Caroling Canadians

These lovely drawings of sleighs come from the Severus William Lynam Stretton journal, 1818-1843. In the 1820’s Stretton remarked that: “Carioling [sledding] is the chief amusement of the Canadians during the winter which usually last about seven months – no matter however severe – prevents them from taking this delightful exercise.” The journal contains roughly 40 pages of varied content and seems to have been used and reused at different points in Stretton’s travels as there is a mix of European drawings with those of Canada. There are eight documentary pen and ink watercolours depicting Canadian content, three of which are pictured here: Carioling on the St. Lawrence(1823); Canadian Marche donc Cariole; and Colonel Frobisher’s Cariole.