Commonplace Books ~

"One forerunner of the diary has historically been used more to regard art than create it.  It was the practice of making a record of one's reading, or of whatever information came one's way, that gave rise to those diaries still known as commonplace books.  The special interest of those kept by artists is obvious:  What piece of reading or news may have triggered a particular line of verse, or perhaps a whole painting?  For writers, especially, commonplace books are the records of influence, but they have for centuries been kept by blocked writers and non writers as well."

~ A Book of One's Own People And Their Diaries, Thomas Mallon, Ticknor & Fields, 1984.

Note:  English Poet, John Milton (1608 - 1674), kept a commonplace book.  He drew on these notes for his later work.  Milton's commonplace book is now in the British Library.

ANTICIPATING FRIDAY the 13th ~

Street-Scape Visuals Talbot St. (Hwy. #3)

Stoplight Hwy #3 at Cayuga St.



Royal Canadian Legion Branch 159

Ottawa St. & Hwy # 3

Hwy. #3 at Ottawa St.

Hwy. #3 at Cayuga St.



Cayuga Street, Steps From Hwy #3

 Downtown Businesses Anticipating Friday 13th

Early Blacksmith's Shop*,  Talbot Rd. (Hwy. #3)

Cayuga's Early Beginnings ~

"Cayuga is situated on the banks of the Grand River, where it is crossed by the Talbot Road (Hwy. #3).  Early settlement to the area took place in 1784.  The migration of several families to Haldimand began with the hasty migration of the United Empire Loyalists from their homes in the Mohawk Valley.  Small settlements began to emerge along the Grand River.  Due to the location of Cayuga it's believed that the area was initially settled in the late 1800s for its vantage point as a stage stop and its river access.  According to the 1879 atlas there were only five houses in the village in 1842. . .
"Lumbering was the chief and only industry.  John Welch and Michael Finley kept taverns in the village. . .Sam McClung opened a school in 1842.
"In 1850 Cayuga became the County seat for Haldimand county and in January, 1851, the Court House was completed and opened."

~ Karen Richardson, contributor to Stories along the Grand, The York Grand River Historical Society, 2010.  $20 Available at The Neat Little Bookshop.

*Now The Blacksmith's Garden, owned by Jim Gibson

.

View From the Bookshop Window ~
29 Talbot St., Cayuga, ON
~

Thursday Afternoon Readings ~  in the bookshop always leave me pondering.  Yesterday, Pauline Johnson was the topic.  Reading the Mohawk princess' poetry and briefly touching on her life, John Passfield left most of us thinking.

In A Book of One's Own People and Their Diaries,   Thomas Mallon explores commonplace books.  Commonplace books are personal journals of one's reading.  Mallon notes that "inside most commonplace books there is a personal diary trying to get out."
Today I am left feeling that the Pauline Johnson story is "trying to get out."  We have not, for whatever reason, even begun to understand her life.  A visit to Chiefswood * is a good start.  A couple books, Pauline, A Biography of Pauline Johnson, by Betty Keller and Flint and Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson, by Charlotte Gray are informative. 


Thank you John and all who participated for your insight.  A thoughtful study of Pauline Johnson's own writings may be the best insight.
http://www.chiefswood.com/

* Chiefswood National Historic Site

Please note:  The Neat Little Bookshop will continue Thursday afternoon readings in the fall.  We look forward to new topics and fascinating personalities.  Have a safe and happy summer.

You Asked ~

Yes, the bookshop is air-conditioned! 

Today:  1:00 p.m. Reading ~ E. Pauline Johnson w/John Passfield

"Sleeps the overhanging willow"

In The Shadows

I am sailing to the leeward,

Where the current runs to seaward soft and slow,

Where the sleeping river grasses

Brush my paddle as it passes

To and fro.

On the shore the heat is shaking
All the golden sands awaking

In the cove;

And the quaint sand-piper, winging
O'er the shallows, ceases singing
When I move.

On the water's idle pillow
Sleeps the overhanging willow,
Green and cool;
Where the rushes lift their burnished
Oval heads from out the tarnished

Emerald pool.

~  ~

My canoe is growing lazy,

In the atmosphere so hazy,

While I dream;

Half in slumber I am guiding,

Eastward indistinctly gliding

Down the stream.

Note:  "In The Shadows" consists of nine verses. 

~ Flint and Feather, The Complete Poems of E. Pauline Johnson, Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1917.

Photos:  lbwalker