Pearls and PebblesHow fitting to close out the 20th century with a brand new edition of Pearls & Pebbles by the noted chronicler of pioneer life, Catharine Parr Traill. Published in 1894, Pearls & Pebbles is an unusual book with a lasting charm, in which the author's broad focus ranges from the Canadian natural environment to early settlement of Upper Canada. Through Traill's eyes, we see the life of the pioneer woman, the disappearance of the forest, and the corresponding changes in the life of the Native Canadians who have inhabited that forest. Editor Elizabeth Thompson reminds us of the significance of the writings by Traill, the aged author/naturalist, who felt that the hours spent gathering the pebbles and pearls from her notebooks and journals written in the backwoods of Canada was not time wasted. |
From inside the book
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... flowers . We hear again the song of blackbird , linnet and robin , and the far - away call of that mystery of childhood , the cuckoo . We hear the murmur of the summer wind among the rustling green flags beside the river ; we scent the ...
... Flowers , more flowers , Lila . " Even in her sleep she had gathered dream- flowers for the May Day garlands . I was the youngest but one , and being an especial pet in the household , on my happy head was conferred the May crown , and ...
... flowers discarded or begged from the gardener's parter- res . A hollow in the bank was fashioned into a grotto , which we lined with moss and decorated with dry striped snailshells and bright stones . Our garden tools were of the rudest ...
... flower - encircled wand No peasant trains advance ; No more they lead with sportive tread merry , merry dance . The The violet blooms with modest grace Beneath its crest of leaves ; The primrose shows her gentle face , Her wreaths the ...
... Flowers ( 1868 ) . window , hover a moment over the flowers , cut or in pots , which have attracted it , then dart away again into the sunshine . It is so delicate that the least rough handling kills the lovely creature . We are so late ...
Contents
3 | |
5 | |
9 | |
14 | |
21 | |
MORE ABOUT MY FEATHERED FRIENDS | 32 |
A DEFENSE | 45 |
NOTES FROM MY OLD DIARY | 49 |
THOUGHTS ON VEGETABLE INSTINCT | 109 |
SOME CURIOUS PLANTS | 115 |
SOME VARIETIES OF POLLEN | 120 |
THE CRANBERRY MARSH | 123 |
OUR NATIVE GRASSES | 126 |
INDIAN GRASS | 132 |
MOSSES AND LICHENS | 136 |
THE INDIAN MOSS BAG | 141 |
THE SPIDER | 58 |
PROSPECTING AND WHAT I FOUND IN MY DIGGING | 62 |
THE ROBIN AND THE MIRROR | 65 |
IN THE CANADIAN WOODS | 67 |
THE FIRST DEATH IN THE CLEARING | 82 |
ALONE IN THE FOREST | 90 |
ON THE ISLAND OF MINNEWAWA | 99 |
THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST | 103 |
SOMETHING GATHERS UP THE FRAGMENTS | 144 |
APPENDIX A | 151 |
APPENDIX B | 181 |
APPENDIX C | 183 |
ENDNOTES | 187 |
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS | 199 |
INDEX | 203 |