Shiners, Brawls and the Naughty Side of Sensible Canada in Ottawa, City of Sin

Tuesday, Nov 12, 2012. Shiners, brawls and the naughty side of sensible Canada in Ottawa, city of sin By Sian Griffiths Canada is often seen as something of a goody-two-shoes nation, and nowhere more so than its capital, Ottawa. But underneath the clean-living capital’s modern image lurks a much filthier and more sordid past. A fascinating guide to this historic underbelly comes courtesy of the Naughty Ottawa Pub Walk, started by Glen Shackleton in the Nineties. In the early 19th Century, Ottawa was known as Bytown and was a rough logging community notorious for its gang violence. But a booming British shipbuilding industry saw its fortunes change and it rose to become the world’s largest exporter of lumber. In 1857, this rough-and-ready town of thugs and scoundrels became Canada’s unlikely capital. ‘Ottawa had a well-earned reputation for being a city of sin,’ says our guide, Drew McFadyen. ‘It was one of the most dangerous cities in North America.’ Our dozen-strong group ambles to Parliament Hill, where Drew regales us with tales of one of Canada’s founding fathers and its first Prime Minister, the Scottish-born Sir John A. MacDonald. A heavy drinker, he would disappear for days or even weeks at a time on binges. Once he was so drunk that he vomited while making a speech to Parliament. At Major’s Hill Park, where the Rideau Canal meets the majestic Ottawa River, we are taken back further in time to the 1830s, when completion of the canal had left many Irish immigrants out of work. Armed with clubs, knives and swords, unemployed Irish gangs known as The Shiners clashed with the French-Canadians who dominated the only other industry in town – logging. After a stop at the bustling Earl of Sussex pub for a pint, we visit the heart of the Byward Market. Now home to many chic restaurants, the area was once known as the Queen of Pleasures and was Bytown’s red-light district. With the brothels and prostitutes came drunk and rowdy clients. The men would terrorise local residents by banging on doors demanding whisky. Brawls were common and as there was no police force, soldiers were called when things got too rough. A short distance away is the scene of the Stony Monday riot of 1849. Sparked by the controversial visit of a reforming Governor General, the riot saw 3,000 people – more than a third of Bytown’s population – break into local armouries to steal canons and muskets. The bloodbath ended only when a small British military detachment stepped in. Shackleton’s tour ends at the Chateau Lafayette, Ottawa’s most famous drinking establishment. ‘The Laff’ has been serving alcohol to rabble-rousers for 160 years and now serves the By Wash Bullet, a drink named after the stinking, murky waterway that ran through the market before sewers were built. Across the canal, Bytown Museum reveals more of Ottawa’s colourful past, including the story of French- Canadian boxer and logger Joseph Montferrand. He is said to have fought his way through 150 Shiners waiting for him on a bridge by hurling them into the raging torrent below. Then there was Mother McGuinty, who ran a tavern popular with Irish labourers. She might have had a ‘winning smile’ – but her reputation came from her ability to land a good punch, whether to restore peace or ensure a bill was settled Buzzing: Nightlife in the Byward Market - orginally the town's red-light district - and still lively .Citizens weren’t allowed to carry firearms. Undeterred, they armed themselves with truncheons instead, and used them to mete out a brutal form of local justice. But it wasn’t just the underclasses living dangerously. A painting of Lady Aberdeen reveals her sitting lady-like, while ‘timber sliding’. Popular among the upper classes, this involved a perilous descent down the waterfalls of the fast-flowing Ottawa River in a raft or a boat. A thrillseeking Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) enjoyed a timberslide in 1860 – dressed in top hat and tails. The museum also houses a sculpture of the hand of murdered politician D’Arcy McGee. Because he was shot in the head, it wasn’t possible to fashion a death mask of his face. Shackleton is a past president of Bytown Museum, and says 19th Century Ottawa reminds him of America’s Old West. ‘Shady characters moved here because they thought they could do what they wanted,’ he says. For anyone still hungry for more gory history, his Ghosts And Gallows tour takes in old Carleton Jail, now an internationally famous youth hostel. Much of the old jail is still intact, including the cells and a noose. It was here that Patrick Whelan, pleading his innocence to the end, was hanged for the murder of fellow Irishman D’Arcy McGee. Five thousand people travelled through blizzards to watch him drop through the trap door. For Shackleton, these stories put a human face on Ottawa’s history. ‘Nobody’s perfect,’ he says. .

Load more