Village Squire, 1980-05, Page 15When May 24 brought
every able bodied man out to drill
BY THELMA COLEMAN
In the early days of the Huron Tract,
homespun britches, swallow tail coats and
plug hats were the "uniforms" of our first
Canadian draftees - the members of the
militia of Upper Canada.
The draft however, was a little different
than it was during our two world wars.
Men were called up once a year for a day of
training, just to remind them about
military liscipline and the art of bearing
arms. The day was usually in May, often on
the 24th of the month, and every
able-bodied man was expected to take part
in the Muster Day drills and celebrations.
The Statutes of Canada, passed in 1808,
laid down the ground rules for Muster Day.
It stated, "Every male inhabitant from 16
years of age to 60 shall be deemed capable
of bearing arms and shall enroll his name
as a militia -man on the first training day on
which the companies shall be drawn out."
The man who failed to enroll was fined
ten shillings. But there was an exception:
"No person above the age of 50 shall be
called upon to bear arms except on the day
of the annual meeting or in the time of war
or emergency." This last statement must
have puzzled the men over fifty!
The Captain of the Company to be
assembled sent out notices where the
militia were to meet. A day late in May to
hold the one -day training exerciseswas
ideal for the settler. The warm days and
frosty nights of April brought the sweet
task of syrup making; early May was the
time for ploughing and seeding; and after
young Queen Victoria ascended the throne,
what more fitting day to call a Muster than
on her birthday, the 24th of May, and do a
little celebrating besides.
At dawn the men came down the
woodland trails, onto the dusty roads and
soon fell in with boon companions. It
seemed only right to stop at the taverns
and raise a glass to the health of the young
Queen. It was the patriotic thing to do;
abstention would have been tantamount to
traitorship.
Because the day was young the inen
were still in a jovial frame of mind when
they reached the flats and greeted friends
they hadn't seen over the winter, even
though they lived only a few miles away.
The Captain, on horseback, gave the
order to "Fall In." In the early days many
of the officers had military training, since
they were veterans of the Napoleonic wars.
In later years, especially during the
Rebellion of 1837, several settlers received
the appointment of Colonel or Captain.
What they lacked in military training they
made up in zeal and effort.
The men being drilled were dressed in
whatever clothing they owned, or thought
suitable for the occasion. Many came in
shirt sleeves and homespun britches, some
had unwrapped old swallow tail coats and
plug hats, and some, mostly officers, were
in the full-dress uniform of the regiment
they'd once belonged to.
UMBRELLAS
Each man brought whatever he thought
would serve as a weapon. A few had guns,
some umbrellas, but most carried sticks cut
from ash or hickory. One elderly lady wrote
one of the commands given was:
"Gentlemen with the umbrellas, take
ground to the right! Gentlemen with the
walking sticks take ground to the left."
After dismissal the mien headed tor the
nearest taverns and the spate of hard
drinking and fighting began, according to
Thomas Conant, writing of pre -Confeder-
ation days. "Those were the days of
pugilistic Ontario," he states. "A bee or
"raising" was never complete without a
fight. It would appear persons would take
that opportunity to settle old feuds and
grudges. Whiskey -fights were considered
as much a matter of course as it was for
men to assemble."
In the old accounts of happenings are
many stories of the "old feuds and
grudges," the Tips and the Downs, that,
instead of being left behind in the Old
Country, continued in the new land as if
the participants had never left their native
soil.
Mr. Conant continues: "Annually during
one day in June all the able-bodied men of
military age had to assemble for drill in
Toronto. (This notice was for the Toronto
area. Each village and hamlet held its own
Muster day.) At every such training there
were fights in the morning before they
commenced and likewise in the evening
when they were dismissed from drill."
He tells of a bully at one training day
who beat a smaller man, only to be
severely beaten in turn by a pugilist who
stepped forward and took the smaller
man's part " felling the bully to the
ground"and giving the prostrate man a
vigorous kick as a parting salute. But this
was a fair fight, whereas in those days they
did not scruple to "strike below the belt,"
while gouging, biting and kicking.
Anna Jamieson, 1838, wrote of a Muster
day she witnessed, saying: "The parade -
day ended in a drunken bout and a riot -
one or two serious or even fatal accidents
occurred."
LIVELIER
However, William Johnston, who
farmed near St. Marys, tells us of a Muster
day that was livelier and merrier. It was
held on May 24th, 1860, the first he was
called upon to attend.
"An officer of the force, a few days
previous, had sent out orders to all the men
liable to bear arms to muster on the flats of
St. Marys and perform their annual drill,"
he says, "That day we remember well. It
was beautiful but exceedingly hot. Horses
were few, and most of the men made the
journey on foot, many of them walking ten
or twelve miles through the woods and over
the roads to the place of rendezvous.
"Groups of strong, able, happy fellows
could be seen wending their way along the
concession lines and through forests, then
one mass of foliage, to the place of
meeting. On nearing the London and Proof
Line gravel road, which crosses at right
angles the various concession lines, the!
spirits of the pedestrians seemed to rise is
THE VILLAGE SOUIREIMAY HMO PG. 13