Peter M. Pringle, Master Decoy Maker 9780773570115

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
PLATES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
Introduction
1 The Man
2 The Outdoorsman
3 The Decoy Maker
4 The Amateur Archaeologist and Cartographer
5 A Final Word
APPENDICES
1 The Black-Powder Days
2 The Final Rig (1929–1946)
NOTES
WORKS CITED
INDEX
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y

Citation preview

PETER M. PRINGLE

PETER M. PRINGLE Master Decoy Maker

William C. Reeve

Photography by Christopher Kindratsky, Peter M. Pringle, and William C. Reeve

McGILL-QUEEN's UNIVERSITY PRESS MONTREAL & KINGSTON • LONDON • ITHACA

© McGill-Queen's University Press 2002 ISBN 0-7735-2348-0 Legal deposit third quarter 2002 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Singapore This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for its publishing activities. We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. Frontispiece: (left) Peter Marshall Pringle, 1925 (private collection [pc]); (right) "super" black duck, 1944 (photo by Christopher Kindratsky [ck]) Typeset in 11/15 Bembo by Donna Bates. Designed by Miriam Bloom. Expression Communications Inc.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Reeve,William C., 1943— Peter M. Pringle : master decoy maker /William C. Reeve. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2348-0

i. Pringle, Peter M., 1878-1953. 2. Wood-carvers—Canada— Biography. 3. Decoys (Hunting)—Canada—Pictorial works. I. Title. SK335.R44 2002

745.593'6'o92

02002-901950-8

Contents PLATES Viii A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S xiii P R E F A C E XV

Introduction i 1 The Man n

2 The Outdoorsman 33 3 The Decoy Maker 49 4 The Amateur Archaeologist and Cartographer 143 5 A Final Word 172 APPENDICES

1 The Black-Powder Days 176 2 The Final Rig (1929—1946) 180 NOTES 183 WORKS CITED 193 INDEX

195

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For Pete's great buddy, Merle Franklin, without whose kindness and knowledge this monograph would not have been possible, and in memory of Harry Freestone (1905-2002)

Plates 1 2 3 4 5

Peter Marshall Pringle, 1925 ii "Super" black duck, 1944 iii Merle Franklin at Riverside Cemetery vii PMP'S burial marker, Riverside Cemetery vii Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger 3

6 7 8 9 10 11

Pringle redhead, attributed to Ken Anger 3 Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger 3 Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger 3 Mallard drake, signed P.M.p. 4 Robert Jackson print of a black duck attributed to PMP 5 Female bufflehead, catalogue no. 326, attributed to PMP 6

12 13 14 15

Female redhead, no. 43 6 Female whistler, no. 30 7 Female canvasback, no. 46 8 Design drawn by Dr A.E Pringle, PMP'S father n

16 PMP'S birthplace 12 17 Janet M. Pringle, PMP'S mother 12 18 Janet M. Pringle, Margaret N. Pringle (PMP'S sister), and Dr Allan F. Pringle 12 19 Hoopoe drawing by PMP 14 20 PMP and Wesley Snider, Windmill Point, Lake Erie 15 21 PMP and Wesley Snider, Buffalo, N.Y. 15 22 Lower Grand River marsh with Dunnville in the distance 15 23 "Lighting by DAYLIGHT combined with SPOTLIGHT" 16 24 PMP in Rochester, 1916 17 25 PMP'S business letterhead 17

26 Calendar for the year 1925, designed by PMP 17 27 "In Sandy McNichol's SUGAR BUSH. (1901)" 22 28 29 30 31

PMP, New Year's Eve, 1948 26 PMP and George Tinsley, 1936 27 Dr Allan Pringle, PMP, and Peter Clark Pringle 28 Wesley Snider, PMP, and Edward A. Doolittle, 1907 29

32 33 34 35

PMP andWesley Snider, c. 1907 30 Postcard depicting PMP and Edward D.Young, 1913 30 "A little vista of the Grand" 31 Portrait of Edward A. Doolittle, 1926 32

36 Dunnville marsh 34 37 PMP and Edward D.Young on the Kaministiquia River, 38 39 40 41

1905 35 The Penassie tribe 35 Simon Penassie mending his fish nets 35 A hunting and fishing trip near Pointe au Baril, 1917 36 Pointe au Baril trip, 1917 36

42 Pointe au Baril trip, 1917 36 43 Stalking black ducks near Pointe au Baril, 1915 37 44 Evening after the hunt at headquarters, Pointe au Baril, 1917 37 45 PMP and friends, Silver Stream, Saskatchewan 37 46 Fishing at Bob Guthrie's: PMP, Allan Collier Pringle, and 47 48 49 50

Allan H. Pringle 38 PMP in the Dunnville marsh 40 PMP in Ottezelle I, Burnship Creek 43 PMP in Ottezelle II, Black Creek 44 Wesley Snider, Black Creek 44

51 Wesley Snider, Spicer Creek 45 52 Sunset with Ottezelle 45 53 "WES" monogram on paddle blade 45 54 PMP and Don, 1904 45 55 Incoming flight 48

56 Retrieving the prize 48 57 Bluebill drake signed "To Steve 1936" 50 58 Bottom of bluebill drake,"To Steve 1936" 51 59 Merle Franklin's pattern for McKee black body 51 60 Two McKee-style blacks 52 61 John McKee black body with replaced head 53 62 Side view of McKee black and McKee-style black 55 63 64 65 66

Rear view of McKee black and McKee-style black 55 Pattern for painting feathers of female canvasback 56 Pattern for painting feathers of green-winged teal drake 57 Plate 15 of Louis Agassiz Fuertes's illustrations for Edward H. Forbush's Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England

States 58 67 Plate 7 of illustrations by Thomas M. Shortt for Francis H. Kortright's The Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America 59 68 Frontispiece of Peter Scott's Wild Chorus 60 69 Patterns for bluebills and pattern for redhead bill 62

83 Half-closed eye on bluebill drake, no. 16 67 84 Head and neck profile, female canvasback, no. 47 68 85 Bufflehead drake, no. 1 69 86 Female bufflehead, no. 4 69 87 Bluebill drake, "To Steve 1936" 69 88 Female bluebill, no. 21 70 89 Whistler drake, no. 36 70 90 Female whistler, no. 30 70 91 Redhead drake, no. 40 71 92 Female redhead, no. 45 71 93 Canvasback drake, no. 51 71 94 95 96 97 98 99

Female canvasback, no. 47 71 Mallard drake, no. 58 72 Female mallard, no number and solid 73 Unsigned, high-head black, circa 1935 74 "Super" black, signed "P.M. Pringle," 1944 74 Pattern for head of "super" black 75

70 Patterns for female goldeneye 63 71 Bottom pattern for canvasback, redhead, and "Greater Blue Bill" drake and bill patterns for bluebills 63 72 Patterns for redhead and canvasback 64 73 Mallard head and bill patterns 64

100 101 102 103 104

74 Bufflehead head patterns 64 75 Patterns for female goldeneye bill and bluebill/goldeneye bottom 65 76 Patterns for lines along back and side pockets 65 77 Sketch of patterns for female American merganser 65

105 Bottom of female bufflehead, no. 2 80 106 Tom Orme on Rockhouse Point, 1928 82 107 Sketch of wire coat hook 82

78 Three basic body designs 65 79 Top view of "super" black 66 80 Top view of female bufflehead, no. 3 66 81 Windpipe on high-head black 67 82 Half-closed eye on female whistler, no. 33 67

X-ray of head attachment 75 Rasping and carved detail to female bluebill, no. 21 76 X-ray of female bufflehead, no. 4 79 Bottom of female bluebill, no. 3 79 Bottom of mallard drake, no. 58 79

108 Sketch of deep-water stabilizing device 82 109 Sketch of deep-water setup 82 no Sketch of individual anchor for shallow water 82 111 Bufflehead drake, no. 1 84 112 Female buffleheads, nos. 2 and 3 84 113 Female bufflehead, no. 4 85 114 Bluebill drake, no. 25 86

PLATES IX

115 Vermiculation to back of bluebill drake, no. 25 86 116 Female bluebill, no. 1, 1929 86 117 Female bluebills, nos. 10, 2, and 6 87 118 119 120 121 122

Female bluebill, no. 3 88 Bluebill drake, "To Steve 1936," and female bluebill, no. 4 88 Female bluebill, no. 6 88 Bluebill drake, no. 7, and female bluebill, no. 6 89 Two bluebill drakes, nos. 7 and 14 90

123 Female bluebill, no. 9 90 124 Female bluebills, nos. 23 and 11 90 125 126 127 128 129

Bluebills, nos. 12 and 25 91 Bluebill drake, no. 16 92 Female bluebill, no. 18 92 Female bluebill, no. 19 92 Female bluebills, nos. 20 and 22 93

130 Female bluebill, no. 21 93 131 Female bluebill, no. 5, and bluebill drake, no. 24 93 132 Female whistler, no. 28 94

147 Female canvasback, no. 48 101 148 Canvasback drake, no. 50 101 149 Female canvasback, no. 47, and canvasback drake, no. 51 101 150 Canvasback drake, no. 52 102 151 Canvasback drake, no. 53 102 152 Canvasback drake, no. 54 102 153 154 155 156 157

Canvasback drake, no. 55 102 Canvasback drake, no. 49, and female canvasback, no. 48 103 PMP'S drawing of a canvasback 103 Mallard drake, no. 56 104 Mallard drake, no. 58 104

158 159 160 161 162 163

Mallard drakes, nos. 56 and 58 104 Hollow female mallard, no number 104 Bottom of hollow female mallard 105 Solid female mallard, no number 105 Solid female mallard and mallard drake, no. 58 106 PMP'S copy of Thomas M. Shortt's illustrations of black duck feathers 108

133 Female whistlers, nos. 32 and 26 95 134 Female whistler, no. 29 95 135 Female whistler, no. 33 96

164 Unsigned, high-head black 109 165 Unsigned, low-head black 109 166 Bottom of unsigned high-head black 109

136 Whistler drake, no. 31 96 137 Juvenile drake whistler, no. 34, and female whistler, no. 27 96 138 Detail on back of whistler drake, no. 36 97

167 PMP'S own "super" black no 168 Bottom of PMP'S "super" black in

141 Female redhead, no. 42 99 142 Female redhead, no. 45 99 143 Female redhead, no. 44 100

169 Detail on the head of PMP'S "super" black in 170 Jim Frise cartoon in 171 Jim Frise watercolour 112 172 Jim Frise 112 173 Jim Prise's "super" black 112 174 Bottom of Frise "super" black 113

144 Redhead drake, no. 38 100

175 Head shot, Frise "super" black 113

145 Redhead drake, no. 39 100 146 Redhead drake, no. 40 100

176 Reynolds mallard silhouettes 114 177 PMP with his silhouettes 115

139 Female whistler, no. 32, and drake whistler, no. 31 98 140 Drake whistler, no. 36, and female whistler, no. 35 99

X PLATES

178 Trio of black silhouettes 117

179 Tucked-head black silhouette 117 180 High-head black silhouette 118 181 Low-head black silhouette 118 182 Close-up side view of low-head black silhouette 119 183 Front view of black silhouette 119 184 Diagram of possible setups for silhouette ducks 120 185 Diagram of additional setups for silhouette ducks 120 186 X-ray of high-head black silhouette 121 187 Combined mallard/black silhouette trio, face i 121 188 Combined mallard/black silhouette trio, face 2 121 189 190 191 192

PMP'S sketch for the "Lame Duck" 124 PMP mallard drake, no. 56, and Anger mallard drake 124 Anger paddle-tail Canada goose 125 Anger black and PMP'S "super" black 126

205 Black duck, attributed to PMP 134 206 Redhead drake, attributed to PMP 135 207 Female redhead, attributed to PMP 135 208 209 210 211 212

Redhead drake, attributed to PMP 135 Bufflehead drake, attributed to PMP 136 Female bluebill, attributed to PMP 136 Bluebill drake, attributed to PMP 136 Female whistler, attributed to PMP 136

213 214 215 216 217 218 219

Female bluebill, attributed to PMP 138 Female bluebill, attributed to PMP 138 Female bluebill, attributed to PMP 138 Bluebill drake, attributed to PMP 138 Bluebill drake, attributed to PMP 139 Canvasback drake, attributed to PMP 139 Canvasback drake, attributed to PMP 139

193 PMP female bluebill, no. 11, and Anger female bluebill 126 194 PMP whistler drake, no. 36, c. 1935 126 195 Anger whistler drake, c. 1940 126

220 Female bluebill, attributed to PMP 141 221 Black duck by Dr Woods 141 222 Merle Franklin, 2000 141

196 PMP canvasback drake, no. 51, c. 1935, and Anger canvasback drake, c. 1940 127 197 PMP female canvasback, no. 47, c. 1935, and Anger female canvasback, c. 1945 127 198 PMP solid female mallard and Anger female mallard 127

223 Mallard drake by Harry Freestone, 1939 142 224 Harry Freestone's brand 142 225 Bluebill drake by Harry Freestone, 1939 142

199 Inventory list, 1945 130 200 Ray's bush camp, 1904 132 201 "Camp Dismal."Wesley Snider and Edward D. Young, 1907-8 132 202 Redhead drake, attributed to PMP but more likely an early Anger 134 203 Female redhead, attributed to PMP but more likely an early Anger 134 204 Black duck, attributed to PMP 134

226 227 228 229 230 231

Harry Freestone, 1998 142 Pencil sketch of an adze head 145 Ink sketches of adze heads 146 Illustrations of pottery sherds 146 Arrow or spear point 146 PMP'S illustration of a bird stone 147

232 Upper Grand River map, 1935 149 233 Lower Grand River map, 1935 149 234 PMP'S map of the Niagara Peninsula showing Native sites 151 235 Plate 78 from William A. Ritchie's The Pre-Iroquoian Occupations ofNeivYork State 159

PLATES XI

236 Plate 79 from William A. Ritchie's The Pre-Iroquoian

241 Gillies farmhouse 167

Occupations ofNewYork State 160 237 Plate 82 from William A. Ritchie's The Pre-Iroquoian

242 Two pages from the notebooks cataloguing the Gillies collection 167

Occupations ofNewYork State 160 238 Map from Finlayson's The Saugeen Culture 163 239 The Newman farm excavation, 1939 164 240 PMP'S map of Port Maitland with archaeological finds 165

243 Marshall}. Gillies with PMP'S archaeological map of the Thomas A. Gillies farm 167 244 A larger-scale map showing the Thomas A. Gillies farm 168

xn PLATES

Acknowledgments

A

S THE DEDICATION INDICATES, this book OWCS its existence to the amazing generosity of a gentle man, Merle Franklin, Pete's pal for more than ten years. It has been a rare privilege to have known Merle and his dear wife Dorothy; their warm hospitality always made me feel welcome at the kitchen table of their Dunnville home. Next in line comes Bernie Gates, who introduced me to Merle and has been a constant source of support and expertise during the writing of these pages. I should also single out Harry and Naida Freestone, for they also have provided several details relating to Harry's hunting mentor and friend, Pete Pringle, and have made me and my family feel part of their very loving household. Pete was clearly blessed with caring, loyal collaborators in both Merle and Harry. Dr Mima Kapches of the Royal Ontario Museum has earned my gratitude for making the Pringle material in the ROM available to me, for allowing me to use some of her unpublished research papers, and for having scrutinized the archaeological chapter and suggested how to improve it. Linda and Gene Kangas have offered much appreciated encouragement and assistance, especially with respect to the Pringle patterns. A special thanks go to Joan Harcourt, Roger Martin, and Don Akenson of McGill-Queen's University Press for their continuing faith in this project. Of course, I can never repay my long-suffering typist, Bill McConnell. Patiently and without complaint he retyped numerous revised versions. I particularly wish to acknowledge an immense debt of gratitude to Christopher Kindratsky, professional photographer, who supplied

many of the pictures included in this volume. Other pictures have come from a variety of sources, which are acknowledged in the captions. Every effort has been made to credit all photographs correctly and obtain all necessary permissions and copyright clearances. One of the great joys and unexpected rewards of this project, a totally new field of endeavour for this author, has been the pleasure of meeting and talking with many individuals who, in their own fashion, have unselfishly made available information or material crucial to this project. Thus follows a list in alphabetical order of those people who in various ways have added to my knowledge and appreciation of Peter Marshall Pringle: Robert Band Prof. Jon C. Barlow Don Battle Margaret Bollen Richard A. Bourne Paul P. Brisco Prof. Thea Burns The Canadian Museum of Civilization Mary I. Churchill Gregory Clark Jr Mike Ceilings Susan Hill Cote Barney Crandell Brian Donnelly Tom Eckert Joe Engers Lome Featherstone Don and Ruth Franks Elizabeth Frise

Gloria Furtney Barb and Bob Gillies Patrick Godin William Greer Wilbur Guthrie Gary Guyette Walter Hallbauer The Gordon and Ginny Hayes family Max Huyos Inter-Library Loan, Queen's University Jason Jones Dr Barbara Keyser Steve Lloyd Larry Lunman Dr R.B. Lynn Roger H. MacGregor Allison McGuire Jimmy McKee

Prof. David McTavish Bruce Malcolm Calvin Marshall Jeff Mewburn David Ness Harold R. Nichol Charles Nixon Dr Robert Nolan Noreen and Percy Payette Isaac Phillips Michele Phillips Dr Allan Pringle Estelle Pringle Dr Peter Pringle Orval Pyle Rochester Museum & Science Center

Michael Rowan Sir Peter Scott Robert G. and Shirley Stewart Bart and Michelle Sullivan Peter and Doreen Sullivan Eric Walter Taylor Benoit Theribault Karen K.Thireos Bill Tinsley Mauray Toutloff Charles and Hilda Towler Waddington's, Toronto Robert Ward Dr Barry Woods Roger Young Bob and DoraYoungman

Finally, I should like to recognize Peter Marshall Pringle for the entertaining text and the beautiful photographs and drawings with which he recorded his life's achievements.

XIV A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

This monograph contains parts of an article, "The Pringle Students: Harry Freestone and Merle Franklin," that appeared in Decoy Magazine 25 (2001): 12—17, and I wish to thank the editor, Mr Joe Engers, for permission to reprint this material. Since Peter Pringle was a perfectionist, one who always insisted on maintaining the highest standards in his artistic pursuits, it became clear to me early on in this project that a monograph dealing with his accomplishments would have to reflect in its technical and artistic layout the same excellence to which he aspired. Hence I have been most grateful to McGill-Queen's University Press for agreeing to publish a high-quality volume using the best materials available. This has meant considerable expense. I wish therefore to recognize the following individuals, associations, institutions and agencies who, through their generosity, have helped produce a book of which Pete, very much the visual artist, would have been proud: Donald H. Akenson, the Canadian Decoy & Outdoor Collectible Association, the Dumwille District Heritage Society, the Dunnville Hunters & Anglers Conservation Club, Harry and Naida Freestone, William Greer, George Hood, Bill and Ann McKendry, Estelle Pringle, Dr Duncan W. Sinclair, and the Thousand Islands Decoy Collectors Association.

Preface

at Newman's. I've often laughed when I think of this incident, but you may recall that you brought that pendant specimen, converted from the foreend of a platform-pipe3 and when I was told by Ray that you had found it on AREA 4,4 was it not? I wanted to borrow it for the purpose of drawing it. And the way you LOOKED at ME following the suggestion I knew

T

damn well, or thoroughly believed that you thought I had something up

book is dedicated. Born Edward Merle Franklin on 25 April 1915 in

over decoys set out below the mouth of Sulphur Creek [a tributary flow-

Dunnville, Ontario, where he obtained his education, he has spent most

ing into the Grand River just below Dunnville]. Merle, I didn't care a damn

of his life in his hometown, first working in a fishnet factory, then as a

about shooting ducks that day. I'll make this confession: I was using some

foreman in an automotive wire assembly plant, and finally, until retire-

of Dale Carnegie's stuff— "How to make friends and influence people"5

ment, as a custodian with the local school board. In the summer of 1939,

- but not for sales purposes, to get under your hide in order to stick some-

Merle and Pete met on an archaeological dig conducted at Ray

thing over, which, by the way, is back of the playing of golf to probably 80

Newman's farm by William Wintemberg of the National Museum of

or 90% I do believe. Now however, and in spite of the big difference in our

Canada but instigated primarily by the persistent efforts of Pete, the local

date of birth we have come to understand one another in a way that comes

HIS MONOGRAPH would never have come to fruition without the generous cooperation of Merle Franklin, to whom this

my sleeve by which I probably would TRY to GET IT from you. 'Aint that right? I got it afterward, however. Next was our first duck hunt together,

expert. Noting a marked decrease in the number of surface finds on his

but rarely in a lifetime.There's NO MISTAKE about THAT! Furthermore, I can

weekend visits to his favourite site (Klingander's,1 near Dunnville), Pete

see more and more that our interests are in many ways in common, so

had asked the farmers what was happening during his absence, and he

much so, I'll say, that there is no one with whom I could spend a more

2

learned that Merle Franklin, a local boy, was getting to the "hot spots"

enjoyable day in a duck blind.

first, during the -week. As Pete wrote to Merle in a letter dated 5 November 1940,"The Shore Site at Klinganders has been booked as my

The two men quickly became friends sharing, to quote Merle,

'OLD STANDBY,' the best, most productive one place or site along the

"mutual interests in duck hunting and archaeology." At their first

whole Grand River shore in vicinity of Dunnville (OUR FIELD). (I could

encounter Pete was sixty-one years old while Merle was only twenty-

always bank on finding something there, at other places NO! (I mean I

four, and the age discrepancy largely determined the nature of their

could until you entered the picture — understand I am glad you did)."

relationship. It was one of mentor to student, as Pete sought to

Pete and Merle eventually came together in a collaboration that

impart his knowledge of and enthusiasm for the proper collecting of

lasted until a few years before Pete's death. On 20 August 1942, Pete

Native artifacts, and also for duck hunting and the making of decoys.

wrote to Merle:

During his two-week stay in Dunnville each fall, the mornings were set aside for the latter pursuit, the afternoons for the former. After a

It is only THREE YEARS about now — "Believe it or not"— I can hardly believe

week of this routine, Merle's wife Dorothy understandably began to

it — that I FIRST met you that day you came to see the digging operations

lose patience.

When Merle talks about his memories of Pete, one quickly senses the bond of respect and affection that once united them and that still persists in the octogenarian who today remembers with fondness, and some sadness, "a little, lonely old man, almost stonedeaf, who walked with a limp" and whose interment in the Dunnville cemetery was attended by only five people: the officiating minister; Pete's Dunnville landlady, Helena Mclndoe; a neighbour and family friend, Helen Jockum; and Merle and Dorothy Franklin. To Merle we owe the survival of some 135 letters written to him by Peter Pringle from 19 September 1939 to 2 May 1950 and ranging in length from one to eight pages.They represent a veritable treasure trove of information concerning Pete's many pursuits, and they enable the reader to form a good idea of the man's character as he learned to deal with his handicaps and the secluded life they came to impose. Another youthful companion, although ten years older than Merle, who also played a significant role in Pete's life was a banker, Harry Freestone. Born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, in 1905, he came to Canada at age six, with his parents and two younger brothers, "to make a fresh start" when his grandfather lost his 2OO-acre estate, which had been forfeited as collateral for a friend's loan. Harry spent his boyhood in Campbellville, Ontario, and at the age of fourteen was offered a job with the Bank of Nova Scotia. While working at a branch of the bank in downtown Toronto in the 19305, Harry happened to pass the Canadian National Railways' office at the corner of King andYonge, during the annual exhibit of Pringle decoys, and immediately fell in love with Pete's work. An avid hunter himself, he just had to find out the identity of the man who had created such masterpieces, especially a mallard drake that caught his eye. After his persistence paid off with an introduction to Peter Pringle, the two men discovered that they had another interest in common, the collecting of Aboriginal relics, for

XVI PREFACE

Harry had begun to accumulate them as a boy of ten in Campbellville.They often drove to Dunnville on the weekends, with Harry at the wheel, in order to pursue their two passions. Eventually, Harry borrowed the mallard drake of which he thought so highly (and which Pete later gave him) and began to make a rig of his own, using Pete's patterns. In his nineties, Harry remembered his association with Pete as a much-cherished and richly rewarding experience. Sixteen letters that he saved help to increase our understanding and appreciation of his old teacher and friend. Other major sources of information include Pete's diaries of canoeing and hunting trips from the first two decades of the twentieth century, complete with snapshots provided by Pete the photographer; letters written to a teenager, George Tinsley, in the thirties; and the considerable correspondence with a professional archaeologist in Canada,William J.Wintemberg, and with two in the United States,Will C. McKern and William A. Ritchie. Since the latter was also an enthusiastic duck hunter, Pete's letters to him contain valuable details relating to the making of decoys. In his letters, Pete employed a very conversational, engaging style of writing, so I have endeavoured, whenever possible, to let him speak for himself, and allow the reader to form his/her own judgment. Pete had a great regard for calligraphy, not a surprising trait in a professionally trained commercial artist, and his letters reflect this interest.6 He used red ink, small and large printed capitals, and substantial underlining for emphasis. As he grew older, his handwriting became progressively smaller, but no less legible. When citing his letters, I have attempted to reproduce them in print as closely as possible but have omitted his extensive underlining. To give the reader at least one typical example, I have placed in appendix i a photographic copy of the letter "Black-Powder Days" from i September 1942.7 Because Pete's letters have never been published, when citing them I have simply added in brackets after the quotation the initials

of the addressee — MF = Merle Franklin; HF = Harry Freestone; GT — George Tinsley; wjw = William J. Wintemberg; WCM = Will C. McKern; and WAR = William A. Ritchie — and have followed these with the date. The letters have been reproduced through the generosity of Merle Franklin, Harry Freestone, William Tinsley, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, New York. I have made very few editorial changes, only correcting a few spelling mistakes and adding or changing punctuation where necessary for the sense of the sentence. In short, Pete pleads his own case convincingly and entertainingly, and in so doing he brings alive a segment of Ontario's rich outdoor heritage, part of which entails decoy making, from the first half of the twentieth century, arguably the golden age of this North-American utilitarian art form.

PREFACE xvn

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PETER M. PRINGLE

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Introduction

I

N THE YEAR 1985 I MADE my first acquaintance with Pringle decoyswhen whenI Ientered enteredthe thehome homeofofmy mystepfather, stepfather,the the late late Allan decoys Allan Collier Pringle, an advertising executive with a Toronto firm and a nephew of Peter Marshall Pringle. As I went through the various rooms of hisTeddington Park residence, carved ducks, some twenty of them — on shelves, radiator covers, and tables — seemed to watch my

recently very little was known about this man who never made a

every movement. One of them in particular, a bluebill drake strategi-

decoys, for his own use, during the 19305.These he patterned after

cally positioned on top of a bookcase in the guest bedroom, stared at

the meticulously carved and painted blocks of a local engraver and

me with a mixture of self-satisfied contentment and potential bel-

amateur carver named Collyer Pringle."1 This brief entry unfortu-

ligerence. It was inevitable that, surrounded by such sculptures in wood,

nately ensconced the erroneous given name Collyer - Pete never

I should come to appreciate the art of the master decoy maker, for until

called himself Collyer — a mistake that has only recently been cor-

that fateful encounter I could only shake my head in utter disbelief at

rected.The error has been attributed to Myrl Smith, a leading source

the enormous prices realized at auctions as reported in the Maine

of information on Ken Anger (1905—61), but it might have derived

Antique Digest. Whereas I used to skip over the decoy auction reports

from a mix-up with Pete's nephew, Allan Collier Pringle (1909—97),

with complete indifference, I have subsequently seen the error of my

or possibly with John Collier Stevenson (1882—1959), an associate edi-

ways. Examples of what many consider among the finest decoys ever

tor of the Canadian Home Journal, a distant relative who employed Pete

fashioned anywhere made me acknowledge my woefully inadequate

in the late thirties. In his 1973 essay "Ken Anger," written for North

understanding of this now-recognized form of folk art, and they sparked

American Decoys, Myrl Smith both acknowledged the debt Ken owed

my interest to investigate this phenomenon further and eventually

his predecessor and helped perpetuate the incorrect forename:

decoy for sale. The literature has been equally sparse. The first mention of his name occurred in William Mackey Jr's American Bird Decoys (1965). Establishing a pattern repeated in many subsequent references, Mackey depicted Peter Pringle as a precursor of the betterknown Dunnville resident, Ken Anger, who, he stated, "first made

infected me with an enthusiasm from which I hope never to recover. My good fortune only became evident later, when I discovered

Ken must have made several hundred decoys before changing his patterns

the enormous difficulty involved in finding a "Pringle," for until

in the middle 3o's. He had learned of some exceptional luck the "locals"

had experienced while hunting near Gull Island offshore in Lake Erie at the mouth of the Grand River. They were using decoys made by Collyer "Pete" Pringle,2 a local engraver who had made a rig of exceptionally well painted blocks for his own use. Pringle decoys had a higher profile and could be seen better in the rough waters of Lake Erie. Anger made his with longer necks and lighter weight bodys [sic] so more keel and weight could be added. Ken's decoys were altered drastically at this time and he also started making hunting blocks other than blacks and bluebills.3

These passing references to Pringle as essentially a footnote to the well-established reputation of Ken Anger explain in part the dilemma no doubt faced by the Richard A. Bourne Company of Hyannis, Massachusetts, when it came to auctioning some of Pete's decoys in the early 19705. Because of the similarity between the two men's art and the almost complete anonymity of Peter Pringle at the time, the Bourne firm identified at least four examples of Pete s carving as the work of Ken Anger. The first emerged at a sale held 17 July 1973 (lot io2):"Gadwall Hen. By Ken Anger, carved wing details, an early Anger decoy. Condition: good, some lifting of paint and one large chip of paint off on back, chip out of tail, has been retouched in many areas" (see plate 5). It sold for us $200. In my view, this was a Pringle black from the 19305 repainted as a gadwall (see plates 164, 165 for similar blacks).The confusion arises in part from the fact that Pete did not always sign the blacks he made for his final rig, a complication that I shall review at greater length in chapter 3. Only a month later, the second example turned up at an auction held on 21 August (plate 6). As lot 70, it bore the notation "Gadwall Decoy. By Ken Anger, with deeply carved wing details. Condition: excellent used condition, paint worn in some areas." However, the catalogue's illustration unmistakably portrays a Pringle redhead, most likely a drake (see plates 144—6 for similar models). It realized

2

INTRODUCTION

us $250. The next instance, again described as a "Gadwall Hen" (a species that Pete never carved) demonstrates most convincingly how little the decoy establishment at that date — 10 July 1974 — knew about Peter M. Pringle: "By Ken Anger, with slightly turned head and carved wing detail, branded on the bottom with the initials 'P.M.p.' Condition: decoy has been used, paint has flaked slightly on the back and on the bill but remains a well preserved decoy with slightly weathered paint" (plate 7). I strongly suspect this model to be another Pringle black because of the body shape (see style 3, plate 78). It sold for us $200. Lastly, a Bourne auction of 21 August 1974 advertised a "Fine Mallard Hen. By Ken Anger. With carved wing and feather details. Condition: well preserved, original paint somewhat weathered" (plate 8). It brought us $200. Since we know from Pete's correspondence that he carved only two three-dimensional female mallards for his final flock, the lot in question, no. 376, most likely depicts a third unsigned standard black. Later, when collectors and dealers came to appreciate the relative rarity and desirability of a Pringle decoy, this mistaken identity worked in reverse as they assigned Angers to Pringle, a phenomenon examined more closely under the contentious topic of attribution in chapter 3. The first photograph of a Pringle decoy identified as such appeared in a 1976 catalogue produced by the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska Art Association, and the Central Flyway Decoy Carvers and Collectors Club. The photograph represented a repainted mallard drake (plate 9).As a sign of respect at its inaugural public showing, the drake was on the first page of colour illustrations, one of the few exhibits (eleven) to be singled out in this fashion. As a black and white photograph, it shared the same page (37) and figure number (25) with an A. Elmer Crowell mallard drake — worthy company indeed! The comments above the Pringle read: "An extremely rare decoy; Mackey knew of only one other by this carver, whom he referred to as Collyer Pringle. Bottom

5 Lower right: Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger, 17 July 1973 (photo by

7 Upper right: Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger, 10 July 1974 (RAB)

Richard A. Bourne Co., Hyannis, Massachusetts [RAB])

6 Lower right: Pringle redhead, attributed to Ken Anger, 21 August 1973 (RAB)

8 Lower left: Pringle black, attributed to Ken Anger, 21 August 1974 (RAB)

INTRODUCTION 3

9 Mallard drake, signed P.M.p., no number, substantial repaint

of decoy incised with 'P.M.P.' referring to the carvers actual name. Obtained by present owner from an antique dealer, who said it had been repainted in part."4 The adulation did not stop here, for in the introduction Paul A. Johnsgard, the editor of the volume and the then owner of the drake, expressed his admiration for Pete as a carver whose "observational abilities are staggering" — this from a professional naturalist. Johnsgard went on to point out: "This marvellous carving remains one of my most treasured possessions to this day; yet Pringle still is a relative unknown among decoy collectors. He clearly influenced Ken Anger in the development of his skills, and Anger in turn obviously affected the carving styles of Michigan carvers like Ben Schmidt and Miles Pirnie, and thus a regional style was formed."5 The final section of the introduction, entitled "Atlantic Coast Waterfowl Decoys," also drew attention to the Dunnville duo: "Farther west, on the northern shores of Lake Erie, Peter Pringle and Ken Anger generated a distinctive style of beautifully carved, wide-

4

INTRODUCTION

bottomed decoys characterized by lifelike heads and muted woodrasp markings that lend an air of softness to the lines."6 In all, this was quite a tribute by our American friends in this, Pete's first official public exposure as a decoy carver. Bernie Gates published his seminal work Ontario Decoys in 1982, an indispensable reference work for the collector of Ontario birds. In a two-page section describing Peter Pringle and showing two of his birds, a female whistler, no. 33, and a female redhead, no. 45 (see plates 135 and 143), he commented, "Pringle decoys are much sought after on both sides of the border. Indeed it was difficult to find one to photograph. It's a fortunate collector who owns one of these fine decoys."7 In 1984 Larry Lunman, co-author of Decoys of the Thousand Islands and a decoy carver himself, commissioned artist Robert Jackson, then ofWatertown, New York, to paint pictures of four birds from his collection: a bluebill hen by Fairman R. Davis, a drake redhead by Authur A.Wilkinson, a Cyriel Heath goldeneye

RobeKt Jacks.or\

10 Robert Jackson print of a black duck attributed to PMP (CK)

drake, and an unsigned pre-1928 Pringle black. A year later, Lunman enlisted a Montreal graphics company to make prints from the original oil paintings - three hundred regular and twenty artist proofs of each. The standard prints sold in sets of four for about eighty dollars and are now considered a collector s item in their own right. Since three of the prints depict decoys of the Thousand Islands region, all of which appear in Lunman s book, I asked him why he had also included the "Black Duck, 1925. Peter M. Pringle Dunnville, Ont.," geographically the odd duck out (see plate 10). He responded that he particularly admired its form — a further tribute to the artistry manifested in a Pringle decoy (and an early one at that!) and an indication of its capacity to attract more than ducks. To date, the most important and most informative item dealing with Pringle has been Bernard CrandelTs excellent article, "Scotland's Pringle," featured in the magazine, Wildfowl Carving and Collecting in the spring of 1986. Crandell met with my late stepfather, Allan C.

Pringle; his brother, the late Peter Clark Pringle, a Toronto artist; and Bill Tinsley, a steel company executive from Burlington, Ontario. They supplied the background information and anecdotes. Most of the decoys used to accompany the essay - a drake whistler, no. 36 (bottom view), three silhouette blacks (see plates 178—83), and two female buffleheads, nos. 2 and 3 (plate 112) - came from Allan Pringle s collection. The one exception was the female bluebill no. 5 (plate 131), which Crandell compared to the Anger equivalent. There are a few inaccuracies: Pete preferred white cedar, not white pine, for his bodies, and he began to carve decoys as early as the end of the nineteenth century, not "the late 1920s."8 One could also quibble with the title of the article. Pete was at least a thirdgeneration Canadian: his grandfather had been born in Canada in 1810, his father in Fredericksburg, Canada West, in 1843, and Pete himself near Ayr, Ontario, in 1878. Although he jestingly alluded to himself as a Scotsman, he felt most at home in Dunnville, as Crandell

INTRODUCTION 5

himself recognized: "Pringle was happiest when he was spending time outdoors, canoeing the lower Grand River from Dunnville to Port Maitland on Lake Erie."9 Decoy collectors remain much indebted to Crandell for having provided the first detailed description of the man and his art. He reproduced much of the same text in his book Decoying: St Clair to the St Lawrence (1988) and in his most recent essay, "Peter Marshall Pringle: The Originator of the Dunnville Style," which appeared in the March/April 1999 issue of Decoy Magazine. Both publications included the female bluebill no. 5 juxtaposed with the Anger model as well as a colour photograph of the same female bluebill with its mate, no. 24. Although adding nothing new in content, Crandell s latest contribution had the distinction of introducing to the general public three Pringle drakes: a whistler (no. 36), a lowhead bluebill (no. 25), and a canvasback (no. 53). No doubt inspired by the success

ii Female bufflehead, catalogue no. 326, attributed to PMP (courtesy of Waddington's)

enjoyed by two signed decoys at auction, the article also gave greater prominence to Peter Pringle by putting him on the front cover and in the lead article of North America's most prestigious decoy publication. One senses once again, as with all those familiar with Pete's carvings, the high regard in which Crandell holds a Pringle: "His decoys have realism in their sculptural form and plumage patterns that are accurate, on most species at least, with colors blended and shaded as only a master could do ... Pringle's work is superb."10 The 19808 proved to be especially productive in acknowlegments of Pete's achievements (five accounts in all) and concluded in 1989 with the appearance ofTraditions in Wood, edited by Patricia Fleming and beautifully illustrated with colour photographs by Ernie Sparks. The text on Pringle written by Paul Brisco offers no new details over Crandell's earlier article and contains the same errors as well as an additional one: "He began working on his rig in the late 1920$, carving solid-body decoys from blocks of white pine ... each with the initials 'P.M.p.' on the bottom." In fact, the periods in the letters

6

INTRODUCTION

12 Female redhead, no. 43 (repainted) (CK)

P.M.p. occur only on the buffleheads and on some of the later produced carvings with smaller initials. Brisco shares the growing

edited by Joe Engers. Since the book was directed primarily at the U.S. market, the first 273 pages examine the American regions and

appreciation of Pringle decoys, comparing them favourably with "Ivar Fernlund's famous birds," his mark of excellence. "Pringle's

schools, and only 19 pages, written by Patricia Fleming, summarize the major carvers from the various Canadian regions, moving from

accomplishments," he argues, "have perhaps been unfairly ignored. A skilled carver, he is remembered not so much for the quality of his own work but for his early influence on Ken Anger, the famed 'rasp-

east to west. When I picked up this weighty volume, I was pleased to see that, on page 283, Fleming had included "Peter M. Pringle (1878—1953), known as Collyer, of Dunnville;" but I could barely

master.'"" (My italics; I would certainly dispute the "perhaps.") The entry also offers colour photographs of a fine black duck in excellent condition and an early redhead drake showing severe raspwork and substantial wear (see plates 165 and 206). In 1990 a survey of North American decoys in a large coffee-

contain my disappointment that the entry did not provide a photograph of his work, as had been done with the other major carvers dealt with in the Canadian chapter. However, frustration changed to

table format appeared, entitled The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys,

and redhead drake depicted in Traditions in Wood plus a female redhead

elation when I turned the book over and discovered on the dust cover a group colour photograph of three Pringles, the same black

13 Female whistler, no. 30 (CK)

INTRODUCTION

J

(see plate 207) with the caption: "Decoys by Peter M. Pringle; Dunnville, Ontario. Pringle was one of Canada's distinguished decoy makers." In view of my strong bias, I consider this distinction a worthy international (the volume also briefly discusses the European scene) tribute to one of Canada's top decoy masters. An obvious reason for Pete's failure to gain due recognition lies in the rare public exposure and availability of a Pringle. I estimate that in his lifetime he carved between 200 and 250 (the final rig contained approximately 75 three-dimensional decoys), but he jealously guarded his "flock" for his own use and that of a small circle of friends; and when he died in 1953, his rig passed to his nephews, one of whom refused, like his uncle before him, to sell any. This descendant eventually divided his share of the rig between his two

sons. Hence there has been only a trickle of Pringles to come to light, and until recently they have usually found new owners through private arrangements. However, as already noted with regard to the Pringles incorrectly attributed to Ken Anger in the early 19705, a few decoys did manage to find their way to the auction block. As another case in point, an unsigned female bufflehead, lot no. 326, sold at Waddington's, Toronto, on 10 November 1981 for $260. The catalogue describes it as follows: "A Bufflehead Hen, of solid body construction with deeply carved wing and tail and feather details. Retaining the original poly chromed finish. Note: Moderate in use wear and slight evidence of shot" (see plate n).This decoy, which belongs to the pre-1928 period before Pete began to incise his initials into the bottom of his birds, provides an obvious mate to the drake buffle-

14 Female canvasback, no. 46 (CK)

8 INTRODUCTION

head from the same period (see plate 209), which I consider in chapter 3 under the topic of attribution. Auction houses in the United States have offered at least four decoys, all blacks, ascribed to Peter Pringle: Richard A. Bourne, lot 78 (attributed), 7 July 1987; Oliver's and the Ward Museum (Salisbury, Maryland), lot 562 (attributed), 2 July i989;Julia and Guyette (West Farmington, Maine), lot 251, 5 October 1990; and Guyette and Schmidt (West Farmington, Maine), lot 238 (attributed to Ken Anger or Peter Pringle), 22 April 1993. None of the four displays the traits now identified as typical of Pringle's carving. Lots 78 and 251, almost surely by the same maker, manifest neither the head nor body shape of a PMP. While lot 562 bears a passing likeness to the McKee/Pringle and the DrWoods blacks (to be examined later), the only characteristic in favour of a Pringle attribution would be the rasp work. Lastly, lot 238 closely resembles several blacks sold at auction that were, in my view, correctly attributed as Angers.12 The assignment of these four decoys to Pringle does, however, highlight the growing acknowledgment of his importance. Only four signed Pringles13 have appeared on the auction block, and only two of the four under their maker's name.The second turned up at an Oliver's and Ward Museum auction in October 1994, where the catalogue listed it as a "Black Duck from the Detroit River Area. Old working paint.Very fine carving and structurally fine. Branded P.M.p. 43 on bottom (600-800)." In point of fact, it is a female redhead repainted to represent a black (plate 12). Despite shot marks to the body and head, it still commanded a respectable bid of us $550 and has subsequently made its way back to a private collection in Ontario. A bluebill drake incorrectly catalogued as a Pringle sold at a Guyette and Schmidt auction in July 1996 for a low us $220 (though estimated at us $500—700). Perhaps this was a sign of a general mistrust of its true pedigree. However, a subsequent sale by the same firm in November 1998 inadvertently redressed this error by

ascribing another bluebill drake, a near perfect match with the lot offered in 1996, to Dr Woods. The first signed Pringle (plate 13) to be advertised and sold as such came up for auction on 23 April 1998 at a Guyette and Schmidt sale. Aware of the significance of the proffered lot, Guyette and Schmidt featured it both in their flyer, where it was described as one of the "fine decoys from eastern Ontario," and in the catalogue, where it was shown in a colour photograph that included birds by Ivar Fernlund, Billy Ellis, BudTully, and Robert Paquette from Verdun, Quebec.14 The caption on page 41 of the catalogue reads: "174 Extremely Rare Whistler Hen by Peter Pringle, (Dunnville, Ont). Stamped15 in underside "PMP #30." From Pringles own hunting rig. See page 39 of "Ontario Decoys," Gates for nearly identical decoy. Also see spring 1986 issue of "Wildfowl Carving & Collecting." Rare tucked head position. Condition: Near mint original paint with good patina; structurally excellent. (2,500—3,000)." With such publicity, it is no wonder that this bird flew, achieving a final bid of us $8,750, plus 10 per cent buyer's premium, (a total of us $9,625). This was the highest price realized by any Canadian decoy at that auction, and it demonstrated convincingly that Peter Pringle had finally been accorded something of his due — not only by the financial but also by the public recognition of the whistler. In this respect, it is of some interest to note Roger Young's comments in the newsletter of the Canadian Decoy & Outdoor Collectible Association: [This] spring has seen an Ivar Fernlund redhead drake bring $8,525 us; and a Peter Pringle goldeneye hen $9,625 us ...A number of very excellent and rare decoys were known to have sold privately at some hefty levels; however, our Canadian decoys have a long way to go before they catch up to the prices for the top American birds, even those of lesser quality by comparison. Decoy Magazine editor Joe Engers suggests that prices for Canadian makers will not increase significantly until more Canadians begin to bid on and buy their own

INTRODUCTION

9

country's carvers. Well, that seems to be happening; with one exception, the big bidders for the top Canadian decoys at the recent Guyette/Schmidt sale were Canadians. Congratulations guys!! This is not to be chauvinist; it is simply recognition that we have begun to appreciate our own.16

Pete would have been proud of his contribution to this trend and, even taking inflation into account, would no doubt have been astounded at the high price his fine carving commanded. The last Pringle to come under general scrutiny, at the time of writing this monograph, made its entry at a Guyette and Schmidt auction on n and 12 November 1998 (plate 14). Once more, the firm considered it worthy of a coloured reproduction, this time in the company of three "rare" and "exceptional" canvasbacks by Thomas Chambers.The catalogue description reads:"19 Extremely Rare Canvasback Hen by Peter Pringle, (Dunnville, Ont). Stamped "PMP" and also #46 in underside.17 Detailed carving. Condition: Original paint with good patina and almost no wear; some sort of clear varnish or sealant has been spilled on approximately 25% of underside with a little along one lower side; structurally excellent.

IO INTRODUCTION

(6,500—8,5Oo)."The fact that the auctioneer announced before the sale that the bill had been repainted may explain why this Pringle, now with two strikes against it, did not reach its minimum estimate, but it still brought a final price of us $5,ooo.18 The top Canadian decoy this time was an early Wells pintail drake, which sold for us $7,425. In Japan, artisans such as carvers and potters who have made an outstanding contribution to their craft are declared to be living national treasures and receive as a consequence appropriate acclaim. Although Peter M. Pringle has been dead now for close to half a century and remained relatively unknown in his lifetime, he fully deserves to be acknowledged and remembered as a Canadian national treasure after the fact. It is my hope that this record of the man and his achievements will help secure him a more 'widespread posthumous recognition as, among other things, one of the country's greatest decoy makers.19 "For," to cite Webster and Kehoe, there have been "relatively few carvers who have had both the talent for carving and the profound ... knowledge of wildfowl necessary for making the almost perfect decoy."20

1

The Man

T T

ter, and the two men continued to correspond throughout their careers. Marshall Pringle belonged has traced its roots back as 1 Born in Fredericksburg, Canada West, Allan Fisher Pringle James Prindle/Pringle born about 1606 in Scotland. His son (1843-1922), Pete's father,began a career as a teacher in Udora and rose William (1630-90) emigrated to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1654. to become principal in Port Perry and Gait. A talented and celebrated According to family records, Pete's great-great-grandmother, Sarah penman, he won many prizes and developed the "Pringle Method of Dickens, served at the age of fifteen in George Washington's army. Penmanship" (plate 15), derived from the However, the male line, refusing to Spencerian System and adopted by the renounce their allegiance to the British schools of his day.2 In 1877 he entered crown and joining the Loyalist forces, Trinity Medical College, Toronto, gradupaid the price:Joel Prindle (1725-1800), ating in 1882. After practising medicine in his son Timothy Prindle (1751-93) and Minnesota for over a year, he returned to their families were forced to abandon Canada to manage a drug store in Mount their farms and seek refuge in Upper Albert, County of York. In 1885 he took Canada as United Empire Loyalists, a over the practice of Dr Hartwell in consequence of being on the wrong side Dunnville, where he became known as in the revolutionary war. They and their "the pioneer doctor of Dunnville who descendants settled in several areas of most unselfishly gave his service day and what is now Ontario. Pete's grandfather, night, regardless of weather and road conWilliam Anson Pringle, took up residitions," according to an obituary. Until his dence near Kingston. In his youth he 15 Design drawn by PMP'S father. The notation on the back death, he remained active in Dunnville as became a close friend of Sir John A. reads: "Penmanship by my father (Dr A.F. Pringle) P.M. a general practitioner. Pringle" (courtesy of Peter Sullivan [PS]) Macdonald, Canada's first prime minisTHE BRANCH OF THE PRINGLE FAMILY to which Peter

Pete's mother, Janet Marshall (1855-1918), was the third daughter of Peter Marshall, after whom Pete was named. Marshall had come from Scotland as a child with his parents, who settled in North Dumfries, Canada West. Later he purchased a farm of his own, just south of the town of Ayr,3 and it was in that farmhouse that Pete was born on 10 February 1878 (plate 16). Pete's parents had married in 1873, a union that produced six children.4 Pete, the second child, inherited a strong artistic bent from his mother as well as the gift of penmanship from his father. Pete spent his "school-boy days" in the Grand River Valley district in the neighbourhood of Glen Morris and Ayr, where his mother's relatives lived, but primarily in Dunnville, where his family took up residence in 1885 and where he attended the local schools for both his elementary and high school education.Very early in life he developed a great love of nature, from which he derived important lessons and interests that stayed with him to the end. An anecdote recollected from this childhood contains a prophetic message with a bearing on his priorities. The kind of Spring weather we've had for a week or so, always reminds me of "Tommy and the Crow," which was a reading lesson in the SECOND READER, if I remember rightly, in my SCHOOL DAYS. It began this way: "It was the first day of May, the sun was shining and the air was fresh and sweet." Tommy played "HOOKY," and I don't blame him for doing so on a day such as that. However, as he sat under a tree enjoying it all, a damned old crow

16 PMP'S birthplace, south of Ayr, Ontario 17 Janet M. Pringle near Dunnville. Notation on back: "Mother on the embankment at the fourth weir. Scott's Island" (photo by Peter M. Pringle [PMP]/PC) 18 Janet M. Pringle, Margaret N. Pringle (PMP'S sister), and Dr Allan F. Pringle (PC)

12 THE MAN

came and perched above him, giving him "L"! Go to school, lazy Tom, go to school! It wasn't in the lesson, but if I'd been Tommy, my answer would have been: To "H" you say Mr Crow, I'm not lazy; this is NATURE STUDY, so go to "L" Mr. Crow, go to HELL! (MF i May 1942)

One easily detects the individualist and the enthusiasm for the outdoors that overrides the alleged benefits of conforming to the demands of institutionalized education championed by this didactic moral tale. Later he came to realize that he did not fit the family mould: "I'm about ready to say that all too often BLOOD RELATIONSHIP, in itself, simply does not seem to have a 'dam' thing to do with it. It has been said: 'We are all omnibusses in which our ancestors ride.' I'll add: — and every once in a while some member of the Family Tree sticks his head out and makes one wonder, who the 'L'S' he!" (MF 8 Jan. 1945). Pete was to become somewhat of an embarrassment to his family because of his eccentric ways. Never having had the opportunity to take a university degree, Pete also tended to downplay postsecondary education, partly, one suspects, out of personal feelings of frustration or inadequacy that put him on the defensive:"! have become absolutely convinced ... that 'higher education,' with a University degree — 'B.A.,' or 'P.H.D.' — does not necessarily indicate, or prove, the INHERENT worth of a man. Nor do I believe that a University course changes INHERENT TRAITS, at least not often!" (MF 8 Jan. 1945). It is in this vein that he attempted to vindicate his own calling: "Furthermore, there's a DIGNITY in SKILLED LABOR or CRAFTSMANSHIP and to be a master carpenter is something for nobody to sneeze at. Compare the dignity that goes with CONSTRUCTION and SKILL of head and hand, to any such white-collar JOB as selling Insurance, working in a store or behind a cage in a BANK" (MF 25 July 1945). This union of head and hand was to play a major role in Pete's chosen professions, photography and commercial art,5 but also in his hobby — decoy carving,

a product of his love of nature, his "scientific" approach, and his skill as a commercial artist. Pete's admiration for the crafts and trades to which he himself contributed had a basis in his simple humanism, his belief that our common humanity represents the best in all of us regardless of our social standing or chosen vocation.This conviction underlies a story concerning his younger brother Al: This reminds me of a letter written by my dear brother "Al," when Collier P— [Allan Collier Pringle, Pete's nephew] went to Philadelphia about 1925 or when he was 17. Living with Collier Stevenson, he began his college course in Penn. State University. "Al" said, "I want to see Collier make of himself something better than his dad, a plumber." My answer was barehanded — like this — (I am glad that Collier has such a fine opportunity placed before him right at his feet.To have such an opportunity should be a great advantage, like being equipped with good tools to do good work. I wish the lad every success, and above all else I hope when he grows up

he will become a MAN as GOOD as his DAD, a plumber ... I can wish him nothing better!) (MF 25 July 1945)

Even when describing an academic program at a prestigious American university, Pete juxtaposes intellectual opportunity with having access to the proper tools of the trade. One complements the other and, by implication, the one should not be denigrated as inferior to the other in any hierarchical sense. Although a non-professional or amateur in the best sense of the word, he would nevertheless achieve some recognition from noted scholars, especially in the United States, for his contribution to archaeology. Very early in life Pete showed a strong interest in birds — he purchased McIIwraith's Birds of Ontario when he was fifteen — and by keeping a "written record of his sightings, he became quite an expert in their identification. There is even some photographic evidence

THE MAN 13

19 Hoopoe drawing. Signed on the back:"P.M. Pringle Dunnville Ont. 1893. Probably my first attempt in the use of color P.M.p., 1944" (PS)

that he experimented with taxidermy when he was about twenty years of age, an art to which he returned when creating his final decoys.Years later he fondly recalled the attraction birds had always exerted upon him: "Along the roadway I spied a beautiful male Indigo Bunting perched on a twig of a dead branch as is their habit when voicing their song. Sorry that I couldn't hear him for that song and that bird hold a 'spot' of my school-boy days, dear to my heart. - They used to be plentiful in the neighbourhood of Glen Morris and Ayr" (MF 13 June 1943). Allusions to birds with references to species and habitat constantly crop up in Pete's trip diaries and letters (see plate 19).Trying to explain his fascination with ornithology he quoted with approval some observations made by his best friend and fellow bird enthusiast, Edward A. Doolittle, on the subject of "bird lovers": "It's something you can't explain - you either have it or you haven't, and of those who HAVE - oh! how we just HUM when SPRING COMES" (MF 15 Mar. 1945). Pete's love of the outdoors proved instrumental in promoting his other interests. As a boy and teenager, exploring the rivers, streams, and marshes around Dunnville whenever he had a chance, he naturally became involved in such activities as fishing, duck hunting, and canoeing with several school chums and acquaintances. During the years 1907-9, Pete and Wesley Snider, "roommates at the time in Buffalo and Black Rock" (HF 16 Mar. 1944), spent their weekends and holidays making canoe excursions in the area (plates 20, 21): "We were together in Buffalo for a couple of years at the time, and we paddled the old canoe,'Ottezelle' as we called it, hundreds of miles, all over both sides of the Niagara River - all way round GRAND ISLAND time and again, and down as far as CHIPPEWA. Not a creek entering the Niagara escaped our explorations, and sometimes we

14 THE MAN

skirted the shore of Lake Erie, east as far as Windmill Point. We took a lot of snapshots on these trips; often camped overnight" (MF 19 Mar. 1944). As Pete later told his young friend Harry Freestone, "Canoeing was our chief pastime and recreation through six months of the year" (16 Mar. 1944). During the spring runoff, he often came across exposed arrow heads, the collecting of which appears to have been a fairly common Dunnville practice, and these discoveries, of course, helped foster an ardour for archaeology. At the turn of the century Dunnville had a population of 2,700 and, as of i January 1900, had become the County of Haldimand's first town. Textile manufacturing, encouraged by inexpensive energy

2O PMP (bow) and Wesley Snider, Windmill Point, Lake Erie (PC)

costs primarily from hydroelectric power, had established a major presence with four local factories so that the town enjoyed unprecedented prosperity.6 However, the history of Dunnville since the days of its founding at the beginning of the nineteenth century cannot be separated from its location on the Grand River, four and three-quarter miles from where it empties into Lake Erie. To this river we owe the presence of the great marsh that surrounds the town and has always been one of the area's main attractions and a refuge for ducks. Thomas L.M.Tipton sang its praise in 1893 when Dunnville was still a village:

21 PMP, with pipe, andWesley Snider. Notation on back:"Our Den.Auburn Avenue, Buffalo, N.Y." (PC)

To properly understand and appreciate the beauties of the marsh, you should visit it at every season.You should look on it in the golden autumn, when the waving reeds have changed their green dress for one of deep russet brown, when vast flocks of blackbirds go forth from it at morning in search of food, and return at evening to their nests ... In the fall of the year this place is a favorite resort for ducks, too. Then you may hear the guns of the hunters in every nook and corner of it, and see men popping in and out among the tall reeds in their tiny skiffs, which look as if a puff of wind would blow them over.7

Dunnville and its environs exerted a strong attraction on Pete, and later in life, whenever he had the chance, he returned to his old

22 "Back in the 'Big Horseshoe' Lower Grand River Marsh - as in 1898 Photo by P.M.P. — (Dunnville seen in the distance)" (PC)

THE MAN I 5

hunting grounds. In his final years, he would gladly have taken up permanent residence in the town of his youth if suitable and affordable accommodation could have been found. Compared with such large cities as Hamilton and Toronto, to which it lost many of its young people, Dunnville had little to offer by way of excitement, but its location did encourage greater intimacy with its physical surroundings, for natural phenomena such as the "big flood" of March 1913 inevitably exercised a strong influence on town life. Pete remembered it clearly: The Dunnville Flood ... swept the bridge out in part, thus lowering the water in "The Upper River" about 3 feet ... with the result that the BARS along the CHANNEL that had been so many years completely covered by water, most of the time, were EXPOSED. And I recall the "CLAM-HARVESTING INDUSTRY" that followed. Clams were gathered in vast numbers and stacked into piles along shore where they were dipped into large iron pots of boiling water to kill the clams and clean out the shells, which were sold for the manufacture of PEARL BUTTONS ... I well remember, in this connection, that quite a number of CLAM PEARLS were found by fellows working in this new industry. Although they were of little, or no particular value, I wish NOW that I had taken the trouble to secure a few specimens. (ME 20 Aug. 1942)

When he was in his twenties, intent on pursuing a career in photography, Pete emigrated to the United States, where in 1904 he found employment with C.L. Lewis, Portrait Photographer, 1805 Collingwood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. But he moved around, adding to his knowledge at the Smith's Studio, Niagara Falls, New York, and at the Chard Studio, Painesville, Ohio. At this early stage of his development, a feature emerges that had a bearing on all his subsequent pursuits. Pete was never content simply to follow the accepted practices of any activity but always sought to improve upon traditional methods by adding his own unique touch, what he chose to

16 THE MAN

23 "Lighting by DAYLIGHT combined with SPOTLIGHT" (photo by PMP while at the Chard Studio, Painesville, Ohio [PC])

call "the scientific approach." While working at the Chard Studio, he experimented with various lighting effects produced by the manipulation of a device he designed himself and called the "Master Screen." He also perfected a new technique to achieve a shadow impression (plate 23), which he dubbed "Sarony" or "Rembrandt Lighting"; it was a combination of daylight and spotlight (a twin-arc lamp). A turning point occurred in 1913 when Pete moved to Rochester, New York, to attend evening courses at the Mechanics' Institute between September 1913 and June I9L6. Having enrolled in the Applied and Fine Arts program, he studied design and composition, and as part of his studies in design he took "Historic Ornament and Old Manuscript writing etc." (wjw 16 July 1932). But there is no record that he ever earned a degree.8 In order to cover his expenses, both before and during his studies at the institute, he worked for the Rochester Litho Company. He left Rochester for Toronto in 1917, resolved to establish himself as a professional lithographer. Eventually, in the 19208, he opened an office at the corner of Bay and Adelaide, where he did well at first. His clients included Neilsen s, Player's, Meyer s chocolates, the Canadian General Electric

24 "P.M.p. - Rochester - 1916" (PC) 25 Business letterhead, early 19305 (courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization) 26 Calendar for the year 1925, designed by PMP. Transfer lithograph from an original intaglio plate (PC)

THE MAN 17

Company, the Canadian Bank of Commerce (plate 26) and the Royal Bank of Canada. However, his career received a setback in 1924, when at the age of thirty-six he became aware of a progressive deafness, a disability that inevitability inhibited his communication with clients. His father imputed the deafness to a severe case of measles that Pete had contracted at the age of eleven or twelve (MF 26 Apr. 1946), a diagnosis later confirmed by ear specialists. Pete suffered another blow with the Depression of the 19305, which proved particularly difficult for the commercial art field. Reduced demand led to the establishment of large advertising companies and the inevitable elimination of the small independent businessman. "In truth" wrote Pete, "the further I go the more I find that my racket is not what it used to be and the color printing business both lithography and printing has gone through a period of change — for the worse.The big high pressure Advertising concerns seem to have gotten the upper hand, thus reducing the status of Litho and Printing Shops to something like — servants etc." (wjw 29 Jan. I 939)-To meet this challenge, Pete considered entering a merger with two other partners in November 1939: I've had a lot on mind ... conferring with the commercial artists who proposed a scheme for co-operative working, three of us together, and that is still brewing. The difficulty is to finance the plan, I being the only one of the three who is either "NOT BROKE" or not nearly "BROKE." I tell them a studio partnership can't be run on a pair of shoe strings, exactly, even by beginning in the most economic fashion, and that while I am willing to put in my full share, anything up to 500°°, the others would have to be in shape to do the same if I have anything to do or say about it. — It's no wonder that business men say all artists are crazy, that is, considering some of the things they do, and dream about! (wjw 6 Nov. 1939)

Not surprisingly, this project collapsed two months later, primarily

18 THE MAN

because his two partners could not come up with their portion of the needed funds: "Their idea was for me to pay the monthly rent (I presume as a penalty for my deafness)" (wjw 7 Feb. 1940). Despite his problems Pete regarded his fate as more fortunate than that experienced by some of his less favoured colleagues: "No matter what comes, I can at least hold myself up on the strength of past efforts for five or six years or so. That does not satisfy me at all; however, it is merely evidence that a whole lot of other fellows are in much worse position than myself. And while I get no kick out of such a comparison, I'm glad enough to be able to see my way through, to pay as I go and not to owe anybody" (wjw 7 Feb. 1940). Even so, after fifteen years of working at the same drafting table (MF 18 May 1941) in the same office, Pete's deafness, rendering communication between him and his customers next to impossible, forced him into early retirement.Yet he was convinced he could still do the work: "I could now GO-to-iT as well as ever if I only had ears to HEAR, but that's the RUB" (MF 15 Apr. 1945). In an attempt to explain his failure to find work, he also blamed it on his past success and the vindictiveness of his rivals:"! have been made aware that some of the concerns in this city are 'thumbs down' on me because 'when the going was good' I made them sit up and take notice. I took business — some good customers — from some of them because I offered something more progressive than they had in store. A terrible crime from their viewpoint, and it sticks in their crop — 'nuf said!'" (wjw 24 Mar. 1939). However, there is evidence that Pete often neglected his commercial interests in order to gratify his passion for archaeology (see chapter 4).The fact that he defended himself against the charge adds substance to it: "I have been criticized for spending as much of my time on a subject which brings no bread and butter and have been accused of indifference to my own welfare and advancement, during these last several years or since about 1930.They say what's the object of it, why these Indians were lousy!

You would not have associated with them on any account, so why bother about this fool thing? My answer is that I HOPED that, if not now, a 100 years or 200 from the present, people of Canada might be glad to admit it was a good thing my kind of a fool got busy!" (wjw 24 Mar. 1939). Whenever possible, Pete took on contract work to augment his very meagre resources.The friendship he had cultivated with a relative, Collier Stevenson, a magazine contributor and editor specializing in home planning and decoration, proved particularly beneficial, since as an associate editor of the Canadian Home Journal, Collier was able in the late thirties to involve Pete in the artistic layout of the various issues: On Thursday, Nov 21. Collier Stevenson phoned to Tom Scott's store and left word for me to get a hump on and return to work AT ONCE. So I took the Bus next morning at Dunnville, y30 a.m. and was in Toronto by n 30 . Between then and Dec 3rd I put in 95 hours at high pressure work. — It sure was a sudden change, a far cry from the freedom of the "wide open spaces" and the four walls of my little work office. It was a bit hard the first day to get my bearings; never-the-less, when there is WORK on hand to be done, I'm up and at it!

I'll be starting, probably tomorrow, on the work for the February number of Canadian Home Journal. I think from now on, as "Steve" [his nickname for Collier Stevenson] told me, I can count on a substantial sum of this work each month. (GT 9 Dec. 1935)

This excerpt from a letter highlights Pete's dilemma — his desire to pursue his real passion for the outdoor life, and the necessity of earning his keep. As he wrote to the same correspondent some time later, "The trouble with me is that I can not plan things ahead as I would like to. I have to make my getaways [to Dunnville] fit in with the blank spaces that come along — the times when I'm not working full

steam ahead. (They are fewer and farther between, this year, I am glad to say)" (GT 20 Sept. 1936). During Pete's most financially productive years, when he was a photographer in the United States (1901-17), he had wisely put aside approximately one-third of his income as savings. This was his retirement fund on which he had to survive in his later years. "I'll say it was a damn good thing for me," he recalled, "that I was right in on the good going period for creative work — knocking down 50-60 up to 75 in a week, and putting away from 30 upward" (MF 14 Mar. 1942). In order to make ends meet during and after the Second World War, he often attempted to return to lithography. From our present perspective, there is considerable retrospective irony in a predicament that obliged him to draw consolation and encouragement in his job search from his accomplishments as a decoy carver and to regard them as an extension of his career as a commercial artist: "My next job is to sift around and try some more to find a JOB for MYSELF. I think my outfit of'DUX' is proof enough that I'm not through yet, even though my deafness has become a big handicap, and they are good enough to attract some notice" (HF 20 July 1941). However, as a deaf man in his sixties, Pete encountered only rejection and had no other alternative but to take on odd jobs such as designing newspaper ads forTamblyn Drug Stores. Forced into premature retirement without a fixed income, Pete learned to live frugally, especially with the advent of inflation towards the end of his life. In March 1942 he had to decline to give a talk to teachers because he could not afford the train fare from Toronto to Dunnville. On another occasion, he decided not to order offprints of one of his articles: "They want $2°° for 25 copies (about $235 in Canadian money)" (MF 16 Jan. 1941).To cut costs, he even elected to administer his own liver extract shots, which he took for his anaemia: "Hereafter I'll do the 'SHOOTING' myself and cut the cost from $2°° to 50^" (MF 24 Apr. 1944). Because he could not find — but, one

THE MAN 19

suspects, could not afford — pure wool or cashmere socks, he came

Circumstances largely beyond his control, such as physical disabil-

up with the following strategy, a pathetic account of how to get by:

ities and inflation, compelled Pete to depend heavily upon the generosity and kindness of his friends, which he reciprocated in his own

I got into my trunk which was stored in the basement of my cousin's home

way, often with the gift of one of his carefully crafted birds. One such

in the city, and dug out about Vz dozen pair of OLD sox, moth eaten and

friend was Merle Franklin, whose shared passion for archaeology had

"holy." (But you have to go some to beat a Scotchman!) I've a scheme which

been a strong bond between him and Pete ever since they met at an

works, this: Look over the OLD discarded sox and pick out the best (colors

archaeological dig in 1939. Another very generous friend was Tom

the same, of course); then for each 2 pair I salvage i pair. Stretching the one

Scott, owner of the Dunnville hardware store. "Nothing seems too

to be salvaged over a shoe tree I cut from the one to be discarded, saving the

much to do for me, somehow or other," Pete said about Tom, "and I

part from ankle to top and stretch it across the other, i.e., from side to side

often WONDER WHY?"9 In answer to Pete's question, one might suggest

over the sole of the shoe tree and extend it back behind to form a new HEEL.

that artists of note have often benefited from philanthropic patrons.

Then by basting around the edge (following the outline of the shoe tree) you

As a consequence of his precarious financial situation, Pete never

make a complete new SOLE from TOE to heel, sewing in the backstitch fash-

owned a car and never learned to drive. In Dunnville he had a bicy-

ion.Turn outside in and replace on the shoe tree and stitch around as on the

cle to get around town and the immediate vicinity, and whenever he

other side. This PLAN makes the (P.M.p. BRAND of Salvaged "Happy-Foot

needed conveyance to more distant points he used the train or bus,

Sox"). Recommended for the boys in R.C.A.R (MF 18—19 Nov. 1944)

or he called on his friends to help him out — this usually included the transportation of his canoe Ottezelle. Near poverty may also have had

One particular incident stands out as an indication of the extent

an effect on his marital status as a permanent bachelor. According to

to which Pete had to establish practical priorities, frequently at the

Merle, Pete did "chase women" in his youth, but later he simply could

expense of personal preferences. There was a book he particularly

not afford to support a family. One of Pete's young nephews, Wilbur

coveted — Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States, part i

Guthrie, relates how in the thirties his country cousins always

— whose text and illustrations he considered excellent. It was avail-

included Pete in their numerous family reunions each year. He

able from a dealer in New York, but at a price Pete could not afford.

remembers one particular gathering of the Marshall clan at Sopher

Fortunately this story had a happy ending, because Pete's young

Park in Gait10 where Pete, as was his custom, went around kissing all

friend Harry Freestone presented him with a copy: "When I told

the women present (after he had removed his pipe), young and old

him [Harry] about getting the loan of this volume from the Royal

alike, regardless of whether he knew them or not. There was a lot of

Ontario Museum, I never dreamed that he would go and do a

squealing, but "Pete paid no heed since he couldn't hear them in any

thing like that. Since the list price in New York is 9 bucks, it must

case." Wilbur also recalls that Pete once had a girlfriend known as

have set him back, all told, probably 12 dollars in Canadian money.

"Red," who had auburn hair and always wore knickers.

Last night I wrote to Harry thanking him, etc. with the under-

Pete's pronouncements on the subject of matrimony suggest that

standing that the BOOK is to be his when I'm through with it" (MF

a fair measure of self-centredness and a need to preserve his inde-

i May 1942).

pendence — not uncommon in an artist — largely dictated his deci-

2O THE MAN

sion to remain single.Typical is this message to Merle: "My personal regards and appreciation as to your wife s lenient attitude in allowing a husband the privilege of keeping'those old stones' [Native artifacts] as I've often heard them called, around the house" (MF 30 Nov. 1939). According to Merle, Pete did not get along well with the wives of his friends and had little use for women except as providers of meals. On a hunting and fishing trip to Pointe au Baril in September 1915, Pete extolled the culinary accomplishments of the only female present, Mrs Roddick, who obviously had been included in the party only to attend to housekeeping chores. He had no patience with Merle's domestic responsibilities, expecting him to abandon home and family for a week or more to engage in a dig or hunt, and seriously resented a wife as a distraction from more important endeavours promoting male camaraderie. When Merle did not write for some time, Pete alleged that he was not surprised: "No, I didn't think you had a broken arm or anything of that sort; it has been Spring house-cleaning time and I figured that your wife would have such work as beating rugs, etc. for you to do" (MF i May 1942). The issue of female interference played a prominent role as well in his relationship with another young friend, Harry Freestone. After Harry became engaged to a "girl" in Toronto and the wedding had to be postponed twice because of the war, Pete declared, "He is all 'HET-UP' on his sweetie and I think after he gets married, he will feel BETTER!" (MF 14 Jan. 1942). Pete's real concern, however, was the degree to which Harry's new status would inevitably impinge on their shared manly pursuits: "Harry thought his venture into the new state (matrimonial) would not interfere with the outing trips and archaeological activities we had been enjoying together (says I to myself, THAT'S what YOU THINK, but you'll have another THINK coming once you enter TRAINING as a new husband, etc)" (MF 12 July 1942). Some time after the marriage, Harry, "now Sargent [sic] with an additional 50^ per day pay," wrote to tell Pete of how he dreamed

of duck hunting during a future leave. "However, when he does arrive home," Pete observed ironically," I'll bet he will find a nice program all pre-arranged for him, NOT to his figuring at all! I believe Harry hardly knows he is married, as yet — but he shure will learn, and obey" (MF 24 Apr. 1944). Not giving up totally on his outdoors companion, Pete slyly suggested that Harry pave the way for a more accommodating attitude towards duck hunting on the part of his spouse by attempting to gain her active support before he arrived back from overseas: I note you are beginning to think of, and make plans for your happy return — a duck-hunting trip to the Grand River marshlands included. Let me warn you of this, my boy: You'll find, unless I'm all wet, that an extensive program will be all set and ready for your return; that is to be expected and if a duck-hunt is to become a part of it, I think you'd do well to bid for it, say NOW, and ask Mrs F— to go along. If she would like to try her hand at shooting she could use a 20 gauge quite O.K. and Merle Franklin has one, I believe. By this procedure I think your duck-hunt would be assured. (HF 9 May 1944)

With attitudes such as these indicative of misogamy and often verging on misogyny, it is no wonder that Pete never married. Furthermore, it would appear that the strong attachments cemented in his youth and founded on common interests such as canoeing, hunting, and fishing helped to fix the pattern of a primarily male orientation throughout his life (he once proudly announced that his room had a masculine look), whereby women, while performing practical domestic functions, could never share the joy of sitting in a duck blind in subzero weather before first light or appreciate the thrill of discovering a rare Native artifact on a walk through the marshes. Surprisingly Pete did have a soft spot for children, often making

THE MAN 21

toys for his young nephews or the children of friends: "Altho I'm a darned old BACHELOR who shied at those words: I DO! I do like a nice kiddie, either boy or girl, but I detest a 'brat'" (MF 25 July 1945).When he visited his nephew in Toronto for dinner and learned that his baby great-nephew had already been put to bed, he had difficulty containing his disappointment: "All I saw of Allan Collier P—Jr. was a glimpse of him in bed — IN BED before I arrived at 645 P.M. I told his dad and mother I would TEN-TIMES rather have seen the young lad at the Christmas Tree than eat turkey dinner, and went on to say that BELLY-HUNGER wasn't bothering me; it was a different HUMANHUNGER entirely!" (ME 4 Jan. 1946).When he first learned that he had become "a Great Uncle to a BOY," he wrote:"Altho he will bear the responsibility of perpetuating the name of OUR Pringle Family, I hope it will not weigh heavily upon his shoulders. Anyhow, I'm glad he is 'decorated' rightly for the job, and I'm wishing him better luck than I've had in producing the 'goods'" (HF 20 Oct. 1942). Even though Pete had little regard for women, he genuinely regretted never having had the security of a home of his own and in this respect envied his young collaborator Merle: "You have established a HOME for yourself, where your 'betterhalf' does not pester against your hobbies — as so many women do. In all I'm sure you have a bright HAPPY LITTLE HOME and THAT, my boy, tops about everything else there is in 'Life' as I'm seeing things NOW" (MF 30 Mar. 1941).The search for suitable lodgings preoccupied Pete from the time he left the United States until shortly before his death. In 1942 he tried to rent a single room in Toronto in easy walking distance of an affordable restaurant, where he could take his meals, and near to the streetcar lines for ease of transportation."! know of ONE good place down onYonge St. below King and I eat there most of the time.They serve good eats and their charges are within reason" (MF 29 Dec. 1942)." For financial and health reasons - Pete had a delicate constitution he developed simple tastes in his choice of food:

22

THE MAN

27 "In Sandy McNichol's SUGAR BUSH (1901)" (PMP/PC)

The question of tickling my palate is no problem to me because I have, long since, put all of that aside and come down to the fundamental purpose of eating which means "FUEL" for the working of the "MECHANISM" of the body, thus to keep in good health and sustain our strength. But I don't mean to say that I haven't my LIKES about food. Peculiarly perhaps, I have always liked what is called GOOD plain FOOD — cake, tarts, pie and all pastry I absolutely shun — always have! There is one exception though for I do like Scotch Shortbread when it is made right and it seems to agree with me, taken in moderation. (HF 9 Aug. 1942)

During his years in Toronto, Pete changed his address more than a dozen times in his quest for what he called "a better 'ole" (MF 19 Apr. 1942). Because of his affinity with nature, he liked to live in a

room that looked out on a natural setting, preferably with a glimpse

and that was a consideration when I bargained with Mrs Smith, "my land-

of the lake. While staying at 104 Wheeler Avenue in 1942, he gained

lady." To overcome the inconvenience she proposed my getting breakfast here,

great pleasure from starting a small garden in the backyard: "I've

but I did not figure on waiting until everyone else had been served, which

always enjoyed seeing things grow, "whether it be flowers and plants

let me in no sooner than about 9 o'clock — neither did I figure on a setup

or any kind of vegetation — the marsh for instance, or the growth

akin to tramp style — eating from a small kitchen table with no tablecloth or

of a child, a puppy or kitten. It is progressive and such being the case,

other "luxuries" whatever.The grub was not bad, but the delivery was punk,

it is interesting" (MF I May 1942). Looking out at his garden in

and after waiting until 10 A.M. for breakfast a week ago yesterday Mrs Smith

August of the same year, he expressed his pride of achievement, the

invited me to get my breakfast OUT, and that after such an inconvenience had

same drive to fashion a masterpiece by using his knowledge of

been discussed before I took the room. I told her that I would have to find

principles common to his other artistic endeavours to produce the

another place, and that is how things stand here. (MF 16 June 1941)

right visual result: This pattern continued throughout the Toronto years. On one occaAs I now behold the back-yard garden from my window, it certainly is

sion he had to find a new room because the elderly couple with

looking fine; the array of flowerbeds are in full bloom, and MY 5 ft sided

whom he was staying decided to sell and move out of the city. And

Diamond is the centerpiece, with Red Cannas now in bloom and the por-

in 1950 he had an all-out battle with a landlady who raised his rent,

tulaca playing an important part in support; it strikes the key-note in

without proper notice, from three to seven dollars a week.

color, and standing on a squared bare surface it has the setting of a jewel.

This particular housing crisis, coming as it did when Pete was

I take quite a pride in seeing my experiment, by way of this raised up

seventy-two years of age, soured him completely on the prospect of

Diamond, turning out pretty much as I had visualized the effect, and what

continued habitation in the city and strengthened his resolve to return

I have thus learned through the experience should put me in shape for a

to his roots in order to spend the final days of his rife in the more rural

masterpiece garden at another time. (HP 9 Aug. 1942)

setting of his upbringing. Pete had always made the trip to Dunnville as often as time and money permitted and had usually managed to stay

Other considerations when changing address included sufficient room

with friends at minimal expense. As one source put it, "He was booted

to accommodate his drafting table and suitable light by which to work

from one place to another when he had outstayed his welcome."Tom

at it — and, of course, a price that he could afford. Because of the

Scott, among others, had often provided free accommodation, and the

demands Pete made and his deteriorating hearing (which made it

room above his store on the third floor had served as a storage area

increasingly difficult to communicate with others and thus exacerbated

for much of Pete's rig and other belongings for about 10 years (HF 29

his dealings with his landlady), he often had to change lodgings:

Dec. 1942). But despite the obvious desirability of this much-yearnedfor final move back to the Grand River region, it never materialized.

It certainly is aggravating to just get nicely settled in a place that suits, only

Pete was to die in the city he had grown to dislike.

to find that circumstances force you to pick up and move again. (I'm in the

The necessity of living in one room brought with it the dilemma

same boat! The very nearest eating place is a distance of six blocks from here,

of what to do with the substantial collection of personal possessions

THE MAN 23

accumulated over time. Although Pete devised a system of boxes, which he stowed away wherever he could find a spot in his room, he soon ran out of space and had to rely on family members and friends. His possessions became so scattered that he was obliged to draw up lists to keep track of their whereabouts. Whenever he moved to a new location, he inevitably left behind some of his effects, which most likely ended up in the garbage. Dunnville friends, especially Merle, were among those who generously offered to find space for the overflow. Merle reports of a time when he actually kept the bones from the "Child's Grave," an important archaeological find, under the marital bed — until his wife Dorothy refused to countenance their presence there any longer. As noted above, the generosity of the local hardware store proprietor enabled Pete to store much of his gear, especially hunting equipment, in the "big RED CHEST above Tom Scott's store" (MF 10 Oct. 1942), while several of his decoys found a temporary home on the second floor. From there they moved to a location under the work bench in Merle's garage, then to his attic (put away in boxes), and finally back to Tom Scott's store, where they remained until Pete's death. Shortly thereafter his nephew Peter Clark Pringle arrived in a station wagon to remove the final rig, about forty plus, to Toronto. As a literary movement at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Romanticism fashioned the myth of the struggling artist living largely in isolation from the "normal" citizenry and creating masterpieces in defiance of illness or a personal disability. While this image of the suffering artist may well have been a case of self-indulgence and self-promotion, it would seem to gain some credence from Pete's having to contend with his many physical handicaps. Poor health plagued his existence, particularly in his final years in Toronto, when he produced his finest work. He was only five foot three inches tall, and many people remember him as "a little man." A bout of rheumatic fever had crippled a foot when he was twenty-two.

24

THE MAN

Notwithstanding a discernible limp, he would walk for miles in a pair of short rubber boots that he seemed never to take off, especially when his zeal for archaeology or hunting held the upper hand.12 Although he could not take part in most sports, he frequented the sports desk of the Toronto Star, where he cultivated many friendships, and he genuinely loved almost all athletic activities especially Canadian football.13 The one exception was golf, for which he had little respect, finding it dull and uninspiring. An anecdote relates how an avid golfer took him to a course to demonstrate the intricacies of the game. Having first been instructed in how to line up a drive, Pete walked over to the tee with the appropriate wood, took his stance, swung, and drove a perfect shot straight down the fairway, to the great astonishment of all present. Dropping his driver, he remarked, "This sure is easy," and retired to the clubhouse - the end of a short but illustrious career. This incident led to much speculation among his acquaintances as to whether he had practised beforehand or whether it was simply a case of beginner's luck. Another adversity Pete had to face, one that could easily be exacerbated by the dedication he brought to his projects, was pernicious anaemia, first discovered in September 1943: Incidently I got ducked in the "MUCK" at the edge of the pond fat his old fishing 'ole near Ayr], which gave me such a shock, etc. that I went to the doctor for a "checkup" including a blood test. Now I know what I've been up against for a year or over — ANAEMIA — and since Sept. 23rd the doctor has given me 5 hypodermic "shots" of LIVER EXTRACT, the 6th I get tomorrow. At the same time I have eaten 12 or thirteen pounds of LIVER. A week ago I weighted 132 — gained 5^2 Ibs during that week. (MF 23 Oct. 1943)

Pete refused to let this condition slow him down. He even managed to find some humour in his condition, for it would seem that the liver injections had a novel side effect — the growth of discernible

fuzz on his bald head: "The HAIR keeps growing on my bald pate and if it keeps on at the same rate, I'll be wearing a 'Jim Corbett'14 pompadour ... It's a FACT!" (HF 29 Feb. 1944). But the anaemia did obviously take its toll. Typically resorting to a sporting metaphor, Pete depicted his situation some time after the original detection:"It will be FIVE YEARS ON THE 23rd since I got 'DUCKED in the MUCK' and in result, I began my'FIGHT-FOR-LIFE'with pernicious anaemia. Just how I can continue to BEAT the 'TENCOUNT,' God only knows — 'AS is' — my weight is down to 125 Ibs. - But I'm still 'STAYING ALIVE'" (MF 18 Sept. 1948).To make matters even worse, his physician had discovered a cardiac problem at the outset of the year (1943) in which the anaemia had been detected: "Since Doc Marshall's report on my physical condition discloses the fact that my heart action is producing blood pressure under par, and as compared with some other parts of my physical equipment, abdominal muscles, etc., for instance, my heart is not the best part to rely on (MF 5 Jan. 1943). By far the heaviest burden Pete had to bear was his deafness. In the spring of 1941, he told Harry:"! haven't heard the cheerful song of the robin for twenty years. My deafness is gradually but surely growing worse, my boy, and it has separated me from much in the world that I've always loved. Methinks when the time conies, it won't be hard for me to go!" (HF 9 Apr. 1941).Throughout his life, Pete sought a cure or relief for an affliction that seriously inhibited his dealings with others: "Boy! If I would only have a fair share of hearing I wouldn't need to back up from anybody" (MF 5 Sept. 1945). Even as late as April 1946 he consulted yet another specialist, desperately seeking some remedy, but as usual it was to no avail. More than any other health problem, deafness dictated the path Pete's vocation took and ultimately condemned him to a life of loneliness. Unable to communicate with his clients, a crucial prerequisite for a commercial artist, he had been forced to abandon a successful career at a relatively early stage of his professional devel-

opment. Even later, when he sought part-time or piecemeal employment, his handicap always stood in the way.To illustrate the desperate means he was prepared to resort to, he recounted an evening when the mercury hit twelve below zero in Toronto and his right

ear suffered frostbite:"! hope (?) it may make it hear better (?). If it WORKS I will darn well freeze the other one" (MF 25 Jan. 1945). Because his deafness impinged on almost every aspect of his daily existence, it was a constant source of anxiety: "My hearing, or should I say lack of hearing worries me more than any other thing, and, believe you me, it is SOMETHING to WORRY OVER; it is a progressive deafness — gradually growing worse and worse" (MF 8 Jan. 1942). Since Pete could not hear his own voice, he spoke loudly with an annoying metallic sound that grated on the nerves. Merle reports that in the final hunts, people tried to avoid going with Pete because, as a "non-stop talker," he scared all the game away.To compound the problem he began to hear sounds. The first time this additional affliction surfaced, he woke up late at night convinced there was a bird trapped inside his bedroom, whereas in reality the noise was confined within his own brain. According to Merle, the deafness and the accompanying buzzing in his head "shut out everything else," completely isolated him, and "did him in." Mary Isabell Churchill, the daughter of John Marshall Gillies, one of the country cousins, told me how Pete was institutionalized after he tried to borrow an onion from a neighbour at four in the morning.15 He died in a Toronto mental facility on 13 June 1953. Pete always wore an old grey suit which, with the passage of time, had become threadbare and dirty.When finally obliged to replace it, he purchased another one, observing that he would most likely be buried in it, as turned out to be the case. He was not above selfparody: "With my pompadour still growing, a snappy looking new suit and a new pair of Dack's shoes, I should cut quite a dash, eh?" (MF

THE MAN 25

28 PMP, New Year's Eve, 1948 (PC)

24 Apr. 1944). His major trademark, however, was his ubiquitous pipe. It protudes from his mouth in most of the surviving photographs, and he smoked it constantly, surrounded by piles of matches which, along with any residue tobacco, he would finally shove unceremoniously onto the floor. It was the one pleasure that despite all his infirmities he refused to renounce:"! KNOW I've been smoking too much, Harry, but I'll hang on to my PIPE, even if I cut down a bit" (HF 9 Aug. 1942). With all the health problems and the physical disadvantages that Pete had to face on a daily basis, one would expect some bitterness

26

THE MAN

or even anger, but his correspondence bears ample evidence of a man who declined to take himself too seriously or to strike a martyr's pose.16 After he saw his first robin in the spring of 1942 in Toronto's Kew Gardens, he construed the event as "proof enough for me to go to the barber for a spring-haircut. (I've let my hair grow so long since the first week of January - fearing a cold - that, by heck, methinks I'd pass for an artist or a poet)" (MF 27 Mar. 1942).The selfmockery conceals in part his financial plight, for he simply could not afford a haircut on a regular basis. On another occasion, when obviously much pleased by a complimentary letter from Merle, he attempted to cover his embarrassment and downplay his achievements — but not to deny them — by an ironic tone and a facetious comment:"! strenuously object to the WAY you have me rated as an 'Authority' on LOCAL INDIAN SITES, DECOY 'DUX,' LIVE DUCKS, BIRDS, DOGS, etc. Why didn't you head the list by 'WOMEN'? -Anyway, I'm glad that you've benefited by what I have written from time to time" (MF 15 Feb. 1942). Looking back some forty years to the time he worked at the Rochester Museum in New York, the late archaeologist, William A. Ritchie fondly recalled his former Canadian collaborator: "He was a rather shy, good natured and uncomplaining man, even though, while I knew him, he suffered from almost total deafness ... I felt a deep sense of compassion for him."17 Although little or no recognition came to Pete in his lifetime, one senses a proud man who, had it not been for his deafness, would gladly have measured himself and his accomplishments against the best. For instance, he drew much personal pleasure from the publication of one of his essays in a leading archaeological journal, and he corresponded and cooperated with professional archaeologists as a respected colleague. One particular relationship that had emerged in the 19308 deserves consideration. From the days of his youth, Pete had formed a special friendship with the Tinsleys, the owners of a farm near

29 PMP and GeorgeTinsley with the bag (snipe to the right), 1936 (PC)

anyone around Dunnville can boast of much better marksmanship on Snipe than the score you made. (And besides, it was your FIRST go at them). I was talking with Tom Orme in Simpson's Store about our hunt

Dunnville. Jean Tinsley, who had attended school with Pete in Dunnville, frequently invited him to their home to celebrate Christmas or family milestones. According to Jean's son Bill Tinsley, who at the time was a young lad, the atmosphere always took on a more festive tone when Pete was present. Already well known for his familiarity with the outdoors, Pete agreed to fulfil a promise to Jean: "to take George [her middle son] for a duck hunt — to sort of initiate him" (letter to Jean Tinsley 29 Nov. 1936). He took this responsibility very seriously. George's first hunt took place on Thanksgiving weekend 1936, and to the great delight of his mentor he enjoyed incredible beginner's luck: I must admit, George, that you sprung a surprise on me! Now, a bag of 16 English Snipe or Wilson's Snipe, is doing some shooting,'8 and I doubt if

yesterday. He told me that Whitney Root, who is (or was) one of the best shots at trap shooting in Canada, when speaking of Snipe Shooting said that he figured getting an average of i Snipe out of 2 shots was D— good Shooting. — Now, you can probably figure somewhere near the number of shots you fired at Snipe to bag the 16. — I'd like to know about that! I hand it to you, George, for being a "Natural Shot," and no mean one at that, on the strength of what you did on the Snipe. I think you will never forget your first Duck-hunt. (GT 18 Oct. 1936)

Pete was so enthusiastic at his "William Tell, or is it Robin Hood, talent" (GT 27 Oct. 1936) that he even sent a letter to the Iver Johnson Arms Co., Cobourg, Ontario, to give an account of George's achievement, with a snapshot enclosed (plate 29), and when he received a response he presented it to his protege as a

THE MAN 27

memento. At the time of this episode, George was only sixteen and Pete had reached his fifty-eighth year. There are unmistakable indications that never having married, Pete sought a surrogate son through whom he could vicariously relive his youth while assuming a paternal role and passing on values and skills he had acquired. He signed his letter to George (and later letters to Merle and Harry) "Unk."A letter addressed to JeanTinsley (29 Nov. 1936) proves particularly revealing: George, I'll say, is ONE of the FEW belonging to what is termed MODERN YOUTH, who speak the language that I really understand — "my language." — [Bear in mind that Pete was almost completely deaf at the time.] In George, I can see much that I possessed when I was a lad of his age — even to dreaming of flocks and flocks of DUX flying overhead and all around me, all night long before the shoot. (He hardly slept a wink that last Friday night at Bruces, and I didn't get any too much either; but I knew well what was up with him and excused the tossing. Think I was about half asleep when we started out but the DUCKING I got brought me to.)

The bond that held the older man and young boy together stemmed from a common love of nature. Unfortunately the Second Wo rid War brought an abrupt end to this friendship: George was killed by machine-gun fire during the raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942.The news of George's death devastated Pete. At heart, a kind, compassionate man, he sent a moving letter of condolence to Jean and stood by her for many years in their mutual effort to deal with the loss of a beloved son. As Pete approached his final years and felt less and less in contact with changing times, he exhibited a keenness to establish a link between himself and a young man to continue his legacy. To his nephew, Peter Clark Pringle, he expounded at considerable length upon his philosophy of life, and in much the same vein he wrote to

28

THE MAN

30 Dr Allan Pringle, PMP, and Peter Clark Pringle as a young boy (PS)

Merle Franklin, advocating a special relationship based on their shared love of archaeology: "(Between YOU & ME) I will say — beyond reasonable doubt — that a MAN who has a CONSTRUCTIVE [sic] HOBBY — ONE that gives him something to dwell upon — which can be called "EXTERNAL" to himself, is in a far better position to withstand adversities and "MUDDLED-UP" conditions, such as this "OLD WORLD" is wallowing in, these days" (MF 16 Nov. 1947). Pete wanted to be sure that Merle would carry on and promote his archaeological work, his Grand River Project (see chapter 4). In his last years, Pete had difficulty coping with the ever-increasing loneliness imposed by his situation. In a letter to Merle he com-

plained of the briefness of a visit from Harry, who had stayed for only an hour although they had not seen one another "for 3 FULL MONTHS." Harry had been Pete's only visitor "since 'Peter C.P.' called before Christmas" (MF 30 Jan. 1947).The following November, Pete wrote to Merle that he should "keep in touch by writing at least ONCE a' while" (MF 16 Nov. 1947). Pete had not had a letter from Merle all year. Some years earlier, he had even offered to put up Merle in his one-room apartment should he ever come to Toronto — a cry for some companionship to relieve his sense of isolation as old age crept up upon him: "The FACT is that when a chap becomes the last survivor of his family — living alone and sleeping alone — he is ALONE too D— much for his own welfare, without deliberately going out of his way looking and asking for an extra dose of it.Years ago it was DIFFERENT; altho I always preferred some congenial company when hunting, and admitting that I usually bagged more ducks when alone, the ALONE business simply didn't balance up to a really enjoyable GO" (MF 9 Oct. 1944). Another inevitable development that intensified Pete's sense of being alone involved the decline and death of his close associates (plates 31—5). "I've enjoyed the companionship and friendship of quite a number of fine chaps, but when I take a look at the 'slate,' most all of them have been wiped off by 'Father Time'" (MF 8 Dec. 1944). Of all the Dunnville friends who had stood by him, Tom Scott, who generously provided accommodation and storage over the years, ranked high in Pete's affections, and one easily detects in Pete's letters his sincere concern as he witnessed the signs of deterioration caused by age. But Tom's ill health also brought to the fore a less admirable trait in Pete's personality, a self-centeredness or inconsideration, perhaps excusable in view of his own physical and financial status.When he learned ofTom's worsening condition, his thoughts turned to protecting his own interests: "I've been wondering about Tom Scott — better or worse? and, I think it would be

31 Left to right: Wesley Snider, PMP, and Edward Doolittle. Dated 1907 (PC)

well to get DECOYS, Indian material, etc., out of THERE, anyhow" (MF 17 Jan. 1948). But when Tom did finally die on 25 August 1949, Pete paid a moving tribute to the man •who had supported him so magnanimously for so many years: Tom, about 4 years my senior in years, had been a "BROTHER" to me after I became the sole survivor of our family, in Sept. 1933.Year after year he invited me to stay at his HOME and join in a real HUNTING expedition after DUCKS, PHEASANTS, RABBITS, CtC.

THE MAN 29

32 PMP andWesley Snider (in stern), c. 1907 (PC)

33 Postcard depicting PMP and Edward D.Young, 7 May 1913 (PC)

3O THE MAN

As a BACHELOR, Tom \vas renowned as "TOPS" in the line of a HOST; it seemed that NOTHING was too much for him to DO for ME, and of course he played a part that actually MADE POSSIBLE my Research Activities during the 10 year period - 1933-1943. (WCM 26 Aug. 1949)

Pete's first buddy from the "good old days"Wes Snider, had succumbed to cancer on 5 March 1944. In August of the same year, Ed Young, with whom Pete had explored by canoe the Thunder Bay region, died. About two years later he had another loss: "The passing of Charlie Bruce takes the last of my OLD TIME duckhunting PALS" (MF 16 Nov. 1947). And a year later came a further blow with the death of one of Pete's principle Dunnville supporters, Ray Newman. But the loss that had the most far-reaching repercussions for Pete was that of'Smooch" Doolittle; it signalled the end of a relationship that had lasted more than forty years: My "OLD-TIME" friend, since 1901, E.A. Doolittle of Painesville, Ohio, whom I called "Smooch," and who referred to me as his "OLDEST and BEST FRIEND," will do no more "smooching." "Father Time" always wins — and

34 "A little vista of the Grand. Photo by Smooch [E.A. Doolittle]" (PC)

he sets the distance and the date. I think he looked over both "Ed." and myself last fall, but he by-passed me and "Ed." got the "call"! "E.A.D." died on April 9* and was buried in Painesville "Evergreen Cemetery" on the 12th. I hated to see him GO, and from now on I'm going to miss my old friend "Smooch" an awful lot. (MF 21 May 1943)

The two men had met in Painesville, Ohio'9 in September 1901 as fellow photographers and had exchanged samples of their work over the years (see plate 34).They also shared interests associated with the outdoors, such as canoeing, collecting Native artifacts, and, above all, the study of birds: "E.A. Doolittle ... was in some respects directly my opposite," wrote Pete, "and the strangest mixture in characteristics I ever have met; yet we hooked-up in the closest way. He

was inclined to be reticent and hermit-like in his manner and preferred going to his favorite haunts for the study of birds alone, that is, with one exception - ME!" (HF 14 Apr. 1943). Doolittle had initially pursued ornithology as a hobby but had developed into a highly regarded authority: "I think Smooch is just about the most profound, all-round Nature Student I ever met; he has been very badly misplaced in the world, and should have been a Professor in a Museum" (HF 28 Nov. 1942).The Department of Natural Science at Western Reserve University in Cleveland asked Pete to write a short biography of Ed Doolittle, to serve as an introduction to Doolittle's "Bird Notes," which the university was planning to publish. Pete readily agreed (MF 10 Jan. 1944). Approaching the project

THE MAN 3 I

with his customary thoroughness and attention to detail, Pete sent out more than forty letters to Doolittle's friends and relatives in order to collect "the necessary facts." Because he worked at such a painstaking pace, he took three years to finish the task — he began 7 January 1944 and announced its completion 18 December 1947 — and thus apparently missed the original deadline for publication.20 One cannot ignore the suspicion that Pete's determination to ensure that Ed Doolittle receive "proper recognition" related vicariously to his concern with the legacy that he would leave behind at his own death. Even as early as 9 April 1941 he had informed Harry Freestone: All my Indian stuff excepting the three red boxes for my NOTES, NEGATIVES, MAPS and RECORDS, and "The Child's Grave" material was packed up and sent to Dunnville, where I want them to be, and Merle Franklin is custo-

35 "Portrait of my old friend 'Smooch' the NATURE STUDENT — E.A. Doolittle, Painesville, Ohio. P.M. Pringle. 1926" (PC)

dian (Forgot to state that my "Antiquity" and other archaeological books also went to Merle.) The big red chest was packed with hunting togs, gun, 10 or so decoys and several boxes of Indian stuff, to be stored above Tom Scott's store. So you see, my boy, I've pretty nearly cleared my decks for action, or for whatever the future holds in store. I feel much relieved, knowing that whatsoever may happen, THAT part of my existence will survive!

There can be no doubt that Pete saw his major claim to fame in his lifelong devotion to his archaeological work, his Grand River Project. Little did he suspect that his other great obsession, decoy making, would ensure him greater distinction than his contribution to archaeology, however significant the latter may be. In summarizing what he perceived to be his legacy, he proved to be only half correct: "It seems to me there are so many things I'd like to do and see through before 'THAT DAY' comes my way, that even if I devoted all my time toward achieving my desires, I'd probably have some job on

32

THE MAN

my hands to accomplish all of it. However, I'll leave something behind, but it won't be worth much in MONEY!" (MF 18 Feb. 1943). He did indeed leave something behind, a magnificent rig of decoys counted amongst the finest ever produced and coveted by collectors throughout North America. And, as it has turned out, each bird carries a quite substantial monetary value in today's market. Most of the ducks in Pete's final "flock" feature his distinctive autograph, his boldly carved PMP. He was one of those artists whose work consistently improved with the passage of time as he accumulated greater knowledge and expertise in carving and painting true-to-life decoys. In contrast to the legendary modesty of his Dunnville associate, Ken Anger,21 who as a rule did not sign his blocks,22 Pete's pride and confidence as an artist emerge in his awareness of his achievement and the self-assurance with which he incised his unmistakable mark into the bottom of each bird.

2

The Outdoorsman

O

nISeptember1942PetewrotetoMerle1describinghis first experiences of duck hunting:

If I remember rightly, I first began carrying a gun when I was about 18, and the gun I used on these occasions was one of the same old $9°° shot guns as I've described — only WORSE! The darned old gun scattered shot like

The DATE of this letter takes me back to the "BLACK-POWDER-DAYS" before

a pepper shaker; also it was lock-bound some way with the result that when

the advent of the gas engine, the motor-boat and the "car," when the open

both hammers were full cocked and you pulled the RIGHT trigger FIRST both

st

season for duck began on Sept. I and ended on Dec. 15*.The REMINIS-

barrels would discharge together, but I was scared about that and got

CENCES I'm putting down were freshened by your information about the

caught only ONCE. I used to borrow this old blunder buss from Bill Hines

flood of March, 1913, which resulted in the many big changes in the

who lived by the canal in "Slabtown."3

"UPPER" Grand River, that is, all the way from the DAM to the old Plaster2

bed Flats at Gypsum Mines, or even farther upstream from that.

My fondest recollection about the Opening Day for duck on the FIRST DAY of SEPTEMBER is of my FIRST real trip in quest of ducks. Dal Crawford,

Before I was allowed to carry a shot-gun, or go shooting, by strict orders

a young brother of Dunnville's noted duck-hunter of that period who was

from my dad, I was permitted to fish. Then I trolled in company with

nicknamed "Happy," and we started out about 3 A.M. and took turns at HOSS-

another lad who had one of those old $9°°, double-barrel hammer guns

ING like "L" to reach the shooting grounds in the neighborhood of

made by Tobin of Woodstock, I think. "Trolling" about so far up the river

Burnham's Island before the first streak of dawn. It was so — dark when we

as Armour's Creek and often catching bass, pike and pickerel on the way,

arrived at the "FOOT" of Burnham's Island and only Dal knowing anything

but I cared only a little about fishing in those days, the old shot-gun was

about the "lie-o-the-land," we decided to sleep in the boat a while until we

the attraction. And the other boy and I took turns at "MOSSING" the boat

could see what we could see. I woke first, and what I saw was ducks, flocks

(rowing) and taking a shot at a Killdeer along shore, or perhaps a "crane"

of ducks passing up behind the island. There was plenty of water "behind"

or a coot.This was "Kid" shooting and not duck hunting, of course.Then,

Burnham's then and you could pass right through, among the stumps; so we

on the way back we would start trolling again. My father would enquire

moved up behind the island. Flock after flock passed within gun-shot range

sometimes: where have you been Peter? Trolling was the answer, and hadn't

and we banked into the flock in a general sort of way. How many did we

I trolled enough for the answer to be VALID — I thought so anyhow!

get, eh? Not a single bird fell to our gunning and each of us had shot nearly

all of our box of BLACK-POWDER SHELLS, and the satisfaction we got was in the smell of the smoke and hearing the powder ROAR! But after the morning flight was over and we started around the "FOOT" of Burnham's, we did get a duck — a wounded, poor little Blue-winged Teal, which I shot with a 22 rifle when it raised its head, hiding among the water weeds. Down at the MOUTH of SULPHUR CREEK is where I first set out decoys. I remember I had about 5 which I made after John McKee's models, a whistler, a butterball, redhead, and I think 2 Pond Bluebills [ring-necked ducks]. I also had 2 BLACKS which I made up in the country during summer vacation — near Ayr. I'll never forget that first shoot over decoys (I had that old gun of

36 Dunnville marsh (PMP/PC)

Bill Mine's and I was down there alone — long before the first streak o' dawn). The man, on what is now Ray Newman's place, at that time was named

little bunch of decoys. To me, at the time, he looked the size of a goose - not

Howell, by my memory. He had been cutting marsh-grass and cocks of it

more than 12 or 15 yards away and neck stretched to the uttermost! Ye Gods,

stood near shore just below the mouth of the creek. After setting out what

how I trembled — worse than before, but I managed to put the muzzle of the

decoys I had (not more than the 7, as above) I opened one of the cocks of

old blunder-buss out through the opening before me, I aimed and shook,

marsh hay and concealed myself so thoroughly that the only thing visible was

then pulled myself together and got a deliberate aim; — I pulled the trigger

my cap, and even it was camouflaged with grass to match the surroundings

and what a"LLL" of a ROAR! THAT WAS THE TIME I pulled the RIGHT barrel first.

(AN INVISIBLE BLIND from THE FIRST). In front of my face was a notch or open-

It flattened me right on my back and my nose was bleeding, but I scrambled

ing for me to SEE OUT, and I sat there waiting, and watching the decoys. At

to my feet to see WHAT? The BLACK was as dead a duck as I've ever seen.Those

last came the first streak o' dawn and I heard a faint "queek-queek" (could

2 barrels at once just about picked all the feathers from his back and they were

hear well then); soon I saw something swimming toward the decoys, then I

scattered over the water, yards around. These were the FIRST DUCKS I ever took

made out 2 DUCKS instead of one. Like an eager hunting dog I sat there, shak-

home, and did I go by a back street? You can make shure I didn't! I met

ing from head to foot — teeth chattering too, until they seemed close enough

Mr.Tom Arderlay, who used to keep a Liquor Store, while on my way home.

to shoot. One flattened with the left barrel, the other simply shook its head

He wanted to BUY the 3 ducks, offered me $i25, then I5°. I told him I didn't

and began looking around. The RIGHT barrel roared and after the smoke

want to SELL them; I wanted to take them home. (I never did sell a duck nor

drifted I saw both stretched. I stumbled to the boat, got the pair and hurried

any kind of GAME in my life and I'm glad to be able to say THAT) Had he

back to my nest. It was strange to me then, and is now, that a Butterball drake

offered me a 5 spot he would never have gotten those 3 ducks. And after that

and a Green-winged teal should be travelling together. I have never seen such

I quit borrowing that old Bill Hine's $9°° gun.

a thing since in all my duck-hunting experiences. The bronze, purple and

This DATE, Merle, brings back many other recollections about duck

green on the head of [the bufflehead drake] was a thing of great admiration

hunting back in the "BLACK-POWDER DAYS" full 40 years ago, and if I could

to me, and as I was stroking the feathers, I heard a loud "QUACK"-"QUACK"

get a box of black-powder shells, I'd get 'em if for no other reason than

and then a "squash," when a big "BLACK" landed right at the outer side of my

OLD-TIMES-SAKE, and once again to hear 'em ROAR.

34 THE OUTDOORSMAN

Throughout Pete's life, one of his greatest pleasures remained excursions to shoot ducks and to investigate the rivers and lakes on both sides of the border around the Great Lakes with like-minded friends. A photo album/diary written when Pete was about twenty-six records numerous canoe trips he made in 1904—5 to all points within eighteen to twenty miles of Port Arthur, on the north and west shores ofThunder Bay in Lake Superior, in the company of his close friend Ed D. Young: "[We] certainly covered many miles of water on Thunder Bay, the creeks adjoining and the Kaministiquia River, which flows westward through Fort William, entering the bay. On one of these Sunday or week-end trips we paddled across to Fort William (3 miles) and up the 'Kam' to the rapids below 'Kekka Becca' Falls, in all probably some thirty miles, RETURN. Ed taught me to paddle correctly" (MF 8 Dec. 1944). On another occasion, in reference to a trip to Sturgeon Bay south of Fort William from 20 to 23 September 1905, he noted: "Spent time shooting duck and paddling around bay taking pictures etc or taking to the trails on shore would explore and shoot partridge ... 22nd. Arriving at Princess Bay we saw a light ashore which proved to be the lodge of Simon Penassie, a friendly Indian who piloted us to his moorings. 23rd. Penassie squaw bakes us three loaves of'bannock,' gave her pound of tea in return ...Took snaps of Penassie tribe" (see plates 38, 39). A written and photographic record has also survived of trips made in 1915 and 1917 to Pointe au Baril on Georgian Bay, where hunting

37 PMP (bow) and Edward D. Young. "Below the rapids on The Kaministiquia R.," 20 August

1905 (PC) 38 The Penassie tribe, Princess Bay (PMP/PC) 39 Simon Penassie mending his fish nets, Princess Bay (PMP/PC)

THE OUTDOORSMAN 35

40—2 Scenes from a hunting and fishing trip near Pointe au Baril, 1917 (PMP/PC)

and fishing were the main attractions for Pete and his companions (plates 40—2). While reconnoitering the entrance to a pond, Pete scaled the cliff for a birds-eye view. Then, he recorded, "with 'Ed' [Young] in the bow the canoe stole in — but, the wary 'Blacks' were 'ON.' TWO BUNCHES of THEM jumped out of RANGE and made off without a shot fired. (To say that IT is NECESSARY to KNOW the GROUNDS and the LANE of FLIGHT, if'Blacks' are to be hunted successfully is NO LIE — but it's a SECRET unknown to many.)" Two days later (17 September) the diary reports an incident indicative of Pete's humour: On our way to "HEADQUARTERS" via the "channel" 3 SAWBILLS in file passed by at a long range — "Pete" drew a BEAD — BANG! — and felled the one at the rear (THE THIRD).-The BEST SHOT i EVER SAW," declared Dick [Roddick] — and — "Pete," DON'T try to TELL us again that you are not so "HOT" as a SHOT - but BETTER as a BUCK HUNTER" ... [Later at the lodge that evening, when] "Dick" began chin-wagging about THAT "BEST" SHOT he ever SAW! "Pete" just LAUGHED with the remark: — "It was Nothing for me to brag about because I MISSED - completely!" ..."I SHOT at the SAWBILL in the LEAD (the FIRST) and MISSED so far I got the - REAR bird (the THIRD).

A theme that will return in later years makes its presence felt in these accounts of hunting and fishing trips from the first quarter of

36

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

43 Stalking those wary blacks near Pointe au Baril, 1915 (PMP/PC)

44 Evening after the hunt at headquarters, Pointe au Baril, 1917. PMP leaning

45 PMP and friends, Silver Stream, Saskatchewan (PC)

against the fireplace mantle (PC)

the twentieth century — a sense of awe and reverence for nature's

for "COMMAND "at the CLOSE of that DAY ...Then came the sunset afterglow,

beauty seen through an artist's eye:

and while we watched for incoming flights of duck from all angles, the stillness was broken by a WHIP-POOR-WILL concert that cannot easily be for-

"Ed" & "Dick" pitched the TENT among the trees on the RIDGE of ROCK

gotten — First, a solo, then a duet and finally from all directions around that

rising from the "Lake" near the PORTAGE — where out of sight we could view

rock-locked POND a chorus of their voices cheerily chanting their "WHIP-

the RICE BEDS out toward the center. "Pete" took the job of gathering pine

POOR-WILL" song ...And though NO DUCKS sighted nor a shot fired, that

boughs for bedding and pine knots for our camp fire. Then, we made ready

evening of September 22nd 1915 gave us something far more memorable

for a probable evening flight. — First, a good coat of citronella oil was applied

- THAN - would a "FULL-LIMIT" bag of DUCKS.

to face, neck and hands, then we stationed ourselves at three points of vantage around the RICE BEDS — and all was set. The SUN sinking in the west;

Pete listed his catch from a hunting trip as far away as Silver

the FULL MOON rising directly opposite and about the same distance above

Stream, Saskatchewan, from which a photographic record has sur-

the horizon at 6 P.M. presented a most memorable sight — as they "VIED"

vived (see plate 45). He also recorded his impressions of a three-day

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

37

professional deer hunt at Camp We-Na-Nak, Magnetawan, Ontario (Lake of Many Islands), an adventure that only reinforced his preference: "Give me the DUX [Pete's pet expression for ducks]" (MF 15 Nov. 1945).4 Reflecting on this experience, he told Merle that he would like to give Wilf Linton, the advertising manager forTamblyn's Drugstores, "a taste of duck shooting over a full set of good decoys in an invisible blind when Bluebills are flying. If the sight of a flock, 6, a dozen or so, coming in with cupped wings and feet set forward wouldn't give him a greater thrill than the white-flash of a deer's tail going in the opposite direction, I simply LOSE my BEST BET! How about THAT?" (MF 4 Dec. 1945). Obviously, Pete also opted for duck hunting over fishing, though his letters offer evidence that he found much enjoyment with a rod and reel in hand.The early diaries registering the outings to Thunder Bay and Pointe au Baril always contain references to trolling, still fishing, and casting in order to provide dinner. He especially enjoyed fishing in the Gait, Ayr, and Paris region, where he had "a dozen, or so, different families of country cousins," one of whom, Robert E. Guthrie, owned a well-stocked private pond near Ayr. Pete liked to call it his Ace in the Hole. On one occasion, he and his friend Harold Last caught six large-mouth bass in three and a half hours. "Thereafter, during my stay in the country about Paris and Ayr until the 18th inst. I had a couple more goes at the bass bringing my total catch up to 15. And aside from the sport we enjoyed three good fish feeds" (MF 26 July 1941). Since he had experienced great success on numerous occasions at this location, Pete boasted that it was "the best fishing-hole for large-mouthed bass in Southern Ontario" (MF 2 Apr. 1943). As we shall later establish with regard to his hunting techniques, by persistent, conscious observation, he sought to gain an intimate knowledge of an area in order to facilitate an accurate reading of the local signs: "Never before have I seen as much water in my favorite fishing 'ole at Guthrie s as there is right now. A rather

38

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

46 Left to right: PMP, Allan Collier Pringle, and Allan H. Pringle. Caption reads: "Fishing Bob Guthrie's.Total - 2ilA Ibs. A 2HK catch. July isi, 1928."

queer thing about 'LUCK' there is that to get the large bass — i1/^ to 21/2 , up to 3% Ibs — the surface of the water has to be broken by a nice ripple; when the water is flat you are lucky to get any at all!" (MF 8 July 1943). While Pete seems to have preferred large-mouth bass, he asked Merle to let him know when there was good fishing at Port Maitland or "at the wasteweirs, white bass or perch"5 (18 May 1941), and he announced that Grant Grey had "caught an i8V£ pound Yellow Pickerel — somewhere around Dunnville" (MF 31 May 1944). He also told Merle: "A spring-fed creek runs right through the center of the village of Ayr and there is still trout there. The stream is called Cedar Creek and is large enough to supply water power for mills etc. and right beside the main street at Ayr there's a private trout pond owned by Alex Gillies and there you can see 3 pound speckled trout so tame they will grab and tussle for strips

of liver held in one's fingers. You should see this by all means" (MF i Apr. 1943). In another letter to Merle, Pete gave a detailed account of perch fishing with Harold Last at Champlain's Landing on Lake Sirncoe, at the mouth of the Trent Canal:

advantage of the IDEAL cover each night of this season. The "LOWER" [pond]

Lake Simcoe was as smooth as glass, the sun was shining through a slight

gone, I watched the "DUX" coming in from a vantage point on rising

haze — a warm day but not hot. We had caught about 100 dew-worms in

ground by the S-E side of the "UPPER" pond. Keeping tally with pencil and

the park on Thursday night, and when we looked for minnows in the ditch

paper as best I could, my score for Aug i8 th was 611 (mostly BLACKS). One

by the Trent Canal we found they were as thick as pea soup and one or two

swarm formed by 3 or 4 flocks joining from different directions I estimated

dips filled the pail. I had 3 hooks; one above the other and about 8" apart

at 100 as a conservative score — mostly BLACKS ... what a sight! ...

has a large stretch of open water, and a tree-covered island lies just below the road. During the day BLACKS feed on the open-water shallows, cranes (Blue Heron), Bittern, Night Heron etc. are always hanging around ... On 3 different evenings, say from 7 P.M. until the afterglow of sundown had

on my line and sinker at the bottom. The lowest hook which was say 8"

The scores, as I have them, are interesting: many come in as singles,

above the sinker caught the most perch but often I'd get 2 or 3 on at once,

many apparently in flocks (broods) of 10—12— to 14 or there about, and

and this time they took the dew-worms equally as well as the minnows.

occasionally flocks one can estimate 40 to 50 or more, also the swarm I've

We brought home 75, the size averaging 4 to iVz pounds by Harold Last's

mentioned ... and by far the greater number light within a space of say V2

figuring. I took 30, filling a fruit basket, down to the "WORK-SHOP" and

acre, where lily pads grow beside the gull reeds. Never in my life did I ever

handed them to the office man with instructions for him to whack 'em up

before witness so many BIG DUCK or BLACKS come in at such a small and

as he saw fit. (That let me out of a SPOT.) But not ONE single perch reached

limited space, about l/2 acre. (MF 5 Sept. 1945)

the cavern of my own belly; anyhow I had some fun and a good feed of fresh air and sunshine. (MF i May 1942)

This fondness for fishing bore fruit for Pete's business as a commercial artist when he sought commissions that enabled him to make full use of the expertise acquired in his outdoor pursuits. During a job interview, he brought along a portfolio of his work that contained "one sketch, a card advertising "NO-WEED-O" BAITS, for trolling and casting (It had a Bass jumping from a patch of waterlilies, hooked!)" (MF 18-19 Nov. 1944). But, of course, fishing was secondary to duck shooting, which he also liked to do in the Ayr district, especially in the vicinity ofWrigley's Lakes: There, it seems that just about all the "DUX" in the entire region, BLACKS — SOme MALLARDS, BLUE WINGED and GREEN WINGED TEAL, WOOD DUCK take

Despite his appreciation of nature reserves in Ontario and as far away as Saskatchewan, Pete always came back to his main hunting grounds — the region where he had first become interested in collecting prehistoric artifacts and stalking the elusive blacks — Dunnville and the Grand River area which he knew and loved so well. Even towards the end of his life he had not lost his enthusiasm for early morning duck hunts just outside Dunnville at the outset of the season:'"OPENING DAY' of DUCK HUNTING, when every chap goes out to hear the bark of the gun he carries and the green fellows and mean fellows 'bark,' 'bark,' 'bark' at everything within 100 to 200 yards" (MF 9 Sept. 1946). Rockhouse Point or Burgess Point on Lake Erie just east of Port Maitland proved particularly memorable on 4 November 1928, when Pete and his hunting buddy Tommy Orme bagged "twenty ducks before 10 o'clock A.M.":

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

39

47 PMP in the Dunnville marsh (PC)

that handy little cabin by the river. Next fall, if it can be arranged, I'd like to have you [George Tinsley] go with me there for two or three days. If we could get a Coleman stove we could do our own cooking etc., and then

"Then [after] a couple of other chaps ... got 5 or 6 Bluebills before we even got a shot we got a couple, and from then on it kept us on the hump to pick up what we shot and shoot at those still coming, Whistlers, Bluebills, and Redheads, was what we were bagging, excepting ONE coween. And when I counted 20 of them I said to Tom; this is certainly breaking the Sabbath, so let us call it a "DAY" (MF 14 Nov. 1939).Additional well-proven spots in the area included Darling's Point, near Gilbert Pridmore's, six and a half miles above the Dunnville dam in South Cayuga township, Charlie Bruce's place one mile farther north on the east side of the river, which Pete characterized in 1936 as "the best grounds for DUX on the Grand River" (GT 29 Nov. 1936), and Ray Newman's farm: Ray has a separate three-room cabin — a nice one — for the hired man. It's right close to the river bank and fine for a get-away, duck hunting. I stayed there three nights and ate at Ray's house, dinner and supper.You don't need any breakfast, somehow, when the ducks are on the wing. — Now I have a standing invitation to go anytime and occupy a bunk in

40

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

eat when we like, and bother nobody. — The flight of ducks seems to be over with by 10 o'clock a.m. and then about 4 p.m. others may come along. During the time between you can hunt rabbits over around the old Klingander farm or look for Indian relics, whichever you choose, or both. (GT 9 Dec. 1935)

Pete could justifiably boast of his acquaintance with his home territory and its migratory inhabitants: "All the PONDS,'INLETS,' CREEKS and high-water waterways in the 'Lower River' are familiar to me, AS THEY USED TO BE, back in the 'BLACK-POWDER-DAYS' or the 1890 s. And I know something of how things WERE before my time" (MF 9 Oct. 1944). "October 12th is a little early for Blue Bills and other deep-water duck such as Redheads etc., but there should be some Blacks, Teal, or Mallard left in the marshes of the Grand River" (GT 20 Sept. 1936). Moreover, he also knew what to expect in terms of weather. There was always "ONE 'BIG DAY' towards the close of the season — (usually it came with a howling wind and heavy snowfall)" (MF 20 Nov. 1949).

Over the years, Pete developed a great deal of respect for ducks.

Hornibrook's Lane, from SUNDOWN till deep in the AFTERGLOW for several

He credited them, especially blacks, with considerable intelligence,

nights — the more the better. And it's time right now to begin such obser-

to the extent that one often gains the impression that he regarded

vations. (MF 25 Aug. 1946)

hunting as a sort of war game waged against worthy opponents and requiring considerable amount of preparation, organization, and

So far there have been no less than four references to the need for

strategy. For example, he became quite annoyed at the confusion

"a good invisible or well-camouflaged blind" beginning with Pete's

caused by the lack of planning for a "go" on Opening Day, 25

first shoot over decoys, when he concealed himself in a cock of marsh

September 1946: "Plenty of good decoys to make 3 SETS but of what

hay "so thoroughly that the only thing visible was my cap, and even

use without any kind of organization — IN advance? I can only say:

it was camouflaged with grass to match the surroundings" (MF i

I can't see HOW IT can WORK" (MF 21 Sept. 1946). His concern with

Sept. 1942)."You" he told Merle,"know what I think about those con-

advance planning comes across clearly in a letter he wrote Merle one

spicuous duck 'blinds.' It is to hell with them; they are really not blinds

November, offering the young man the use of his old canoe the fol-

so far as ducks are concerned at all!" (MF 13 Aug. 1941). He toyed with

lowing spring:" [You] will have the opportunity I've longed for in

several designs in order to arrive at the perfect solution, both in terms

making pre-duck season observations — getting acquainted with all

of effectiveness and utility. The simplest involved a piece of netting:

the open spots in the rice beds, and their linking-up water which

"The IDEA is to use a piece offish net, say about 4 feet wide and long

"DUX" of the puddling class are wont to follow. Then you can pick

enough to extend along the sides of a skiff, or canoe, about 16 ft. (2

your strategic spot for a blind on the fly line of the puddlers. (I think

pieces).This could be easily draped from poles thrust into the mud and

I'd get as big a kick out of doing that as the actual OPENING DAY

it would be a cinch to weave cattails into the mesh and create a per-

shooting, I mean the use of strategy)" (MF 25 Nov. 1941). This same

fect camouflage.The net could by dyed green" (MF 13 Aug. 1941). He

preoccupation with the application of appropriate hunting practices

soon had a more ambitious scheme for invisible duck blinds:

informed another letter some five years later as Pete discussed how to make "the BEST of the OPPORTUNITY and CHANCES offered on the

Most of the chaps around Dunnville think they have to build a blind evi-

"BIG DAY" (25 Sept. 1946):

dently to LIVE IN, and they build them so that any person can see them, say, ¥z mile away, and a BLACK must be able to spot some of them at distances

FIRST ... the important [thing] is to discover definitely the LANE of FLIGHT,

not less than a mile. My IDEA is to make the blind LOW, using a clump of

both in the morning and evening; also WHERE the majority GO for cover

rushes for a background and then shove poles into the mud along both sides

at NIGHT and WHERE they'll be found feeding and playing around in mid-

of the boat; run three strands of wire along to keep them stiff in place, then

day. SECOND is the selection of VANTAGE POINTS along the FLIGHT LANE and

weave those slender water-willow branches through along each side and

PONDS where they feed, take cover etc. Then the THIRD ... [is] the con-

finish by adding long cat-tail rushes. When you run the boat inside it FITS

struction of a good invisible or well camouflaged BLIND. After that I'll trust

and therefore is steady. I also put a couple of the slender willow branches

to DECOYS, 3 SETS can be arranged ...To get to the FIRST, the plan I have in

across each end, arching them to make movement easy and camouflage a

mind is to WATCH the marsh from a vantage point at the foot of

bit with the rushes.Thus hidden, it will make a BLACK go some to see you

THE O U T D O O R S M A N 4!

before you make ready to shoot. (I am just about as much of a crank when

who calls himself a real sportsman would not try to HOG the shooting

it comes to a blind, as I am about the decoys.) (HF 12 Sept. 1941)

grounds as the TRICK you speak of expresses. Going further I found that ANY DUCK BLIND located in a marsh or on a point (say a BAR) is in reality simply

Two months later Pete added more details to his description of the perfect blind, which now took on more permanent features, including possible shore locations:

PUBLIC PROPERTY (I mean in such places as the marsh & rice beds where they are not privately owned or leased) ...And the BUILDER of the BLIND cannot hold the blind like a reserved seat. I.E. If someone occupies the BLIND in the early morning, NOON or EVENING, before the builder arrives, he CAN NOT put

In springtime when the willows are in bud with their pussy displays, they can

you OFF the spot. (Actually it's a proposition of FIRST COME - FIRST SERVED!)

be cut and stuck in the earth or the MUD and they will THEN take root and

- However, if the BLIND is MOVABLE he can take it away (BUT YOU COULD STAY)

GROW. What I have in mind is the use of those gaddy willows:6 they could

and if he constructed the BLIND in WATER — (as we did) — he can yank out

be cut long enough to allow for thrusting into the MUD and thus could be

the poles etc. and take them to another place. THAT'S the LAW according to

formed into a blind to FIT the CANOE.You could put them in criss-cross like

Bruce Beattie, editor of'Smiley-Beattie TOURIST GUIDE"— I know him quite

this

well.... (Neither you nor I would wish to take advantage of another chap in

this and when they grew they would be basket-like, get me? An

excellent shore blind could be constructed by this means making a screen in

such a way, but I mention this as a matter of LAW.) You don't mention the

front and a BACKGROUND, which I consider to be equally if not more impor-

chap or chaps who put up blinds, 3 or 4 of them 50 ft or so apart, but I'll bet

tant, could be placed as desired - the WILLOWS for the BACKGROUND sloping

I can just about guess who one is to say the least. (MF 9 Sept. 1946)

forward is what I picture.You could pick out a spot for such a blind at a place of your choice along shore of the "Lower River" or on a BAR in the Upper River.Your "spot" could be fixed up in the way I've suggested first. In both cases cattail rushes, or wild aster stalks could be added. (MF 25 Nov. 1941)

Pete even devised "a contraption for heating a blind — a little charcoal-burner made from a length of galvanized stovepipe which stands upright and the tea can be brewed over it" (MF 24 Oct. 1941). In September 1946 a controversy arose over the ownership and location of local duck blinds, and with his customary thoroughness Pete, having investigated the issue, sent Merle the following report, which reveals much about the hunting practices and regional frictions of the period: Now, about the UPPER RIVER ricebeds: I was advised today that building duck blinds closer than 100 yards apart is N.G. It's UNLAWFUL! Furthermore, any chap

42

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

The "TRICK" alludes to the practice whereby, to exclude others from a good spot, unscrupulous hunters constructed extra blinds in the coveted location, leaving them empty but creating the impression that they were occupied. Since hunting etiquette forbade impinging on someone else's blind and its immediate vicinity, this ruse effectively reserved a substantial area for one's exclusive use. Pete obviously enjoyed propelling his canoe through the marshes in search of the ideal location for his invisible blind, and he even furnished explicit instructions on the required punting paddle:"[The] thing most needed for punting through the ricebeds is a long handled paddle with a THICK END, I would say i/4 inches at least. A block could be attached in a reasonable manner, for use in tough spots. Or a punting paddle with a blade attachment to widen the end could be devised. Something of this sort would be a joy and it doesn't need to be fancy" (MF 12 Aug. 1941). By Merle's account, Pete did actu-

ally invent a means to overcome the major difficulty of poling through reed-infested waters. Customarily, when the end of the paddle was thrust into the muddy bottom in order to move the craft forward, it remained stuck in the "ooze" and pulled the canoe in reverse when the punter tried to retrieve it, effectively cancelling most of the progress achieved. To overcome this impediment, Pete cut off the bottom third of the blade and reattached it to the remaining surface with a 90 per cent barn hinge. When he pushed the paddle down, the resistance of the water opened the

and Ottezelk II (plate 49), purchased in Buffalo in 1906 and imported into Canada on 24 July 1908 with an import duty of five dollars. Pete always intended to record the story of Ottezelk: "The HISTORY begins in 1906, so it's quite a story. —The Ottezelle is a RACINE-CANOE — (name of a lake in Michigan) and was made in MUSKEGON, Michigan. The NAME, Ottezelle, is after that of a Girls' Camp on the Rocky Saugeen River, three miles north of the town of Durham, in Grey County, Ont - Back in the 1898—1900 period. (They were a rich bunch of girls in Durham, at that.)" (MF 24 Sept. 1944) .8 When Pete studied art in Rochester, the canoe accompanied him, and it returned to Toronto in June 1917 via the

hinge to form a flat blade surface of several inches parallel to the bottom, one that was too wide to get caught in the mud. He never gave thought to patenting his invention, and an American company came out with precisely the same design some thirty years later.

New York Central Railway Co. and Canadian Steamship Lines (in the latter case at a cost of $2.26), "where it was stored with the Kew Beach Lawn Bowling Club.Wes Snider was co-owner of the

For hunting, Pete preferred to employ a canoe (suitably camouflaged, of course)7 rather than a skiff: "I've done a lot of

canoe in the early years, and the two young men would often load Ottezelle onto Wes's car and go off together to

shooting from that old canoe and never ran into any trouble. With knees spread, resting on a cushion across the bottom it will 'stay put' and one thing greatly in its

explore the small creeks and rivers flow48 PMP and Ottezelk I, Burnship Creek (PC

ing into Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the Niagara River. Storing his "Old

man with a lower centre of gravity, he would have found it easy to keep such a craft stable, and it also offered a relatively soundless means of moving through the marshes. During his lifetime Pete owned two canoes:

Pal" always posed a major problem for Pete. In his final years it was generally housed by such Dunnville friends as Ray Newman (who gave it space in his barn) or Tom Scott (who kept it in a shed beside his house). The canoe always remained Pete's favourite means of transport

Ottezdle I, representative of his days in Port Arthur (1904-5), a Peterborough, basswood model ofrib-and-batten construction (plate 48);

and, from his perspective, an essential tool for the successful realization and full enjoyment of a hunt.9 When Wes Snider died on

favor is that you can run it through rice, etc. far easier than you could any boat" (MF 12 Aug. 1941).As a small, short

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

43

50 Wesley Snider. "A bed of Sheaves. Black Creek." (PMP/PC)

5 March 1944, Pete was anxious to acquire his paddle in order to give it to Merle, a sort of passing-the-torch ritual: Glad to know that you [Merle] got the old original "Ottezelle paddle."Yes, it is a 6 footer [actually 70/4 inches] and a dandy! My one, a mate to it, finally got broken. It also had a monogram — P.M.R Both were laid out or designed by my father who was a top-notch penman in his day. Then I burnt them on the blades of the paddles, back in 1907.That's THAT. And by the way, I used Wes' paddle a very great deal, especially I would say, when in the canoe alone with one foot out in front and one knee resting on a cushion in mid-ship. (When the chance comes, I think I can put you on to some little tricks about a canoe, etc. (MF n Feb. 1945)

49 PMP in Ottezelle II. Notation reads:'"Black Creek'- BRANCH ofGENNESSEE RIVER - above South Park, Rochester, N.Y. (1915-16)" (PC)

44

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

During Pete's later years, Merle took care of Ottezelle for him, performing some extensive restoration. However, Pete eventually passed on the canoe to the "Newman boys." Although Pete was a fair shot in his youth, with the approach of age he came to recognize his limitations but not without some typical humour:

51 Wesley Snider. "The Bridge. Spicer Creek." (PMP/PC)

52 Sunset with Ottezelle (PMP/PC)

By what we did on "Opening Day" last fall it is evident that something for

dogs I ever knew, and how he would retrieve. I recall

both of us was needed. I said at the time: what I needed was a good shot of

back in 1904, on a evening flight hunt across the

w-h-i-s-k-e-y. For a number of years past, I've realized that my shooting is NOT

river from Charlie Bruce's, I dropped a pair of

at all UP TO what it used to be, and change in eye condition has a lot to do with

teal out of a flock just before dark; they fell in

it no doubt (deafness also). I can see the sight at the muzzle but the barrel rib

a thick patch of quill-reeds. After 15 minutes or

is all blurry at the breech and it's a matter of luck whether I'm sighting along

so of snuffing and splashing about, DON came

the center or from the left side of the rib. I do better in snap shooting, or "pointing" instead of taking deliberate aim, most of the time, and I think that is where the benefit conies through having the right medicine — a good shot of w-hi-s-k-e-y, one is enough for a couple of hours, or so. (MF 15 Feb. 1942)

Pete did his own retrieving from his canoe instead of using a dog to recover game. Living in a rented room in a private city home precluded pet ownership. Nevertheless, he had a healthy respect for a good hunting dog, as revealed in the following remarks to Merle:

54 P.M.P. and 'Don.' After camping at Ray's Bush, Sept. 1904" (PC)

You have it in mind to get a DOG — good idea! As for TYPE, if you could get one like Wes Snider s old-time dog, DON, a cross between a SPANIEL and a scotch COLLIE, you'd have a dandy. Don was one of the most intelligent

53 "WES" monogram from blade of Wesley Snider's paddle

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

45

out with BOTH TEAL in his mouth although night had fallen and it was pitch dark. (MF 6 Feb. 1942)

In the previous chapter I examined the special kinship that evolved between Pete and young George Tinsley on the basis of a shared enthusiasm for hunting. In his letters to his student, Pete offered an inventory of "several of the most important 'tricks' or things to keep in mind" (GT 18 Oct. 1936). What follows could be called Peter Pringle's Paternal Advice to Prospective Young Hunters: • You should go to the old museum on Main Street and study the McIIwraith collection of birds — then you will be able to acquaint yourself with all the different varieties of ducks, plover etc. etc. (27 Oct. 1936) • Knowing the grounds before starting out is one of the BIG things in successful duck hunting. (20 Sept. 1936) • I'll advise you to put on your heaviest "undies" or wear a double — one pair over another. You must be dressed as warmly as possible to sit over decoys at this time of year; if you are not warmly dressed, or dressed to meet the occasion, you'll have to do a lot of running around to keep warm, and just at that time there's almost sure to be DUX in the decoys. It's strange, but never the less every old duck hunter knows THAT to be true. (4 Nov. 1936) • It is far more important that the DUX see the DECOYS, without at the same time seeing YOU, than it is for YOU to see the DUX coming a half mile or so away. — Remember there is about ten chances to one that ducks flying at all high will see a hunter, if exposed in a blind, before the hunter will see the ducks. — (I mean within two or three hundred yards.) (18 Oct. 1936) •Snipe ... should be plucked, not skinned. They should not be soaked in water, after they are plucked and drawn; they should be wiped with a damp piece of cotton. That's all! And the same goes

46

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

for woodcock, pheasant, & partridge. Ducks are different; they don't water soak. —The way to cook snipe is to fill them with dressing and roast them, then yum, yum! O'Boy! (27 Oct. 1936) • George, of all sports, give me the tang that goes along with Duck hunting. I like it best! There is one thing, however, that is well to watch out for. Remember, there is NO money in Duck hunting any kind of hunting. — Therefore, it is well for us if we can curb the itching in the trigger finger in a way that will make hunting trips etc., a matter of recreation, and NOT let the hunting blood make a monkey out of us by letting it get beyond OUR control. (18 Oct. 1936) This particular piece of advice Pete thought worth of repetition. In a variation on the same theme, he later warned: "The season for DUX ends tomorrow; the shooting is over for another year and now we better forget about it for a spell. No! I don't mean exactly that, but rather I would say put the gun away and be satisfied, or perhaps take it out for exercise such as rabbit hunting, which is tame stuff, once in a while. But DON'T GO altogether GUN CRAZY, my lad" (GT 29 Nov. 1936). It would seem that some of Pete's concern proved well-founded, to judge from his report of George's hunting activities while the young man was stationed in England before the Dieppe raid: I got a nice letter from Geo Tinsley (Lieutenant) just before I went to Dunnville. He is enjoying himself on each leave in England. He has been in on several shooting parties: rabbits, wood pigeon and Mallards. On one of these outing the party shot on the Romney Marshes. George shot 36 Mallards that day and the party got 150.There is no bag limit in England. (I'll say there should be.) The duck season opens August I st . On another trip George shot 22, all mallards. I'm afraid my pupil in the duck hunting game has developed into a pot-hunting game hog. If I ever shot Vi dozen mallards in a day, I think I'd call it a DAY and go home. He says the mal-

lards were as thick as blackbirds at Romney Marshes and there were teal,

tration of this characteristic, one indebted to his training in commer-

widgeon and shovellers about but they concentrated on Mallards, he said.

cial art, the following incident recollected from his memories of "OPENING DAY" for "DUX," i October 1941, affords an excellent case in point:

People who are not committed enthusiasts find it impossible to understand how one can cheerfully face the personal discomfort

One unforgettable feature THAT DAY was the sight of a "GREEN MOON." It rose

involved in duck hunting for the mere chance, frequently unrealized,

as we were watching the evening flight during the afterglow — OUR EYES

of a few brief minutes of shooting at the elusive prey. Such indi-

went funny - after staring at the ROSY AFTERGLOW for long minutes until

viduals would only shake their heads at the following description of

DUSK we saw the "Green Moon." But it was our EYES that turned GREEN —

some typical tribulations of the sport:

the complementary color of the ROSY SKY IN OUR EYES would have appeared GREEN on white paper exactly as it registered that evening on the silvery

I got DUCKED a SECOND TIME, on Thursday morning, back behind Ray's

moon. (Stare at any bright spot of color for a minute or more, say RED and

house. — It was the morning the river first froze over. (I didn't know it until

then stare at a piece of white paper and you'll see a spot of like size and form

daylight.) When I went to push the old canoe off from shore, I saw there was

but it will be green. Using GREEN first, the spot turns red or deep pink ...

ice but the canoe settled in the water O.K. So I got in and just got nicely

YELLOW reflects VIOLET, BLUE reflects ORANGE, etc.That's the scientific expla-

started, only to find more ice ahead; thought it only another patch so I got

nation of the feature of THAT DAY - a "Green Moon." (MF 25 Sept. 1945)

back of the midship and gave her one big heave with the paddle on bottom and she WENT! In a twinkling the sharp bottom of the bow went up on the

It must be emphasized that Pete applied this same scientific approach

ice and then turned over enough to dump me out in water up to my waist;

to the design, carving, and painting of his decoys. A letter written

the gun also went from the stern. Luckily I managed to find it with my foot

to Merle offers a revealing justification for his views on ducks,

after searching a bit and I fished it out; then made for the house, water gush-

hunting, and the making and utilization of decoys:

ing from my boot tops with each step. Nobody was up and nobody heard me when I entered the house and went to the basement where I dumped out the

As for "DUX" and IDEAS some duck-hunters have about the mannerisms and

water and wrung out my double thickness of underwear, shirts, etc. The fur-

intelligence of "DUX"— I think I have done as much experimenting as prob-

nace room looked like a Chinese laundry when I got things fixed. Then I stole

ably anyone on the "art" of decoying DUX, and that includes experiment-

back upstairs, took a big dose of "cough mixture" and got into bed. It was so

ing on the making of decoys, setting them out to meet different conditions

nice and warm there! And when I awoke again it was after 10 a.m.There was

in locality etc. and also with regard to the different species; it also includes

no bad after effects from this ducking, either.—The next morning (Friday) Tom

the making of a blind or hide under varying conditions and localities etc.

Scott came down and stayed in the blind until 10 o'clock. Only got two

etc. And if at this period of my experience I really KNOW anything about

Goldeneyes but shot 5 or 6 dragon heads [mergansers] as well. (GP 29 Nov. 1936)

the whole racket, I'll say it requires a lot of experience and study. It makes me laugh, the IDEAS entertained by many hunters of "DUX."

One of the overriding considerations behind all of Pete's projects

It isn't necessary to be so particular about decoys! I presume that is their

was to pursue them in what he called a "scientific manner." As an illus-

criticism, or idea, about mine, — and that wild fowl can't tell that the

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

47

55 Incoming flight (PMP/PC)

48

56 Retrieving the prize (PMP/PC)

decoys are not REAL until they are within range. I'll counter by saying the

of the same species, and all birds are able to do that, how can we poor earth-

vast majority of fellows who go duck hunting simply don't know their

bound bipeds say with any sound reasoning that it isn't necessary to be so

"DUX" and they go ahead and make decoys the way they THINK a duck

particular about the appearance of decoys? And how about BLINDS; I still

looks — without considering even the difference in the TRAITS of puddling

have to laugh at some of those Dunnville duck hunters' "BLINDS" up in

DUX, those that feed without diving like Mallards, Blacks, Pintails,Teal etc

Armour's Bay [on the Grand River north of the dam]. To have a really good

and the deep-water cousins who dive instead of puddling and tipping for

blind it should be a really good camouflage — the more obscure in its sur-

their eats; among these are the Canvasback, Redhead, Scaupduck (DEEP-

roundings the better, and given time enough one can construct such a blind

WATER BLUEBILL), Ring-necked duck (MARSH BLUEBILL) also Goldeneye

in most places on the Grand River or Lake Shore which will afford a degree

(WHISTLER), Bume-headed duck (BUTTERBALL). Now I wonder how many

of comfort as well, but I say THUMS DOWN on anything so built that it LOOKS

of these wise guys even know that all "puddling DUX" have the trait of sit-

like a BLIND even 100 yards away much less one half mile. — But why bother

ting with TAILS HIGH and that the "diver DUX" sit with tails comparatively

about what these chaps THINK; I often, on the other hand, wonder what the

LOW, that is just above the water. And they think it don't make any differ-

"DUX," say the wily OLD Blacks and Mallards, not the youngsters, think of

ence eh? whether decoys rock from side to side like no birds that rest on

how much these chaps really know or THINK they know about "DUX." I've

water, or whether decoys are even deceiving enough to represent a certain

had it fully demonstrated, time and time again, that my decoys under con-

species at 75 up to 200 yards. Poo poo to that, all of it! I have argued with

ditions when DUX are flying will decoy the birds after they have shied from

such chaps with the question: If a duck is observant enough, or able by

a flock of duds within a couple hundred yards from my set-up. So if these

some means UNKNOWN to us, to distinguish their OWN mate from others

chaps are satisfied, we should NOT worry. (25 Nov. 1940)10

THE O U T D O O R S M A N

3

The Decoy Maker

I T HAS BEEN PROPOSED that the ideal decoy combines utility J*. and beauty, the former in recognition of the fact that a decoy is designed for a practical end, the luring of wildfowl, and therefore must be so constructed as to withstand the harsh treatment and conditions of the hunt through several seasons; the latter in that many carvers use the block as a means to make a uniquely individual expression of the aesthetic in texture, colour, and form. In fact, many art experts and collectors (especially in the United States, where museums exist dedicated to the decoy) now recognize decoys as an important manifestation of folk art. Peter M. Pringle was a trained commercial artist, a profession uniting the same ideal attributes of the practical and the beautiful. Moreover, a genuine love and reverence for nature inspired and enhanced his carvings. It is my contention, or bias, that of all the Canadian decoy makers, Pringle came closest to achieving the degree of perfection that he himself set as his goal. In a note to me, Gene Kangas, an expert in the field of folk art, observed: Decoys have traditionally been considered one of the true folk arts of North America. They are sculptural tools typically fashioned by people unschooled in the arts. Peter Pringle's background, however, is distinctly and significantly different. He was trained in an art school and earned a living from that training. Pringle imparted his educated awareness to the decoys

that he sculpted, primarily for his own pleasure. Although folk and academic art continue to be viewed separately by historians, this unique situation merges the two categories with successful results. In the future, such scholarly divisions will diminish and become less significant.

It is in this vein that I have chosen to call Pete a master decoy maker. In defence of his calling as a skilled craftsman, he implicitly compared himself to a master carpenter, uniting the ingenuity of hand and head, and in his relationship with young George Tinsley he cast himself as a journeyman giving advice to an apprentice. During the period of the medieval craft guilds from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, the apprentice went through several stages of formal training until he became a journeyman, travelling from master to master (a migration paralleling Pete's itinerant years, 1901—17, spent primarily in the United States).When, after considerable practice and instruction, the journeyman completed a recognized masterpiece, he was finally deemed worthy of the coveted title of master. In a metaphorical sense, Pete's career as a material artist approximates the earlier European model. In his lifetime, Pete's ducks gained some notoriety by word of mouth, but also through two annual exhibitions of his work, one in Dunnville and the other in Toronto. Every year during the hunting

57 Bluebill drake signed "To Steve 1936" (CK)

season, Tom Scott placed some of Pete's birds in the window of his hardware store,1 together with hunting supplies and a few cattails from the marsh; and Canadian National Railways set out several Pringles in its downtown ticket office at the corner ofYonge and King to entice customers into purchasing tickets for special hunting excursions (fall 1936).When approached on one occasion by a wealthy American who, impressed by the CNR display, wanted to buy one of his birds at a handsome price, Pete declined (he never sold any of his decoys) and when asked why, he replied that it was his intent to have the best rig of decoys in the world, and if he were to sell one, he would no longer be able to make this claim. In a letter to his archaeological mentor, William J.Wintemberg, dated 5 March 1939, he wrote, "My time has been given mostly to reconditioning

5O THE DECOY MAKER

and remodelling my flock of decoy 'DUX,' over sixty of them — 'the BEST in the World' so the fellows say." While examples of Pete's work, especially what he called his "super decoys," approach the reproduction of detail associated with the decorative, he clearly meant his carvings to function primarily as working birds. For instance, he told Merle: "One thing I want to do is 'PUT' those Black duck and Mallard decoys at your disposal — you would care for them fully as well as I would and they are not much use unless they are used" (MF 30 Mar. 1941). Occasionally he did give away some of his decoys as gifts to serve as ornaments. However, they differ from the active members of his flock only by the omission of the tethering ring, circular lead weight, stamped identification number, and species letter — as, for example, on the bluebill drake signed on the bottom "To Steve 1936 PMP"2 (plates 57, 58). Although Pete always refused to sell any, he was very generous in lending them to friends whom he trusted to care for his carvings: "Last year I think Tom [Scott] was a bit disappointed when he found all the Blacks and Mallards among the decoys had been taken away; he asked for about FOUR or FIVE to take along up to Pridmore's3 for 'OPENING DAY.' But it was his own fault that he didn't get them, because he did not speak of it soon enough" (MF 20 Sept. 1942). By his own account, Pete was eighteen when he first carried a gun and began to carve his own blocks:"! remember I had about 5 which I made after old John McKee's models, a whistler, butterball, redhead, and I think 2 Pond Bluebills. I also had 2 BLACKS which I made when up in the country during summer vacation — near Ayr" (MF i Sept. 1942). None of the reference works available mentions John McKee, but Merle reports: "I only ever saw one of John's decoys, a Black, and the head was missing. A Port Maitland resident by the name of Lome Featherstone brought it up to the house, and asked me to band saw a new head for it. While he was here I quickly made tracings and took measurements of the decoy and made a set

58 Bluebill drake,"To Steve 1936"(CK)

of patterns, which I have never used ... I really can't see Pete finding anything worth using about the McKee decoy if it was anything like the one Lome has." Upon further investigation, Merle discovered that McKee used to keep a dozen blacks in a boat by the Grand River.4 Someone stole the rig and sold it to "an American from Buffalo."The only decoy left behind was the black without a head. Merle made a copy of his tracings of the John McKee body (plate 59) which I stored for possible future reference, subscribing to Merle's view that it was most unlikely that Pete had consulted this pattern when carving his first decoys. I have had to revise this opinion, however, since I made the acquaintance of Harry Freestone on 12 September 1998 in his Toronto apartment. He showed me a pair of black ducks which Pete had given him - of that he was certain - and which may represent examples of Pete's early work (plate 60). Needless to say, I was anxious to determine whether or not these two blacks were in fact early Pringles, and since Merle's tracings disclosed an unmistakable resemblance, I wanted to juxtapose them with the known McKee body. Through Merle's kind intervention I visited Lome Featherstone in his home south of Dunnville on 7 November

1998, at which time he corroborated the history of the McKee body in his possession and allowed me to photograph it (plates 61-3). As can be verified from the illustrations, the two alleged Pringle blacks fit the description "made after John McKee s models" in several

59 Merle Franklin's pattern for McKee black body

THE DECOY MAKER SI

6o Two McKee-style blacks (CK)

respects: the tails, breasts, and position of the neck seats are similar, while a cross section at the highest point of each provides a perfect match in form and measurement — 3% in. high.The general dimensions are also analogous: the McKee bottom measures n% by 6% in., compared with those of the alleged Pringles, n/4 by 6% in. The raised wings, Ys to Yie in., resemble one another, but the alleged Pringles are missing the shoulder outline, and the wing tips do not meet but flare out to either side as on Pete's later models. On the alleged Pringles, the line down the side of the bill as it meets the head parallels Pete's practice in later years,

52 THE DECOY MAKER

including a semicircular dimple at the corner of the mouth. One of the alleged Pringles also displays the F-shaped indent where the hindneck meets the back (another typical feature of the final rig), and the heads of both exhibit the fine raspwork and carved cheeks typical of the signed examples, though they lack the creases - one above and one below the eye. Finally, in keeping with Pete's preferred practice, the two blacks have solid bodies, while the McKee block is hollow. Experts who have examined the two blacks have expressed some reservations on the grounds that they fail to demonstrate the wear one

61 John McKee black body with replaced head

THE DECOY MAKER 53

would normally expect to see on turn-of-the-century decoys; but they have been repainted, presumably by Pete himself, and show signs of some remaining old paint,5 and one must take into consideration that Pete took exceptionally good care of his flock and used them only in fresh (as opposed to salt) water. Decoy specialist Bernie Gates has calculated that most decoys normally saw service for at most five weekends a year (i.e., ten days a year).This would mean that a sixtyyear-old decoy experienced only the equivalent of two months of actual deployment, a consideration that may explain "the great condition of some very old coys owned by those who cared." As Gene and Linda Kangas have pointed out in Decoys: A North American Survey, "judging age by condition alone can be misleading." 6 Since the sum of the evidence supports a Pringle attribution, these two blacks may establish an important historical link to Pete's first attempts at making decoys. When in the 19305 and 19405 he put together the rig for which he is now rightly famous, he had obviously long since adopted a new, more exacting standard — Mother Nature herself. It becomes evident from reading Pete's letters and diaries that his careful "scientific approach," no doubt acquired in his pursuit of archaeology, was carried over to the meticulous care he applied to all aspects of imitating wildfowl in as realistic, true-to-nature fashion as possible:"! venture to say: Put out some of those decoys called 'BLOCKS' in front of your chosen spot and invisible blind and you'd see the difference. By the time Bluebills reach the 'Grand' they have been through the 'gauntlet' and are fairly well educated about the ordinary decoys, and they need to appear life-like — action included" (MF 30 Oct. 1941). I am reminded of a passage from Joel Barber's Wild Fowl Decoys: "People have different ideas about decoys. There are those who believe that 'anything will do,' and perhaps they are right. Most of us have killed ducks over very cock-eyed rigs. But there are others more particular — little known men of a special discrimination who raised the American decoy to the level of a homely

54 THE DECOY MAKER

classic."7 Pete Pringle doubtlessly belonged to this select group. In fact, Mother Nature created the only decoys that he was prepared to acknowledge as superior to his own: "I think such chances [to bag ducks] for Oct 12th will be better this year than for a long time before, because live decoys are banned this season. Therefore, my flock of eight Blacks and 3 Mallards should come into their own; there are no other decoys to offer much competition with them" (GT 20 Sept. 1936). Pete remained fully convinced that the underestimated intelligence of ducks demanded a more realistic lure:8 Some gunners seem to think that "DUX" have no such thing as a reasoning process. I credit them with having more brains, or with a better mental equipment than many believe. I even credit them with having more knowledge about duck hunting methods than is possessed by many hunters. And I believe THAT is the reason they are becoming SHORE SHY during the open season.They are certainly benefiting by generations of persecution: they are not afraid of man; it is the man with the gun! "DUX" by the hundreds stay during the whole winter in the open water along shore at Sunnyside,Toronto, and the numbers increase year by year. Blacks and Mallards are there in abundance and so tame that they actually come to shore and feed when the man without a gun makes his offering. In springtime, around Dunnville the Grand River is alive with "DUX" of all descriptions; Bluebills etc puddle along shore whereas in the shooting season they stick to the wide open spaces and dive for their eats, and it is only when they are storm-driven that you find them not SHORE SHY. With this in view, I have undertaken a problem relating to the decoying business; the theory on which I am working is that "DUX" know too — much about ordinary decoys and blinds as well, and to meet the situation from a duck-hunter's point of view, it is necessary that decoys be made to look so lifelike that they will attract the quarry. (WAR 29 Nov. 1940)

Numerous stories attest to the capacity of Pringle decoys to attract their prey and thus to the degree to which Pete accomplished

62 Side view of McKee black (bottom) and McKee-style black

63 Rear view of McKee black (left) and McKee-style black

THE DECOY MAKER

55

64 Pringle pattern for painting feathers of female canvasback (CK)

his objective ofimitatio naturae.9 One of his relatives who had inherited two of his models came up with the novel idea of floating them in the backyard swimming pool of his home in a residential area of St Catharines, Ontario, but he soon had to abandon this practice: wild ducks were lighting upon the pool's surface, fouling its water and the surrounding deck. Bill Tinsley related to me an incident that took place at his parents' farm near Dunnville, one of Pete's favourite haunts. At a party, he played a practical joke by placing one of his butterballs on a pillow in a back bedroom with an open window. Some unsuspecting guests who chanced to enter the room made a hasty exit, exclaiming, "There's a duck in the bedroom!" Although Bill's father had no interest in hunting, he was "in awe of that bufflehead"

56

THE DECOY M A K E R

and would dearly have liked to own it. Pete, familiar with typical duck behaviour, related another anecdote — an extraordinary occurrence, which in his view, was attributable to the efficacy of his decoys: In all my years of duck hunting, I never before saw a flock of Bluebills (10 of them), either the Ring Neck Duck - Marsh Bluebill - the kind we got, or the Scaup Duck, take a straight dive right into the decoys the way that bunch did on Thanksgiving Day. Why, they even lit close to shore, right inside the set-up of decoy ducks, and remember, the decoys were not Bluebills, but Blacks and Mallards. I have seen Teal do that kind of trick, even seen them light right on the mud within three or four feet of my blind, but never before, Bluebills of any kind. —

any kind of duck, Black in particular, I'd be glad if you'd stuff a bit of cotton or tissue paper in its throat as soon as it is bagged; then send me the head while it is fresh (I sure would like to get a good specimen of head from either Mallard or Black, DRAKE)."Apparently, less than a month later, a shared outing produced one of the desired heads: "By the way, the BLACK we got from 'y°ur spot,' Nov 3rd was a 3/4 pounder, a larger specimen than the one from which the 2 NEW Models are made. The head and bill are larger by actual measurements, and over-all length is i" or so, more. I made drawings from it before it was cooked at Pridmores" (MF 9 Dec. 1941 ).10 Pete made these initial sketches for future reference: "I have been busying myself making drawings from a number of species, Mallard, Black-duck, Pintail, Baldpate, Green65 Pattern for painting feathers of green-winged teal drake (CK)

winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback and Ring-necked duck (the pond Bluebill). I begin

If that bunch of decoys of mine ever get a chance to work where ducks

by making an OUTLINE direct from each specimen to get the correct

are on the wing, plentifully, I'd hate to guess how soon the bag limit

proportions etc. and from this together with my knowledge of their

would be bagged. (GT 18 Oct. 1936)

traits and mannerisms a drawing is made [in colour],11 using projection methods, and finally the PATTERN.This I hope to commercialize

According to Merle, once a flock of ducks landed in the midst of

later; then I think some of the boys may have better luck" (WAR 29

Pete's rig, it was virtually impossible to distinguish the real thing from

Nov. 1940). Pete also commissioned Merle to make sketches of spe-

its imitation.

cific birds, and Merle replied: "I've asked several fellows to let me

To achieve the most realistic semblance with a view to maxi-

know when they get the kind of ducks you wanted so I could make

mizing the decoy's effectiveness as a lure, Pete resorted to three

drawings of them, but as yet I haven't heard from them" (22 Nov.

sources: actual ducks collected from the hunt, stuffed examples, and

1940). As can be seen from plates 64 and 65, Pete even went as far as

books on birds. Hence, in a letter written to Merle on 14 October

delineating the basic outline of a duck and then pasting feathers from

1941, he made a request: "If you shoot a specially good specimen of

bagged birds at crucial spots on the drawings so that he could use

THE DECOY M A K E R

57

these as a colour guide when he reached the stage of painting his carvings. As a resident of Toronto, Pete made extensive use of his second source, the taxidermic bird collection at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and of the friendship he cultivated there with the ornithologist, James Little Baillie.12 In a letter to Merle he wrote: Now I've got something here I would like you to see.They are PATTERNS or MODELS for "Silhouette DUX" and they are fully colored. I took them to [the] Royal Ontario Museum, BIRD DEPARTMENT last week when I visited ornithologist, BAILIE. He was quite taken up with them, said my "DUX" were better than those of Allan Brooks.131 made THREE GreenwingedTeal FEMALE models, and ONE drake and a PAIR of Blue-winged Teal. My reason for visiting Bailie was for reference on coloring the drakes. And he suggested that I take dead bird specimens (mounted skins) home for a full study and reference. That was last Tuesday, and on Thursday afternoon I returned the specimens and showed him my job. As a result: promptness in returning the specimens and the good use made of them, Bailie invited me to come anytime and he would be glad to furnish me with anything for reference. (MF 16 June 1941)

66 Plate 15 of Louis Agassiz Fuertes's illustrations for Edward H. Forbush's Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States, depicting canvasbacks, redheads, lesser scaups, scaups, and ring-necks in winter (nuptial) plumage

58

THE DECOY MAKER

The ROM collection thus became a valuable resource, providing a readily available gauge by "which Pete could measure the authenticity and accuracy of his work even when living in a large city: "Yesterday afternoon I went to the BIRD DEPARTMENT in the Royal Ontario Museum and did some checking up on my little Butterball 'DUX.' Today I lengthened the tails somewhat by bringing the 'ROOT' further forward at both sides of the body; otherwise I passed on my job, except for some minor details to be added to the painting. The little drake and three females make a fine little bunch. (Haven't weighted them; they are so small that I think those extensive weights hanging from the bottom will serve best.)"14 (MF 22 Aug. 1941). Always anxious to increase his knowledge of wildfowl, Pete corn-

pared live specimens with the mounted examples he took home from the ROM, and no doubt the combined effect had a constructive influence on his carving:"! find,Merle,by comparing newly shot birds, and museum specimens as well, that there is quite a variation in 'DUX' of any one species. They are not formed altogether as in a mould; they differ in much the same way as people of any race. Some have longer bills than others and wider, etc., etc.The coloring also varies — more in some species than in others, and of course the DATE when shot has a lot to do with the state and color of the feathers. (If I keep on, I'll know something about 'DUX')" (MF 9 Dec. 1941). All of these observations had a direct bearing on the form and colour of his decoys, since he tried to reflect the variety within each species that he found to be the norm in the natural world. A Pringle decoy is therefore as individual as its live counterpart. Pete's final source of inspiration came from bird books and magazines, about which he reported at great length, with clippings, throughout his correspondence. Second-hand National Geographic Magazines at 10 to 25 cents, provided him with "finely illustrated (COLORED) plates in articles on game birds, DUCK, GEESE, ETC. with good text attached" (MF 15 Feb. 1942). He recommended two issues in particular: one showing "the colored plates of -wild fowl drawn by Allan Brooks" and the other on '"Shore and Marsh Birds,' also illustrated in full color from Allan Brooks' drawings, it's a dandy!" (MF 21 Feb. 1942) '5 The degree to which Pete profited from published material on ducks especially emerges in his discussion of two books. The first was Edward Howe Forbush's Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States, part i:16 This... was loaned to me for ONE WEEK byjas. L. Bailie of the Bird Department, Royal Ontario Museum. I returned it on time yesterday. I said a while ago that if I kept on I'd know something about ducks, and incidentally how to make

67 Plate 7 of illustrations by Thomas M. Shortt for Francis H. Kortright's The

better Decoy "DUX" — and you had a laugh! Now I'll say I got a list of infor-

Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America, portraying the black duck

THE DECOY MAKER 59

mation from this book which I had been wanting to get, including measurements, the change in plumage of mature ducks, both male and female at different periods of the year, spring and fall especially. It also gives a lot of other information, habits of migration, and range, nesting areas etc., also their feed. (The Hooded Merganser, for instance, is NOT altogether a "fish-eater"; it eats tadpoles, frogs, insects, seeds and water plants, and even has been known to eat corn.)17 I took down a lot of notes for reference purposes. (MF 6 Feb. 1942) The second publication to warrant substantial, enthusiastic commentary came out a year later: Yesterday I examined the newly published book on "Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America" [edited by Francis H. Kortright].18 I'll enclose some newspaper comments on it to save writing,19 but will go on to say I do think it is just the right book to satisfy the needs of duck hunters. The colored plates are all by themselves in the back of the book. They are not pictorial in the sense as depicted in the colored illustrations of "Birds of Mass, and other New England States," but they serve to SHOW the various species of ducks during different periods, moults, etc. And believe me I find where I was badly mixed up, mistaking some of the adult males in "eclipse" plumage for ducks of the first year, the golden eyes are one instance. No

68 Frontispiece of Peter Scott's Wild Chorus (courtesy of Lady Philippa Scott, © Lady Philippa Scott)

(MF 14 Jan. 1942), Edward Howe Forbush, Important American Game Birds

other book shows this feature in the life story of wild ducks. It will be a

(i9i7),Van Campen Heilner, Our American Game Birds (1941), and the

big help in painting decoys to make them as they are during the shooting

"Audubon BOOK" — The Birds of America — where "the PLATES are all

season, but in that there is quite a latitude. I would like to have a copy and

mixed up the way they are - OWLS mixed up with birds of an entirely

5

intend to spend the 5 ° in that way one of these days. "Blacks" seem to have

different class and at the same time OWLS, HAWKS etc., etc., scattered here

been dealt with most thoroughly (see plate 67); there are ioVz pages devoted

and there all way through the volume. I cannot believe that Audubon

to them exclusively. I didn't have time to read all the text but it certainly

would make such an arrangement" (MF 15 Feb. 1942).20 He particu-

will be interesting and informative. (MF 14 Feb. 1943)

larly praised "two volumes of pictures of waterfowl which are reproductions of paintings of Peter Scott, a young English artist. Some are

Other books on birds that Pete reviewed in his letters include Thomas

in color and others black and white and his stuff certainly is DIFFER-

Mcllwraith, The Birds of Ontario (1886), which he had owned since

ENT! He portrays the weather conditions, skies and water in various

1893,"when I bought it as a youngster, and I used to call it my Bible"

moods and his duck, geese, etc., have really more life to them on that

6O THE DECOY MAKER

account" (MF 25 Nov. 1942).The two volumes by Scott to which Pete

Pete preferred willow for bodies, he settled on Ontario white cedar for

refers, Morning Flight (1936) and Wild Chorus (1938), were both repub-

his standard blank. Like many other carvers, he obtained it in the early

lished in 1942. Pete found appealing not only the paintings with their

period from a local source, as he explained to Merle:"You might be able

impressionistic landscapes (see plate 68) but also the accompanying text,

to get the but-ends cut off from Hydro poles if there is a Hydro yard

a series of anecdotal personal accounts recorded by a fellow bird

in D—ville and the stuff I once got from that source was about the best

enthusiast. Scott wrote: "This is a book of pictures. What is written is

I've ever used; so I pass you the tip" (MF 9 Dec. 1941). Because Pete set

about the wild geese and ducks and the adventures I have had in a few

such a high standard by insisting on straight-grained well-seasoned

short years of shooting, catching, taming, photographing, filming and

material, its supply was a persistent problem: "I can say it is much

21

painting the most wonderful birds that fly." As Pete wrote to Merle,

more difficult to get real good cedar in pieces large enough for BLACKS,

"Started reading Peter Scott's text. Glad to see that he has the same idea

etc., these days ["IE, LENGTH - i5m, WIDTH - jlA or 8m and 4m THICK (Top

about duck-hunting as we have, in that he gets satisfaction from see-

to Bottom)" (MF 4 Dec. 1945)], than it is to get the willow with straight

ing them even if he doesn't get a shot" (MF 29 Dec. 1942).

grain running from side.When people talk about me commercializing

One of the major topics that turns up repeatedly in Pete's letters

the making of'DUX' they forget, or rather don't know of these require-

relates to his constant search for suitable wood from which to carve

ments" (MF 22 Aug. 1941). He also had a very clear idea of how the cedar

his decoys.When he learned that a cyclone had hit Dunnville on 10

logs should be cut to yield maximum efficiency for decoy bodies:

September 1941, he saw this as a golden opportunity to stock up on "plenty of willow" (MF 14 Oct. 1941). Similarly, he had a lucky find

I will suggest having the logs SPLIT through the center or at each side of the

when he was staying at Camp We-Na-Nak near Magnetawan,

"CORE" — to be used from the BOTTOM.

Ontario, to observe a deer hunt: "While out on the TRAIL ROAD, that

Then have the blocks squared up EQUALLY

rainy Wednesday I took shelter in a dilapidated LOG HOUSE at hand,

on both sides making the grain of the

and by HECK I found that nearly all the logs were good white cedar

wood run across or over the BACK so that

— good big ones! And, of course, thoroughly seasoned. Best you

it will be in conformity with the model for

could get for making cedar decoys and I talked with Bill Schmeler

each decoy like THIS

about chances of getting a quantity of the stuff either cut into say 6 ft lengths or in blocks split in the middle by sawing" (MF 15 Nov. 1945).

(This is after the same IDEA as the WILLOW you had cut into 2m planks for

On another occasion Pete told of getting in contact with an

making HEADS.) To have the grain running in this manner certainly is a big

acquaintance in Ayr who agreed to supply him with "good cedar for

advantage in the carving process and at the

making decoy bodies," but he later learned to his great regret that the

same time without a cross grain as in the

trees he had in mind ended up as fenceposts. Still, he planned to make

usual or ordinary cedar available, LIKE THIS

a deal with Harry Freestone "for part of the big cedar he bought standing and cut himself, up near Milton. It was a dead cedar but neverthe-

There's a BIG advantage ALSO due to the DECOYS being stronger and less

less not punky and most of it good stuff" (MF 8 Jan. 1942). Although

likely to split ... especially around the wing and tail. (MF 4 Dec. 1945)

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Plates 69 to 77 demonstrate typical dimensions for Pringle decoy bodies. In fact, as indicated on the prototypes themselves, Pete utilized the same body for both redheads and canvasbacks, derived from three patterns: the first to delineate the overall length and width of the block; the second to trace out the bottom — note the very slight recess towards the front - (the same bottom pattern was used for the "Greater Blue Bill" drake); and the third to mark out the side view. He also fashioned patterns to outline the wing tips and side pockets. Pete's systematic mind makes its presence felt in the red, blue, or yellow-orange painted circles to signal redhead/canvasback, bluebill, and goldeneye, respectively, and in the specific information printed on the front face. In a letter dated 22 November 1940, Merle acknowledged his mentor's assiduous care in designing patterns that most closely mirrored their real-life models:"! appreciate your showing me your method of getting decoy patterns absolutely RIGHT. Most of the decoy makers I know make their patterns by guess or the way they THINK a duck looks. Some of them turn out fairly good decoys but I'll bet they never know the sense of pride you feel when you finish a decoy and know that the measurements are EXACT." The presence of the cutouts on the bottom patterns puzzle me until Gene Kangas, having scrutinized Pete's templates, provided me with the following elucidation: When I first saw two of Peter Pringle s original cardboard patterns, one question immediately came to mind.Why were there triangular — or diamondshaped cutouts on the centerline of the patterns? Remembering that Bill Reeve had mentioned Pringle's printmaking background and having been trained in printmaking myself, it seemed highly probable that these were registration marks. It was and is common practice for printmakers to employ some registration system to facilitate their alignment of one image atop another. Cutout triangles were typically used. Often a printmaker would draw a plus sign (+) on several locations of the print. By cutting across any

62 THE DECOY MAKER

69 Patterns for bluebills and pattern for redhead bill (CK)

70 patterns for

two adjoining outside ends and to the center, an open triangle was created.

female goldeneye (whistler)

Cutting across all four ends creates a diamond-shaped opening. Why, however, would such registration marks be necessary on the bottom of a decoy blank? To answer the question, we re-examined the bottoms of a number of Pringle's finished decoys and discovered that he had initially scribed a center line on the bottom of each board. When his patterns were placed on the center line, the cutouts permitted quick and accurate alignment of the center of the pattern with the scribed line. Since decoy makers commonly use templates, why did Pringle find it necessary to add this step? After further examination, it was discovered that he had carefully laid down a guide line that symmetrically divided the grain pattern in the wood. This was certainly not the most economical use of wood, but it would ensure that any later warpage or wood movement through shrinkage would occur uniformly since all sides were equidistant from the center. It also helped maintain excellent flotation balance. The adoption of a printmaking technique to improve and simplify a long-standing wood carving methodology is a testament to Peter Pringle's innovative skills. (24 Oct. 1998)

yi Bottom pattern for canvasback, redhead, and "Greater Blue Bill" drake and bill patterns for bluebills (CK)

Listing the benefits of hollow decoys over solids, author Bob Ridges argues: "Another advantage of hollowing a decoy is that the wood tends to be more stable as a result: solid wood tends to 'check' — to split and open." 22 However, I have viewed more than sixty solid Pringle decoys, and all the bodies were structurally sound, notwithstanding the signs of substantial rough treatment in some cases — a testimony to the discrimination with which Pete selected properly seasoned white cedar and turned to account his familiarity with grain patterns to ensure maximum structural integrity. Even though Pete's bodies follow more conventional practices, one can still detect an overall attempt at realism in the beautiful contours of the form and in the carving, rasping, and painting to convey side pockets, shoulder coverts, speculum, primaries, secondaries,

THE DECOY MAKER 63

73 Mallard head and bill patterns

72 Patterns for redhead and canvasback (CK)

74 Bufflehead head patterns; note colour detail for drake

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77 Sketch of patterns for female American merganser, most likely for a silhouette (CK)

75 Patterns for female goldeneye bill and bluebill/goldeneye bottom

76 Patterns for lines along back and side pockets, "New Plan" for redhead or canvasback

78 Three basic body designs

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79 Top view of "super" black

80 Top view of female bufflehead, no. 3

and scapulars.The lateral line depicting the side pocket and the wings conforms to three basic designs (plate 78).The tail tends to adopt the same fundamental outline for all species, whether big or small, as depicted in the three basic designs, although it does become proportionately larger and longer for blacks and mallards and has a decided upturn in the case of the latter two species, especially on his mallard drake no. 58 (see plate 157), as remarked upon by Pete himself. As the two noteworthy exceptions, the tail of his "super" blacks is flared with jagged teeth at the extremity, while that of his buffleheads displays a paddle shape (plates 79, 80). Pringle heads distinguish themselves by a painstaking attention to minutiae to achieve an exact replica of the live bird, a characteristic long recognized and admired by hunters and collectors alike. Paul A. Johnsgard, a naturalist by profession trained "in waterfowl

biology and specifically in waterfowl behavior,"23 marvelled at one of Pete's mallard drakes, where "he went to the unbelievable extreme of even carving in the outline of the bird's windpipe at the front of its neck!"24 - a feature shared by his redheads, canvasbacks, and standard blacks (plate 81). Bernie Gates singles out the "half-closed eye of [a] resting hen Whistler" as "a winning touch that exemplifies Pringle's care for detail"25 (plate 82). On a bluebill drake no. 16 that recently came to light, Pete included a half-closed eye on one side but a fully open one on the other, apparently a not uncommon practice among live ducks (plate 83). Pete carved his bills using patterns derived from the actual heads of dead birds. For instance, the articulation of the mandibles begins with a semi-circular dimple at the corner of the mouth. If one inspects a head from the back, one notices at least two distinct

66 THE DECOY MAKER

8i Windpipe on high-head black

82 Half-closed eye on both sides of female whistler, no. 33

F-shaped carvings, one above the other, with the bottom of the V at the centre rear of the head and with each of the arms arching slightly upward towards well-defined eye cavities. This feature Pete exaggerated for low or tucked heads to suggest the compression of the feathers by the duck's posture (See plate 82). Redheads, canvasbacks, mallards, and blacks also have a third indent starting below the eye and arching around the cheek down to the bottom of the neck, where several variations are possible: one, for example, moving towards the back of the neck (mallard drake no. 58); another continuing around the base of the cheek towards the throat (black). The rasp marks run from front to rear on the crown, but as they descend the back of the head, a part occurs at the centre, from which point they move off forming Fs proceeding parallel to, and thus reinforcing, the F-shaped creases noted above. It follows that the profile

83 Half-closed eye on one side only, bluebill drake, no. 16

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of one of Pete's heads from the crown back to the spot where it meets the body is never a smooth line but, for the sake of realism, has one or more slight indents (see plate 84). Pete appears to have made no preeners, unless one can definitely attribute to him a preening bluebill drake (see plate 217). (A symmetrically balanced head simplifies the process of balancing the bird for proper floatation.) Although most decoys look straight ahead, several models have heads turned somewhat to one side. He made tucked, low, normal, and a few high heads, and also some that portray a feeding or swimming attitude (plates 85-98). To accomplish the double objective of accuracy and durability, Pete selected willow as the ideal medium: "There's no wood, I think, that lends itself better to carving than well-seasoned WILLOW. I'd use it for bodies as well as HEADS.What I mean is clear 'wood from a good sized log, say a trunk of a willow. It is much tougher than cedar and wouldn't check at the thin parts such as the tail" (MF 8 Jan. 1945). In addition to insisting that the willow be well seasoned or kiln dried, Pete also provided explicit directions on proper milling to ensure optimal strength: "When you have willow sawed into 2" boards (2%" or 2/4" before dressing) it is IMPORTANT that it should be sawed so that the GRAIN will run straight through from side to side. Out of a log, say I2m thick or upward, you should be able to get six pieces - 4J/4 to 5 INCHES in width by having it sawed in this manner —

84 Head and neck profile, female canvasback, no. 47 (CK)

and then the GRAIN will be running STRAIGHT THROUGH -" (MF 12 Aug. 1941). The immense value Pete placed upon proper milling explains why he rejected a whole shipment of willow: "[It] was cut from the side of the log which puts the grain of the wood on the bias instead of running straight through from side to side ... It does not make such a great difference insofar as carving is concerned, but it DOES in the sense of strength and durability. And when I make

68 THE DECOY MAKER

85 Bufflehead drake, no. i (head likely repainted; see head pattern, plate 74, for proper colours)

87 Bluebill drake, "To Steve 1936" (CK)

86 Female bufflehead, no. 4

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Female bluebill, no. 21

89 Whistler drake, no. 36

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90 Female whistler, no. 30 (CK)

9i Redhead drake, no. 40 (bill repainted)

93 Canvasback drake, no. 51

92 Female redhead, no. 45 (bill repainted)

94 Female canvasback, no. 47

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95 Mallard drake, no. 58

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96 Female mallard, no number and solid

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97 Unsigned, high-head black, circa 1935

98 "Super" black, signed "P.M. Pringle," 1944 (CK)

them super fashion, I want them to last — last a lifetime with ordinary care in handling" (MF 13 Aug. 1941).26 Grain figuration has a bearing more on the rasping than on the carving. In Pete's own words,"! said that the willow you sent 'would carve well enough (I use gouges mostly), but I neglected to mention that the cross-grain puts you into difficulty •when the rasping is being done, so much so that the two sides of the head show a decided difference in the effect. I do not know how to overcome that feature, except by using wood with the grain running straight across" (MF 22 Aug. 1941). The thickness of the plank dictated the species of the head Pete carved: "If you did not have [the willow] cut into boards, I find it will be BETTER to cut it full 2% inches THICK, or even 2% in. Boards dressed on both sides 2" THICK are O.K. for most duck heads but Blacks and Mallards should go a little over that thickness. I would say 2l/s to 2 3/i6, dressed on both sides. (This leaves a little wood to

work on.)" (MF 9 Dec. 1941)."Teal require a thickness of i% or i% inches for the heads" (MF 16 June 1941). By far, Pete's favourite duck was the black, and in a particularly informative letter he outlined the necessary procedure to follow to carve the perfect black head, complete with pattern (plate 99):

74 THE DECOY MAKER

1 am enclosing the PATTERN for the HEAD of the Black duck the one Jim FRISE selected as his first choice of the five models I have for "Silhouette Dux."The essentials are: (i) Straight grained WILLOW, that is to say the grain should run straight through from side to side; (2) Thickness should be full 2 INCHES when dressed; (3) In marking out the pattern on the WILLOW the RED LINE drawn through the side view of the BILL should follow exactly the grain of the wood, so that the utmost strength will be preserved. A long screw going up the neck will give plenty of strength there; (4) The center of the eye should be marked on one side of the wood when the OUTLINE

is drawn and the pattern may be followed from either side; (5) Care, the utmost care I should say, is required in band sawing the HEAD, and the points indicated by arrow marks should get special attention. (These are used to guide in the carving process.) — If the outline is followed closely with a sharp pencil, the line can be preserved in the handsaw work. (6) The band saw must make a clear cut at RIGHT ANGLES; otherwise it brings a lot of difficulty afterward. (I've encountered more trouble through POOR BANDSAW WORK than in anything else in the carving of decoy "dux.") The tougher the WILLOW the better! And the whitish part - the sap is always the toughest and hardest, but straightness of the GRAIN comes FIRST; the waterproof primer (AMBEROID) will harden the wood anyway. (MF 12

Aug. 1941)

Pete showed no hesitation in passing on to his pupils, Merle and Harry, what he had learned from his own observation and experimentation:"! say it "would be a pleasure to me to give you [Merle]

the necessary pointers (INSIDE STUFF) on the carving of SOLID decoys — various kinds. The method is scientific and once you understand the HOW, I can see no reason why you could not duplicate anything I've made in SOLID decoys" (MF 28 Oct. 1944). Pete's preoccupation with ensuring the longevity of his flock also manifests itself in how he secured the head to the body. On the basis of x-rays, I have been able to determine that he countersunk the screw (plus washer) deeply into the block, about halfway between top and bottom. To provide even greater strength, he drilled a set of aligning holes into the head and shelf and inserted two concealed pins (headless nails) at the point on either side of the area where the screw thread would penetrate from below — one pin towards the front of the neck and the other at the back. Three-quarters of the pin rises into the head, and the remaining quarter rests embedded in the body so that the head will not rotate if the glue fails (plate 100). He followed essentially the same procedure to attach a silhouette to its

too X-ray of head attachment (courtesy of Radiology Department, Kingston General Hospital [KGH])

99 Pattern for head of "super" black (MF)

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base. Only a screw head and washer are visible on the bottom surface of the float towards the centre, but an x-ray exposes two pins located towards either end of the float and performing the same stabilizing function as in his three-dimensional decoys (see plate 186). Merle recounts how Pete loved to sit on the porch steps of the Franklin home on Pine Street, Dunnville, and carve his ducks with the cat seated beside him. Pulling a chair up to the kitchen table he would continue whittling, often to the annoyance of Merle's wife Dorothy, since Pete would nonchalantly brush his shavings onto the floor. He always carried his larger tools, mostly gouges, wrapped up in a cloth roll and whenever he carved, he wore a vest with two pockets.The one held his pipe, the other an F-shaped caliper, a mapdrawing pen, a strip of lead, an eraser in the form of a pencil, and a small F-shaped chisel. Thus equipped, he would amuse himself for hours while Merle worked the night shift. With considerable justification, Ken Anger of Dunnville has earned the title "the rasp master," but perhaps this honour belongs more fittingly to, or at least should be shared by, his teacher Pete, whose decoys, because of their relative rarity, were not available for comparison until recently. Pete's rasp work highlights his customary concern for detail, as manifested in the great variety of feather patterns successfully suggested on his birds. Bernard Crandell has observed: "While Anger's rasp marks are almost parallel indentations, Pringle's marks are varied to give the effect of feathering."27 Pete made a study of feathers, and it really is remarkable how he managed to intimate even the most subtle features by his meticulous rasping. On the back of a female bluebill he made substantial grooves running in a curve, front to back, to depict the quills, and he then added at a diagonal angle much finer file indentations for the barbs, the total effect of which conveys the intricacies of feathers (plate 101). Closer examination of a Pringle decoy's surface, especially what many have taken to be rasping, reveals that the grooves on the head

76 THE DECOY MAKER

101 Rasping and carved detail to female bluebill, no. 21 (CK)

and parts of the body do not always maintain a consistent parallel distance from one another, particularly on the cheeks, the nape side of the neck (see plates 85—98), and the side pockets (see plate 125). A rasp, being a fixed instrument, would impress uniformly parallel lines.

he knew how to blend his colours by dry-brushing and how to apply them thinly so that they would soak down evenly into the

Given the great variety of inscribed marks, more in keeping with the diversity of feather patterns found in nature, one may surmise that Pete actually went to the trouble of individually chiselling out some of the grooves, probably with the aid of a For parting tool. As noted above,

ner genuinely suggestive of featheration, even in Pete's "lesser" models. The crown of a drake canvasback is painted a dark brown,

one of the pockets of his carving vest always held a K-shaped chisel, obviously a standard instrument. The six bluebills and two canvasbacks attributed to Peter Pringle (see plates 213—20) represent, in my view and that of Bernie Gates, work done exclusively by chisels — gougedout indents over the entire body and grooves deeply cut into the head — while the birds from the final rig, with their superior craftsmanship and design, masterfully combine both rasp and parting-tool skill.

rasped indentations. As a consequence, the colours never appear in obvious patches; rather, each hue blends with its neighbour in a man-

almost black, which becomes variously graduated shades of reddish brown over the cheeks and then returns to the darker tones as the neck meets the black-brown breast. These sombre hues also dominate the back of the head and neck. This shifting colouration accurately matches that displayed by a live canvasback drake.28

Since Pete particularly scrutinized his blacks down to the minutest detail, nowhere do carving, rasping, and painting combine more

Always eager to improve on his techniques, Pete excitedly told Harry of a major breakthrough discovered while working on his "Lame Duck" project — a four-foot caricature of a duck that he was doing as a commission:"! fell upon the very thing I've sought for years and years, i.e., a perfectly FLAT PAINT for the painting of decoy ducks so that there will be NO SHiNE.The answer is simply this:The PAINT used

effectively to produce a greater masterpiece than on the "super" decoys and the silhouettes, which I shall describe later. Before painting, Pete applied a coat of primer, an amberoid (a synthetic amber made by heating and pressing amber fragments), in order to waterproof and harden the wood (MF 12 Aug. 1941). As

in the Silk-screen Process mixed with Pratt & Lambert's DULL waterproof varnish + turpentine. The only difficulty is to get the different colors required in small tins, but I can get enough for my immediate needs at Display Service Co. (HUSH ON THIS, Harry)" (14 Apr. 1943). The matte pigments do, however, tend to be restrained. Perhaps this

remarked upon earlier, in his endeavour to attain the utmost realism, he spent considerable time and effort in the study of duck plumage from recently bagged game, from bird reference books, and from visits to the ROM to examine its stuffed-bird collection: "My reason for visiting Bailie was for reference on coloring the drakes

is a natural result of aging - after all the decoys are more than fifty years old — or a product of Pete's dependence upon dead specimens, even though he himself acknowledged that a shot bird quickly forfeits much of its original brightness. For instance, his canvasback drake exhibits a more subdued grey than the vibrant white one commonly

[green-winged and blue-winged teal silhouettes]" (MF 16 June 1941). The owner of a Pringle knows full well the amazing care taken with every aspect, especially the paint, to ensure the most authentic replication of a duck. Pete used very matte oil-based paints to reduce the glare that might otherwise scare off the prey. As a commercial artist,

associates with the male of this species, but Pete may have been attempting to reproduce the more restrained autumn plumage.'29 The issue of colour preoccupied Pete both as a decoy maker and commercial artist,30 and nowhere does it become more crucial than in his discussion of the relative amount of labour and diligence

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JJ

involved in the production of mallards versus blacks: "Bill Gillies, when I showed him the whole flock of solid decoys, looked them over and said he too liked the Mallards best of all! [Merle and Harry also chose a mallard drake.] All I can say is that it teaches me, in simply another way, the same thing as I applied in my work commercially; that COLOR, say of a package, or candy box, etc., has a lot to do in connection with influencing sales - especially of goods on display. And it's a safe bet that making Mallard Drake decoys would pay better than making 'Blacks' — and the Mallards are easier to paint in natural colors than Black duck" (MF 19 Mar. 1944). A letter of 31 August of the same year supplies additional information concerning the care required in recreating the feather patterns of his cherished blacks:

appropriate glass eyes for the species and sex depicted. Pete's letters to Merle contain only two references to eyes but they are consistent with the discernment typical of the man: Good glass eyes are hard to get, owing to the war, but I got 29 pair mostly for Blacks and Mallards — cost me $375.You can get eyes suitable for Pond Bluebills — pure yellow iris for male (drake) and duller yellow for female (duck) in lots of i doz pair at 1.50 (Single pair cost 2O(z!.) (MF 14 Jan. 1942) GLASS EYES of suitable size for Pond Bluebills, Blacks or Mallards are for sale at Eaton's, and they cost not much more than Vz as much as those I got from Oliver Spanner [a supplier for several carvers of note]. I like them even better for use in decoys because they are not so THICK from the eye surface inward — flatter. (I imagine they are made for such use as decoration. I got

If I ever got fooled on a job, it is on this one! It's a tougher proposition than

one pair to try out and they are O.K.) (MF 6 Feb. 1942)

I thought — and takes much longer, thereby.The BLACKS, I mean! Why, I could do 3 GREEN-HEAD Mallards, or possibly 4, in the time it takes to paint a SINGLE Black duck; the marking on the HEADS and along with the NECK has to be carefully done to look right; the feather pattern around the CHEST runs in various ways,31 according to the stance or pose - each model different and the way the pattern is arranged will show the FORM in each case; the feathers of the SIDES which overlap the wings, and those of the WING and SCAPULARIES are less trouble. The difference between a "GREEN-HEAD" and a "BLACK," or even a FEMALE Mallard, is that the coloring is NOT broken up in a pattern but is in masses, and therefore MUCH LESS work. (MF 31 Aug. 1944)

With his most exacting standards for what was meant to serve as a working decoy, he approached the realism that we expect in contemporary decoratives but without all the specialized tools and paints available to today's carvers. Although one can only speculate as to what sort of eyes Pete used on his earliest work,32 all the known marked PMP examples have the

78 THE DECOY MAKER

Bernard Crandell's 1999 article in Decoy Magazine points out •what he considers anomalies in Pete's career as a decoy maker: "First of all, he used solid bodies, single-mindedly, in an area heavily influenced by the Toronto, Port Rowan and Hamilton hollowbodied style."33 Although the vast majority of the Pringles from the final rig are solid, Pete began to experiment with hollow bodies in at least five of the birds he carved in the early 19405: the "Remodeled" female mallard (1940), two of the four buffleheads (1941), and the two "super" blacks (1941—44). While the mallard has a half-inch bottom board attached to the body by nails, the other examples all have inlet bottoms, which in the case of the two buffleheads (nos. 2 and 4) are so tightly fitted that I at first believed the oval outline to be a mere embellishment, such as that on the bottom of the two unsigned, solid standard blacks (see plate 166). An x-ray graciously provided by the Radiology Department of Kingston General Hospital disclosed a distinct semicircular cavity between the head-

screw dowel and the tail weight (plate 102). Closer scrutiny revealed that the hollow really consists of two quarter-round cavities on either side of a ridge down the centre of the decoy — the ridge having been reduced to the same level as the inlet shelf so that the glued-down bottom (no nails) is supported around the edges and down the middle. This dividing partition also made it feasible to attach a deep-water stabilizer without fear of penetrating the seal and allowing water to leak into the interior. (No. 2 shows evidence of having borne such a device.) No doubt Pete went to all this effort to add air pockets in an attempt to increase the action of the duck, for the weight difference between the solid models (nos. i and 3) and the hollow models is minimal. All the decoys from 1929 to 1944, whether solid or hollow, have flat, bevelled bottoms painted in several shades of grey, ranging in tone from a battleship to a brownish grey or, in the case of a mallard drake and two standard blacks, covered in a dark-brown undercoat sealer. As can be seen from plates 103 and 104, a leather strap held by two nails and anywhere from Vz to I in. from the front, holds a galvanized anchor ring. The strap conceals a dowel, which in turn

102 X-ray of female bufflehead, no. 4, illustrating the cavity (KGH)

103 Bottom of female bluebill, no. 3

104 Bottom of mallard drake, no. 58

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hides the screw holding the head in place. Below the anchoring device and above the mid-mark, Pete carved his initials PMP in bold letters iVs in. high.The substantial depth of the letters, almost Ys in., may well represent a ploy to discourage their removal by potential thieves. From P to P measures 2% to 3% in., and on the basis of tracings I have ascertained that no two signatures are identical; in other words, he must have freely incised each set of initials, having marked out their standard height. The only variations that can be found are on the later mallards and blacks, where Pete left the bottom surface completely blank or carved his initials in a smaller, more superficial format (7/s in. high and 23/s to 2/4 in. wide, with periods); or where he signed (see plate 168) or carved his full name (see plate 174).With the smaller species (the bufflehead), he employed an awl to make a perforated outline of his initials, plus a period after each of the three letters. The butterballs further distinguish themselves by the replacement of the anchor ring and leather strap through a simple U-shaped staple driven into the bottom of the round plug concealing the head screw (see plate 105). Below the initials, in the exact middle of the width measurement and approximately in the middle of the length, there is a hole, frequently outlined by a half-inch circle of red paint applied over the base coat of grey. This is the point into which Pete screwed his deepwater stabilizing weight when hunting on rough water. Under this hole he often (but not always)34 stamped in a letter or letters to indicate the species: BB for bluebill, s for scaup, TGS for the greater scaup, w for whistler, R for redhead, c for canvasback, and M for mallard. Largely, I suspect, because he wished to have the equivalent of a serial number both to identify his birds in the case of loss and to register the carving sequence, he usually stamped a number, half an inch high, into each bottom directly below the species mark. As he explained, "By a CHECK-UP on the NUMBERS STAMPED on the bottom of the decoys I could easily find those that are 'MISSING' and each one

8O THE DECOY MAKER

105 Bottom of female bufflehead, no. 2

bears my initials deeply cut in the bottom" (MF 26 Apr. 1946). Buffleheads have awl markings to denote their own sequence, one through five.35 He did not number the two "super" blacks, three of the standard blacks I have found, the two female mallards, and at least one mallard drake. Near the tail end, Pete made a circular hole into which he fitted a i Ys in. lead weight, held in place by a nail through the centre. He often covered the top of the weight with wood putty to render it flush with the surface of the bottom, and it also received the coat of grey paint. I have examined a canvasback drake, no. 47, with two circular metal weights located at the tail end, one above the other; this clearly represents an exception, dictated by the particular equilibrium requirements of that model. Another variation occurs with female bufflehead no. 2 (plate 105). Once Pete had inserted his customary round weight in the rear bottom, he obviously discovered that the decoy tilted slightly to one side. To offset the imbalance, he added a

makeshift L-shaped metal strip to the bottom edge of the light flank near the tail. The side section of this device he inlaid into the body, while the bottom lies flat to the surface, held in place by two nails. He then painted over this expedient so that it would harmonize with the colour scheme of the bird. While two unsigned standard blacks from the final rig are missing the round weight, they bear the distinct imprint of a rectangular butt hinge measuring 2Ys by il/s in. (see plate 166). Bernie Gates informs me that it was not unusual in the Hamilton area to attach such a hinge at the tail end in order to balance and stabilize the decoy, since the other half, when opened, could be fixed to hang down at a right angle to the bottom surface. Obviously Pete experimented with this method, since the two mallard drakes (nos. 56 and 58) and his solid-body female mallard have the customary round weight but also the unmistakable outline of the identical hinge with plugged screw holes. (The hollow female mallard carries a free-moving weight concealed in the body cavity.)36 The final feature disclosed by a close scrutiny of the bottom is the concealed presence of % in. dowels used to fill the screw holes from the holding block that was attached to the body during construction in order to secure it in a vice for rough carving and raspwork. The barely perceptible dowels line up along a central line marked by an awl from top to bottom and, when visible (the top dowel usually lies hidden beneath the leather strap), are approximately 5 in. apart from centre to centre. Over the years Pete invented an effective weight or anchor system designed to meet the needs of either shallow-water river usage (Grand River) or deep-water lake deployment (Lake Erie). The incident that inspired this method dates back to 4 November 1928, when he lost about a dozen decoys from his rig:

o'clock A.M.We pitched camp at Rockhouse Point, or Burgess Point (The point just east of Port Maitland) [see plate io6].That was Saturday. Early Sunday morning Tom looked out and said,"Pete, things look good; let's have a bite of breakfast and put out the decoys." We had made a portable blind the afternoon before, so were ready, and we hauled it out to the east side of the Point close to the waterline well out from shore. Daybreak was catching up with us when we got the DUX — (a couple of dozen of them) — set out; then a s.w. wind picked up and the ducks were on the move. A couple of other chaps who were farther around the east side of the Point near the little BAY or landing place, got 5 or 6 Bluebills before we even got a shot ...The wind had increased until it was a gale, not cold, however, but the water rose and we had to haul the blind back a couple of times —When we quit shooting Tom picked up about half of the decoys; it was then too rough to venture farther out for the rest and all we could do was watch them drift across Mohawk Bay in the direction of HIGH BANKS. While we were watching, a couple of chaps from around Stromness [village, four miles east of Dunnville] (Tom knew them), one was a Clark, told us exactly where they would drift and said we could find them next morning around the west side of Mohawk Point. Find them! They found them that evening or that night, and I saw a number of them in a flock on Thanksgiving day which was then the FIRST Thursday in November. You are having good luck, I said. (Not much, only one now and again!) Oh yes! I said, see all those decoys, about a dozen of them, the same ones I lost right here about a week ago, and some of you fellows were the boys who told Tom and me exactly where to find them next morning! I'll say no more about it if you will return them to my brother "Al" Pringle within a couple of days.This they promised to do, but although I got after them about it, thenafter, I never got a single one of those stolen decoys. (MF 14 Nov. 1939) That incident led me to make my whole outfit of decoys. It also TAUGHT

The wind and the weather, last Friday, reminded me of the DAY, about ten

me a LESSON about HOW to set out DECOYS along the open water of Lake

years ago, when Tommy Orme (Jack's son) and I got twenty duck before 10

Erie in such a way that they wiu, STAY PUT and also RIDE the seas — right

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io6 "Rockhouse Point Nov 4™, 1928 -Tom Orme & PMP [the assumed photographer]" (PS)

107 Wire coat hook (MF)

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108 Deep-water stabilizing device (MF)

109 Deep-water setup (MF)

no Individual anchor for shallow water (MF)

side up —The LINES with the heavy weight at EACH END, together with the weights suspended from the center-bottom of each DECOY is the answer ... and now I know it WORKS to PERFECTION! (MF 7 Dec. 1946) To this event to which allusions crop up frequently in his correspondence, we no doubt owe the creation of Pete's signed final rig. I remain indebted to Merle Franklin for having furnished more explicit information on how Pete's anchor system functioned. In addition to the round lead weight inserted into the bottom rear of the decoy for balance, he also contrived a rough-water stabilizing device fashioned from a wire coat hook that he straightened out, to which he attached a moulded rectangular lead ballast on the nonthreaded end (plates 107, 108). He screwed this into the hole in the centre of the decoy's bottom. These "suspending ballasts" as he called them, about ten inches long, rendered it virtually impossible for the waves to turn the body upside down. Pete always carried a sufficient number for a rig in a small canvas bag with a drawstring. Plate 109 shows the general setup for open-water shooting on Lake Erie. Each decoy was attached to the "set line" by a two-foot tether with a snap to hook into the bottom ring. These shorter strings were permanently knotted to the main or "set line," which was anchored to the lake bottom at either end by a flat iron. Pete coloured all his lines green to ensure maximum camouflage. In the event of calmwater hunting, where the "suspending ballasts" were not required, each decoy had its own individual anchor, which he moulded himself from lead poured into a wooden form (plate no).The %2 in. braided sash cord (slightly stiffened with green paint, and with small swivel fasteners that snapped onto the ring of the decoy) was wound around the centre part when not in use. Pete stored these weights in a specially made canvas bag with a drawstring top. Pete knew his ducks well: "the wary Black, the elusive Teal, the speedy Pintail, the bunches of Pond Bluebills (RING-NECKED DUCK) and

those tough, fast-and-far-diving Golden eyes that call to inspect the decoys" (MF 15 Feb. 1942). According to Merle, Pete preferred to shoot over his bigger models — bluebills, whistlers, redheads, canvasback, mallards, and blacks — and made smaller species such as bufflehead primarily as gifts for friends. A letter partially substantiates this claim, but it also proves that Pete did in fact put his bufflehead decoys to work:"I'm painting five little Butterball 'DUX,' two little drakes and three little females. They are cuties, and will make nice companions for whistlers, etc., when it comes to the time for late shooting in November. One of the drakes is for the nurse who so kindly looked after the last wants of my brother "Al"37 (MF 13 Aug. 1941).The wear and tear evident on the drake (no. i) and the females, (nos. 2 and 3) strongly suggest that they saw considerable action. Pete definitely had a soft spot for his "cuties" - it was one of the first species he ever carved — and he went to great pains to ensure their authenticity (plates 111—13). By far the most numerous species to populate his final rig are bluebills (nos. 1—25), a not surprising statistic in view of the fact that they 'were, according to Thomas Mcllwraith, "the ducks most frequently met with in Southern Ontario."38 As indicated by their numbering, bluebills were the first ducks Pete elected to carve for his final rig. (The buffleheads nos. 1—5 appeared later, in the early 19405.) A note from Pete's "Daily Journal" of 1929 discloses that he made approximately twenty during the year following the theft on Mohawk Bay: "Party at Robert Kerr's Cottage, PATTEN'S POINT, also called Briar Point, on Lake Erie about 5 MI. w. of Port Maitland ... The Party was the occasion of setting out a flock of my New-Model 'DECOY DUX' (about 20 in all) for the first time.They were made this year, and had been exhibited in the Can. Nat. Ry.Tick office window onYonge Street. It was some, real PARTY!"39 Pete carved both lesser and greater scaup but apparently no ring-necked ducks after 1928, although he included them under the general colloquial classification of bluebills. If one gives credence to

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ill Bufflehead drake, no. i (bill and head repainted)

the content of a card sent to Merle on 21 November 1941, Pete's rig at that date contained no ring-necked ducks: "If you want to try your

112 Female buffleheads, nos. 2 (top) and 3 (CK)

hand at decoy making, I would suggest they be POND BLUEBILLS. I haven't any and they are the most numerous Bluebills around the Grand. I'm making a pattern for solid ones which you can use." As he explained in a subsequent letter, the proposed pond bluebills "would fit in as the best addition to the flock, on a hook-up basis" (MF 9 Dec. 1941). He was referring to a cooperative, combined rig.

bill with tucked-head position and the species stamp TGS (the greater scaup).This drake has a contented but at the same time belligerent look that commands respect; like all Pringle bluebill drakes it has

One should also take into account that Pete produced various grades of bluebills - as he did of all species. In a letter to Merle he commented:"! was offered $150°° spot cash for ONE DOZEN of the Bluebills (NOT my latest models)" (MF 26 Apr. 1946). As a rule of thumb, one may assume that the later the model, the higher the quality, since Pete became increasingly fastidious with age. A particular favourite of mine is no. 25 (plate 114), a drake blue-

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magnificent paint and raspwork on the back to convey the black and white ripple effect of the scapulars (see plate 115). Since the other examples display a BB stamp on the bottom for bluebills or a simple S for scaup, the special designation of this drake, together with its final position in the sequence of its species, sets it apart. Of the twenty-one examples shown here (plates 114—31), plus the signed decorative drake (see plate 57) only five are drakes. Contrary to the usual practice, Pete favoured the female of this species.40 (Also, of the five final bufflehead he carved, two are male.) Apart from the fact that he allowed for the larger bill and bigger body of the

H3 Female bufflehead, no. 4 (CK)

greater scaup,41 the body shape remains the same for both species and both sexes, with only two variations: in one, the wings emerge from the side pockets just before the speculum, Pete's most cus-

or the distinction between the greater and lesser scaup, and they indi-

tomary design; in the other, the side pockets arch from the shoulder coverts up towards the tail and conceal the wing outline, including the speculum, except for the tips of the primaries (design

of which I have been able to locate all eleven: eight females and three drakes. Again, the former are more plentiful than their male counterparts. Five of the females demonstrate what the Guyette and Schmidt

no. 2).The females also present two different treatments of the chest

catalogue calls "rare tucked head position," while the remaining three have low-head positions.The one sold at auction, no. 30, exemplifies

area: those with the high side pocket display a dark brown monotone breast, while those with a speculum have a dark upper breast, which gradually — with painted rowlike feathers — merges with the lower white, an extension of the side pocket. All of these variations in form and colour may simply reflect the diversity that exists in nature, even within the same species, according to age, the season,

cate the artist's ability to think and innovate. The next species to join the final rig were whistlers (nos. 26—36),

the best painted detail, especially in the rowlike breast feathers (see plate 13), while no. 33 has achieved notoriety for its half-closed eyes (see plate 135).As for the three drakes, two are painted to suggest the black and white wing coverts, whereas the third example, a juvenile male, lacks this feature but still sports the distinctive white spot on the front of each

THE DECOY MAKER 85

114 Bluebill drake, no. 25 (CK)

116 Female bluebill, no. i, the first in the series of the final rig, 1929

115 Outstanding vermiculation to back of bluebill drake, 110. 25 (CK)

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uy A bevy of bluebills: (left to right) females, nos. 10, 2, and 6 (CK)

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87

n8 Female bluebill, no. 3

119 Bluebill drake, "To Steve 1936," and female bluebill, no. 4 (CK)

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120 Female bluebill, no. 6 (CK)

i2i Bluebill drake, no. 7, and female bluebill, no. 6 (CK)

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h124 Female bluebills, nos. 23 (left) and n (CK)

122 Two bluebill drakes, nos. 7 (top) and 14 (CK)

123 Female bluebill, no. 9

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125 A fine pair of bluebills, nos. 12 (female) and 25 (CK)

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128 Female bluebill, no. 19

126 Bluebill drake, no. 16, with half-closed eye on this side only

127 Female bluebill, no. 18

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131 Female bluebill, no. 5 (top), and bluebill drake, no. 24 (courtesy of 129 Female bluebills, nos. 20 (left) and 22

Barney Crandell)

cheek to signal his sex. Also worthy of note are two high creases on the two mature males, one on either side of the crown in addition to the customary indentations above and below the eye (see plate 89). One can safely assume that nos. 37-45 designate redheads. (I shall explain later how I arrived at these figures.) So far, seven of the nine have resurfaced, three of which are drakes. The only reference to this species in Pete's letters to Merle is the suggestion: "To add numbers to a stool of BLACKS, etc. you can use some of the "female" Redhead decoys" (20 Sept. 1942). As noted in the introduction, the fate of one of the female redheads, no. 43, has ironically substantiated the substance of this recommendation. Finding its way south of the border, it expe-

130 Female bluebill, no. 21

rienced a reincarnation as a black, in which guise Oliver's and the Ward Museum auctioned it on 2 October 1994 as "a Black Duck from the Detroit River Area." Two knowledgeable collectors who had done their homework and recognized the lot's true provenance acquired the decoy. It is therefore of some interest to compare nos. 42,44,45 (plate 141-3), and 43 (see plate 12), as they are virtually identical in form and

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132 Female whistler, no. 28 (bill repainted)

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133 Female whistlers, no. 32 (left) and no. 26 (CK

differ only in the painting (original versus repaint) and in the obvious signs of continued use, especially evident in the latter. Unfortunately the three redhead drakes (plates 144-6) that have come to light show evidence of substantial active service. I speculate that after Pete's death a hunter acquired the three, along with the female (no. 44), two whistlers (nos. 28 and 29), and three canvasbacks (nos. 50, 54, and 55), and that, having used them extensively, at some point he repainted the bills of all nine birds in olive green. I have managed to examine and photograph all of the canvasbacks, (nos. 46-55). Of the ten, only three are females (plates 14,147, and 149).As described earlier,both sexes, but especially the females, bear witness to Pete's exceptional raspwork and skilful painting to convey feather patterns and various subtle gradations in colour. For the bodies, he employed designs I or 2 (see plate 78), but the heads reveal one unusual characteristic. Carvers have traditionally fashioned their can heads with an almost straight line or a gentle continuous incline from the crown of the head down to the tip of the bill, so

134 Female whistler, no. 29 (bill repainted)

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135 Female whistler, no. 33, with half-closed eyes

136 Whistler drake, no. 31

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T

37 Whistler pair, juvenile drake, no. 34 (left), arid female, no. 27 (CK)

138 Detail on back of whistler drake, no. 36 (CK

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139 Whistler pair, female, no. 32 (left), and drake, no. 31 (CK)

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140 Whistler pair, drake, no. 36 (bottom), and female, no. 35 (CK)

141 Female redhead, no. 42 (CK

142 Female redhead, no. 45 (bill repainted or touched up, most likely by PMP)

THE DECOY MAKER 99

143 Female redhead, no. 44 (bill repainted)

J45 Redhead drake, no. 39 (bill and head repainted)

144 Redhead drake, 110. 38 (bill and head repainted)

146 Redhead drake, no. 40 (bill repainted)

IOO THE DECOY MAKER

147 Female canvasback, no. 48 (CK)

149 Female canvasback, no. 47 (left), and canvasback drake, no. 51

148 Canvasback drake, no. 50 (bill repainted)

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IOI

152 Canvasback drake, no. 54, second body type (bill and head repainted)

150 Canvasback drake, no. 52 (CK)

151 Canvasback drake, no. 53 (bill repainted)

153 Canvasback drake, no. 55, second body type (bill and head repainted)

102 THE DECOY MAKER

that in profile the forehead moves imperceptibly into the bill without any transition, as is the case with live birds. With some of Pete's cans, notwithstanding the evenly flowing line of his pattern, the foreheads have a more abrupt downward curve, which takes off at a different angle where the bill begins, producing a silhouette more reminiscent of a redhead with a longer bill (see plate 72). This deviation is all the more remarkable when one consults the sketch Pete drew as a model for the canvasback, which mirrors the real-life prototype quite closely (plate 155). Pete's hunting buddies often expressed their high regard for his work. For instance, Merle wrote to Pete on 22 Nov. 1940: "I've seen a lot of decoys but that Mallard up in Tom Scott's window is the tops. I don't think I've ever passed the store without stopping to admire it. It's a work of art and something for you to be proud of'When Pete offered his two younger companions, Merle Franklin and Harry Freestone, 154 Canvasback pair, drake, no. 49 (top), and female, no. 48 (CK)

a duck from his rig, to his surprise, both men opted for a mallard drake (see plates 156 and 157) :42 Pete's comments on this are revealing: I'm quite glad to know for shure that you and [Harry] do not agree in regard to your CHOICE of my Mallard Drake decoys. Harry's CHOICE is the broader one with short neck and more upturned tail. Your CHOICE is the alert looking "old rascal," the one that caught your eye and your fancy when it was in Tom Scott's window. I'm glad that both you and Harry will, eventually, get the Mallard Drake of your CHOICE. - One good thing about it is that I'll not have to judge like Solomon. (MF 19 Mar. 1944) I do well remember, Harry, that by loaning you a MALLARD DRAKE decoy duck to be used as a model, our friendship arose. Perhaps for that reason your choice of all my "DUX," for a keepsake, is the SAME Mallard Drake. I'm still in a quandry, however, as to its identity (I have 2 Mallard Drakes; one is a bit wider [% of an inch] with tail more turned up, and somewhat shorter neck — a very con-

155 PMP'S drawing of a canvasback, "slightly larger than life" (CK)

tented looking decoy duck, and it seems to me it was THAT ONE I loaned to

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156 Mallard drake, no. 56, Merle Franklin's choice (CK)

158 Together again, mallard drakes, nos. 56 (left) and 58

157 Mallard drake, no. 58, wide-body model, Harry Freestone's choice

159 Hollow female mallard, no number (split bill) (CK)

104 THE DECOY MAKER

you at that time.) The other one belongs to an earlier date of making - made I think at the same time as the female Mallard decoy. The one I had in my

160 Bottom of hollow female mallard (CK)

office so long was the FIRST MENTIONED; the mallard duck (female) is the only one shown in the c.N.Ry. window. I have another which I remodelled afterwards, but not so good and not a mate. — I want to make sure, Harry, which of the two drakes is your heart's desire before I write my will. (HF i Jan. 1944)

These letters single out at least two different types of mallard drakes and, in both cases, the impression Pete strove to convey in one of his carvings.43 Harry was also to inherit a female mallard (plate 161), and as can be deduced from the above letter, Pete had put this duck on display in the window of the CNR ticket office, considering it the better of the two he had carved, even though the "Remodeled" version (plates 159, 160) is one of the few hollow decoys he ever made.44 Harry's

161 Solid female mallard, no number, gift to Harry Freestone

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IO5

162 A remarkable mallard pair, solid female and drake, no. 58

solid female mallard, with its exquisite head and exceptional feather

and said, "This would have been my choice," and pointed out features that

painting and carving to the breast and side pockets, has to be one

weren't apparent to me. I only know that the one I picked out looked the

of Pete's finest creations, in the same class as the two "super "blacks.

most like a real duck, out of the whole rig, so I stayed with it. After Pete

This mallard and its mate, the wide-bottomed drake (plate 157), may

died I added it to my father's rig, and my cousin Wally and I used it year

well represent Pete's most outstanding pair (see plate 162). Merle,

after year, until our sons took over the hunting.They used it for years, until

who did eventually gain possession of his selection, has written for

paper-mache, rubber and later plastic decoys became available, and it was

me the following short history:

retired with about three dozen Ken Anger decoys plus half a dozen others that my father made in 1930, and a basketful of Hamilton & Toronto

Initials PMP carved in bottom and 56 stamped in. The number meant that

decoys assembled over the years.

it was the 56* decoy carved, and not the year as many believe. While sit-

Ken Anger borrowed this decoy about three times over the years, and

ting in a blind in the Upper Grand River, Pete asked me which decoy I

always brought it back in a couple of weeks, and the influence of Pete's

liked best in the rig. I picked out my choice and he said, "It's yours," and

decoy can be seen in the changes in shape that evolved in Ken's decoys.45

gave it to me after we had picked up the decoys.Then he held another up

This decoy has a willow head, cedar body and glass eyes, side pocket out-

I O 6 THE DECOY MAKER

lined, carved speculum and primaries. Back in the 5051 glued back a couple of chips on top of the tail.The head and necks show some excellent rasp work. Original paint with in-use wear on the back. I cut the galvanized anchor ring off, when the decoy was retired to the shelf.

From Merle's account of how he acquired his Pringle mallard, it is not difficult to determine what Pete held in his hand when he declared, "This would have been my choice." Whether he was describing, in his early diaries, hunting trips on Georgian Bay and Lake Superior, or whether he was writing letters addressed to Merle (particularly the one narrating his first shoot over his own decoys at the turn of the century), one species of duck ruled supreme in Pete's estimation and affection: "the wary Blacks." Their superiority has long been recognized by hunters and ornithologists, and they have always enjoyed a special status with decoy carvers in Ontario, especially in the first half of the twentieth century. "When we think of ducks in Ontario" wrote W.Austin Peters,"most of us think first of His Royal Highness the Blackduck. Common as he is, and dull in plumage as compared to many others, he is our most desirable and, to many, our most beautiful waterfowl."46 Similarly, Francis H. Kortright stated: "The Black Duck is the most sagacious, wary and wildest of all ducks, and even in captivity it retains its shyness and distrust of man. When the shooting season commences the locally bred young birds are not difficult to take but even they soon learn their lesson and become as wild as the wildest. They are distrustful of decoys and their keen eyes soon detect the slightest movement of the hunter behind the blind; the gunner must exercise every caution to be successful."47 Edward Forbush, to whose Birds of Massachusetts Pete frequently referred, made similar observations back in 1925: "The Black Duck is the wildest of them all ... and he who would stalk these sagacious birds successfully must be as wily as a serpent."48 And finally Joel Barber recommended in his Wild

Fowl Decoys: "In painting decoys for black duck, and other wary species, it is desirable to exercise more care."49 Pete too appreciated the high intelligence of blacks and the need to exercise more care in reproducing their likeness. Since he particularly enjoyed matching wits with them, he sought every opportunity to increase his knowledge of their habits and their physical appearance at various stages of their life cycle. He told Merle:"! envy your opportunity for studying the pair of nesting BLACKS; you will probably see the young along with them by now. Of all ducks the BLACKS are credited as being the most wary, having the keenest sight and hearing. Nevertheless it has been proven here at Sunnyside [an area of Toronto], during the winter, and in other instances such as yours, that REALLY it isn't MAN they fear; it's the man with a GUN" (MF 16 June 1941).5° As noted earlier, Pete's studies of the birds included visits to the Royal Ontario Museum: Yesterday when I returned the book [Birds of Massachusetts by E.H. Forbush] I got talking with Bailie and another ornithologist,Thos. M. Shortt about Black Duck. Edward Howe Forbush describes TWO SPECIES — but there has always been controversy about the distinction — Black Duck and RedLegged Black Duck (LEGS CORAL-RED). These are called "Northern," or "Labrador" Blacks by many duck hunters. I asked whether there had been a definite ruling on the distinction since 1928 when the book was published and they said yes; it has finally been proven that the species is all ONE, and that the coral-red legs occur in fully mature birds, so THAT'S THAT! Mr Shortt has written a preface on this subject but it is not in print yet; however, I can read his typed copy when I call to see him again.

Shortt did the illustrations for Kortright's The Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America. It appeared in its first edition in December 1942 and contains Shortt's same feather drawings in the second American edition (May 1943) as well as a detailed summary of the

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163 PMP'S copy ofThomas M. Shortt's illustrations of black duck feathers

red-legged black duck versus the common black duck debate.51 It is surely a mark of respect and trust that a notable ornithologist was willing to divulge these findings to an amateur some months before the actual publication of the book. Since blacks and bluebills predominated in the Dunnville area at the turn of the century, it is not surprising that most of the pre-1928 unsigned decoys attributed to Pringle are blacks. (Six have come to my attention to date, but only two justify an association with the Pringle name.) As Steve Maslowski has observed, "At one time, mallards were relatively scarce in the black duck's range in the rocky, forested eastern third of the continent. But we have altered that habitat favorably for the mallard, and physically increased its numbers there through stocking programs over the past decade. As a result, the mallard is now firmly established in the black duck's neighborhood."52 When in the early 19308 the greenheads began to invade the marshes along the Grand River, Pete turned in response to carving his mallard decoys. A letter addressed to George Tinsley dated 20 September 1936 refers to "my flock of 8 Blacks and 3 Mallards." There was a noticeable tendency among the carvers of the period not to produce many female mallards (hence their relative rarity) because the hunter could always set out blacks (which are similar in colouration, shape, and size) as suitable replacements. Moreover, since much hunting is conducted at first light, when decoys appear

IO8 THE DECOY MAKER

only as dark silhouettes, colour or pattern is less crucial than shape and size. Pete most likely adopted this substitute strategy, for he made only two female mallards but at least four drakes. Moreover, when he came to designing his silhouettes in the early 19408, he combined blacks and mallards in the same trio — indeed, one face would depict a black, the opposite side a mallard — in recognition of the gregarious mallards that seek to socialize with their shallow-water companions. "The association," Maslowski notes, "often goes beyond mere companionship — hybridization is not uncommon ...Evidence indicates that mallards may be genetically swamping the prized black duck, with which it produces fertile offspring. The black duck risks extinction by simply breeding itself out of existence."53 Ironically, Pete's silhouettes may well have foretold the genetic fate of his dear blacks. Of the eight blacks in Pete's rig in 1936,1 have been able to trace three to their current owners.54 Two of them, a high and a low head, he gave to Bruce Beattie, the proprietor of an advertising and printing shop in downtown Toronto. Beattie was an incurable collector whose shop resembled a second-hand store specializing in antique guns and old books. Pete consulted him on matters pertaining to hunting, including the legal issues surrounding the ownership of blinds, and held him in sufficiently high esteem to present him with two of his favourite decoys from the final rig (plates 164, 165).55 This pair clearly belong to his best efforts as far as the standard models are concerned: meticulous raspwork, well-shaped heads and sculptured bodies, and beautifully blended painting. However, a few noteworthy irregularities come to light, especially if one turns to their bottoms (see plate 166). As well as having the usual scribe marks, width and lengthwise, they have an oval measuring 6Y2 by 4*72 in. at the extremes — a decorative feature, since the two blacks are solid. There are no deep-water anchor holes - not unusual, since blacks are puddle ducks — but also no round lead

164 Unsigned, high-head black, gift to Bruce Beattie

165 Unsigned, low-head black, gift to Bruce Beattie

weights at the tail end. In their place, one can detect the unmistakable outline of the rectangular butt hinge. Most unusual of all is the complete lack of any identifying marks on the dark brown sealercoated surface — no initials, number, or species letter. The third black, which I have been unable to photograph, has only the PMP signature in the smaller, more superficial format; and the "gadwall hen" attributed to Ken Anger — but almost certainly a Pringle black - also bears his signature (see plate 7). The foreheads of the two shown here have the same F-shaped rasp marks as the "super" blacks, in contrast to the more parallel rasped lines on the mallards. The underside of the bill shows a straight line where the chin meets the bill, although on the low head a F-shaped groove has been carved but not respected in the painting. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the two blacks date from approximately the same period in which Pete fashioned his mallards, since the size and shape, including the side pocket outline (design 3), windpipe, three head creases, and upturned tail, are virtually identical.

166 Bottom of unsigned high-head black

THE DECOY MAKER

IO9

167 PMP'S own "super" black (CK)

I have already remarked upon Pete's excessive preoccupation with capturing the many nuances of colour involved in painting the "feather arrangement" for his black decoys.This obsession grew out of his conviction that blacks were becoming so wily and elusive that a new generation of birds was called for. He called them "super decoys":"I'm anxious to get what is needed so that I can go ahead and finish the two super decoys for Blacks" (MF 12 Aug. 1941).5