Daily life at Plaisance

The daily life of the settlers at Plaisance during the French occupation, 1662 to 1713 is evident from written and archaeological sources. Four areas include 'food', housing, clothing and activities.

Food

"Food" means the acquisition, preparation and consumption of food. The diet of Plaisance was based on fish but also included a number of imported and some local food.

Information concerning the types of food entering the colony can be determined from several surviving supply lists. A reference to supplies needed in 1663 for about 100 soldiers and inhabitants consisted of 50 milliers de farine, 20 tonneaux de vin, 10 barriques d'eau-de-vie, 8 milliers de lard, 20 barriques de pois et feves, 9 quintaux d'huille d'olive et 5 quintaux de beurre. Two trade agreements dating from the 1690's indicate that similar goods were requested by the administration for sale to the inhabitants. For example, the 1697 trade agreement stipulated that:

Il fera pareillement passer audit Plaisance pour traiter avec les habitants de la colonie dudit lieu cent charges de sel de deux tonneaux chacune, mil quintaux de biscuit poids de marc, 40 quarts de farine de 2 a 300 livres, 100 quarts ou demy barriques de melasse, 40 barriques de vin mesure de Bordeaux, 2 quarts et demy barriques d'eau-de-vie de La Rochelle, 30 barils de lards de 200 livres chacun, 30 barils de boeuf, 20 barriques de feves de 5 boisseaux et demy mesure de St-Malo, 300 livres de beurre, 400 livres d'huille d'olive, 600 livres dechandelle, des habits, des souliers et autres menues marchandises propres au service desdits habitants.

The 1694 agreement requested similar supplies- 100 quintaux de biscuit, 49 quintauc de farine, 100 quarts de melasse, 40 barriques de vin, 24 barriques d'eau-de-vie, 20 barriques de lard, etc. Trade with Canada was encouraged and brought into the colony products such as flour, peas and bread while legal and illegal trade with New England supplied Plaisance with fresh agricultural produce and West Indian goods as well as the ubiquitous butter, pork, beef and peas.

These basic goods as well as some interesting variations are also found in the lists of supplies carried by fishing vessels bound for the dry fishery in Newfoundland or Acadia. It is assumed that the goods listed would be typical of the food present at Plaisance since the summer fleet fishermen were seasonal, if not permanent, inhabitants of the community and since trade occurred between the fishermen and the permanent residents.

One of the best descriptions of the supplies required for the operation of a shore fishery states that a ship of about fifty men needed four quintals, or four hundred weight of biscuit for the men including boys, and a pipe, or two barrels, of wine, besides pork, peas, beans, cod, herring, butter, oil, vinegar, and other little conveniences to each ship in proportion to the number of fishermen. Supply lists from other French vessels involved in the dry fishery were made up of the same types of goods although sometimes cider and dried fish were also carried.

Local resources were also an important part of the diet but although all the sedentary population, including the governor, apparently lived almost exclusively upon the fish they caught during the fishing season, the faunal analysis places fish fourth in relative importance after domestic mammals, wild mammals and wild fowl. This anomaly could be the result of various factors, such as the poor preservation of fish bones, and should not be considered of great significance. The analysis does indicate that cod was the most common species eaten and that it was being eaten fresh. Descriptions of the fishery indicate that mackerel and herring were also eaten fresh and that dried fish were sometimes included in the supplies although these may have been eaten while in route to the fishing grounds.

Agriculture was attempted and local resources were exploited although never to a significant extent due partly to the environment and the all consuming reliance on fish and the fishery. Gardens were mentioned in the 1698 census but do not appear on plans of the community until 1706 indicating that they were not a large scale endeavour. Those fortunate enough to have the time to devote to a garden might have grown 'salads', peas, beans, cabbages, turnips, and 'petites herbes'. Domestic animals were raised although never in great quantity. In 1687 the total population of 256 was dependent for fresh meat and milk on the products of approximately 30 domestic animals while by 1698 this stock apparently had decreased to three cows and eight goats. These figures do not include the animals kept in the fort by the garrison but it is known from the faunal analysis that the garrison did have domestic animals including pigs, cattle, sheep/goats and chickens. Unfortunately the analysis cannot indicate to what extent fresh domestic meat and poultry played in the soldiers' diet. A longue de veau mentioned in a 1672 reference to Plaisance was considered a reason for celebration which is understandable considering the apparent scarcity of domestic animals in the colony.

The local non-domestic animals were being exploited. Seal, caribou, fox and martin were trapped and eaten. A variety of wild birds also augmented the soldiers' diet. In order of relative importance they included gulls and tern, predatory birds, ducks, and geese, cormorats, ravens and crows, ptarmigan, auks and murres, loons and shearwaters although most of these were found only in very small quantities. The archaeology supports what is known, which states that the captain and doctor hunted pigeons, ducks, wild geese, teal, hares and other game found along the margin of the sea or ponds.

The archaeology also reveals that shellfish were eaten, most extensively blue mussels and clams, but according to the analysis they were not an important component of the diet. It is interesting to note that oysters were collected in the winter when the weather did not permit going on the hunt.

To reconstruct how the foods mentioned above were prepared for consumption we again must turn to the accounts of the shore fisheries. Considering the foods known and assumed to have been available at Plaisance it is probable that the description of boiled and roasted fish, and boiled beans and peas would also have been valid for Plaisance:

Those who remain ashore dine at nine o'clock upon boiled and roasted Cod or Mackerel, or Herring when it is caught. At two o'clock they have a lunch of bread and drink. Those who wish to eat anything else prepare it themselves. The captain has some cheese....For supper they have a great kettle of boiled Cod, and little Cod which are fat; these are broken into fragments and roasted on a spit. And the same is done with Mackerel, which is cut also into slices. In addition oil and vinegar are distributed to each mess, and besides they have a plate of peas or boiled beans, with oil or butter placed in the kettle. But nobody takes supper until all the work at the staging is finished, not even the captain. On Sundays everybody dines, lunches, and takes supper early. On that day they have some pork, which is boiled with the peas or beans. If they have the one at dinner, they have the other at supper, besides great plates of fish boiled and roasted. As for brandy those who wish to drink it resort to their own boxes.

A description of the dry fishery dating from 1786 relates a fish soup recipe which could have been prepared in Plaisance a hundred years earlier considering its dependence on fish and the fact that supply lists changed little from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The soup was made with fish heads and few dried herbs. However, more generous captains permitted the soup to be made with une morue par marmite. Apparently the cods with black skin made better soup because their livers were white and more delicate and when crushed communiquent leur gout au bouillon et excitent l'appetit.

We know little of how the soldiers were preparing their food. The artifacts provide information about the types of utensils used for cooking which imply the types of food being cooked. Although most cooking utensils were made of metal which does not survive well archaeologically some were found at Castle Hill. Cast iron kettle fragments or 'marmites' were probably used to prepare dishes such as the fish soup, boiled cod and boiled peas or beans described above. A long handled pan of iron was probably a frying pan or 'poele' and, although from an English context, indicates that food was being fried as well as boiled and roasted. At least 26 olive jars were represented in the definitely French contexts, making up almost 10% of the ceramic assemblage (for probable French contexts they make up almost 65% of the assemblage). These containers were used to transport and store olive oil as well as olives in brine, wine and honey and may have served an important secondary function as water coolers. Sherds of French stoneware and coarse earthenware are also indicative of food storage containers while square flacons of blue-green French glass were commonly used to store olive oil. Large French coarse earthenware bowls, or milk pans, were multifunctional vessels which were used for the preparation of food as well as for the separation of milk. One of the Castle Hill examples was mended which indicates the frugal nature, probably due to necessity, of the soldiers since coarse earthenware bowls were not expensive objects.

As for tableware, perhaps of most significance during the French period is the almost total absence of finer tablewares, notably porcelain, although it is not frequent in the English contexts either; this is not surprising considering the occupants of the barracks at Fort Royal. Faience fragments make up ca. 21% of the ceramic assemblage from the definite French contexts. These sherds of everyday ware are representative of cups, pitchers and plates. Other drinking vessels include sherds of French wine glasses and coarse earthenware cups and pitchers. Pewter spoons were used by the soldiers but no knives or forks were recovered. Unfortunately vessels of wood or pewter which no doubt were also used at the table have not survived archaeologically.

The preceding discussion may give an impression of an adequate if slightly monotonous diet, but much stronger evidence indicates that poverty, food shortages and famine were frequent conditions at Plaisance. The situation was especially acute during winter and wars when supply ships were not able to make the passage from France safely. For example, partly due to the loss of supply ship food shortages during the winter of 1692-93 were so severe that the soldiers were reduced to 4 oz. of bread a day and governor Brouillon had to force those soldiers with provisions to help the less fortunate . In 1696 Lahontan wrote of the garrison that it was petite mal nourrie mal payee et mal entretenue voila pour quo y la pluspart des soldats deserent a St. Jean et au fournillon. During the final years of the colony when the British had enforced a blockade which prevented supplies from entering the colony food shortages were extreme. The situations was compounded by a poor fishing season in 1711 and that winter 130 men were forced to winter in the bush and hunt to survive n'ayant ni farines ni biscuit pour leur subsistance jus qu'au retour des navires merchants . In fact, a report on the colony at this time states that the inhabitants were so miserable and supplies so scarce and over priced that hardly anyone remained in the settlement except the families and some domestic. This food shortage was also reflected in the archaeological record. The faunal analysis indicates that there was a slight reduction in the food supply from domestic sources which was compensated for by an increased dependence on fish and wild animals. However, the analysis also shows a reduction in wild fowl during this period which is the opposite of what would be expected during such a shortage; as with the relatively small number of fish bones recovered, no satisfactory explaination for this situation can be provided. Finally, food shortages and famine should not be considered in isolation. They were the result of a combination of factors which permeated the life of the inhabitants of Plaisance; the single minded reliance on the fishery, the paucity of agricultural resources, the reliance on importation of supplies and the indebtedness to the merchants.

Alcohol is treated separately because of the abundance of source material concerning it an its probable significance in the daily life of the community. Supply lists always included alcohol. The trade agreements stipulated that in 1694, 40 barriques de vin and 24 barriques d'eau-de-vie be provided while in 1697, 24 barriques de vin mesure de Bordeaux and 2 quarts et demy barriques d'eau-de-vie de La Rochelle were requested for the inhabitants of the colony. Liberal quantities of wine, brandy and cider were listed in the supplies of the dry fishery operation. For example, the 'Simbole de la Paix', out of Honfleur in 1676, carried 12 tonneaux de gros sildre et 12 de petit, while the well supplied 'Grand Adrien Marie', dated 1770, carried 476 pots d'eau-de- vin de poire, 86 veltes de cognac, 5 barouches de in d'Aubagne et 108 barouches de cidre. Spruce beer was probably also a common beverage. It could be made locally by boiling branches of spruce in a kettle of water. Then, on la verse dans une barrique dans laquelle on jette un pot de melasse ou sirop de sucre quelquefois avec quelques pois ou quelques poignees de brisures de biscuit pour exviter la fermentations...Ces barriques sont en dehors des cabanes et chacum boit a volonte. Spruce beer helped prevent scurvy and being 'peu spiritueuse' it could be drank in great quantities. Although not listed in the import records since it was made locally, references to molasses may be indicative of its fabrication at Plaisance.

During the English occupation at Plaisance drunkedness was such a problem that in 1757 the governor ordered closed all but three of the taverns; there is no reason to think that the situation was not similar during the French occupation and in fact the numerous references to alcohol and to its rationing implies that over indulgence was a problem. For example, while the men were working on the shore they diluted their wine by three of four times since the labour was so strenuous and the men so thirsty. It is better from all points of view that they abstain from pure wine. They content themselves with drinking it on Sundays at dinner and supper, because on that day they do not go to the fishing grounds. This frugality in wine is for their own good health but they can drink it pure on the return voyage if enough remains. There are some crews who do not dilute their wine while working and prefer to drink water on the return voyage. While working on the flakes the men who could would take a little dram of brandy by stealth while occasionally a fishing crew would sneak off for the day where they would make a fire for roasting Mackerel, and make good cheer. Making good cheer was certainly not limited to the fishermen, a ships journal dating from 1672 refers directly to Plaisance and relates that the governor, Sieur de la Pioppe, dined with captain Brunet of a visiting French vessel. The captain related that Je leur fish bonne chere a cause que Langlois M. Issac m'avoit donne une longue de veau. Nous fismes la debauche fort gaillardement. Je fis percer une barrique de vin. Continuing on his voyage Captain Brunet also dined and sold two quarts of brandy at St. Pierre while at Petit St. Laurent he again make 'la debauche' . That the soldiers drank is evident from the presence of drinking apparatus- wine bottles, case bottles, wine glasses, tankards, cup and pitchers- in the archaeological remains. It is of interest that the written records refer to wine, brandy and cider being stored in wooden containers, notably 'barriques' and 'barils', while the archaeology indicated that wine was decanted into bottles for everyday use. Finally, even though good cheer prevailed, alcohol no doubt had its role in the differences and the outbreaks of violence, such as the mutiny of 1690, which arose between the various groups at Plaisance.

Food is perhaps one of the most important aspects of life but it cannot be isolated from the social and economic problems and tensions known to have been so strongly present at Plaisance. The quality and quantity of food available was due not only to the climate and isolation of Plaisance but also to the abuse of the merchants and corruption and inaptitude of the administration. The reliance on fish as a food source reflects the unhealthy reliance on the fishery and the many problems ensuing from such a narrow economic base. The references to importation of wine and brandy and the presence of wine bottle sherds indicates not only that alcohol was consumed but implies that drinking was a problem which lowered work performance amongst the fishermen and no doubt aggravated the already tense relations between the various groups in the colony.

To summarize the diet of the average occupant. It relied heavily on fish and was augmented by imported flour, biscuit, peas and beans. Meat included imported beef and pork and to some extent fresh, domestic and wild animals. Food was cooked by boiling, roasting and frying and was prepared with butter or oil. Some inhabitants were fortunate enough to have access to fresh produce from their gardens while no doubt wild local fruits and shell fish were gathered for food. Wine, brandy and cider were favorite beverages and spruce beer was probably made from imported molasses.

Shelter:

Limited information concerning housing and living conditions at Plaisance was present in the sources examined. The houses were in general small, simple cabins of one storey and appear to have been of wood.

The seasonal shelters of the fleet fishermen at Plaisance may have been a structure resembling a hall covered with a ship's sail. It was constructed of pickets interlaced with fir branches.

     They make them two stories, one above the other, where they put up 
     their beds and sleep two by two. The bottoms of their beds are of ropes, 
     which they interweaved like a racket, but with openings much larger. 
     At each breadth of bed is placed a pole which keeps the two men apart, 
     and prevents them from annoying one another at night by their weight, 
     which otherwise would make them fall one on another if the cords which 
     compose the bottom were not stretched tight by this pole in the middle.
     Their bed is a mattress of dry grass, their covering is that which it 
     may please them to bring with him; whence many have for this purpose 
     nothing but their cloaks.  As for their chests, they place them along
     the walls of their beds. Such is the lodging of the fishermen.

The captain's lodging was similar:

     But there is in the middle a partition of poles set on against the 
     other; in this is make a door, which is locked. One side is used for 
     storing the provisions, and the other contains his table and bed, on 
     one side or above, made of rope like the others.  Sometimes it is  
     bottomed with boards. He has a mattress and quilt. The kitchen was 
     covered wtih large turfs arranged like tiles one upon another, so 
     that the rain cannot enter it.

Clothing;

The inhabitants of Plaisance would have relied on outside sources for most of their clothing just as they did for food. For example the 1697 trade agreement included des habits, des souliers et autres menues marchandises propres au service des dits habitants. Unfortunately information on what they actually wore was not included.

There is a detailed description of how the shore fishermen dressed.

     The soldiers uniform in 1707 should have consisted of brimless cap, 
     blue 'mazient' breeches, blue 'maganiet' jacket ... stockings, 'morlaix'
     shirt, linen lie (1/4 long and 1/3 wide), shoes made out of cowhide 
     (not turned inside out) with double leather soles.

Artifacts provided the only information about grooming and toiletry. The presence of bone combs, one inscribed 1692, indicates that the soldiers were interested in grooming, or perhaps in delousing their hair. Small glass vials and faience ointment pots may have contained medicines, salves or colognes while chamber pot sherds were also identified.

Activities:

Everyday activities are not normally a subject of offical correspondence although occassionally they are referred to in other types of written sources. The 'debauchery' aboard the merchant's ship has been mentioned and, as strongly suggested by the artifacts, drinking was a common activity of the soldiers. The artifacats also indicate the popularity of smoking. From the English occupation of Fort Royal a Jew's harp, a whistle of bird bone and a marble were recovered which reveals how the soldiers might have passed their spare time. The shore fishermen not only drank pure wine on Sundays, this was the day they take to wash their linen, to put in order their clothes, and even theri boats, if there is anything to be done on them. Although it is known that the women and children were part of the community no information was located on their activities.

Although the church was present form the first day of the colony- one if the victims of the 1662 mutiny was the 'aumonier-Placentia did not have a resident priest until 1689 when the Bishop of Quebec visited and established two Recollect fathers in the colony. The chapel was depicted as a large structure in a plan from the 1670's but considering the large size of the 'Vieux Fort' in this plan it is probable that the size of the chapel was also exaggerated. Nevertheless, it was enlarged by Brouillon who also requested a painting of Saint Louis and some ornaments for its interior.

Another interesting reference to the role of the church indicated that the captains of the fishing vessels took part in the cermonies L'usage s'etablit que les deux capitaines arrives les premiers dans le havre- l'amiral et la vice-amiral-avaient 'le pas' dans les processions et le jour de la Fete- Dieu portaient le dais avec les deux marguilliers.

The morals of the governor and priests do not seem to be very well respectabele. The misdeeds of Parat are well documented and at least one priest was recalled for scandulous behaviour. The administation was also interested in the morals of the colony, at least in their desire to supply wives for unmarried men and husbands for girls of marriageable age.