Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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camp satisfies his social instincts. The hard work in the open air is made merry with shout and song. The evenings are spent around the box stove in the main shanty, where everyone gathers to tell thrilling tales of adventure or to sing the ballads and songs brought from Normandy and Brittany by the early pioneers. A hundred years ago it was not extraordinary to find the women spinning and weaving during the long, lonely winters. But now, with the growth of factories and the reduction in the prices of material, the practice has become very rare. Nevertheless the habitant woman who lives a long distance from towns or factories, still weaves all the cloth in which her large family is clad. The habitant is proud of his origin but he does not like to be called ' Trench. He feels that he is a true Canadian, but he has not yet learned that his country stretches from sea to sea, and he has given his loyalty almost wholly to his native province, Quebec. Marjorie Lynch, Form Va. The Fire The cruel, hungry flames shoot up into the sky, Casting a ruddy glow on the trees near by, Up and up — With a thousand sparks. Up and up — With the never-ceasing sparks. Crackling and snapping, the flames leap up on high. Slowly stealthily sneaking on its prey. Ever creeping nearer, then leaping on its way. Flames rush on With a thousand sparks, Flames leap up. With the never-ceasing sparks, A wild and roaring animal; and all is gone by day. Joan Archibald, Form IVa. Song of a Sea-Fairy Below the sea, in a coral cave, I live when ' tis light on land; At night when the moon shines high o ' er the wave I rise with the mermaid band. We ride on the crests of the whirling waves. And flirt with the frothy foam; With sea weed chains we bind our slaves. The starfish that stray from home. 25} Neptune comes in a chariot gold, Drawn by dolphins free; The tinkling fairy bells are tolled To welcome the king of the sea. When daylight creeps o ' er the sighing sea We go back to our coral caves And there we slumber peacefully. Lulled by the sound of the waves. Betty Hurry, Form IVa.

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The Canadian Habitant HEN the French came to Canada they brought wi th them many of their old customs. Among these was the feudal system of government. But the peasants did not like the name of censitaire by which they had been known in France, thinking that it carried with it some sense of their old hardships. They much preferred to be called habitants, the French term for free men. The title was recognized in New France and has become characteristic of all French Canadian farmers. The habitant ' s attachment to the land is very striking. In many cases, farm lands are held by the direct descendants of those to whom they were first granted, for the transfer of Canada to England did not affect the habitant. His lands were not taken from him and he remained as French as ever in habits, speech, and faith. A tourist visiting Quebec sees everywhere evidence that he is passing through a country of French origin. Here and there are houses and churches which will remind him of hamlets he has seen in Brittany, or Normandy. The houses are built chiefly of wood, frequently consisting of a single whitewashed room, spotlessly clean with sanded floor, and walls covered with all kinds of household utensils. Among the pots and pans, occupying a prominent place on the wall, is usually to be found a brightly coloured print of the Virgin or other favorite saint. Because of the long cold winters, the high iron stove is the most important feature of every home. On long winter evenings it is here that the whole family may be found, listening with bated breath to tales of loup ' garou or some equally mysteri ' ous being. In one corner two very high beds or bunks constitute the sleeping accommodation for the whole family. Under the bed are tiers of long drawers. Here is the children ' s sleeping place where you will often see from fifteen to twenty little ones dreaming peacefully in their cosy but stuffy beds. The habitant is a frugal, hardworking man, intensely proud of his brood of dirty, healthy children for whom he slaves from morning to night; and nowhere will you find a race more industrious and lawabiding. He is patient and contented with his lot. Especially is this true of those who live in the northern parts of the province where they seldom see a white man, outside their own families from the time the snow comes until the ice breaks up in the springtime. The habitant is a devout Roman Catholic, for, in the present as in the past, the church makes every effort to supervise the teaching and the reading of her people. The parish priest or Cure is the most impor- tant and powerful person in the habitant ' s everyday life. He takes a leading part in all the activities of the parish and often determines how his parishion- ers shall vote at election time. Sunday is a great day, full of religious duties in the morning, with amusements in the after- noon and evening. All the feasts of the church are observed with great zeal and the Canadian farmer has, consequently, innumerable holidays. His gay light-heartedness shows itself in a variety of innocent amusements. He is a born story teller, and no one is fonder than he of music, song, and story. When the days shorten and snow begins to fall, the habitant leaves his farm and journeys to the nearest lumber camp. No one who can swing an axe or drive a team of horses would miss his season in the forest, for the community life of the

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The New Ford EOPLE can no longer joke about the Ford and call it Lizzy, Asthma, and such names, for it is now a real car. It no longer spouts and chokes and refuses to go up a hill unless you turn it around and go up backwards. It no longer has springs that keep up a regular conversation as you jaunt upon your way; and it seems at last to realize that its roof does not need to be six feet from the floor to avoid bumping your head. In short — as the jazz piece goes — Henry ' s Made a Lady out of Lizzy. One can hardly say that she has not risen to nobility, after her name has been m the headlines of the New York papers and she herself has been shown off like a mannikm to a thousand people by a man in dress clothes. The new Ford now rivals all the small cars. It has a comfortable rumble seat, nice upholstering, and four-wheel brakes and that which is the most astonishing fact of all — Lizzy has lost that queer little wheeze of hers and now can purr along the road at seventy miles an hour. Nevertheless it seems too bad that Lizzy should change for the better. Everyone somehow felt a warm affection for her, and when you saw her beginning to stall on a hill you felt like running out and pushing her up to the top. When the radiator boiled over you felt that it was protesting against the warm summer day. You felt it was obstinate when it would not start m the morning, and when you mended a punctured tire it was just like bringing out the first aid kit. If you lay underneath a good car for half an hour by the roadside passers-by made remarks about you, but if you lay underneath a Ford in the same conditions they only smiled and passed on — they under- stood. Since Lizzy has become one of the elite she had probably more respect for her exterior, but in her poorer times she was an excellent fighter. I can say with certainty, that nine times out of the ten I have seen a Ford collide with an expensive car, Lizzy has come out without a scratch, while the other car has been smashed to atoms. I have therefore come to the conclusion that it is not the collisions b ut the overwork that made Lizzy in the end run about with her parts tied together with string. I join heartily in the cry of a thousand people: Back to the pioneer days when we threw sand under the fan belt and tightened the horn with a dime. Audrey Doble, Form Va.