It was on this day, 202 years ago, that the American army under General Jacob Brown, pulled back to the Chippewa River to lick its wounds and count the dead. The night before, just a short distance from Niagara Falls, they had fought the bloodiest battle ever on Canadian soil.
Read MoreI can't begin to say the emotions that swept over me when I saw that someone, somewhere out there in cyberspace had responded so sensitively to my story about boys growing up on the eve of the War of 1812. I contacted Karen to thank her, and we met at the Ontario Librarians Association superconference soon after. We've been friends ever since.
Read MoreIn Canada, we had our own republic movement in 1813-14. The men who fought, risked their property and liberty for the idea of a republic, and died in battle and on the scaffold are virtually forgotten today. No one knows where Joe Willcocks is buried, but some think it might be beneath what is now a parking lot in downtown Fort Erie. I know of at least one historian who, if he could identify Willcocks' final resting place, would make a point of going there and pissing on it.
Read Moren American officer who arrived on the scene after the fighting would later report that nothing could have prepared him for "a scene of wanton and revolting barbarity. [The warriors] had left on the ground nearly half of the detachment, most of them dead, but some of them still breathing, though scarcely sensible. Every body was utterly stripped, and scalped, and mangled and maimed in a way that looked as if there had been a sort of sportive butchery among the dying and the dead. [One man had] more than a dozen of these gashes and lacerations. [His head was] denuded from the eye-brows to the back of the neck [but he] was still breathing and sensible when our party reached him."
Read MoreSo when they could not buy food, the soldiers on both sides resorted to stealing, looting and plundering. Both sides prohibited looting, but soldiers in the American and Crown armies did rob local farms in the Niagara peninsula. Thomas Ridout, a junior officer in the Crown forces wrote to his father in September 1813, "Tonight our dragoon is to make a grand attack on the onions.The nests are kept very nice and clean from eggs. [ie. he was stealing from the hen houses]. We feed a turkey at our door which is doomed for our Sunday dinner." Elsewhere, Ridout refers to "an extensive robbing of peas, apples, onions, corn, carrots." [Sheppard p. 100]
Read MoreWhen the Canadian Volunteers met for their Regimental Dinner at Fort George this past weekend, they were allowed to use the kitchen to prepare the meal, and the officer's mess to enjoy it. It's one thing for the soldier re-enactors to train according to Napoleonic drill manuals, and fire replicas of 1812 muskets. It's quite another to be able to prepare a banquet feast using the technologies and techniques of 200 years ago.
Read MoreThe traitors are gathering in Fort George this weekend. I wish I could be there with them. They're planning another season of plunder and pillage, looting and burning, treachery and skulduggery. And oh what fun they're going to have.
Read MoreReaders of Blood Oath will know that both General Stallion and General Bull had excruciatingly bad luck a couple of weeks later when they co-led the pursuit of the British forces as they retreated back through the Niagara peninsula. Part of their bad luck was of their own making. They set up camp in an exposed position at Stoney Creek and failed to post sufficient pickets to guard against a surprise nighttime attack.
Read MoreÍ'm getting close to filling the web pages of this site. Last night was a trip down memory lane as I listed the books that have helped me write the Jake and Eli stories. It felt like a quiet evening hanging out with old friends -- some of whom I haven't seen in a long time.
Read MoreI went back to school yesterday -- back to my son's school, Hopewell Avenue Public School, where for all the years between Senior Kindergarten and Grade 6, I seem to have been there almost as many days as Jacob.
Read MoreWe've been trying to bring kilt skating to Toronto, so when a conference brings you to the big city, then pack the skates and the kilt, bring along the flag, and see if you can make some friends.
Best of all, you get to do like Murray McLaughlan and skate "down by the Henry Moore."
Murray, it should be noted, was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Moore unveiled "The Archer" at Nathan Phillips Square in 1966 -- the finishing touch to an iconic Toronto City Hall designed by Viljo Revell.
"I WENT DOWN BY THE HENRY MOORE -- SKATED ON IN THE SQUARE. THE MOON ABOVE MY SHOULDER, AND THE ICE WAS IN MY HAIR.."
But the school kids out on a morning outing weren't thinking about song writers or sculptors or architects or public space. They were having a blast on the ice.
But the purpose of coming to Toronto was not simply to skate at the Henry Moore in a fashion that would do credit to Murray McLaughlan's Scottish background. No, this is the week where teacher-librarians, children's writers, and publishers from across the province descend upon Toronto for the annual "Superconference" of the Ontario Library Association.
So like John the Baptist or Johnny Appleseed, we can spread the gospel or plant the seed in communities across Ontario. It's also a chance to meet new and old friends -- some of whom have not yet heard that we've taken to proselytizing on behalf of kilt skating. But the good thing about walking through the Toronto Convention Centre in a kilt, with skates over your shoulder, and carrying a Scottish saltire on a hockey stick, you never lack for conversation topics.
KAREN BASS'S NEW NOVEL, "THE HILL," WILL BE RELEASED IN MARCH. SHE COVETS A HAT!
BOOK SIGNING: A CHANGE TO MEET TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS AND TEACHER-LIBRARIANS FROM ACROSS ONTARIO.
MAKING NEW FRIENDS, FINDING NEW READERS, PROSELYTIZING THE GOSPEL OF THE KILT SKATE.
LOTS OF SWAG TO BE HAD!
HAVING FINISHED HIS PRESENTATION, COLIN HARKNESS TAKES A MOMENT TO RELAX.
AFTER HOURS THERE'S LOTS OF TIME TO CATCH UP ON NEWS WITH OLD FRIENDS -- NOTE THAT KAREN BASS STILL COVETS THE HAT! (ALSO NOTE TY STUFFED ANIMALS...) THAT'S WESLEY KING STANDING BEHIND JOANNE RICHARDS AND KAREN UPPER.
AS EVER, KAREN UPPER IS SO VERY GENEROUS WITH HER GIFTS TO HER FRIENDS. THIS IS "GINGER," SHE SAYS. GINGER HAS A NEW HOME.
BUT THE MEMORY OF THE DAY MUST GO TO ... SKATING DOWN AT THE HENRY MOORE!
Don Cummer/Kilt SkateToronto, Nathan Phillips Square, Murray McLaughlan, Onario Library Association, Karen Willsey Bass, Henry Moore, I Went Down To The Henry Moore, Winter Fun, Skating, Kilt Skating, Queen Street West2 Likes Share
