Vanessa Farnsworth

One of the things I was curious about when I was researching what life would have been like on Manitoulin Island in the late 19th century was what their relationship with music would have been.

The availability of music in the 1877 was very different than it is today. There were no radios or digital downloads. The phonograph -- the precursor to the record player -- had only just been invented and wouldn't have been available. In a remote location like Tehkummah, they wouldn't have had access to live converts or touring musicians. They really had to make their own music -- and frequently did.

Music was central to social gatherings and religious services where hymns would have been sung. There were pianos and fiddles. Harmonicas were fairly common and there was always something kicking around that could be used for percussion. Household items like jugs, spoons or washboards were often pressed into service.

Those of you who have done as much travelling up and down the backroads of Ontario as I have are probably already familiar with snake fences, which cut zigzag paths along road sides and property lines throughout rural areas of the province that were settled in the 18th and 19th centuries.

These snake fences, which are sometimes referred to as split rail fences, were constructed by the province's early European settlers using stands of cedar that were ubiquitous throughout much of the province. The popularity of this style of fence stemmed from the fact that it didn't require postholes to be dug or nails to hold the wood together and could be erected on pretty much any surface, a useful feature since so much of Ontario is dominated by the Canadian Shield, which can only be "dug" using explosives.