Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

Canada's oldest Christmas carol was written around 1643 by Fr Jean Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary. Commonly known as The Huron Carol, the original Huron/Wendat words were translated into English in 1926.
This stamp, based on a painting by Ronald G Wright using native motifs to recreate the nativity story, shows the hunter braves (shepherds) following the star to the lodge (stable). In the carol, the Magi are portrayed as "Chiefs from far" bringing fox and beaver pelts. 
Gitchi Manitou means Great Spirit. 
Jesous Ahotonhia means Jesus, he is born.
One of many versions for your listening pleasure. 
'
Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim and wondering hunters heard the hymn,
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found;
A ragged robe of rabbit skin enwrapped his beauty round
But as the hunter braves drew nigh the angel song rang loud and high
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

The earliest moon of wintertime is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt with gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

O children of the forest free, O seed of Manitou
The holy Child of earth and heaven is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy who brings you beauty peace and joy.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Words: Jean de Brebeuf, ca. 1643; trans by Jesse Edgar Middleton, 1926
Music: French Canadian melody (tune name: Jesous Ahatonhia)

more Christmas stamps at See it on a Postcard

John A

The theme of famous people, portraits was chosen specifically for this date because it is     Sir John A Macdonald's 200th birthday. 

Hot off the press is the stamp issued (unusually, on a Sunday) today in his honour. (my post office outlet had no fdc, sadly)

We don't do much in the way of celebrating our leaders, so there isn't a whole lot happening to commemorate our first Prime Minister and Father of Confederation. There may be a glass or two - or three - raised in his honour at some point. He did, after all, really, really like his drink. Until Rob Ford came along, John A was our most famous politician known for his drunken stupors. Though, it could be argued that most men of the time drank a lot, the fact that he could also govern the country and accomplish as much as he did while being inebriated shows a certain strength. He was PM for 19 years, oversaw Confederation and the building of the Canadian-Pacific Railway, and created the North West Mounted Police. He also enjoyed bribery and patronage to get his way, was a bit neglectful and possibly a racist.

John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow though exactly where is in dispute (and as a result plans to erect a plaque have been stalled for a long time). He had a rather unhappy personal life, which could go a ways to explain his penchant for alcohol. The family emigrated to Upper Canada in 1820 and by age 15 John was working to support his mother and sisters. A brother had died from a blow to the head by a servant who was to have been looking after the boys. His first wife, Isabella, was an invalid for many years and their first child died in infancy. Another child with his second wife, Agnes, suffered from hydrocephalus and never walked.

This stamp is a 1973 definitive. John A was a caricaturist's dream. In this case the designer was David Annesley. 
(yes, he is always called John A, never MacDonald)






Today has warmed up to a mild and pleasant -1C, but I may still warm my insides with a shot of whisky and toast the old geezer.

Laura Secord - the first part

The third issue in the Canadian folklore series, issued on September 8, 1992, focuses on Canadian heroes whose feats have taken on legendary proportions. Everyone who buys chocolates in Canada is familiar with the name "Laura Secord". But not everyone is aware that there was a real Canadian heroine named Laura Secord. Born in 1775 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Laura Ingersoll moved to Canada with her family in 1795. She met and married local Queenston merchant James Secord in 1798. But the good times began to fade with the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Great Britain. On June 21, 1813, both her home and town were overtaken by American invaders. Overhearing the enemy's battle strategy, she decided she had to warn the British garrison at Beaver Dams. Since the roads would be too dangerous, she undertook a 20-mile trek by swamp, escarpment and woods. Following many near-fatal mishaps, she encountered a band of Caughnawaga Indians who guided her the rest of the way. Reaching the garrison with her story, the Americans surrendered after the Indians ambushed them on June 24. (Canadian Postal Archives)
(sorry about the small font...)
Designed by Ralph Tibbles 
Based on illustrations by Deborah Drew-Brook 
Based on illustrations by Allan Cormack

This 2013 issue was designed by Susan Scott who "consciously tried to avoid the 'sentimental' look of the earlier stamp in devising the latest postal tribute to Secord" and Montreal illustrator Suzanne Durenceau

There are no photographs of Laura Secord save for one taken when she was nearly 90 years of age, so the designers used photos of some of Laura's daughters who had similar facial features as inspiration and found a model to pose. Canada Post is pretty strict about the models used for stamps, so this mystery woman (who apparently is from Montreal) will always remain anonymous.
The second part on Laura Secord is under cemeteries tab. (this tabbing idea is a work in progress - does anyone have hints on how to transfer posts to new tab?)
SundayStamps

nothing is forever

Last week for Taphophile Tragics I told you about Alexander Muir and how a tree on his street had inspired him to write The Maple Leaf Forever, considered our unofficial national anthem. 

I didn't have a photo of the tree because, well, I'd never gotten around to taking one. 

Which is a crying shame because 

before the week was out that tree was knocked down in a vicious storm.

Chantry Island Lighthouse

In anticipation of this week's stamp theme of lighthouses, I thought I would share something about the Chantry Island Lighthouse.

I have hundreds dozens of photos. Every time I see it with the light shining on the white limestone, I have to take more photos. Just in case. One of them will be the perfect shot and then I will stop. But it is located about a mile off the shore at Southampton on Lake Huron.

And it is always windy (at least when I have been there, it is. I have been told that some days the lake is like glass, but I find that hard to believe)

Anyway, I need to practice with my zoom lens











Six of these Imperial Towers were commissioned by the government and built by John Brown between 1855-59.
All are pretty much identical with an 80' conical tower with a small cottage for the keeper

and all are strategically located on Lake Huron. This particular area is home to at least 50 known shipwrecks.

The lens in the lighthouse was a Fresnel, imported from France, this one in the Bruce County Museum
and the first fuel used was sperm whale oil and later colza oil, coal oil, kerosene, acetylene and electricity until the current solar power. No wonder there were so many fires. It was a dangerous job. And you were on your own.


The lighthouse has been operating ever since it was built but it was automated in the 1950s,  and eventually with no caretaker the abandoned buildings fell into disrepair.  But by the late 1990s, a group of local lighthouse enthusiasts (now known as the Southampton Marine Heritage Society, but at the time was Supporters of Chantry Island) worked tirelessly at restoring the house. You can read more here if you are interested.

Now there are tours run by volunteers and you can climb the steep and narrow 115 steps to the top of the tower and also wander through the restored cottage and see it as it might have been furnished in the 1900s. Since the island is also a bird sanctuary you cannot wander freely, but, the noise and smell from the various cormorants, egrets, herons, gulls can be a little overwhelming, even from a distance!

a view of the restored privy

some of the thousands of cormorants

and at left, some egrets

and, far off in the distance....

the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant

Sunday Stamps - 100

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sunday Stamps, I chose this most appropriate 100th Anniversary of the letter carrier delivery service in Canada.

This set was designed by Stephen Mennie in 1974 to honour all the busy postal workers of Canada Post. First up is the Postmaster, then the mail courier, mail handler, mail clerk, letter carrier, and the rural mail courier.

Of course letter delivery was going on long before 1874,

here is [an edited] blurb provided by the website

Canada's first "postmen" - unofficial of course - were the Indian runners who carried messages between neighbouring tribes using wampum beads. The official runner of the Iroquois tribe, for example, carried a string of white wampum beads if the message was of peace, prosperity or goodwill, and blue beads for war, disaster or death. During the days of the fur trade, voyageurs, coureurs de bois and Indian couriers carried mail and messages to the few fur factors, government officials and missionaries in outlying areas. The first official letter carrier in Canada, appointed in 1705, was a Portuguese Canadian, Pedro da Silva, commissioned to carry the Governor's despatches between Québec, Trois-Rivières and Montréal. Da Silva bolstered his salary by carrying private letters at a fee which he based on the distance travelled; he charged ten cents to convey a letter from Québec to Montréal. Before a postal system was available, anyone in New France who wished to send mail to Europe arranged with friends in Québec to take their letters to the captain of an outgoing ship. Friends would also pick up incoming letters and arrange for their delivery by da Silva or some other hired person. In 1851, the provinces took over from the United Kingdom full responsibility for administering the postal service. In that same year, the first Canadian stamps for prepayment of postage were issued. These included the famous red "three penny beaver" designed by Sir Sandford Fleming. With Confederation in 1867 the Canada Post Office was formed and took over the responsibilities of the provinces in postal matters. Uniform postal rates were established and the practice of prepayment of mail was enforced with fines being charged for mail that was not prepaid. At that time, letter carrier delivery service was available in certain large cities. For this service, however, in addition to the postage paid by the sender, the recipient had to pay to the letter carrier upon delivery a charge of two cents on each letter and one cent on each newspaper. In 1874, free letter carrier delivery service was introduced by the Canada Post Office in Montréal and in Toronto, Québec, Ottawa and Hamilton the following year.

My father was a mail carrier for many years and this was his set that we found amongst his things after he died.

Peace

a "colourpicture" linen postcard of the Peace Tower

 Postcard Friendship Friday

as bonus, we get a Mountie in scarlet!

The Peace Tower is a bell and clock tower that sits in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings. 

It is also home to the Memorial Chamber directly above the porte-cochere, with stained glass windows and various other features illustrating Canada's war record such as the brass plates made from spent shell casings found on battlefields with the name of each of Canada's major conflicts during the First World War. The stone walls were originally to have been inscribed with the names of all Canada's servicemen and women who had died during the First World War but without enough space for all 66,000 names, it was later decided to place Books of Remembrance there instead.

Sunday Stamps - flags

Our flag has only been around since 1964, but the government has done a spectacular job at making it one of the most recognized. The Maple Leaf has been emblazoned on pretty much everything.

And for several years we have had a flag series of stamps, some of which I have already shown and you can see here. Interestingly, this flag series are for domestic stamps, so they do not end up flying around the world.

Here are a couple more...

a lighthouse series with this example, issued on May 1 2008, from
Pachena Point, British Columbia, located along a dangerous stretch of the western coastline, on Vancouver Island.

"As the eye moves across the panel from left to right, you can almost hear the sound of the flag flapping in the wind," says Liz Wong, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post. "It really brings out that deep sense of national pride."





And this example from a historic mills series of the Watson's Mill in Manotick, outside Ottawa. This stamp, released in 2010, was cancelled in Manotick for the 150th anniversary of the mill. There is a lot of history and and a tragic love story associated with the mill which you can read about here.

 

and, in honour of the Olympics opening soon, here is our example of an Olympian managing to wave the flag at an impossible angle on a victory lap.


In celebration of Canada's participation in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and also in recognition of the more than 340 athletes who will proudly represent our country, Canada Post is issuing a domestic rate (52¢) stamp on July 18, 2008.


(oops, which I now see is next week's theme)






see more flag waving stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Sunday Stamps

Standard issues are the theme for this week's stamps. 

We seem to have moved on from the Queen to the flag as a standard issue and I already showed examples of the the flag fluttering over various parts of the country. 

So, here is the Queen. I like this one where she is smiling and looks happy. It is also almost in the usual profile pose.

Like these examples from 1958.
Stamps weren't quite so informal then. And they all seemed to be the same style but with different colours to signify the different denominations.
You will notice that she is showing her right side

whereas these examples of George V are showing his left side.

 and they are in shades of red and green, perfect for the Christmas card they sent.

and for those still enamoured - the future king

not showing either profile. I thought the profile changed with each monarch and there was some question as to which side William would show depending on whether Charles took the crown. But maybe that is an issue for the money and not the stamps, as I noticed in my research that George VI was mostly shown looking straight ahead, not in profile. Shame I don't have any of those stamps.

Sunday Stamps

The theme this week is stamps from the Great White North. That would include us up in Canada. One thing this meme has accomplished, for me, is a new appreciation for our own stamps. I always thought they were a little on the boring side. But then, apparently I have never really looked at them. This flag series is not my favourite, but I seem to have a few of them lying around so I will share them. Now if only there were a description on the stamp, because some of these were a bit of a mystery, I will admit, and required some research.

First up is the flag flying
against the backdrop of the
city of Edmonton skyline at dawn
in celebration of its centennial in 2003

issued January 2002, the 48 cent domestic stamp 

has the flag flying in front of the 

Canada Post Head Office in Ottawa 

issued  December 2000, the 47 cent domestic stamp shows the flag fluttering over an inukshuk                                         

 issued December 1998, the 46 cent domestic stamp depicts the flag in a the breeze against the backdrop of a Newfoundland iceberg 

then there is this series from 2006, featuring 

Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba

The lighthouse at Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia 

Tuktut Nogait National Park, Northwest Territories

Ice fields and fjord in Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut 

This was also the first year for the non-denominated stamp. The P icon stands for permanent, so although these stamps cost 51 cents when they were bought in 2006, they can be used indefinitely for whatever the current domestic rate is (which this year is 59 cents)

more stamps can be found at Viridian's Stamp Blog

Jack

There were still thousands of people standing patiently in a line that wrapped right around City Hall this evening in order to pay their respects to Jack Layton. It was about 2 1/2 hours long.

Jack (he was always Jack, not Layton or Mr Layton - nothing so formal) was a city councillor and MP in Toronto who later became the leader of the New Democratic Party and then in last May's election, the leader of the opposition. He was a man of the people and even those people who did not - and perhaps never would - vote for him, have been deeply affected by his death. It was not completely unexpected, but shocking all the same. We all had hope...

I shook his hand once. Many years ago, when I lived almost but not quite in his riding on the Danforth, I was standing in line behind him in a bakery. Some other people came over to talk to him and somehow I was drawn into the conversation. I have no memory of what the talk was, but I do remember his laughter and those eyes that sparkled in their intensity when he looked at you. When he was ready to leave he shook hands with each of us and waved to the others sitting at tables nearby. He was not just going through the motions, he really cared about and knew so many people.

What other politician would spend his last days writing a letter to his fellow citizens [Canadians]?

It is long, so I won't repost it all but here are a few snippets from his letter to Canada dated two days before his death

All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada.
...
To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope.
...
And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

Jazz has conveniently posted it in its entirety on her blog which you can read here.

'aspire to inspire'     'through these doors lies the body of a great man'

For several days, people have been leaving messages on the cement at City Hall, 

some of it has been washed off with the rain, but more is added...Olivia (his wife) made an appearance

'the best PM we never had'
You will be sorely missed, Jack.

rain, rain go away

Spring seems a long time coming.

Last year, at this time, spring had been here for weeks,  

though it is hard to accept that that was EARLY. An anomaly.

And it is Tulip Festival time in Ottawa.  I went to see it last year and there were fears that the tulips would be over before the festival began.  The ones we saw were a little spent and blown out, or battered by the rain.  This year, a very different story.  There are fears that there won't be any tulips blooming in time for the festival (which begins on Friday).  Before leaving Ottawa on Monday, I noticed workers were setting up tents and pavilions and getting things ready.  But any tulips we saw were barely out of the ground.

And as, usual, it rained while I was there.  For the third year in a row.  We did have two warm, sunny, clear days, but it was on Monday with the incessant, pelting rain that I chose to visit the Parliament Buildings with the misty view from the Peace Tower.

(a view of the west block which is still undergoing extensive restoration work.)

It was raining so heavily and I was so soaked that even though the Parliament Hill area seemed deadly quiet and therefore pleasant for walking, I thought I'd head home early and stop off at any town where it wasn't raining to walk around.

Even the ducks came out of the river to paddle around the Eternal Flame (they had jumped out by the time I reached them, but were circling around, ready for the next plunge).

I decided to have dinner in Kingston, a city I'd stopped at very briefly on my last trip to Ottawa and wanted to see more of at a time of day when places were open. This was the first capital of the Province of Canada (in 1841) so they have a nice historic downtown, right on the lake and I remembered that their City Hall was rather magnificent looking and my previous pictures weren't all that great so I wanted to get better ones. 

yeah, the cute tourist information place inside the old train station was also completely covered in scaffolding and green netting while it gets a new roof.

On the upside, it was being used as a polling station, so I pretended I belonged and wandered inside. 

Of course, because it was a polling station, I couldn't take pictures.

When I got home Iooked it up on the internet and here is a virtual tour if you are interested. 

Then it started to rain again.