In honour of Canada Day, here’s a little quiz that will test your knowledge of our home and native land (answers at the end of the column):
1. Who was Lawren Harris?
2. In what province would you find a blacksmith shop and a stone wheel from a Norse village that is believed to have been there 500 years before Columbus sailed for the New World?
3. During inspection trips for the Hudson’s Bay Company, this company official insisted on carrying a set of bagpipes in his canoe (don’t leave home without them). He also wore a large stovepipe hat on his journeys. He was not Abraham Lincoln. Who was he?
4. Which of these cities is closer to St. John's, Newfoundland — Victoria, B.C., or London, England?
5. What kind of foods are Digby chicken, Shippegan turkey, and Richibucto goose?
6. What is the maximum depth of the south basin of Lake Winnipeg?
7. True or false: Winnie-the-Pooh got his name from Winnipeg.
8. Who was the first to use a goalie mask in NHL hockey?
Answers
1. Painter Lawren Harris was one of several artists who developed a fresh interpretation of the Canadian landscape. In 1920, they became known as the Group of Seven. The original group included Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, F.H. Varley, Frank Johnston and Franklin Carmichael.
Frank Johnston moved to Winnipeg in 1921 to become principal of the Winnipeg School of Art. He resigned from the Group of Seven in 1924 and two years later A.J. Casson was invited to join.
In the group’s later years, they added two new members — Edwin Holgate and L.L. FitzGerald. FitzGerald was born in Winnipeg where he later taught at and was principal of the Winnipeg School of Art.
Many of us would probably have guessed that Tom Thomson was also a member of the Group of Seven. Though never a member, he was a tremendous inspiration to the group through his many paintings which became associated with the group’s style.
2. Archaeologists made this discovery in Newfoundland at L’Anse aux Meadows.
3. The man with the bagpipe-equipped canoe was Sir George Simpson, governor-in-chief of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
4. I know, you're saying, “This is probably a trick question.” Well, it is, in the sense that initial logic would suggest that Victoria must be closer. But, in fact, it’s London! The city on the Thames is 3,200 kilometres away from St. John’s, while Victoria is 4,200 kilometres further.
5. Another trick question, eh? These three sound like “fowl” dishes, don't they? But, in fact, are fish. It’s an east coast thing.
6. The average depth of Lake Winnipeg’s south basin is only about nine metres. That explains why it gets so rough out there. In the northern basin of the lake, depths range up to 36 metres, with an average of 12.3 metres. Lake Winnipeg is the 13th largest lake in the world, the 10th largest freshwater lake, and covers 24,514 square kilometres.
7. True. The English author A.A. Milne modelled his charming bear, whom he called Winnie-the-Pooh, on the regimental mascot of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. The mascot was a bear born in Canada and named Winnipeg, or Winnie, for short.
8. The goalie mask was first used regularly by Montreal Canadien’s goaltender Jacques Plante. Plante had repeatedly been struck by pucks zooming in at over 90 miles an hour, resulting in over 150 stitches on his face. It was in 1959 that he said, “Enough is enough,” and started wearing a protective face mask made of fibreglass.