Month: November 2018

The following is a photo I took of our snack of home made bread with molasses. My wife usually makes bread, once a month and I always look forward to a slice of fresh bread and molasses.

I recall as a child my parents and others talking about the crust man. If we didn’t eat our crust, the crust man would come and take us. This is a ditty that my father-in-law would sing to the grand-children.  “If you don’t eat your crust, they’ll come back at night and dance around your head on your pillow singing ‘we are the crust that you did not eat, that you did not eat.”

Here are a few comments from some friends who remember the crust man stories from their childhood.

Geraldine: “I was scared to death of the crust man.”

Amy:  “I used to have nightmares about that dude!”

Courtney: “It’s a wonder we went to sleep at night:”

I ate my crust and my favorite slice of bread is the heel, the heel tap or the crust.

The Crust Man (Poem)

I sat at the table and hungrily ate,
But the crust of my bread still remained on the plate.

 

We very seldom hear of  anybody seeing or hearing fairies today.  When I was young and living in Creston South my parents and grandparents would tell stories about fairies.

There is one story that I recall about my Grandmother Wiscombe. Her and a friend were picking berries about a mile from Creston. When it was time to go home, I believe it was my grandmother, starting walking in the opposite direction.  Her friend called out to her but she kept on walking.  The friend ran after her and when she caught up to her she said, “can you hear the fairies playing and the bells.” Her friend heard nothing and eventually she was able to get my grandmother to turn and head for home.

Our parents would always tell us to watch out for the fairies. I would suggest there are many such stories that have been told, in many communities, through Newfoundland Labrador.

The most famous fairy is the tooth fairy. When a child loses a tooth, it is placed under a pillow and the tooth fairy comes at night, takes the tooth and leaves money. The value of a tooth  has gone up with inflation.

Then there is Cinderella’s fairy godmother. That’s one story that even fascinated the boys.

Links to Stories

A Fairy Abduction Story

The French Fairy Tales In Newfoundland

Away With The Fairies

It’s been extremely windy here in Newfoundland and the forecast for the next few days, is gale force winds. I recall fishermen saying it’s blowing a gale.

Many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are familiar with the devastating damages and loss of life caused by those extreme winds. Some of us have first hand experience and respect it’s power.

Those are a few pictures that I took today down at the end of Cherry Lane. The wind was gusting up to 100 kmh or higher.from the west. It was a mixed bag of weather as one minute the sun was shining and then we had rain and wet snow flurries.

That’s Kelly’s Is in the background. I would not want to be out there today. When I was sixteen, I spent a summer as a mate on a tuna boat. I recall one day we were steaming from Cape St Francis to Long Pond after a day sport tuna fishing. The wind was blowing down the bay. It was a rough ride coming up the bay. The bow of the boat would dig into the waves and throw water back over the bridge. You had to hold on so as not to be knocked around on the deck.

A number of years ago  a relative and I were turr hunting and as we went around the eastern end of kelly’s Island the wind changed direction. We were met with high winds and waves similar to what’s in the photo.  My relative was able to turn the boat and get back into the shelter of the island. We did make a decision to cross over to Long Pond.  It was a little nerve wrecking, however; my relative was good at reading the water and the waves.

Looking down the shoreline towards Manuel’s Head.