BY WENDY ELLIOTT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
The 18th century came to life on the front lawn of Acadia University in Wolfville.
The Planter Studies Centre facilitated an encampment re-creating civilian life in late-18th century Nova Scotia, in coordination with the fifth Planter Studies Conference June 17 through 20.
Organized by the Atlantic Living Heritage Association, the encampment featured skilled re-enactors who provided demonstrations of period cooking, clothing, music and trades.
Association president Jayar Milligan of Bear River was busy cooking a chicken over a brazier one afternoon. He said the Planters of 1760 probably would have dug a fire pit to cook over.
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“We didn’t think Acadia would want us to dig up their lawn, and braziers are correct for the period too.”
The re-enactors were set up on the busy corner as four families living in tents. According to Milligan, the relatively well-to-do Planter families were large, and included slaves.
Several association members demonstrated trades of the era and the basket-making tent was a popular stop for visitors.
“This could have been a market situation,” said Milligan.
Jenny Milligan said her four layers of clothing, including three petticoats and wooden stays, compounded the heat of the weekend.
Unlike many re-enactment groups, the association has a focus on civilian life from the past. Some members live as far away as Ontario and Manitoba, but spend vacations in an earlier era.
welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca
