Eerie Tales from the North

 

From the vast north woods of Canada come strange and eerie tales that sent chills down the spines of the voyageurs and courier du bois, as they sat around the campfires in the dead of the night.  Many legends came with them from Europe, and more came from the indigenous people in this harsh new land.

The west was home to Wendigo and Vaheela, and the east was more familiar with Le Loup Garou.  The Loup Garou legends were tied to the stories of the European werewolf, tweaked a bit to fit the French-Canadian Catholics.  Le Loup Garou is considered to be a cursed man who was guilty of not being a good Christian.  Morality and good Catholic practices kept this curse away.   The curse could be lifted by shedding of blood.  There are stories of Le Loup Garou that have migrated to the French settlements of southeast lower Michigan, and is said this creature has been sighted on Dog Lady Island in Lake Erie.  Another frequently told tale cites Chasse-Galerie. In the 1800’s a French-Canadian named Chasse Galerie loved to hunt so much that he often missed Sunday mass in favor of the woods. As his punishment a curse was placed on him to fly in the night being chased by howling wolves and wild horses.  A First Nations twist to the story placed him in a flying canoe with flames shooting out from the back. Their folklore says that after a heavy night of drinking a group of voyageurs made it back to their loved homes before Midnight on New Year’s Eve by flying through the air in canoes.  However, if the crew flew too close to a church steeple or mentioned the name of God, they will lose their soul to the devil.  Like most legends, there are several versions to both of these stories.  (I found this very interesting as I had recently visited the great crater area of Quebec from a long-ago meteorite.)

Witchcraft was another practice brought to Canada by the French.  Long practiced in Europe, it was prevalent at the same time as the Salem, MA witch trials, in which at least 20 executions took place after over 200 witch trials.  Witch hunts didn’t reach that level in New France but two of them stand out.  This is because the parties involved were ancestors of mine.  The first being that of Anne Le Marque. Anne was a cabaretiere (cavern keeper) in 1680’s Montreal.  She was accused of witchcraft, debauchery, adultery, and suspected infanticide.  Her records are long and complicated.  Her neighbors testified that she lured husbands from their wives’ beds to visit her in the late of the evening, and that she had a magic book of spells.  She used the spells in the book to draw young men to her tavern and leading them into a life of debauchery and wild sex.  Three soldiers were caught with love spells in their pockets in Trois Rivieres in 1699.  Anne was brought to trial and testified that the book of spells was actually a book of herbal remedies given to her by a doctor and charges were subsequently dropped.   Ann LeMarque was the maternal grandmother of the husband of my 4^th great grandmother.  A rather far reach to call her an ancestor, but I thought the story was interesting.

The other witchcraft story involved my 7^th great grand uncle, Pierre Gadios.  I first became aware of this story when I read a fact-based novel about the plight of his first wife.  He was born in Basse-Normanie France and traveled to New France as a youngster.  He was reputed to be an upstanding young man, very pious and a good Catholic.  He was one of the first alter boys in New France.  He met Marie Pontonnier, who was born in France and travelled to New France as a 14-year-old under the Marriageable Girls Act.   Marie was first courted by a rough man named Rene Besnard.  Her friends warned her that he was a violent and unsuitable marriage prospect.  She then transferred her affections to Pierre Gadios.  They were married in 1656.  Rene Besnard did not take this well.  He told Marie “If you marry Pierre, I will put a curse on you.  Never will you have children!”  Marie reported this threat to her betrothed, and together they went to the bishop to ask for advice.  Pierre was told to recite a certain Psalm backward during the wedding ceremony.  Pierre did try, but Rene was in the church silently repeating his curse and Pierre was too disconcerted to recite the Psalm properly.  There are conflicting reports on whether the curse caused impotence or sterility.  At any rate the couple were childless after a year. They returned to the bishop and received a blessing. Rene was instructed to remove the spell, and he responded by telling Marie if she would bed him, he would release the spell.  She refused.  When there was still no resolution, they returned once again to the Bishop and Rene was accused of “nouement a l’aiguillette” translated as knotting the needle.  This was a popular and feared spell in early France, and used by jealous rivals to cause impotence in newly wedded grooms.

Rene was tried in a Montreal court on the charge on November 2, 1658.    This was the first witchcraft trial in Canada.  After a lengthy interrogation he admitting telling Marie that “If she desired to allow him to derive pleasure from her, then it would follow that she would have pleasure with her husband.” He was ordered to pay Marie 300 livres (French currency), was compelled to cancel the spell, spent several years in jail, and was then banished from the area for a distance of at least 30 leagues.  The marriage of Marie and Pierre was annulled in 1660.

Marie married a second time but her spouse was slain by the Iroquois while she was expecting their first child.  She married again only to lose that spouse four months later.  Her final marriage was longer lasting and in total Marie gave birth to 11 children. 

Pierre was more reluctant to move on, but he did marry again after about three years. He was blessed with 14 children, including multiple sets of twins.

Rene settled in Trois Riviers, joined and became active in the church and community.  He had several children but when he died in 1688, he left many debts.

CITATIONS:

Marie Pontonnaire A Montreal Pioneer by Carol Cote

Discovering the World’s Mosaics blog

Witchcraft in Canada/Unwritten Histories website

The Canadian Encyclopedia website