Some National Characteristics of the French Canadians, 1897
From Canadian Folk-Life and Folk-Lore by William Parker Greenough, 1897.
From: 1897 C.E. To: 1897 C.E.
Location: Canada
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
Images from text, by Walter C. Greenough.
From Canadian Folk-Life and Folk-Lore by William Parker Greenough, 1897.
Many visitors to Canada are amused to see the out-of-door ovens that are common all through the country. They are much of the same size and nature as the old-fashioned brick ovens of New England, but are usually built of clay and set on posts or frame work of timber at a little distance from buildings. Commonly they have some kind of a roof over them. They have no flues, the smoke of the fires for heating escaping through the open doors.
Most of the people, when not too far away, buy their bread from the bakers, but nearly all farmers have an oven for occasional use. Some families make their own bread for the sake of economy, although the baker's profits are small and his bread is almost always good and wholesome. Country shopkeepers keep bread on sale as surely as a New England shopkeeper keeps flour. The loaves weigh six pounds each, and are made from a flour that does not dry and so crumble quickly. Warm bread is almost never used, and pastry but little. Neither are oatmeal or cornmeal cooked. I find my men in the woods like oatmeal when I have it, but they would never think of providing it for themselves. It is the same with baked beans. The men are always fond of them, but I have rarely known a Canadian family to cook them. In large lumbering camps, however, of late years they are very much used, although the favorite dish is still the traditional pea-soup.
While most of the people may be considered poor we see but little positive suffering among them, and cases of really grinding, degrading poverty are extremely rare. We have no almshouses; but aged or infirm persons or those without friends to support them are sometimes cared for in the hospitals. There are not many such, for as families are large there is almost always some one able and willing to furnish subsistence to an unfortunate relative, and the people generally are helpful to each other. There is no immigration into the Province, and there are, therefore, no friendless or helpless foreigners to be supported at the public expense. If one of the poor of the parish meets with special misfortune by fire or accident, so that he is really in distress, a couple of his neighbors will often appoint themselves a committee to go about and collect supplies for his benefit, and rarely return without their sleigh well filled with provisions.
Beggars, duly provided with certificates from their curés that they are worthy objects of charity, are not infrequent, and seem to consider themselves a privileged class. They go about from house to house—opening any door without knocking—asking for charity “pour l’amour du bon Dieu," and going on to dilate on their claims to benevolence, to which no one pays any attention. The housewife goes in search of the one cent which is the usual amount given, and if she finds nothing less than a five or a ten cent piece she coolly asks the beggar to change it for her, which he is usually able to do. Many of these beggars have certain routes that they follow, and make their turns at regular intervals.
That Canadians are kind hearted is shown by this treatment of their poor, and their hospitality is well known. From the highest to the lowest the acquaintance or the stranger who comes to their doors is welcomed to the best the house can afford. If they were not gay and light hearted they would not be French, although the manifestations of their gayety are perhaps tempered by climate and other conditions.
Polite they are, almost invariably to strangers, and generally among themselves. In all the writer's experience among them he has never, whether in city, country, or in the woods, met with anything but courtesy, and has rarely witnessed unaccountable rudeness. Only under the excitement of drink are serious quarrels common. One way they may be considered quarrelsome, but their quarrels are such as result in law suits rather than in bodily injuries.
They seem to be very fond of going to law. They are somewhat free in accusing each other of tricks and dishonest dealings in small affairs, to which they may be somewhat inclined, though possibly not more so than some other nationalities.
A cord of wood will not invariably be of full measure here any more than is a ton of coal or of ice always of full weight in New York. The maple sugar that I receive for rents of trees is not always the best that the man makes, or free from an admixture of flour or other foreign substance; but neither do we always find elsewhere that the worst apples are on the top of the barrel, or that the quart box of strawberries is certain to hold two pints. There are rogues in all countries. On the whole, the honest habitant in Canada is probably equally as honest as the honest farmer elsewhere.
I have been told that the most ingenious tricks in the way of petty cheating are those played or attempted by jobbers of logs in the woods in trying to pass off poor logs as good ones. Some that I have heard of were really masterpieces of trickery. The culler, if he knows his business, is always on the watch for them, and is fairly sure to find them out ; and the curious part of it is that the jobber is not in the least ashamed when his trick is detected.
Although comparatively few of the men are total abstainers, yet drunkenness is not so general that it can be considered to be a national vice. In almost every village there will most likely be some more or less given to drink, but the great majority are altogether temperate, taking a glass or two occasionally, but never drinking to excess. Licenses are required for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and in most country parishes none are granted. In some places where there is a good deal of travel an innkeeper may be licensed to sell to guests but not to the public. This does not prove, however, that at special occasions,—New Year's visits, heated elections, and the like,—liquors are not important features.
The people are mainly industrious, but to a New Englander would not seem to be hard worked. Mechanics do not try to turn out the most and the best work possible, but only enough to live on, and just a little more if the chance comes. Their habits being simple and their living cheap, they are satisfied with little, and social ambitions do not trouble them much. The ambitious youth goes to the cities, where he aspires to be a notary, a lawyer, a politician, or, best of all, because safest and not usually demanding arduous exertions, a Government employe. If he goes into mercantile life he generally manages to hold a fair position, and some of the largest and best of the commercial houses in Quebec are entirely Canadian; but heavy corporate enterprises are generally controlled by other nationalities.
I have alluded in Part VIII to the emigration to the "States" as a common method among young and enterprising men and women of bettering their condition. This emigration became so common as to alarm the Government, and a few years ago strong efforts were made to induce the repatriation of emigrants. These have lately abated, and there would seem to be no occasion for them. As the French population regularly doubles in less than thirty years, it would seem to be a sufficient problem to provide for the increase. Where some two and a half millions of people in 1920 and five millions in 1950 are to find homes in this province, is not quite clear. There is land enough for them all, but only a small proportion of it is desirable. The farming here is only poorly remunerative at best. Diversified occupations and industries will absorb a good many, but it looks as if emigration would need to continue to be large.
That a hardy, temperate, prudent, and fairly industrious people should not, even if not particularly energetic or ambitious, have made some progress, could hardly be possible. Those who knew the Canadian people forty or fifty years ago will easily see a difference now.
My personal intercourse with the people began in my boyhood, and for the last ten years I have lived almost entirely among them. I have always found them civil, obliging, and excellent neighbors. I could (and did) heartily join with an English speaking Canadian friend who summed up a discussion of their qualities by saying they were "not a bad lot."
I am not blind to some defects in the national character; but neither, I hope, do I fail to recognize their many good qualities, I would rather write pages about these than give a single line of ungracious criticism to a people among whom I have found so many friends, and been so kindly treated.
Some Americans seem to have the idea that the French Canadians still have an attachment to France and are not loyal to Great Britain. This is a mistake. It is true that the loyalty of the common people is of rather a neutral character and perhaps would not stand a great strain, but they have no attachment to France beyond that almost inseparable from a common race, language, and religion. As individuals they seem rather to dislike the French when brought into contact with them. Our good Nazaire, who is not at all a bad type of the Canadian habitant, cordially detests them, as do many others whom I have met.
The Canadians have no reason for disloyalty to Britain. All their rights have been well respected, and they have received their full share—many Englishmen think far too large a share—of honors and favors from the Crown. Provincial politicians sometimes think or pretend to think otherwise, but their claims are probably put forward mainly with the hope of securing some personal popularity among their compatriots. It is only fair to say that the people generally pay comparatively little attention to these politicians. They know there is little or nothing of which they can reasonably complain, and they are quite well contented under British rule, and appreciate the advantages they derive from it. They do not like the Englishman any more than do other conquered races, but they get along very well with him and try to get all they can out of him.
The general sentiment was quite well expressed in the reply of a priest to an English lady who wished to know the feelings of the clergy towards the British Government: "We are quite well satisfied so long as you let us alone."
A trifling circumstance may give an idea how little some of the people know or care about their British connection. I told an employe that I expected certain visitors on the Queen's Birthday (La fête de la Reine). He replied: "La fête de la Reine, c'est la 4 Juillet, n’est-ce pas?" (The Queen's Birthday, that is the 4th of July, is it not?) He was not less intelligent than three quarters of the men of his class, although it is probable that the majority would know that the two dates were not the same. But few, however, would know why the 1st of July (Dominion Day) is a Canadian festival, and very few indeed know why Americans celebrate the 4th of July. Official efforts to make the people look upon Dominion Day as an important point in their history entirely fail of effect with the people in general.
Of annexation sentiment there is little worth mentioning. Most of the people think Canada would be more prosperous under the United States Government, but the feeling is not strong enough to make them seek to disturb the existing order of things.
Greenough, William Parker. Canadian Folk-Life and Folk-Lore. George H. Richmond, 1897.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
