Walking Back in Time in a Forest of History
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
OUR STORIES IN STONE PART 13 Walking back in time in a forest of history CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN The grounds of Rideau Hall contain more than 10,000 trees, many of which were planted by such notables names as King George VI, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, Vladimir Putin and Princess Diana. To traipse among the trees at Rideau Hall is to revisit history: from wars and revolutions to the passing of kings and the rise and fall of states BY ROBERT SIBLEY when she and Lord Aberdeen departed tractor on the construction of the Rideau Canada in 1898 after five years in Rideau Canal, had built for his family. There was ady Aberdeen was not im- Hall, the lady had unkind words to say much grousing. Toronto Globe editor pressed. The wife of the Gover- about the place. George Brown called it “a miserable lit- nor General of Canada, Lady Ish- Rideau Hall, she said, was a “shabby tle house.” bel Gordon, was well known for old Government House put away That house has become, after much Lher social conscience — she amongst its clump of bushes.” modification, one of Ottawa’s showpiece founded the Victorian Order of Nurses Her sentiments were not uncommon. monuments. Or so I conclude after an af- for Canada, after all — as well as her so- In 1868, the Dominion government paid ternoon strolling along the pathways and cial savoir faire. Her parties at Rideau $82,000 for the property and the two- among the trees of the 79-acre property. Hall were the highlight of the season for storey stone villa that lumber baron I make that claim with the enthusiasm turn-of-the-20th-century Ottawans. Thomas McKay, a Scottish immigrant of an embarrassed convert. I had not So it comes as a bit of a surprise that, who made his fortune as the main con- thought to include Rideau Hall on my ngs, of course, including an American beech planted by former Israeli presi- dent Moshe Katsev in 2002, and, most recently, the Canadian Hemlock chosen by Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Em- press Michiko during their July visit to Ottawa. They chose the hemlock be- cause it grows both in Japan and in Canada. Of course, the trees get bigger the deeper you walk into the wood. Remem- ber, you’re walking back into history. In- deed, I find myself remembering bygone geopolitics — the Cold War, Vietnam, the Six-Day War, the Berlin Wall. I half expect to see the spectral figures of long- dead politics skulking in the bushes. I settle for paying my respects to the splendid sugar maple planted by that greatest of cold warriors, president Ronald Reagan, in 1981. Setting recogni- tion of China ahead of Watergate, I try to think kind thoughts at Richard Nixon’s red oak, planted in 1972, two years before scandal uprooted him from office. I wish I had a dog with me as I contemplate Bill “define sex for me” Clinton’s 1995 sugar CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN maple. tour of the national capital’s monuments. of the world. To traipse among the trees When I find the huge red oak planted But, after a morning looking at sculp- is to revisit history — from wars and rev- by president John Kennedy in 1961, I re- tures and cairns along Sussex Drive — olutions to the passing of kings and the member the news photos of Kennedy the Hungarian Monument on Green Is- rise and fall of states. And so, for a couple and former prime minister John Diefen- land commemorating the refugees who of hours, I trundled through the small baker standing beside a scrawny sapling. fled to Canada after the Russian invasion forest, walking back in time. Kennedy, so the story goes, hurt his back in 1956, and Reflection, the memorial to Admittedly, the first trees aren’t neces- shovelling the dirt, and his wife, Jacque- Canadian aid workers in Rideau Falls sarily impressive. That’s because many line Kennedy, blamed Diefenbaker. Park, for instance — I ended up at the are of recent deposit. The sugar maple The heart of the ceremonial wood has main gate. After 25 years in Ottawa, I had planted by former United Nations secre- to be the trees planted by visiting royalty: never seen the grounds. That lack had to tary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali in from Queen Juliana of the Netherlands remedied, so enter I did, and I was in- 1995 looks decidedly spindly. Ditto for in 1952 to Prince Charles and Lady Diana stantly delighted. the Ohio buckeye marking the 2000 visit in 1983. Of course, Queen Elizabeth II has The grounds of Rideau Hall contain of Nigerian president Olusegun Obasan- several trees to mark her visits, includ- more than 10,000 trees, some of which jo. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah ing a red maple planted in 1957 and an- predate Confederation. Most are merely Saleh’s sugar maple, planted in 2000, other, a bur oak, to commemorate her trees (if the word “merely” can be ap- looks lost beneath the larger trees. Golden Jubilee in 2002. plied to a tree), but a few serve the mon- Some trees come with familiar names. Nicely juxtaposed to Her Majesty’s umental function of remembering peo- There’s former French president 2002 tree is a spectacular red oak and an ple and events. François Mitterrand’s bur oak, planted in equally splendid sugar maple planted by Starting in 1906, when Prince Arthur, 1987. His tree is a close neighbour of a her parents, King George VI and Queen a grandson of Queen Victoria and a fu- sugar maple planted in 1990 by Zimbab- Elizabeth, the Queen Mum, during their ture governor general, planted a red oak, we’s president, Robert Mugabe. 1939 royal visit. visiting princes, presidents and prime There doesn’t seem to be any ideologi- When I’m finally treed out, I retreat to ministers have been invited to grab shov- cal or moral distinctions when it comes a cracked and lichen-stained marble els and plant ceremonials tree on the to tree sites; you know, one place for dic- bench in a small grove below Rideau grounds. To date, there are about 100 of tators, another for democrats; one for Hall where I can watch the tourists these ceremonial trees, mostly sugar good guys, another for the baddies. All traipsing through this small forest of his- maples, red maples, red oaks and bur saplings are equal, it seems. tory. I conjure Lady Aberdeen among oaks. I find the pin oak planted in 1990 by them, coming my way through the trees You encounter the ceremonial trees Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the to ask what I’m doing in her favourite within a few metres of the front gate. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. spot. They’re marked with plaques to indicate Nearby is former Russian president I think I’ll ask her if she’s impressed by who did the planting and when. Vladimir Putin’s smaller sugar maple, what time and history have made of her The trees encapsulate Canada’s politi- planted during a 2000 visit. Not far away, bush garden. cal history during the past century, and, I spot Nelson’s Mandela’s sugar maple, arguably, serve as a symbolic testament planted in 1998. Robert Sibley is a senior writer for the to the country’s place among the nations There have been more recent planti- Citizen. 2.