On a John Galt Day jaunt to the Guelph Civic Museum, I stopped off in the gift shop. While browsing, I came across a slim volume called A Brief Sketch of the Early History of Guelph by one Robert Thompson (a first year settler). The $1.50 price tag wasn't enough to keep me away, and being fresh from a lecture on John Galt (Guelph's founder), my bibliophilia had no trouble taking over.
Thompson's account (written in 1877) mixes lists and anecdotes. The lists are his way of describing the town, its amenities, inhabitants, and placement in contemporary Upper Canada (check). The anecdotes splash colour over this canvas. Amid those colours, there's comedy to be found.
From early morning shin-steppings, to a debate about what should be featured at a fair, the comedy is quintessentially Scottish. However, the one story Thompson sets up as a real knee-slapper (an account of a Doctor Dunlop's saying the newest settlers need to thin down) falls flat. You just had to be there, I guess.
Returning to John Galt, if you want to check out his bibliography in a version that features full digital copies of his works, click here.
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