"And my blood runs cold." February 1869

Patrick Whelan was hung Feb 11, for the assassination of D'Arcy McGee - but it was pretty questionable whether he was guilty or not. He always maintained his innocence -- when the jury delivered his guilty verdict, he said:
“Now I am held to be a black assassin. And my blood runs cold. But I am innocent. I never took that man’s blood.”

The coverage in the papers was sensational -
"Everything about “the tailor with the red whiskers” was noted by the newspapers. He first appeared in court wearing a small green rosette, a white vest, and garnet cuff links. On the final day, however, he came dressed in black ..."

Apparently 1869 was the snowiest winter on record in Ottawa and on the date of his hanging, a blizzard began that lasted 2 weeks. 5000 people came to watch. It was the last public hanging in Canada.

The Dictionary of Canadian Biography online has more

       Here we are in the 150^th anniversary year of the Confederation talks and the winter weather seems to be lining up anniversary fashion too.

Canada's Confederation Caricature

For a light-hearted look at Canada's political past check out the cartoon below - I've put the dialogue below. For a real test, do you know who they all are? (A brief answer at the bottom.)

 



"Confederation! The much-fathered youngster"

 

Caricature:

 (left to right: George Brown, Sir Francis Hincks, William McDougall, Sir John A. Macdonald).
© Public Domain
Source: Library and Archives Canada/C-005812

 

George Brown: "Come to your genewine Poppy!"

 

Francis Hincks: "I'm the Father of Confederation."

 

William McDougall:  "Gracious! Me own child don't know me!!"

 

John A. Macdonald:  "Don't it recognize it's real Daddy?"

 

 

Answers of a sort --- from The Moment of Our Conceptions: Canada and Me by Anne McDonald

 

George Brown (November 29. 1818 Scotland – May 9, 1880 Toronto, Canada)

A man of principles – bigot, racist, political idealist. Founder of the Globe, Canada’s national paper now, married at 44 breathing new life into him, making him less crotchety – died of a wound in his leg he didn’t get looked after gotten in a duel. How crotchety is that?

 

John A Macdonald (January 10, 1815 Scotland – June 6, 1891, Ottawa, Canada)

A man who referred to himself as John A, “the public prefers John A drunk to George Brown sober.”

 

William McDougall (January 25, 1822 York Toronto -- May 29, 1905 Ottawa, Canada) 

Failed lieutenant governor of the North-West Territories, starting off the Red River Rebellion and Resistance with his bounded Boundary Commission, Donald Cameron his right hand man in the deal - married to Emma Tupper the only daughter of Charles Tupper, another Father, but that's a different story.

 

C All Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Anne McDonald.



Word on the Street

The Word on the Street in Saskatoon is happening next Sunday September 23, 2012 from 11:00 am to 5 pm.

There are 30 authors reading, 4 tents including a kids and teen tent, music, booksellers and a marketplace - what more could a reader, writer - or savvy Christmas shopper want!

I'll be there reading from my award winning novel. To the Edge of the Sea, set during the Confederation Conferences of 1864 - where the sun is shining, island breezes (Prince Edward Island that is) are blowing, $13,000 worth of champagne is being poured, the circus is in town, and John A, the John A, is falling in love ... and so the story of Canada begins.
     Who knew Canadian history was so fascinating - tightrope walkers, the circus, champagne and love!

Some comments from judges, reviews and readers:

In the mid-19th century, three young Prince Edward Islanders explore their disparate futures at home and away, in a debut novel that is lyrical and precise in its descriptions of land, sea and people, and powerful in its accounts of both personal and political histories of the province and country.

Sask Book Award judges Joan Barfoot, Christine Cowley and Katherine Gordon

"Prince Edward Island is also a character in the story.  Seldom has any writer conveyed its essence so well.  And the beautifully constructed sentences and paragraphs flow like water, read like a prolonged dream, and would be worth reading aloud slowly ..."  Elizabeth Cran for the Charlottetown Guardian

"Anne weaves such an imaginative, descriptive spell in this wonderful story bringing life to Canadian history. It is so suspenseful that I found myself eager to hurry to each subsequent page to see what would happen next. This book is brilliantly written, and ranks with some of Canada's esteemed authors. It has such a poetic quality to it while being a superb narrative. A beautiful piece of writing!"  a reader in Ottawa

Judges comments for To the Edge of the Sea First Book Award winner

To the Edge of the Sea won the First Book Award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards this past weekend! It has been a long journey from researching to writing to getting published and promoting a first novel. It is great and wonderful and more to have this acknowledgement. Here are the judges comments and John A and I have a wee dram of champagne, Gord Hunter pours.

Joan Barfoot, Christine Cowley and Katherine Gordon

      In the mid-19th century, three young Prince Edward Islanders explore their disparate futures at home and away, in a debut novel that is lyrical and precise in its descriptions of land, sea and people, and powerful in its accounts of both personal and political histories of the province and country. 

 Much thanks to Shelley Banks for the pictures. You can see more of Shelley's work at Latitude Drifts

You can also see my friend Gord Hunter's (who won the gorgeous raffle prize basket with all the winning books, wine, and Prairie Cherry chocolates from  Over the Hill Orchards) blog posts here at Life is too short to drink cheap wine

John A is on the move! To the Edge of the Sea BC book tour

John A. Macdonald heads to Penticton June 16, Kelowna June 17, Vancouver June 20 and 21, and Victoria. To the edge of the sea for To the Edge of the Sea, a Novel by Anne McDonald.

Penticton        Hooked on Books, Thurs June 16, 7:00

                        225 Main Street, Penticton

Kelowna         Mosaic Books   Friday June 17, 1:00 Signing

                        411 Bernard St, Kelowna

Vancouver    Café Montmartre  Tues June 21, 7:30

                       4362 Main Street, Vancouver B.C.

                       iQmetrix  Monday, June 20

Victoria          tba in June

FESTIVAL OF WORDS, Moose Jaw, Sk   JULY 16, 5:00 upper lobby Cultural Centre