It becomes
apparent quickly to any stranger who arrives in Great Village
that this bustling little town is a musical place. Music is heard everywhere
and not just on Sundays in the choir lofts ─
though both churches boast
exemplary choirs. Just about every house in the village has a piano or an
organ, and not too many less also have violins. Musicians abound in memory and
actuality and villagers always welcome and appreciate any performer touring the
area. For a number of years the Village has had an orchestra. In the 1890s it
was the Ariel Quartette Club, which used to perform with Miss Jennie Spencer.
The club gave many recitals on its own, too. And Miss Spencer travelled up and
down the shore, with several of her musical friends from the village, Truro
and Acadia Mines, entertaining
packed houses.
A few years ago
the Great Village Orchestra ─ an ensemble of
the Chamber variety ─ was formed and
has been active ever since, holding concerts for its own benefit, but also
offering its talents to the Baptist
Church or the Tennis Club to help them raise funds.
The war has taken a few of its
members overseas, but several young ladies in Great Village
have filled the spaces admirably.
Indeed, organized
or ad hoc, any social gathering in Great Village
can usually coalesce an orchestra, a quartette, a duet or, at the very least, a
soloist.
With music often
comes dancing. Though not as avid in this department, Great Village
is well-known for its Masonic Ball.
For some years around the turn of the century the Village also supported a
Quadrille Club.(1) Among the older generation of Baptists and Presbyterians,
dancing still holds a hint of the illicit. An amusing story, still told in the
Village, today goes like this:
“A Presbyterian
minister, who lived in Great
Village many many years
ago, was a very ardent preacher and most strict in his views. Dancing was, in
his opinion, but a device of the devil to lure people from the path of righteousness.
Accordingly, his daughter was forbidden to go to dances. However, her youthful
spirit saw no harm in the good old quadrilles and polkas. One evening she
slipped away from home and after a real good time arrived at the parental roof
very early in the morning. On the doorstep she was met by her father with this
reproachful greeting, ‘Well, daughter of the Devil!’ The only response was,
‘Well, Father!’”
Today, the
disapprobation is rarely taken to this extreme. With so much music around, it
is impossible to keep one’s toes from tapping. And even the most devout Baptist
or Presbyterian families host musicales, where their guests trip the light
fantastic to a jig, reel, waltz or polka.
Besides the many
socials, concerts and suppers which societies organize, Great Villagers love to
entertain and celebrate on a more intimate level. Every week someone is having
an anniversary or birthday party, a wedding or baby shower. And sometimes music
itself is enough to prompt a gathering. Many of the parties are got up as
surprise parties. Great Villagers are addicted to surprise parties, a funny
thing since the village is so small it is hard to keep anything a secret.
Parties at the Blaikie’s, the Layton’s,
the Peppard’s and the Hill’s are always highly anticipated.
Monday evening Mrs. DesBrisay,
who was a Layton
in her youth, and is visiting for the summer, is hosting a musicale. It is her
last such evening before she leaves for the West. She is such a fine pianist
herself, her favourite composer being Chopin. But she has also invited the MacLachlans and several other
musicians and singers. A lively evening is sure to be had by all who attend.
The women of Great Village gather
While live music
is still the preferred way to entertain, several families own gramophones. This
novel way to hear music still amazes many in the village, and several parties,
especially for the young folks, have been got up with the gramophone at the
centre. Most of the older folks are still a bit suspicious of these interesting
machines, because they have heard that some of the music being played is the
new fangled jazz. Some musicians in Truro and Halifax are said to be able and willing to perform
jazz, but Great Village musicians stick to their
classical, folk, sacred and popular tunes.
The young folks
in Great Village certainly keep up with their
elders in the realm of parties. Taffy pulls and charade parties are the most
popular. But what they flock to most of all is hay or sleigh rides, depending
on the time of year. The Leap Year sleigh rides have been the most eagerly
anticipated in the past, and many a young lad and lass has got engaged on those
frosty February drives under the stars. There are also theme or costume parties
during the year: Valentines Day, Arbour Day, Halloween. Actually, young and old
have a penchant for dressing up in costumes. The fine seamstresses in the village
are kept busy.
Great Village has
also had a long Thespian tradition. Dramatic oratory and recitation is usually
a part of every concert, but many folks in the village and surrounding towns
participate in plays and other dramatic productions ─ they
have been doing so for decades. They have also crowded into performances of
travelling theatre companies, which make their appearance mostly during the
summer months. The Great
Village school is responsible for instilling
much of this interest in drama, as every year the students put on a big variety
show just before Christmas with skits, farces, parodies, tableaux, readings,
and do not forget, music and singing too! Even its programme for Empire Day, with its drills and
recitations, give the students a taste of the stage, which many of them enjoy.
Villagers have been performing for so many decades it seems that grease paint
is rather in their blood.(2)
A Great Village Parade -- Donald MacLachlan plays the fiddle.
Over the years
there have been some outstanding performers in Great Village,
but few equal Mr. Charlie Taylor, who is perhaps the village’s most outstanding
entertainer ever. His sleight of hand, ventriloquism and comedic bent keeps his
audiences in stitches. He is very much in demand these days, doing shows
throughout the county, and as far away as Halifax.
He is set to give a series of concerts at the Temperance Hall in August and already the tickets are going fast.
He has packed houses wherever he goes. He might have to add a performance to
accommodate the demand. Layton’s
and Hill’s stores are selling the tickets. Though Charlie outshines the best of
any place, the Village also has a first class impersonator in Mr. A.W. Hill. He
can be found at many a party making everyone laugh with his delightful
renditions of local and famous characters.
Great Villagers
prefer the comedy side of drama, and in times of great uncertainty and sorrow,
laughter is healing. Even so, the serious side of the theatre is not neglected
and the members of the Seed Sowers Mission
Band are already discussing the programme for their Christmas tea and
sale, and it is agreed that the play The Tree Triumphant will be the
highlight of the evening. Some of the young thespians at the school are talking
about rehearsing scenes from King Lear to perform when they go to the
drama competition in Truro
in November.
Live theatre is
still the most popular kind of dramatic entertainment, but the cinema is making
more and more converts with each passing day. There is no cinema in Great Village,
but Truro has three: the Strand,
the Orpheum and the Princess, where moving picture shows are daily offered to a
growing audience. Some of the older folks have not yet absorbed the idea of
sound recorded on round wax cylinders. They really marvel at motions pictures.
But the young flock to the cinemas, for the young always embrace the new. They
return abuzz with talk about Charlie Chaplain, Geraldine Farrar and Ethel
Barrymore. A few young people are motoring
to Truro tonight to see Blanche Sweet in “The
Ragamuffin,” by William C. DeMille, at the Strand.
Whether music and
song, recitations and plays, or parties, bees, pulls, etc., Great Village
is a hotbed of entertaining activities. Villagers are often so busy planning
the next "do" that a stranger might wonder how they get any work
done. Indeed, Great Villagers are some of the most industrious folks in Nova Scotia.
Notes
1. A quadrille is
a square dance containing usually five figures.
2. In the 1920s
the Chautaqua came to Truro and Great Village
for the first time. Its programme of music, lectures and entertainment was
enthusiastically embraced by the local people, and it returned to the area
several years in a row. The Chautaqua’s structure fit in perfectly with the
kinds of performing which was already a well-established tradition in the
region.
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