The “Whittler” (Le doleur) By Jacinthe Nadeau

For example, in the morning, he can go for a walk, work for two to three hours, have lunch, be back to work, have a little rest, go out to chop wood, be back for supper and finally to work again before he goes to bed. This is his daily routine.

A few people give Mr. Morneault a hand. For instance, his son Guy has helped paint some of his birds. As for his daughter Marie- Mai, she helps with many little things, like the grocery and her father’s personal errands, etc....

The whittler or "doleur" cannot say how much time he has spent on any of his projects because he works on many different pieces at the same time.

Mr. Morneault loves to whittle objects that remind him of his past, sixty years ago. He This paper is about a man who distinguishes tries to remember them as they were then. himself from other men by doing something really original: he whittles! The French term "doler" means: "To thin or level with a sharp tool." Mr. Alfred Morneault does not use the verb "carve" to describe his activity because this expression was not known to Madawaska citizens around 40 years ago. Since the term "doler" is understood by everybody, he has decided to keep on using it.

He "dole" (whittles), and he also writes stories about the past or some other subject matter. When he remembers a certain object and CHAPTER I its approximate size, he uses a scale (one inch to a foot, for instance) to reproduce the object as it A. His working method really was.

In the basement of his house, Mr. Morneault works at his masterpieces. Every day of the week he works, but never enough to get overtired. He feels that his hobby does not require more patience than any other work. Since he likes this kind of work and that he can save wood which would otherwise be lost, he spends a lot of energy at his projects.

In short, this scale is designed to change the regular size of an object and reproduce it in miniature.

Of course, he also uses other electrical tools like sanders and power saws; however, most of the work is made with a pocketknife. As I mentioned in the first part of the chapter, his son Guy helps him paint his work. When Mr. Morneault speaks about his work, he uses the term "foot" constantly. A "foot" for the whittler does not express the size of an object rather it has to do with the width of the board on which his works rest.

CHAPTER II

A. His story books

Mr. Morneault buys his own wood. Mr. Alfred Morneault does not only Since he began, he has bought approximately whittles, but he also writes short stories and tales 1200 b.f. For instance, for one eagle only, it took and about the language. He has to his 40 b.f. of wood. credit four story books which include 197 colored drawings he created himself. When Mr. Morneault starts a new work, he creates a rough shape of what he has in mind In all, 2000 pages of creation. To write and leaves it on a shelf for a while. Then, the his story books, he was helped by two reliable following day, he works a little at it again. persons: Mr. Pit Soucy and Mr. Jos Lévesque, according to Mr. Morneault. But the person from B. His tools whom he received the greatest assistance is, without any doubt, his grandmother, Madeleine The definition of the word "doler" is to Saucier, daughter of Germain Saucier from "thin or level with a sharp tool". The cutting tool Caron-Brook. Madeleine was married to Paul used by Mr. Morneault is a regular pocketknife. Caron, a native of Lac Baker. Obviously, he has been using many different ones since a lot of them were worn out in the This lady told him about her way of life process. He also uses a wood chisel for trimming around the 1850s and even about the and an axe to cut down the size of a wood block recollections of her own father at the beginning before using a wood chisel. of the 19th century, i.e. when the first settlers arrived in the Madawaska region. "Harsource ": well; "Va cri": go fetch; At first, the Madawaska area included "Ienque ": only; the southern part of the province of , "Grément ": some thing of poor value; northern Maine and north-east , "lara ": you will have it. and finally all the places where our ancestors settled. C. His story books

Here are some of the facts reported by Mr Morneault also put on paper tales he Madeleine to Mr. Morneault: " Without the remembered like "La charpente", which he had Indians, some of our ancestors would not have difficulty completing. It took him two or three survived", or "We traveled with boats because months before he could remember some of the there were no roads”; "During the years of food stories he wanted to write. He remembered also shortage, It was necessary for us to feed tree thirty-five old songs for which he wrote the branches to the farm animals"; "One summer, words. He gave these songs to Mr. Albert hundreds of passenger pigeons, a sort of wild Morneault and to Gaétanne Breton because they pigeon now extinct, came down in our fields and were also collecting songs and they had a lot ate all the grain."; "It took approximately one more than he had. week to go from Rivière-du-Loup to using the portage"; "Our neighbor D. His works Salomon Beaulieu earned either a chance teapot or a dozen herring for a day’s work in the Mr. Morneault has completed many timberland"; " We had to clip the cattle to make masterpieces up to now. Among others, he fabric from cattle hair"; "we would wear some completed over six hundred birds. According to kind of old togs around our feet by way of him, birds are masterpieces which demonstrate boots"; "We used 'Biocktrees', trees used to keep the power of God and the undeniable proof that cords straight along the road." our Creator worked with love.

B. His books about the "brayon" language He sold many of his works to a museum in Ottawa. The collection sold represented life Besides his short story books, Mr. during the old days in the Madawaska region. Morneault wrote books about the "brayon" He sold the complete collection at which he had language. Two are completed and a third one worked over a five-year period for $15,000. The will be about 500 pages in all. He asks sale price included the cost of lumber, somebody to help him out with the spelling and electricity, etc. The truth is he wanted to make grammar mistakes as he is not competent room in his cellar for the next collection he had enough to write without mistakes. been working on. It was very difficult for him to let go the two eagles and the porcupine he used Here are some examples of what Mr. to have with him at home. It was like losing a Morneault reports in his books: friend. Speaking of porcupines, Mr. Morneault "ameuiller: preparing a cow to calve"; created the one chosen as the emblem of "Bijouette": something that is not lined up; Madawaska by La Foire Brayonne. A "National "braque": idiot, stupid; Geographic" reporter has estimated the value of "Bardaceux ": disturbs by making noise; this masterpiece at $10,000; it required 6000 "croquet-morts": undertakers; toothpicks and two hundred hours of work to be "Consomption": tuberculosis; completed. "cabochon": stubborn; "Fardoche ": old shoe; Here is how the newspaper Le "Fronto ": the remote end of a farmland; Madawaska reported this event in 1979: "Nine "Gorgoton": part of the body situated under the sculptors were in competition but the work of chin; Mr. Alfred Morneault, a Verret resident, expressed best the 'identité brayonne'. The source of wealth. He works with the hope that judges based their selection on the traditional young people will not forget the legacy of technique used by Mr. Morneault and on the previous generations. representation of the ’ origins. He was attributed a $250 prize and this money is to be Finally, Mr. Morneault leaves us with used toward his many new projects." Hélène the following advice: "Do not speak. Listen to Nault, Le Madawaska, 25-7-79) increase your knowledge with other people’s knowledge."

SOURCES

Interview with Mr. Alfred Morneault. Biography: Mr. Alfred Morneault is the son of Maxime Morneault and Annie Caron. He was born in Lac Baker in 1902. He got married in 1920 to Flavie Nadeau, daughter of Honoré Nadeau and Sophie Morneault. The couple had 10 children and nine of them are still alive today. He is a Verret resident. Mr. Morneault Thérèse Martin in the same newspaper often pointed out that "Confidence is a thing reported on August 22 1979: "Mr. Morneault’s which people do not use enough ". talent is only beginning to show up. He keeps on reviving the life of his local area through his works and his greatest desire is to give to his fellow Brayons this rich inheritance."

Mr. Morneault was interviewed by Radio- and the recorded video was broadcast during the summer of 1979 as part of the program "Les Ateliers". He taught this was a good experience because the interviewers were sympathetic and the cameras were not a bother.

He has enjoyed many positive experiences with La Foire Brayonne and he believes this cultural activity is a real reawakening for all Madawaska citizens as it brings them back to the sources of the past.

Mr. Morneault was involved for five years with scouting: "Together, he says, we made a lot of things; if we trust young people, they will not disappoint us".

CONCLUSION

As far as I am concerned, Mr. Morneault is an extraordinary man. He could watch T.V. all day like many others, but he knows that if he doesn’t keep on with his work, the whole population of the Madawaska county will lose a