From: Frontenac County History Committee, From Rollason, Brian Ed., County of a Thousand Lakes; The History of the County of Frontenac1863-1973, Rollason, Brian Ed., Kingston, Frontenac City Council, 1982.

 

Frontenac County Music

 

Graham George

The material from this chapter derives from the work of students of Queen’s University in 1980 under the direction of Professor Beverley Cavanagh

 

Late 19^th Century

Wolfe Island

Pgs. 263-4

 

Music on the island at this period is said to have been ‘centered on the church,’ the church chiefly concerned being the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart.  Mrs. Catherine Spoors [sic] was its organist and leader of a choir of 8 to 10 singers, at a time when the Methodist Church had no regular choir at all.  In 1899 the Church of the Sacred Heart installed a Doherty ‘reed-pipe” organ.

 

Mrs. Spoors and her husband, who played the double-bass, seem to have been the main-springs of music on Wolfe Island in their time, since in addition to their activities in the church they were members of a chamber music group whose members were Lillian Brady, the Secondary School music teacher, and Father Spratt, presumably Rector of the Church, both violinists, and an unidentified Chester Kiell.  They gave private and public concerts and provided musical intermezzi between the acts of plays.  There is a reference also to a St. Patrick’s Day concert given by Mrs. Spoors and Father Spratt.

 

In 1890, there was a 7-piece “Wolfe Island Minstrel Troupe” which included piano, guitar, banjo, and vocalists who brought the total number of participants to 18.

 

Lillian Brady’s duties as school teacher are not specified but since she was a violinist and since it is recorded that there was no class music in the school curriculum, it may be presumed that her work was primarily in the area of class singing, with perhaps an occasional violin pupil.  Mrs. Spoors, in addition to her other activities, gave private piano lessons. 

 

Festivals at this time, such as the Bazaar and Strawberry Festival of 1868, included an orchestra, and mention is also made that picnics employed bands for dancing.  But it is not clear what constitutes ‘an orchestra,’ whether a pick-up or established local group if instrumentalists or an established group from what is referred to as ‘the city’ – namely Kingston.  The word ‘band,’ in the reminiscences from which most of this information is derived, usually refers either to one of the militia bands, of which some description is given below, or to one of the village bands (which maybe effectively the same thing).  The first village band to be formed was the Verona Band in 1885, followed soon after…by the Syndenham Brass Band.

 

Early 20^th Century

Wolfe Island

Pgs. 265-7

 

Mrs. Spoors, whose work as an organist, pianist and general musical factotum on the Island has been referred to, remained organist of the Church of the Sacred Heart until 1907, and is noted that the organists of the two churches ‘fulfilled their traditional role as leaders of musical activities in the community.’  At this period euchre parties organized by the churches began at 8 o’clock in the evening, included a banquet at midnight, and continued with dancing until 4 in the morning.  Lawn socials also provided music for dancing, and there were often weekly gatherings through the summer, held at various hotels.  Chicken picnic dinners included music for listening by one orchestra and for dancing (on the tennis courts) by another.  House parties, two or three times a week, also had music for dancing.  As to who provided all this music for dancing and listening, there is mention of a dance group consisting of Sadie Russell, pianist, with her mother, her husband, and Hiram Davis, all violinists; a ‘Hiram Davis Orchestra’ which performed in 1911 at a private ball and on another occasion combined with a group known as the ‘Percell Orchestra” for a dance.  There was also the Crosby and O’Connors Orchestra for church assemblies and lawn socials, and, in 1913, Downy’s Orchestra for lawn socials – though this may have been an imported group.

 

At this period there were three balls, ever winter: The Sailor’s Ball, the Workman’s Ball and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association Ball.  In summer there were dances at McLaren’s platform and, as well as gatherings specifically for the purpose of dancing, dancing and lawn socials and local assemblies.

 

Music was now included in the school curriculum and Miss Sexsmith succeeded Lillian Brady as music teacher.  Mrs. Woodman gave private instruction in piano at the elementary level, beginning in 1914 and continuing until 1964, with as many as 30 or 40 pupils.

 

Mid 20^th Century

Wolfe Island

Pgs. 267

 

By now both church and school seem to have lost the musical importance they had previously had.  Mrs. Murphy had succeeded Miss Sexsmith as school music teacher, but there was no music in the curriculum.  In the latter part of this period a ‘regular choir’ or 30-40 boys and girls of Grades 3-7 sang the school Mass once a month, and this seems to have been the extent of formally designed music in the schools.  There is mention of War Fund concerts in the Sacred Heart Parish Hall in 1941, under the direction of Miss Sexsmith, and in 1950 school concerts were given by Ray McLaren, a High School teacher who played piano and sang.

 

There were however ‘many bands and orchestras,’ though these appear to have consisted of anything from two to six people; using piano, violins, drums, guitar (some reading the music, some playing by ear – ‘difficult members to combine’).

 

In mid-century, dances were held indoors at the McLaren Hotel Dance Hall, the Woodman House, the Masonic Hall and the CMBA Hall.  In good weather they took place at the Woodman House’s outside platform, the platform at Brophy’s Point and Slimm’s platform.  These took place weekly, including square dances, round dances, waltzes and men’s and women’s tag dances.  Once a year there was a big summer dance, and every four years a special Leap Year dance.