Fortune’s
Savour”
Under Poutrincourt, further explorations took place as the
French continued to look for a more comfortable colony site. New
England proved inhospitable to them with unfriendly Natives, strong
winds and unsafe harbours. DownheFrarted, Poutrincourt arrived back
in Port Royal in November of 1606, feeling like a failure.
Fortunately for all concerned, Lescarbot was feeling more like a
poet rather than a lawyer. He decided to lift Poutrincourt’s
scpirits by writing and staging a play, a masque called Le Theatre de
Neptune , the first bit of
theatre for the New World. Lescarbot admitted it was simply “French
rhymes penned in haste,” but it helped to raise the spirits of all
concerned. Lescarbot appeared as Neptune in a boat, accompanied by
four French “Indians.” i
It was a kind of tribute to Poutrincourt and everyone who had
survived the dangers of sea travel and adventure, sounding at times
like a prototype for tourist brochures promoting sea travel.
Lescarbot seems also to have established the first public-relations
office in the New World as he wrote:
If man would taste the spice of
fortune’s savour
He must needs seek the aid of
Neptune’s favour
For stay at homes who doze on
kitchen settles
Earn no glory than their pots and
kettles.
It would be a long winter but already it was
clear that things would be different. If bad feelings and even talk
of insurrection could be quelled with a little theatre, it was
decided that even more concerted efforts tocward entertainment
might help them through an otherwise cheerless winter. And so Port
Royal would become a party town. The Order of Good Cheer
(* L’Ordre de Bon
Temps ) was founded to help
keep everybody happy and even healthy. Fifteen men would sit at
Poutrincourt’s high table on a regular basis and each would have a
crack at preparing a meal designed to outdo the
last.
No European women lived in Port Royal at that time, so it was
a true “buddy” club. But neither were there priests on hand to
temper the good times with solemnity. Certainly religion was not
forgotten as Poutrincourt and Lescarbot continued to plan ahead for
the colony’s survival so far from France. Had European politics not
returned to haunt the shores of Nova Scotia, it is conceivable that
the Order of Good Cheer could have provided a mildly hedonistic and
happy model for the foundations of a new society, one that could
have readily been sustained by the food resources
available.
They ate well and they ate plentifully of what was available:
wildfowl, sturgeon, moose, beaver, otter, wildcat and raccoon.
There were also peas, rice, beans, prunes, raisins, dried cod to be
added to the menu, and wine was not in short supply. Lescarbot
noted that he was particularly fond of bear flesh, which he found
“very good and tender,” as well as “delicate beaver’s tail” and
“tender moose meat.” For dessert there was “certain small fruits
like small apples coloured red, of which we made
jelly.”
Chief Membertou was treated as an equal and partook of the
feast with the French. Twenty or thirty Mi’kmaq men, women, girls
and boys were often on hand to watch the entertainment. Lescarbot
says they “beheld us doing our offices,” as the French feasted and
partied. The audience was given free bread but nothing more,
although Lescarbot had high regard for their civility, remarking
that they were more mannerly and polite than the
French.
The Poet and the Chief
Unlike the English who would
follow, the French did not push the issue of ownership of land with
the Mi’kmaq, even though de Monts had paperwork from a distant king
laying claim to it. Each day the “Habitation” had visits from the
Mi’kmaq and our trusty reporter of the day, Lescarbot, says that
Chief Membertou had described his counterpart Poutrincourt as a
“great friend, brother, companion and equal.” These are happy words
but haunting ones since very little
Savour”
Under Poutrincourt, further explorations took place as the
French continued to look for a more comfortable colony site. New
England proved inhospitable to them with unfriendly Natives, strong
winds and unsafe harbours. DownheFrarted, Poutrincourt arrived back
in Port Royal in November of 1606, feeling like a failure.
Fortunately for all concerned, Lescarbot was feeling more like a
poet rather than a lawyer. He decided to lift Poutrincourt’s
scpirits by writing and staging a play, a masque called Le Theatre de
Neptune , the first bit of
theatre for the New World. Lescarbot admitted it was simply “French
rhymes penned in haste,” but it helped to raise the spirits of all
concerned. Lescarbot appeared as Neptune in a boat, accompanied by
four French “Indians.” i
It was a kind of tribute to Poutrincourt and everyone who had
survived the dangers of sea travel and adventure, sounding at times
like a prototype for tourist brochures promoting sea travel.
Lescarbot seems also to have established the first public-relations
office in the New World as he wrote:
If man would taste the spice of
fortune’s savour
He must needs seek the aid of
Neptune’s favour
For stay at homes who doze on
kitchen settles
Earn no glory than their pots and
kettles.
It would be a long winter but already it was
clear that things would be different. If bad feelings and even talk
of insurrection could be quelled with a little theatre, it was
decided that even more concerted efforts tocward entertainment
might help them through an otherwise cheerless winter. And so Port
Royal would become a party town. The Order of Good Cheer
(* L’Ordre de Bon
Temps ) was founded to help
keep everybody happy and even healthy. Fifteen men would sit at
Poutrincourt’s high table on a regular basis and each would have a
crack at preparing a meal designed to outdo the
last.
No European women lived in Port Royal at that time, so it was
a true “buddy” club. But neither were there priests on hand to
temper the good times with solemnity. Certainly religion was not
forgotten as Poutrincourt and Lescarbot continued to plan ahead for
the colony’s survival so far from France. Had European politics not
returned to haunt the shores of Nova Scotia, it is conceivable that
the Order of Good Cheer could have provided a mildly hedonistic and
happy model for the foundations of a new society, one that could
have readily been sustained by the food resources
available.
They ate well and they ate plentifully of what was available:
wildfowl, sturgeon, moose, beaver, otter, wildcat and raccoon.
There were also peas, rice, beans, prunes, raisins, dried cod to be
added to the menu, and wine was not in short supply. Lescarbot
noted that he was particularly fond of bear flesh, which he found
“very good and tender,” as well as “delicate beaver’s tail” and
“tender moose meat.” For dessert there was “certain small fruits
like small apples coloured red, of which we made
jelly.”
Chief Membertou was treated as an equal and partook of the
feast with the French. Twenty or thirty Mi’kmaq men, women, girls
and boys were often on hand to watch the entertainment. Lescarbot
says they “beheld us doing our offices,” as the French feasted and
partied. The audience was given free bread but nothing more,
although Lescarbot had high regard for their civility, remarking
that they were more mannerly and polite than the
French.
The Poet and the Chief
Unlike the English who would
follow, the French did not push the issue of ownership of land with
the Mi’kmaq, even though de Monts had paperwork from a distant king
laying claim to it. Each day the “Habitation” had visits from the
Mi’kmaq and our trusty reporter of the day, Lescarbot, says that
Chief Membertou had described his counterpart Poutrincourt as a
“great friend, brother, companion and equal.” These are happy words
but haunting ones since very little
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