Page 22 - 200712 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - December 2007

22 1535, First Christmas In Canada 1535, First Christmas In Canada 22 1535, THE FIRST frozen in and the little colony was beginning to 1535, THE FIRST SILENT NIGHT CHRISTMAS IN discover the weak points in the winter SILENT NIGHT CHRISTMAS IN preparations. The buildings could not keep out CANADA the penetrating cold. There were no cellars in CANADA which to keep supplies. All the drinkables were frozen hard, and melted snow had to be used for water, as rivers and streams were soon locked fast by the ice. Salt meat and stale vegetables formed the greater part of the diet, and by Christmas time health was beginning to suffer and the first whisper of the dread disease of scurvy was apparent among the whites. JACQUES CARTIER The first Christmas observed in Canada, that of 1535, was kept -- but scarcely enjoyed - - by one hundred and ten souls in a tiny palisaded fortress on the banks of the Ste. Croix The Indians hovered round, always River (now the St. Charles), near the present watching. Sometimes they came to visit the The origin of the Christmas carol we City of Quebec. On the site of the latter was settlement, and often they tried to entice the know as Silent Night was a poem that was then the Indian Village of Stadacona. whites to visit their village on one pretext or written in 1816 by an Austrian priest Jacques Carier and his advance guard of another. There were ceremonious protestations called Joseph Mohr. On Christmas Eve in settlers were by Christmas time beginning the of friendship on both sides, but the French were 1818 in the small alpine village called struggle with the terrible hardships which always conscious of the silent and observant Oberndorf it is reputed that the organ at during the winter beset the little band, killed movements of the natives. They, therefore, St. Nicholas Church had broken. Joseph twenty-five of its members, and reduced the determined, above all, no matter how sick they remainder to a state of helplessness for many were, to maintain a show of activity and Mohr gave the poem of Silent Night weeks. strength about the fortress, lest, tempted by the (Stille Nacht) to his friend Franz Xavier The French ships had come bravely up obvious weakness of the garrison, the Indians Gruber and the melody for Silent Night the river during the previous summer, and had should decide to attack it. was composed with this in mind. The been joyously welcomed by the Indians, who Christmas in those circumstances music to Silent Night was therefore were well supplied with gifts by the newcomers. couldn't be a very merry affair. It came, intended for a guitar and the simple score The Isle of Bacchus (the Island of Orleans) and however, before the worst of the winter trials, was finished in time for Midnight Mass. the land on either side of the great river of while the settlers were still buoyed up by the Silent Night is the most famous Christmas Canada had been explored, and a plot of land at hope of future discoveries and by the tales of carol of all time! the mouth of the Ste. Croix Croix had been Donnacona -- a man of some imagination, selected as the most suitable location for winter apparently -- who told them of precious stones Silent night, holy night settlement. Jacques Cartier had made his way and metals to be found in lands beyond the All is calm, all is bright up as far as Hochelaga, and had returned to his country of Saguenay; of white men dressed in Round yon Virgin Mother and Child band in time to over-see the final preparations cloth like themselves who inhabited a region Holy Infant so tender and mild for the cold weather. near a great inland sea of fresh water; of lands Sleep in heavenly peace of luxurious vegetation south of the Great River, Sleep in heavenly peace where other red-skinned people lived; and of a mysterious race of one-legged people living in Silent night, holy night! some ill-defined territory far from the district known as Canada. All these things interested the Shepherds quake at the sight adventurers mightily, and imagination, Glories stream from heaven afar combined with a taste of the most precious of Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! their food supplies, probably helped to make Christ, the Saviour is born Christmas Day a little more cheerful than those Christ, the Saviour is born which had preceded it. It was certainly far more cheerful than many which followed it, for there Silent night, holy night came a time when all but ten of the party were Son of God, love's pure light near death from scurvy. Courageous hearts Radiant beams from Thy holy face alone enabled the little colony to hold out until With the dawn of redeeming grace the spring, and to deceive the Indians into It became noticable before winter set in thinking the band strong and prepared for attack Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth that there was a change of attitude on the part of in the days when they were threatened with utter Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth " the Indians. Outwardly they were friendly, but extermination. the Frenchmen soon became convinced that the THE MONTREAL STAR THE MONTREAL STAR two guides, whom they had carried off to France For the history of some of the most on a previous expedition and had brought back beloved Christmas Carols, go to Page 24. to serve as interpreters, were sowing VISIT disaffection among the people of Stadacona. “If singing is good for the soul, then no Their influence on Chief Donnacona was THE ‘X’ ZONE RADIO SHOW wonder everyone is in such a good mood marked, and the settlers took as their mottos WEBSITE thenceforward, "He who is watchful loses at Christmas!” nothing." WWW.XZONERADIO.COM By the end of November the ships were Laura Rogers, Senior ‘X’ Zone Producer