A historical reference and a tragic end.

[wunks]

I picked up a book from a neglected shelf the other day that I have no recollection of acquiring.  It is "Mooswa and Others of the Boundaries" by W. A. Fraser based on his experiences on the Athabasca and Saskatchewan rivers in the far northwest of Canada.  It's a tale of the animals of the region and their dealings among themselves and the humans invading their lands.  Copyright 1900 by Charles Scribner and sons.  In the chapter " Carcajou's revenge " Which details Wolverine's ransacking of Francois' cabin, this line pops out:  " Like most Half-breeds Francois played the concertina; and like most of his fellow tribesmen hung up his things on the bed or floor.  It was under the bed that Carcajou discovered the instrument, and when he had finished with it, it might have been put in paper boxes and sold as matches."

 

 

[Roger Hare]

For anyone who's tempted, this seems to be available at:

 

https://archive.org/details/mooswawill00frasrich

 

Use the second download option (B/W PDF) to download.

 

The concertina reference is in the story 'CARCAJOU S REVENGE' on p. 182...

Edited July 3 by Roger Hare

[wes williams]

Roger - Re your ABC tunebooks: I use dropbox a lot, but change the end of the link to dl=1 .This gives a direct download, rather than folks having to go through the dropbox site.

Edited July 4 by wes williams
I'd confused Roger - sorry all!

[Roger Hare]

Deleted - not relevant. Sorrry folks...

Edited July 3 by Roger Hare

[wunks]

A puzzlement arises.  If Fraser's account is accurate, where did all those concertinas go?  Surely they were not all destroyed by Wolverines!  The  Metis of that region have a vibrant fiddle/dance culture but nary a further reference to a concertina can I find.