
Little Nell

Little Stowaway

Little Sue

Little Torments

Lost

Lost Baby, The

Mary, Queen of Scots

Me and Jim

Miss Smart

Mother's Littel Maid

Mother's Prayer, A

231

Mouse and her Promise, The
Mr. Claude Made a Mason
Mr. Twitcherley's Trousers
Mrs. Candle's Curtain Lecture on Shirt Buttons
Murder of Scott, The

My Good Looking Man

My Jack's Knife

New Bonnet, A

Newsboy's Cats

Nothing At All

Oh Come All Ye Young Men
Oh St. Peter

Old Chairs to Mend

Old Rocking Chair, The
Orangeman, The

Over the Fence

Pad Conners

Paddy O'Rafferty

Pa's Initiation

People Will Talk

Poor Mary's Story

Pretty Maid

Prince of Wales

 

232

Rory O'Moore's Present to the Priest
Rosa's Last Words

Rustic Logic

St. Peter at the Gate

Sam McGee

Salvation Army

Scandal Monger Jane
Shootin' Dan

Shipmaster's Story, The
Skipper Charlie

Sleeping Damsel

Soldier's Blotting Paper, A
Sweet Sixteen

Teetotal Alphabet
Temperance Light

Tommy Trundle's Adventure
Too Clever

True Orange Flag

Twelve Days of Christmas
Twine, The

Two Slaves

Victim of the Toothache

Water Babies

233

What I Like

What They Caught

Why Don't You Learn to Dance
Widow Spriggon's Daughter
World of Ice, The

Wreck of the Golden Beam, The
Yankee quilting Party

Yarns

You'll Never Do

234

237
LITTLE MEG AND I

BY

C. T. MURPHY

You ask me, mates, to Spin a yarn before we go
below;

Well, as the night is calm and fair, and no chance
for a blow,

I'll give you one, a story as true as ever yet was
told;

For, mates, I would't lie about the dead; no, not
for gold.

The story's of a maid and lad, who loved in days
gone by;

The maiden was Meg Anderson, the lad, messmates,
was I.

A neater, trimmer craft than Meg was very hard to
find;

Why, she could climb a hill and make five knots
agin the wind;

And as for larnin, hulks and spars! I've Often

heard it said
That she could give the scholars points and then

come out ahead:

The old school-master used to say, and, mates, it
made me cry,

That the smartest there was little Meg, the
greatest dunce was I.

But what cared I for larnin then, while she was by
my side;

 

237
This recitation was referred to a number times as being
a "good piece", it was included in Taylor, Taylor's Popular
Recitations.

 

235

For tho' a lad, I loved her, mates, and for her
would have died;

And she loved me, the little lass, and often have I
smiled

When she said, "I'll be your little wife"--'twas
the prattle of a child;

For there lay a gulf between us, mates, with the
waters running high,

On one side stood Meg Anderson, on the other side
stood I.

Meg's fortune was twelve ships at sea, and houses
on the land,

While mine--why, mates, you might have held my
fortune in your hand;

Her father owned a vast domain, for miles along the

shore;

My father owned a fishing smack, a hut and nothing
more.

I knew that Meg I ne'er could win, no matter how
I'd try,

For on a couch of down lay she, on a bed of straw
lay I.

I never thought of leaving Meg, or Meg of leaving
me.

For we were young, and never dreamed that I should
go to sea,

'Till one bright morning father said, "There's a
whale ship in the bay,

I want you, Bill, to make a cruise; you go aboard
today."

Well, mates, in two weeks from that time I bade
them all good bye,

While on the dock stood little Meg, and on the deck
stood I.

I saw her oft before we sailed when ere I came on
shore,

And she would say, "Bill, when you're gone I'll
love you more and more,

And I'll promise to be true to you through all the
coming years;"

But while she spoke her bright blue eyes would fill
with pearly tears;

236

Then as I whispered words of hOpe and kissed her
eyelids dry,

Her last words were, "God speed you, Bill!" so
parted Meg and I.

Well, mates, we cruised for four long years, till
at last one summer day

Our good ship, the Minerva, cast anchor in the bay;

Oh! how my heart beat high with hope as I saw her
home once more,

And on the pier stood hundreds to welcome us
ashore; .

But heart sank down within me as I gazed with
anxious eye--

No little Meg stood on the dock as on the deck
stood 1.

Why, mates, it nearly broke my heart when I went
ashore that day,

For they told me little Meg had wed while I was far
away;

They told me, too, they forced her to't, and
wrecked her fair young life;

Just think, messmates, a child in years to be an
old man's wife!

But her father said it must be so, and what could

she reply, ~
For she was only just sixteen, just twenty-one was
I.

Well, mates, a few short years from then--perhaps
it might be four--

One blustering night Jack Glynn and I were rowing
to the shore,

When right ahead we saw a sight that made us hold
our breath,

There floating in the pale moonlight was a woman
cold in death;

I raised her up--Ah! God, messmates, that I had
passed her by,

For in the bay lay little Meg, and over her stood

I.

Next day I laid poor Meg away; and nightly on the
wave ‘

237

My spirit wanders forth to keep a watch beside her

grave;

Her father knows not where she lies, nor he who her
betrayed,

There's no one but Bill who knows where little Meg
is laid;

In a quiet grove of willows, her father's house
hard by,

There sleeps in peace my little Meg, and here,
messmates, am I.

 

B IBLIOGRAPHY

238

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Abbott, W.
Casey, G. MUNFLA C1009 71 - 57.
Cole, L. MUNFLA C1288 72 -98.
Etchegory, A.

GUShUe, We Jo MUNFLA C344 66 - 200

S. MUNFLA C1984 74 -l45.

L. MUNFLA C572 69 - 12.

Halpert, H and J. D. A. Widdowson. MUNFLA C246 66 - 24.

Johnson, 2. MUNFLA C553 69 - 33.

Kodish, D.
- 5010

Lacey, Mo MUNFLA 79 - 318, MS.

sacrey' Z. MUNFLA C594 69 - 230
Small, Lo MUNFLA C848 71 - 730

Skinner, C. J. MUNFLA C4858 80 -
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Wareham,

Wareham, W. MUNFLA C680 70 - 8.

MUNFLA C2794 76 - 501;

153;

G. B. MUNFLA C736 70 - 29.

C2800 76 - 501; C2795 76

C4857 8- 152; C6193 83