Because the year is 1850 there have been famines in Ireland and many people in Europe have been looking toward the New Country across the sea for the hope of a new life.

Although life is somewhat better in England in the countryside, land is divided up between the sons and the parcels become smaller and smaller through the generations. Even in the noble classes the younger sons often receive little inheritance and look abroad for a brighter tomorrow.

It is not an easy time for many who come to Canada to rough it in the bush and eke out a meager living on the land. In the cities of Europe there is much poverty and those who have a strong spirit try to escape and take their chances on the immigrant ships. At least here is hope.

Upon arrival in the new land, peasant and gentleman alike have to roll up their sleeves and do manual labour if they are to succeed. The women have it no less easy as they must plant and labour in the all-important vegetable garden, gather wild berries, make soap, hand-sew clothing, bake bread, bear children, nurse the sick, milk cows, churn butter, do the family laundry and cooking, keep chickens and if this does not sound exhausting enough, are expected to be a general helpmate to their husband when he needs them.

The man of the household, of course, has a long list of accomplishments to pursue as well. He needs to clear the land with a hand axe and saw, build a basic shanty as a first house to shelter his family, start to till the semi-cleared land around stumps and rocks, hunt and fish.

There are some gentlefolk who arrive with a tidy sum of money and they have an immediate advantage but because they are not accustomed to hard work, may not fare well in the long run.

There are mills to grind grain and mercantiles to buy textiles, foodstuffs and tools. Surveyors are very important people in the new world. They can help the newcomers choose an arable piece of land (which is the big thing). It is difficult to know for the untrained eye if a parcel of land covered with trees and brush, so much so that one has to cut his way through the brambles with a scythe – whether this acreage be swampy, full of rocks and gravel, or the choicest of soils with a fine creek flowing through it.

The first settlers in Simcoe County have had many hardships, sometimes walking for many miles with a barrel of flour on their backs, or getting lost in the forest and dying of exposure.

A fine town like Collingwood that emerged from the cedar swamp on the shores of Georgian Bay (Lake Manitoulin) now boasts saloons, mercantiles, bakeries, cobblers, mills, a constabulary and lately, a new shipbuilding industry. Some fine homes are being erected in town and a prosperous farming community is taking hold in the countryside.

Daily Life in the Old Days (looking back in Time)

It used to be a tradition before going to bed to let the cat out and put the empty milk bottles on the doorstep for the milkman. That would have been in a town or city somewhere in the years between 1920 and 1950 perhaps. What happened to this practice? Well, the milkman no longer does home deliveries and due to traffic congestions and crowded subdivisions it is not considered safe to let the cat out at night. This comforting set of nightly rituals have died.

What is your routine before bedtime in the year 2017? What are the things you do at that time? Your ritual? And, what would that have been if you lived in the 1800’s.

Picture yourself – if a man or if a woman in those days. Look down – what are you wearing? What kind of a day would you have had? What would be your thoughts at day’s end? Would you look out your window and instead of streetlights distorting the dusk colour of nature, see a sky full of stars or fireflies? Your routine might be to blow out a gaslight and carry a candle up creaking stairs to your bedside.

If you were a farmer you would go to the barn with a coal oil lantern and check on your animals, seeing the warm brown eyes of the cows and feeling their warm breath. You would make sure your horses and chickens were safe for the night and the gates and barn door were closed. Then you would walk in the magical deepening dusk back to the house swathed in the rich scents of nature and sounds of crickets, breathing air deep, cold and sweet as wine. For it would not yet be black dark; bedtime being early for a farmer.

What is your bedtime ritual now? Do you empty the dishwasher during commercials while you watch your favourite reality show about weight loss? Do you enjoy the last quiet minutes before retiring when the children are in bed? You might pour a fresh bowl of water for your cat or dog. Then you might plug in your cell phone.