"Coming Home" by Sandra McGurk

"Coming Home" by Canadian artist Sandra McGurk. This painting represents the seal hunt, where all the men left for days, sometimes weeks, to return to their very happy wives and children. 

Relics and Tales is happy to introduce once again, Canadian artist Sandra McGurk. Sandra was born and raised in the Town of Carbonear, Newfoundland, she also lived in Nova Scotia for twenty years and now resides with her husband in Victoria, British Columbia. Sandra's artwork, her carvings and paintings, tell us stories of her childhood growing up with her family in Labrador with the Inuit people, the Nunatukavut (formerly named the Labrador Métis Nation). Sandra very kindly shares with us a few of her art pieces. They are beautiful depictions of Inuit life. I love her paintings!

The following drawings were done by pastel chalk.

 

 

The following fence art pieces were designed to go onto or off a frame that hangs on the panel or can be placed on a wall inside, the frame can be painted the same colour as the fence or wall to make the frame-work disappear and all the individual pieces come off so they can be stored easily. The pieces for the hunter came from Jordan River (Vancouver Island) and the pieces for the lady and baby came from Island View beach (Victoria, B.C.).

The following art pieces are recent soap stone carvings by Sandra. They are delightful and beautifully carved. Thank you Sandra for sharing these with us. We look forward to more of your art work. We will keep up with Sandra here on Relics and Tales and we hope to hear more fascinating tales of her Inuit childhood.

Polar bear with a small child on its back and licking the other little child's face

Two young girls who are throat singing - Inuit custom

Skeleton of a fish which is made up of various Inuit ladies in the sitting or crouching position

Pendant with the face of an Inuit hunter

A whaler inside the belly of a whale fighting to get out

We must not forget to add a few of Sandra's west coast paddles! I have copied and pasted a note from Sandra which I will include here for you to read. Thank you for visiting our website. Michelle

"The paddle with the whales is a carving with an actual 100 yr old whale bone from the shores of Labrador from the old whaling days and the fish have mother of pearl shell embedded in them.  Under the polar bear is a Ulu knife which also contains embedded bone.  With a seal draped over the Ulu.  The other paddle also made from yellow cedar has a painting of the Inuit sun with salmon flying through the waves and on the other side is the Inuit moon with a whale's tail for the evening scene. Shaping and cutting the whale bone took me 8 days. " Sandra

Canadian Artist, Sandra McGurk

We are coming back soon

Hello dearest fans of Relics and Tales. I apologise for our absence this past while but we have been away. We do have some new and very interesting stories, 'whatsits', and other unusual items just waiting to be added to our website. This website is important and dear to us and we hope to create a special place where one can read a story, listen to music or watch a documentary. My father-in-law has many unusual stories to share with us - especially for those interested in rare tools and artifacts, vintage motorcycles and historical items that are important links to our past. We will also include links to other websites of similar interest and from other countries. We wish to say a big 'thank you' to all our readers for visiting us and for your kind comments, we want to keep in touch with all of you and hope to make this a fun place to visit. Our absence is only temporary and we will be back soon. Warmest wishes. Michelle 

The Pocket Watch

“The Pocket Watch”
- written by my father-in-law

I first met Charles a few years ago at a motorcycle show in the town of Sidney, Vancouver Island. I was introduced to him with the assumption I would be able to answer his questions regarding motorcycles. Charles was a most delightful man of 80 years or so, and he was most keen to find out if motorcycles could back up (reverse). During the war he was told by his senior officers that motorcycles were not able to back up and that Charles was incorrect by saying they did. I assured him they could and told him about a 1942 Military Zundapp with sidecar that was in my driveway a week prior that had backed out. He seemed very happy to hear this. I sent him some information and photos on the related subject. He called me to express his appreciation, and as he seemed to have an interest in motorcycles, I invited him over to see my collection. Over a cup of tea he related this amazing story to me and told me why he was so keen to find out if motorcycles could back up.

1942 Zundapp Military KS750 with Steib B2 Sidecar
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO OF BIKE ON THE MOTO CHANNEL

It was 1940 and Charles found himself in Belgium during the Phoney War. The Germans were moving in. Charles, along with the other Territorial Volunteers, were all inexperienced - he informed me he had only fired six rounds from his rifle. I believe Charles told me there were about fifteen hundred men in his group, which was probably a brigade. They were travelling through the woods when they heard the sound of tanks approaching on a nearby road. The officer in charge ordered the men to let them pass as they had no hope of surviving an encounter with them. Ahead of the tanks appeared motorcycles with machine guns attached to the sidecars. As they were passing, one of the soldiers shot a motorcyclist. The machines stopped, then backed up and turned their machine guns on the Brits, they were backed up by the tanks. They lost a lot of their men and the surviving Brits were forced to retreat through the woods. Charles told me they were walking single-file alongside a built up section of road when he saw Stukas attacking something on the road ahead. He said the first one came screaming down followed by two others. The leader misjudged and crashed into flames followed by two others that followed him in. The Brits cheered. Whoever was in charge then decided they should stay clear of the road and that they should cross a field to take shelter in the woods. Charles said it was a “poor idea” and when asked “why?” “Look at the sheep” he said, they were looking into the woods which indicated to Charles there were probably Germans hiding in the woods. Charles had grown up on a farm and knew the habits of animals. A few of the men agreed with Charles and refused to go as well. Those that did not listen to Charles were mowed down by machine gun fire halfway across the field. Only a handful of men survived and were left to struggle along through pouring rain, then they came upon a little village. They asked the town folk if it would be possible to give them shelter. The town folk were kind to them. With warm fires going the men removed some of their clothes to dry which they had first decided not to do as the Germans were very close. Charles had kept his clothes on and had his gun by his side when at approximately 2:00 a.m. he heard a noise outside. Running out the door he saw a German coming around the side of the house, he fired at Charles but missed and Charles escaped to the woods where he hid and spent the night alone. It was the last he saw of the other men. On his own and heading in what he thought was the right direction, he came upon a British depot where they were destroying all of their equipment so it would not fall into the hands of the Germans. Charles pitched in and one of the jobs he was given was to destroy a large number of Rolex pocket watches by driving a carrier over them. He contemplated keeping a few of the watches and felt he shouldn't, but put five of them in his pockets before destroying the rest.

Charles was evacuated through Dunkirk and the journey back to Britain went without event. Two of the rescued watches that were hidden in his pocket became wet while Charles waded out to the rescue boat. Upon his return to Britain and when he was able to, Charles took them to a watchmaker to have them repaired. The watchmaker asked if he was interested in selling two of the watches, which he did, This gave Charles enough money to marry his sweetheart. Not long after his return England, he became quite ill and ended up in hospital. Charles happened to be in the wrong place at this time because the hospital took a bomb through the roof. Once again, fate was on his side as Charles ended up as one of the few survivors and was literally blown right out through the window on to the lawn. The explosion severely damaged his lungs which gave him trouble for the duration of his life; fortunately, he did not receive any other injuries. After this incidence, he was unable to go back into the Fray but was kept busy with various jobs through the help of his commanding officer.

Before the war Charles was a shoemaker of the highest calibre and was sought after to make shoes for officers and their wives while in the military. After the war, his commanding officer called Charles in to his office to say his health made it unsuitable for him to remain in the military, he helped to find him a job with a relatively new German company that specialized in pest control. He loved the job as it took him all over England and introduced him to many interesting people. Upon retiring, he emigrated to Canada with his wife and daughter. Charles and I eventually met and became good friends. One day when I visited him he showed me a letter from the company he had worked for. The wording said "As it is becoming more expensive to live we feel it is about time to increase your pension". I found this most impressive. Charles told me it was the third time they had done that and he was very grateful for this.

Charles was left with a couple of very special mementos — two of the Rolex watches. He was aware of my great interest in his life story and very kindly presented me with one of the two watches; the other he kept, the one he had given to his father. He also asked that I not mention his surname as he felt, after so many years, it was wrong that he had taken the watches.

Whenever his father would show the watch to a friend, he would say "This is the watch my son stole from the King".

Dinner at 10 Whitehorse Terrace

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

“Narnia” and “Middle-earth” - these mystical lands are legendary and well-known to many readers, young and old. These mythical stories were created by two brilliant authors, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, whose love of myth and legend brought to us many wondrous and magical stories. The following real life short story goes back to 1956 when a lovely Canadian lady, Joyce Boag, while visiting family in the U.K. had the good fortune of meeting Lewis and Tolkien. Joyce wrote the following story and would like to share it with us.


While in England in 1956 my mother's cousin, Vi, had arranged a trip to Scotland to visit her cousin Jewel Baillie, wife of Professor Baillie. Professor Baillie taught Theology at the University of Edinburgh and was Chaplain to the Queen and her family when they stayed at Balmoral castle. Vi and I arrived at the Baillie’s home late in the afternoon and were shown to our rooms where we prepared ourselves for a formal dinner party. Jewel mentioned to Vi and I that we were in luck as two famous authors of children's books were invited for dinner that evening.

John, Florence Jewel and Ian Baillie

Photograph from "The Baillie Project", Edinburgh University Library

Joyce Boag

After we prepared ourselves, we made our way downstairs for cocktail hour, the two authors had arrived and we were introduced to them. They were both charming people. When we were introduced, I was not familiar with the names Lewis or Tolkien at that time. The very large and stately living room was cold so we stood around a small fireplace where we enjoyed our cocktails and engaging conversation.

C. S. Lewis
From Time Magazine c. 1956; by John S. Murray
click here to view photo source

When dinner was announced with a gong, the butler ushered us into a grand dining room featuring a very large and beautifully laid out refectory table. I was seated next to Mr. Lewis and across the table from us were seated Vi and Mr. Tolkien. Professor Baillie and his wife were seated at the ends of the table. Mr. Lewis was very interested in my life stories and also my interests. I spoke to him of my love for horses which he was very keen to hear about. I asked him about his writing and his children’s books, he acknowledged he was an author but did not want to talk about himself at that time.

I mentioned a few of my favourite children’s books which I had read, “Wind in the Willows“, “Winnie the Pooh“, " Black Beauty", “The Black Stallion” and “The Son of the Black Stallion“. I was not yet familiar with his books. He graciously nodded approval, even though I was sure he had never heard of the “Black Stallion” or “The Son of the Black Stallion“.

After several courses at dinner were served by the maid, Professor Baillie kept us all greatly entertained with wonderful and amusing stories. It was a hilarious evening which seemed to end far too soon.

J.R.R. Tolkien
image from Wikimedia Commons - click here to view Wikipedia

I later wrote home and asked my mother, who was an avid reader, if she was familiar with Lewis and Tolkien. She was not familiar with the two authors, but upon research at the library came across the Narnia series. Since that time “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Hobbit” have become favourites in our family library.

10 Whitehorse Terrace
Home of the Baillie's

Websites of Interest:

The Baillie Project

John Baillie, Biography

Christian Devotion Addresses by John Baillie
LONDON OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

C.S. Lewis, Biography (BBC)

C.S. Lewis Society of California

The Life of J.R.R. Tolkien - Youtube Documentary (12 parts)

Interview with JRR Tolkien in 1968 and Adam Tolkien in 2007 (BBC)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Artist Margaret Catherine Maclure

This is a true story of a young boy and a beautiful painting. The image in the painting left a lasting impression upon the boy and stayed with him to this very day. My father-in-law was the boy and the lovely painting was by artist Margaret Maclure. He wrote this short story for us.



I was five years old where I lived with my dear mother and much adored stepfather in a rather large, formidable brick house situated in the Uplands area of Victoria, (Canada). I have two great memories of that time which stayed with me. One is of my stepfather's family dog Phisto, a large Irish setter who always stayed by my side. The other memory is of a beautiful painting of a native woman, the painting hung in the dining room. I was fascinated with the warmth and kindness which radiated from her face, I enjoyed visiting the dining room to look at her. There was a time when my stepfather's family arrived from eastern Canada and moved into the big house and we moved elsewhere. My mother attempted to purchase the painting from the family but it was not to be. My mother mentioned to me the artist who painted the picture was Margaret Maclure. Margaret Maclure was a true artist who loved to paint portraits of Indians and at that time she lived on Dallas road in Victoria. She would invite them to tea and ask if they would sit for her that she could paint them. Some did stay and sat for her, while others were concerned that having their portrait done would cause them to lose their spiritual power.



A friend of my mother, Mae John, tells a story of taking Margaret out to paint a chief of a village. Mae was given permission from the chief to paint his portrait. As they drove towards his home up a long driveway off the West Saanich road (Victoria), the chief obviously had a change of heart and was spotted by the two ladies escaping through his back door in a highly motivated dash towards the nearby woods.



Forty years later I heard mention that four Margaret Maclure paintings came up for sale at Lund's auction house in Victoria. I immediately went to the auction and to my surprise, there she was, a smaller painting with the familiar lovely face. We managed to purchase all four paintings and a friend of mine took one of them. Two years ago I did a trade with an art collector and acquired two more of Margaret’s paintings.

Margaret Maclure was the wife of Samuel Maclure, an architect and artist who was responsible for the design of many stately homes and buildings in Victoria.




Born in Scotland, Margaret Maclure came to British Columbia in 1899. Working in watercolour, she painted in both a traditional and oriental style and her subjects include portraits and native genre. A recognized pianist, she was married to Samuel Maclure. Biography courtesy of The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction: Volume III: M-R

Websites to visit:

Margaret Catherine Maclure
- Ask Art

The Art and Architecture of Samuel Maclure
- Helen Edwards

Samuel Maclure - Wikipedia

Samuel Maclure
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography

Morris Dancers Etched in Bone

Illustration of William Kempe morris dancing from London to Norwich in 1600 (Wikipedia)

I do love photographing and writing about these beautiful pieces of art, they provide me with hours of pleasure and hours of reading material. Many of these objects have a story and connection with the people that made them, they give us a glimpse into history and how life was long ago. We 'touch' the past when holding one of these precious objects. A piece of whalebone art can stir the imagination and cause one to explore a world of scrimshaw, carving tools, whaling and trading, pirates, men lost at sea and sea monsters (that is a good one for the imagination - we will do a posting on sea monsters at some point !). It is very important that we respect and preserve pieces from our past - once they are gone - they are gone.

I never know which tool or artifact my father-in-law will surprise me with for our new blog stories here on Relics and Tales. He loves to surprise us with very interesting and unusual items and his hopes are that we will learn from this experience. It is so easy to get caught up with technology and a fast-paced world and to lose touch with creative potential and practical skills. The ancestors of our world have much to teach us today.

A little piece of history are these beautiful whalebone scrimshaw Morris dance sticks, carved by whalers and the date is shown. These sticks were probably played like spoons which gave a great rhythm and sound. We attach a few photos for you and hope you enjoy this visit. Thank you so much for visiting our website! If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave us a message in the 'comments' section. We appreciate feedback from our viewers. Thank you!

Interesting Websites:

Morris Dance - Wikipedia

Morris Dancers in the Cotswolds

Scrimshaw - Wikipedia

Morris Dancing in Oxford - Youtube

Whaling and a Dipping Pot

Our newest 'whatsit' today is a lovely copper pot which belongs to my father-in-law. This pouring pot has a history linked to the whaling industry. It was used for removing whale oil from a large rendering pot, the oil was poured into barrels where they would then be transported by ship. The pot once had a long handle attached which enabled the fishermen to dip it into a big pot (Try Pot) where they would not be splashed with hot oil. The whaling industry dates back to prehistoric and medieval times and thankfully came to an end early twentieth century when petroleum and electricity became the prime sources of lighting and heat for homes.

We include a few photos of the lovely copper pot which was made by V. Astor, New York, dated early 19th century. Thank you again for visiting us here, we appreciate your visits!

Interesting Websites:

Mystic Seaport - Preserving the Last Wooden Whaleship in the World

John Jacob Astor - Wikipedia

Charles W. Morgan (Whaling ship) - Wikipedia

Whale Craft - Brief Description of Whaling Tools
Scrimshaw and Whaling
West Sea Company

A Brief History of Whaling

Thar She Blows - by Bob Brooke

Trywork - Wikipedia

Commercial Fishers: Whaling

Whaling Tools in the Nantucket Whaling Museum
By Robert E. Hellman

History of Whaling - Wikipedia

Alaska Eskimo Whaling

A Blacksmith Remember His Whaling Days

Whaling in Early New Zealand
by Anthony G. Flude

A Spanish Doubloon

A small artifact can embody so much history - if only it could speak and tell us its story. Here we have a Spanish doubloon which dates back to the sixteenth century. This piece was found by a diver at Bassas da India atoll off the Mozambican coast near South Africa - a most treacherous reef and graveyard for many ships where salvage divers have recovered many artifacts and Spanish doubloons.

The markings of this coin indicate the Royal Hapsburg family coat of arms which is pictured on the front of this coin. The doubloon's reverse features a "Crusader's Cross," a lion, and a castle. Doubloons were handmade so most of them were not uniformly round and often excess bits would be cut by hand. Doubloons were minted in Spain, Mexico and Peru from the 16th century to the mid-19th century and initially had a two-escudo denomination. In later years, they were also issued in one, four and eight escudo amounts.

If you are interested, please read added links to websites (below) with more information on Spanish doubloons and their history. Let your imagination travel back a few hundred years to an era of gold and silver coins, shipwrecks, pirate lore and sunken treasure.

A heart felt 'thank you' for visiting our website.

Interesting Websites:

List of Most Expensive Coins in the World - Wikipedia

Currency of Spanish America - Wikipedia

Spanish Doubloon

History of the Spanish Doubloon

Spanish Treasure Coins

New World Treasures - Spanish Colonial Coins and Artifacts

Currency of Spanish America

Collectible Spanish Coins - Collector's Weekly

Golden Age Piracy

Iberian Ships

Pirates and Privateers
- Cindy Vallar, Editor & Reviewer