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Cupids and Family Reunion Weekend

8/8/2013

2 Comments

 
This past weekend was spent at Ocean Pond for a family reunion with Elizabeth's family, but we still managed to make a trip to Cupids for a Something Saturday adventure, and we also went to the Hey Rosetta! concert on Monday night!
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Cupids Cove Plantation
On Saturday we went to the Cupids Cove Plantation, which is a Provincial Historic Site. To give some background on Cupids:

In 1610, John Guy brought 39 men from England to Cupids, then Cuper's Cove, and founded the first English colony in Canada. The purpose was to secure the fishing trade, and Guy went back to England in 1611 to return with female settlers and livestock. The colony was threatened by the pirate Peter Easton many times, but they managed to make it work.

In 1612, Guy built a ship and embarked on an expedition to Trinity Bay in an attempt to establish a fur trade with the Beothuks. In November 1612, they were successful in sharing a meal and exchanging gifts with the indigenous people. After all of his progress in Newfoundland, Guy returned to England in 1613 and became a Member of Parliament, promoting the cause of English settlement on the island.

So, the Cupids Cove Plantation that we visited encompasses a small house and archaeological dig, located at  John Guy's settlement.
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We started at the small house where we got some information and saw paintings about John Guy and his interactions with the Beothuk people. As a side note, all visitors seemed to be provided with a private tour guide, which was awesome!

Our tour guide took us outside where we met one of the archaeologists on site and she showed us a couple of things that she had found the day before - and she let us touch them! This is a 17th century pipe stem:
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We were then led around the site, and learned lots about life during that time and even got to walk around the structure that was recreated to show what the house would have looked like. Apparently 39 men would have slept on this top floor (in 15 beds, with 40 blankets):
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The tour was great because we learned lots and could ask any (and as many) questions we had. It was hands-on and definitely a cool site to check out. Catalogued artifacts can be found at the Cupids Legacy Centre, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to check it out. 

The rest of the weekend was spent with Elizabeth's family in Ocean Pond, where we spent lots of time playing games and going swimming, among other things. This was the first time that everyone had been together in a while and it was a lot of fun.
Since we were gone away during the weekend, we missed most of George Street Fest, but we did make it to the Hey Rosetta! concert on Monday night. The rain was threatening all evening, and we came prepared, but luckily the rain held off and we had a great time! 
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During the concert there were lots of give-aways and crowd participation. This is a picture of the sparklers that were given out during 'Yer Spring'; it's out of focus, but turned out interesting anyway. Watch out, Instagram!
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Here are some more pictures from the weekend (there were a lot, but here are some of our favourites):
2 Comments
Lisa link
8/8/2013 02:21:54 pm

Looks like lots of fun with the fam! And haha that sparklers photo is just perfect for Instagram. You have a natural talent.

Reply
Don II
8/8/2014 10:54:08 am

It appears that many people such as yourselves are being led to believe that the Cupids Cove Plantation in Cupids is connected to John Guy. If you were allowed to see the inscription on the headstone laying face down on the ground at the site as depicted in your photograph it should show the year of death as 1780 which would mean that the person buried on the site in Cupids could not have been an original colonist of John Guy from 1610! The claim that John Guy landed at and established a Plantation/Colony in Cupids in 1610 is not supported by the historical facts! If you research the Historic Record of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador you will discover that there are absolutely no references to any place called the Cupids Cove Plantation! The Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site in Cupids was recently created by the Government of Newfoundland. It appears that there was a lot of lobbying pressure on Government to create an historic site in Cupids and to have it ready for a Royal visit and walk about to be attended by Prince Charles, Lady Camilla, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Danny Williams in 2009 and for celebrations in 2010! It appears that only 57 members of the general public came to Cupids to see Prince Charles, Lady Camilla, Prime Minister Harper and Premier Williams during the Royal walk about at the soon to be designated Cupids Cove Plantation site in Cupids in November 2009! The media and the public should be asking why the Government of Newfoundland expropriated several privately owned properties in Cupids in 2008 to create and promote the Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site to commemorate a fictional place which is never mentioned in the Historic Record of the Province. The Cupids Cove Plantation has no authentic connection to John Guy! If you undertake serious research regarding the Cupers Cove Plantation, you will also discover that neither John Guy nor his associate Henry Crout, in their letters and journals, ever mentioned a place called Cupids or Cupids Cove! John Guy and Henry Crout also did not write about any place called the Cupids Cove Plantation in their letters and journals! Both John Guy and Henry Crout stated that they were living in and writing from Cupers Cove NOT Cupids! The purported connection of Cupids to John Guy is based on local folklore, myths and unproven claims which have been repeated for decades until they came to be accepted as an historical fact. For many decades, the town of Cupids also claimed to be the location of the Sea Forest Plantation which was owned by John Guy personally. The Town named the main street in Cupids as Sea Forest Drive. It appears that the Archaeologist in charge of the Cupids Cove Plantation has confirmed in a Sworn Affidavit that the Sea Forest Plantation never existed in Cupids! The Historical Record contains letters and documents which clearly show that the Sea Forest Plantation was never located in Cupids but was located near to Salmon Cove which is now known as the town of Avondale! John Guy wrote a letter dated October 6, 1610 in which he stated that Cupers Cove was located near to Salmon Cove. The Historic Record contains letters, maps and the Charter of Avalon which shows that Salmon Cove in the 17th century was located near where Avondale is now. The historical documents,maps and John Guy's letter show that the Cupers Cove Plantation was NOT located anywhere near to Cupids. There is a place called Salmon Cove located near to Cupids today but the 17th century maps and documents clearly show that there was no place named Salmon Cove near Cupids in 1610 when John Guy arrived! It was not the Salmon Cove near Cupids that John Guy was writing about in 1610 as being near to Cupers Cove. The Salmon Cove near Cupids was known as Bay de Grave in the 17th century and did not appear on maps named as Salmon Cove until the early 19th century. It is clear from the historical documents and maps that Cupids Cove and Cupers Cove were two separate places located miles apart when John Guy arrived in 1610! The Charter of the Colony of Avalon states that Salmon Cove was a boundary of the Colony of Avalon and that Salmon Cove was located near to the Sea Forest Plantation. It is clear that Cupids and the Salmon Cove near Cupids were never located inside the boundary of the Colony of Avalon. Due to the fact that Cupids was never located inside the Colony of Avalon, it is clear that the Salmon Cove recorded as a boundary in the Charter of the Colony of Avalon could NOT have been the Salmon Cove that is located near Cupids today! It is clear from the historic documents, maps and Charter of the Colony of Avalon that the Sea Forest Plantation, Salmon Cove and the Cupers Cove Plantation were all located near to Avondale in the 17th century and were NOT located in Cupids at all. The artifacts that have been found at Cupids are clearly from an early Planter homestead which was not connected to John Guy. The fact that the

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