I promised you this next item some time ago. But, with my weekly allotment of only 900 words, I’ve had go on a strict scriptorial diet and I keep running out of room. To be honest, I’d never heard the term “bloodstopper” until former Dunveganite Jim Fletcher mentioned it when he dropped by a few weeks ago. So I checked and, in the rural past with bad roads and no ambulances (let alone Air Ornge), bloodstopping, i.e., the gift of stopping the flow of blood simply with one’s mind, was a highly respected power: Today, we would likely dismiss this as superstition or charlatanism. But, as the late Margo Holden, a respected Maine author and illustrator, wrote in an 1982 article in the Farmer’s Almanac, “Consult some old-time lumberjacks around the country and in Canada and many would have a story or two concerning bloodstoppers.”
Holden’s father was a lumber camp and log drive cook and she wrote of witnessing a bloodstopper at work in 1924. “A fellow with a deep ax cut in his leg was carried in by the two fellows with whom he had been working… The cook, who was the bloodstopper, was stooped over taking cookies out of the oven… He paused, looked at the wounded fellow a long half-minute and then proclaimed, ‘The bleeding is stopped’… (They) carried their chum to the bunkhouse, cut his pant leg off, and announced the bleeding was indeed stopped… We heard he was back on the drive that spring.”
Jim Fletcher’s experience with a bloodstopper happened in Dunvegan early in 1950, right across the road from where Terry and I live today. Jim’s brother Duncan (Lolly) Fletcher was dying of cancer at the age of just 14. It had been discovered when his knee was injured during a game as catcher for the Dunvegan softball team. This led to Lolly’s leg being amputated at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal in the hope of stopping the cancer’s spread. In less than a year it was back with a vengeance.
One night during the final stages of Duncan’s struggle, he started bleeding profusely. Jim’s not 100% certain (he was only ten at the time), but remembers that the bleeding was from his brother’s jaw and that there was blood everywhere.
“My mother was near her wit’s end,” Jim wrote me in an email. “She had heard of this guyfrom Finch or Avonmore who had the ability to stop bleeding.” In her desperation, Mrs. Fletcher spoke with him over the phone. “As I recall,” Jim continued, “this gentleman got the facts from my mom… and then, whatever he did or said or prayed, within a minute or two the bleeding stopped.” Young Lolly, now in a weakened state, was taken by ambulance back to Montreal where he passed away about a week later. “This story has been repeated many times over the years,” Jim concluded. “There is a lot of power in the mind and I do believe that certain people are born with special gifts.”
Dunvegan Hall trio
The months leading up to Christmas are usually a busier time for the Dunvegan Recreation’s wonderful little community hall. And this year is no exception. Here’s what’s on tap during the next few weeks…
The first event – Denis Lavigne’s musical jam session – takes place Saturday, October 29thstarting at 7:00 pm. If you enjoy getting together with other musicians and playing your heart out, grab your guitar, banjo, fiddle, accordion or what-have-you and head for Dunvegan. There’s no admission and everyone’s invited, even those who just want to play ‘audience’. For more information, give Denis a call at 613-363-8562.
The second event – the DRA’s annual Community Halloween party – is on Monday, October 31st from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Aimed at rural kids who don’t have the same trick or trick opportunities as their city cousins, there’ll be lots of spooky decorations, creepy games and ahaunted stage. With any luck, there will also be a costume parade around the Halloween Tree set to that perennial favourite: Monster Mash. It’s 100% free and the little tykes get loot bags to take home, in addition to any candy prizes they may have won.
And the third event – the DRA’s 2022 Potluck Supper and Annual General Meeting – is on Friday, November 5th. You don’t have live on Dunvegan Road to attend the AGM. It’s open to anyone interested in learning more about this community. Please come and show your support for the volunteers who make the soccer program, movie night, winter carnival and so many other events possible. All the DRA asks is that you bring a main dish, salad or dessert for the potluck before the meeting. Coffee, water, soft drinks and juice will be provided at no charge.
Memorial Garage Sale
Almost a year to the day that we lost the free spirit that was Mac Williamson, his partner, Brenda Kennedy, is holding what she’s calling the Mac Memorial Garage Sale. It’s probably better described as a barn sale, as that’s where it will be held: rain or shine. “I’ve finally organized his collection,” Brenda wrote me in an email, “…with a LOT of help from my friends.” All sorts of things will be up for grabs, including tools, knick-knacks, furniture, kitchenware, lamps and much more. The sale takes place this coming Saturday, October 29thfrom 10 am to 2 pm at 2154 County Road 30, i.e., Greenfield Rd.
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