The Rural Voice, 1985-12, Page 14nr ink
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322 Main St., Exeter, NOM 1S0
250 Josephine St., Wingham, NOG 2W0
DON'T MISS
IT FOR THE
WORLD!
The 1986 World Exposition
May 2 to October 13, 1986
Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
Contact
ELLISON TRAVEL
for complete details on tours
and information on Expo 86
May 31 • June 7
World Ploughing Match Expo 86 &
West Edmonton Mall
June 5 • June 14
Victoria, Expo 86, Rockies and
West Edmonton Mall
June 8 • June 15
Expo 86 - Vancouver • Whistler
June 27 • July 8
Expo 86 - Calgary Stampede - Rockies
and West Edmonton Mall
September 13 - 20
Rockies - Expo 86 - Vancouver
Contact us about Early
Booking Savings and many
more special Tours to Expo
ELLISON TRAVEL
Your Authorized Expo 66 Agent
FOR FURTHER DETAILS
EXETER 1.800.265.7022
t r Tolltree
• . 519.235.2000
t f 11 1 WINGHAM
519.347.3330
Located in the
old town hall.
12 THE RURAL VOICE
or Rex Beach. Dad felt clothing was
unsuitable for a Christmas gift, hav-
ing been subjected to this as a boy.
He also considered toys to be
frivolous. In the long run I guess he
was right, but all my early childhood
life I wanted and asked for a tricycle
which I never got. I wonder if the
realization would have been as great
as my regret?
After breakfast we tidied up a bit
and looked for the company to
assemble. They would start to arrive
about 11:00 a.m. Dinner was the nor-
mal bountiful repast with goose,
dressing, potatoes and gravy, turnips,
and mince pie. After dinner the men
sat around and talked and the women
cleaned up. About three o'clock they
would start passing treats such as
oranges, candy (often homemade),
figs, and dates — all rare on other oc-
casions and greeted by me with much
enthusiasm. The smaller children
usually stayed underfoot but the
older ones went skating, sleigh riding
on the hillside, or played hide and
seek in the barn.
After the evening chores came sup-
per, sometimes more goose but more
often cold ham, with fried potatoes,
canned fruit, and Christmas cake.
After this we assembled for fun and
games. We put on charades, played
Jacob and Rachael or spin -the -plate.
We would have a concert with
everybody doing something, usually
very much aware that you were stale
to the audience and rather inept at
best. Mother would play the piano
and we would gather around and
sing.
New Year's came one week later
and this was a repetition of Christmas
without the gifts. During the rest of
the winter there would be house
dances. Mother did not believe in
dancing and Dad had thoroughly
Methodist feet. Thus we boys did not
get to any until we were old enough to
rebel. In my teens I went to several.
The night would be announced and
invitations sent out by word of
mouth. Everybody was welcome but
you never crashed a party. If you
knew them well you automatically
went. If a friend of yours was going
he would sponsor you as a guest. It
was assumed that you knew enough
to be pleasant and courteous.
A farm home had two rooms for
general use, the kitchen and the
parlour. The dancing was usually
done in the kitchen. Thus the girls
would all crowd into the parlour and
the men stand around the walls of the
kitchen. The table and chairs would
be stored somewhere and there would
be no fire in the kitchen stove. The
music consisted of a fiddle only or
possibly a fiddle and a piano. The fid-
dle player sat on a chair on top of the
stove. If a piano was there, the fiddler
stood in the parlour door with the
piano drawn up close so that the
dancers could hear the music. The
dances were Square Dances and the
waltz and fox trot, which were called
round dances, although these
geometrical shapes were not readily
discern i ble.
The Square Dance was done to a jig
type of music with sets of four
couples. The caller of the drill had to
know what he wanted the dangers to
do, and so had to have some sense of
music and strong lungs. The fiddler
climbed onto the stove and scraped
away at the strings, twisting at the
pegs. He played a few bars of a coun-
try tune to prove that there was a little
music in the old girl and then stop-
ped. The caller then started to shout,
"Fill her up boys, room for two sets,
three more couples wanted. Fill her
up, boys, one more couple — one
more — okay Joe."
There were some tunes that were
designed for a special dance. Thus the
"Buffalo Girls" or the "Waltz
Quadrille" announced themselves,
but if the fiddler started with "Bon-
nie Dundee" then you just waited for
the call: "Address your partners,
balance all, a !a main left. Promenade
when you meet her. Places all. First
couple up to the left and dos d dos."
And so it went. There were three sets
to a dance, the third one usually being
a breakdown, which meant very fast
step -dancing music. With good
dancers this is exciting because bet-
ween each movement the man does a
little jig. In our area few of the