Bluenose Magic

Richard Wilbur is author of The Rise of French New Brunswick and H.H.
Stevens, 1878–1973, and co-author of Silver Harvest: The Fundy
Weirmen’s Story. His latest book is Horse-Drawn Carriages and Sleighs:
Elegant Vehicles from New England and New Bruns

The format of Bluenose Magic is unusual, to say the least: every single
paragraph in the book is numbered and each chapter/section is followed
by footnote references, mostly to UCLA folklore authority Dr. Wayland
Hand.

Undoubtedly, the late Helen Creighton is justly renowned for collecting
and publishing volumes of Nova Scotia folklore. Current devotees of this
field of study will appreciate her learned comments both in the
introduction of each section and in the footnotes of Bluenose Magic, a
reissue of her 1968 study. However, this reviewer found much of the
volume tedious and repetitious. It could well be that Nova Scotians
don’t share my view, but considering that so much of the material on
ghosts and spiritual happenings was based on interviews collected in the
early and mid-20th century as well as on handed-down accounts that
apparently took place mostly in rural settings a hundred years earlier,
I wonder how many people could relate today?

The author of the foreword, Clary Croft, is convinced that “a new
contemporary form of folk belief is alive.” Perhaps if more of us had
his opportunity to listen to some of Helen Creighton’s taped
interviews stored in the Nova Scotia Archives, we might share his
enthusiasm for this genre.

Certainly, considering today’s apparent huge preoccupation with
health/sickness, the book’s largest section, “Home Remedies,” is
bound to appeal to a wide readership. As Dr. Creighton says in her
introduction, “people who had this healing gift were regarded with
great respect … I have little doubt that in some parts of the
province, charms are still in use today.” And for the next 52 pages,
the 444 numbered paragraphs cover just about every ailment, from colds
and convulsions to broken ribs and shingles.