Showing posts with label Cavendish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cavendish. Show all posts

September 24, 2024

The Green Gables Diary Website

Screencapture of The Green Gables Diary website

This past summer, a website called The Green Gables Diary launched. It is a digital exhibition that accompanies the new book Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern. The book tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family, who owned the farm that Myrtle's cousin L.M. Montgomery based "Green Gables" upon. Once a simple farm, Myrtle's home became a tourist destination when it became known as the inspiration behind Anne of Green Gables. Eventually, Myrtle had to leave her home when Parks Canada decided to form a national park in Cavendish with Green Gables as its centerpiece.

Myrtle kept a diary from 1924 to 1954, providing a historical record of what her life was like living in "the most famous house in Canada." The Green Gables Diary contains digital scans and a transcription of her entire diary, as well as photographs and introductory materials to learn more about Myrtle Webb, her family, and the history of Green Gables.


Official Website:
The Green Gables Diary

Image Credit:
Screencapture of The Green Gables Diary website.

Reference:
MacEachern, Alan. (2024). The Green Gables Diary. Retrieved from: https://greengablesdiary.ca/.

Purchase and read Becoming Green Gables by Alan MacEachern:

Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern

Created September 24, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

September 11, 2024

New Memorial Bench Placed at The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home on World Suicide Prevention Day

Memorial Bench at The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day


Yesterday, a memorial bench was placed at The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day. You can watch a video of the unveiling at CBC News. Several people are interviewed, including Philip Smith (former chair of the L.M. Montgomery Institute), Julia Ramsay (Canadian Mental Health Association - Prince Edward Island Chapter), and David Macneill of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Homestead Site.

The bench was placed in recognition of those we have lost to suicide, and it provides a place for reflection and healing. It is located under the old apple tree that Montgomery wrote about in her journals and next to the homestead where she grew up. L.M. Montgomery died by suicide at the age of 67. She and her husband both faced mental challenges throughout their lives.

Inscribed on the bench is a quote from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery: "Dear old world, you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."

It is a fitting memorial at a meaningful location. I hope the bench promotes more openness and communication about suicide.


Image credit:
Screenshot of CBC News Video.

Reference:
Bench at L.M. Montgomery homestead unveiled on World Suicide Prevention Day. (2024, September 10). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6505973

Created September 11, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

August 15, 2024

The Island Hymn

Photograph of handwritten pages of The Island Hymn by L.M. Montgomery at the Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

In 1908, before she was famous for writing Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery penned the patriotic song "The Island Hymn" for her home province, Prince Edward Island. Today, the song is the island's official provincial anthem.

The creation of the hymn was inspired by Professor Harry Watts from the Charlottetown School of Music. He envisioned a patriotic song that could capture the spirit of the island and invited Montgomery, already admired for her poetry and short stories, to write the lyrics. At the time, she was also serving as the organist at the Cavendish Presbyterian Church. Montgomery took up the task, crafting a three-stanza hymn set to the tune of "God Save the King" just months before the publication of her soon-to-be international bestseller, Anne of Green Gables. Her lyrics were set to music composed by Lawrence W. Watson.

Today, L.M. Montgomery's handwritten lyrics can be viewed at the Green Gables Heritage Place along with correspondence related to the hymn.

In 2010, over a century later, "The Island Hymn" was officially declared the provincial anthem of Prince Edward Island. A French version of the song was written by Raymond J. Arsenault. The song now stands as a timeless symbol of her love for and pride in the island.

L.M. Montgomery's lyrics are as follows:

The Island Hymn

Fair Island of the sea,
We raise our song to thee,
The bright and blest;
Loyally now we stand
As brothers, hand in hand,
And sing God save the land
We love the best.

Upon our princely Isle
May kindest fortune smile
In coming years;
Peace and prosperity
In all her borders be,
From every evil free,
And weakling fears.

Prince Edward Isle, to thee
Our hearts shall faithful be
Where'er we dwell;
Forever may we stand
As brothers, hand in hand,
And sing God save the land
We love so well.


World of Anne Shirley's Anne of Green Gables Travel Guide Banner


Official Websites:

Provincial Anthem. Government of Prince Edward Island.

Location:
Green Gables Heritage Place
PE-13, Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada

Map of Green Gables Heritage Place by OpenStreetMap

Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Provincial Anthem. Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved from: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/provincial-anthem


Created August 15, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

June 26, 2024

Royal Canadian Mint Unveils New Coin Celebrating L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables

Royal Canadian Mint Unveils New Coin Celebrating L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables

Today, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a new $1 coin that celebrates L.M. Montgomery as Canada's literary icon. The unveiling took place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island at the Green Gables Heritage Place, the location that inspired L.M. Montgomery's most famous novel Anne of Green Gables. The release celebrates the 150th anniversary of L.M. Montgomery's birth in 1874.

This coin is the first circulation coin to honor an author. The new loonie will be entering circulation across Canada tomorrow June 27, 2024.

Royal Canadian Mint Unveils New Coin Celebrating L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables

The Royal Canadian Mint launched a beautiful webpage today to announce the coin. It includes biographical information on L.M. Montgomery, the beautiful collages featured in this post, as well as information on the coin's artist and design.

According to the Royal Canadian Mint website:

"Not many Canadian authors have captured the hearts and imaginations of readers quite like L. M. Montgomery. Through her beloved stories and characters, the creator of the internationally-acclaimed Anne of Green Gables has transported millions of readers, over many generations, to the little province she called home.

One of Canada’s most enduring and endearing cultural figures, Montgomery is an icon who continues to impart a lasting impression. This year, we honour her brilliant imagination and exceptional talent with a commemorative $1 circulation coin—a tribute to her life’s work."

The coin's artwork is by Brenda Jones. She's an artist from Prince Edward Island who has a connection to Anne of Green Gables. According to a "fun fact" posted on the Royal Canadian Mint website, her grandparents owned the Green Gables house.

The coin features an image of L.M. Montgomery holding a fountain pen, with a manuscript and inkwell nearby. Below her portrait is her signature and cat icon. To the left is an image of Anne Shirley looking towards patchwork quilt fields representing Prince Edward Island.

Royal Canadian Mint Unveils New Coin Celebrating L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables
It's a beautiful coin. I can't imagine they'll remain in circulation long. Anne fans might just pocket them all.


Official Websites:
L.M. Montgomery Literary Icon at the Royal Canadian Mint
Behind the Design: L. M. Montgomery Commemorative $1 Circulation Coin

Image credits:
Images and collages by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Created June 26, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

May 14, 2024

Becoming Green Gables

Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern


Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse is a book by Alan MacEachern that will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in June 2024. Myrtle and Ernest Webb owned the farm that their cousin L.M. Montgomery based "Green Gables" upon. According to The Green Gables Diary website: "In spring 1924, Myrtle Webb began keeping a diary about her life on an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was growing famous as the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, written by her cousin L.M. Montgomery."

MacEachern's book tells "The story of the family whose home inspired Anne of Green Gables and how that literary connection enriched - and upended - their lives." His book examines the history of Green Gables and how the popularity of L.M. Montgomery's novel affected the Webb family and tourism to Prince Edward Island.

A digital exhibition that will accompany the book called "The Green Gables Diary" will launch this spring at: https://greengablesdiary.ca/

Here is the description of the book from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

In 1909 Myrtle and Ernest Webb took possession of an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one thing: it was already becoming known as inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, the novel written by Myrtle’s cousin Lucy Maud Montgomery and published to international acclaim a year earlier. The Webbs welcomed visitors to “Green Gables” and soon took in summer boarders, making their home the heart of PEI’s tourist trade. In the 1930s the farm was made the centrepiece of a new national park - and still the family lived there for another decade, caretakers of their own home. During these years Myrtle kept a diary. When she first picked up the pencil in 1924, she was a forty-year-old homemaker running a household of eight. By the time she set the pencil down in 1954, she was a seventy-year-old widow, no longer resident in what was now the most famous house in Canada. Becoming Green Gables tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family, and the making of Green Gables. Alan MacEachern reproduces a selection of the diary’s daily entries, using them as springboards to examine topics ranging from the adoption of modern conveniences to the home front hosting of soldiers in wartime and visits from “Aunt Maud” herself. While the foundation of Becoming Green Gables is the Webbs’ own story, it is also a history of their famous home, their community, the nation, and the world in which they lived.


Reviews

“Humorous in some places and a tearjerker in others, Becoming Green Gables captures an untold story about the famed Green Gables and home-grown tourism prior to the founding of the national park.”
–Catharine Anne Wilson, author of Being Neighbours: Cooperative Work and Rural Culture, 1830-1960

“Becoming Green Gables provides an appreciation of the complex grassroots history of one of Canada’s most beloved historical sites.”
–Melanie J. Fishbane, author of Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery


I am looking forward to reading this book and the launch of the digital exhibit.

Image credit:
Book cover of Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern from McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Official website:
The Green Gables Diary

Purchase and read Becoming Green Gables:

Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse by Alan MacEachern

Created May 14, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

July 17, 2007

Green Gables Heritage Place

Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Nestled in the picturesque village of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, the Green Gables Heritage Place is a charming farm that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write the beloved novel Anne of Green Gables. Now a designated National Historic Site within Prince Edward Island National Park, Green Gables Heritage Place offers a unique celebration of literature where reality and fiction seamlessly intertwine. Explore the enchanting grounds that inspired Montgomery's timeless story and experience the magic of stepping into the world of Anne Shirley.

The farmhouse was the home of David Macneill and Margaret Macneill (pictured below), two siblings who were cousins of L.M. Montgomery's grandfather. In 1896, their niece Ada Macneill and her 13-year-old daughter Myrtle returned to Cavendish to help on the farm. L.M. Montgomery lived nearby and became friends with her cousin Myrtle. Montgomery often walked through their property. She called the spruce grove by the farmhouse the Haunted Wood, and she was fond of spending time in a forested pathway that she called Lover’s Lane.

Photograph of David Macneill, Margaret Macneill, Myrtle Macneill Webb, Ernest Webb, and Marion Webb at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

After Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908, readers recognized that this location had inspired the setting for L.M. Montgomery’s novel. Fans of the story began visiting the farmhouse, which became known as “Green Gables.” In 1909, Myrtle Macneill Webb and her husband Ernest Webb bought the farm. In the 1930s, Parks Canada developed the region into a national park with Green Gables as the centerpiece.

On January 27, 1911, L.M. Montgomery wrote in her journals about how she had not drawn any of the characters in her stories from real life although she “used real places and speeches freely.” She continued, writing, “Nevertheless I have woven a good deal of reality into my books. Cavendish is to a large extent Avonlea.”

Montgomery went on to write, “Green Gables was drawn from David Macneill’s house, now Mr. Webb’s—though not so much the house itself as the situation and scenery, and the truth of my description of it is attested by the fact that everybody has recognized it.”

Later in the same entry, L.M. Montgomery wrote about Anne Shirley, saying:

“When I am asked if Anne herself is a “real person” I always answer “no” with an odd reluctance and an uncomfortable feeling of not telling the truth. For she is and always has been, from the moment I first thought of her, so real to me that I feel I am doing violence to something when I deny her an existence anywhere save in Dreamland. Does she not stand at my elbow even now—if I turned my head quickly should I not see her—with her eager, starry eyes and her long braids of red hair and her little pointed chin? To tell that haunting elf that she is not real, because, forsooth, I never met her in the flesh! No, I cannot do it! She is so real that, although I’ve never met her, I feel quite sure I shall do so some day—perhaps in a stroll through Lover’s Lane in the twilight—or in the moonlit Birch Path—I shall lift my eyes and find her, child or maiden, by my side. And I shall not be in the least surprised because I have always known she was somewhere.”


Although Anne Shirley may not have been a real girl, L.M. Montgomery's creation feels close to real in this setting. Anne is somewhere in this space. You can almost feel Anne’s presence when exploring the grounds, strolling down Lover’s Lane, or walking through the Haunted Wood. You think of Anne when you see the geranium plant she named “Bonny” on the kitchen window sill or peek into her cheerful bedroom where her cherished puffed-sleeve dress hangs prominently.

You can tour each room in Green Gables. The rooms were thoughtfully decorated with Victorian pieces and with special touches from the novel. It feels like Anne, Marilla, and Matthew just stepped out and left visitors to explore their home. Each room was corded off, so sometimes I found it difficult to take good photos that captured the spaces, and it felt crowded when other visitors were nearby.

Here are some photos I took during my visit in 2006. This is a view of the horsehair sofa and decor in the parlour.

The parlour at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

This is the formal dining room at Green Gables. It has pretty lace curtains and diamond-patterned vine wallpaper.

The dining room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here is the kitchen table with the stove in the foreground. Anne, Marilla, and Matthew would have spent much of their time here.

The kitchen at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

I smiled seeing the geranium on the window sill in the kitchen, thinking of the scene in Anne of Green Gables when Anne asks Marilla about the geranium's name:

"'What is the name of that geranium on the window-sill, please?'

'That’s the apple-scented geranium.'

'Oh, I don’t mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn’t you give it a name? May I give it one then? May I call it—let me see—Bonny would do—may I call it Bonny while I’m here? Oh, do let me!'

'Goodness, I don’t care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?'

'Oh, I like things to have handles even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people. How do you know but that it hurts a geranium’s feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else? You wouldn’t like to be called nothing but a woman all the time. Yes, I shall call it Bonny. I named that cherry-tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it Snow Queen because it was so white. Of course, it won’t always be in blossom, but one can imagine that it is, can’t one?'"

The geranium plants on the kitchen window sill at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The dairy porch is a small room off the kitchen.

The kitchen dairy porch at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

This is Matthew Cuthbert's room on the ground floor.

Matthew Cuthbert's room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Upstairs is Anne Shirley's bedroom. You can see her cheerful room with a geranium in the window. Hanging on the closet door is the deep brown dress with puffed sleeves that was a gift from Matthew. There's even a broken slate in the room (My photograph of it was blurry, so I haven't posted it).

Anne Shirley's room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here is Marilla Cuthbert's bedroom. I liked her bedspread.

Marilla Cuthbert's room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The spare room was very comfortable looking and had a lovely quilt.

The spare room/guest room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The sewing room was a pretty and practical room. The sewing machine was located in front of the window and a spinning wheel was nearby.

The sewing room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The hired boy's bedroom was a simple room located upstairs.

The hired boy's room at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Outside the house were several barns. Matthew's buggy was in front of one, and you could sit in it and pose for a photo.

A barn and Matthew Cuthbert's buggy at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's a photograph of the inside of a barn at Green Gables.

The barn at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

There was a large plot of vegetables being grown in front of a barn.

The vegetable garden at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Lastly, here's a view of the flower gardens at Green Gables. I think Anne would have enjoyed the blooms.

A flower garden at Green Gables in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The Green Gables Heritage Place has a large visitor centre with exhibits on L.M. Montgomery that opened in 2019. I visited back in 2006 when the centre was much smaller. The exhibits included L.M. Montgomery's typewriter, which she used to prepare the typeset version of Anne of Green Gables, and her handwritten lyrics for "The Island Hymn," which is today the official provincial anthem of Prince Edward Island. I have not seen the new visitor centre in person, but the photos of it online look impressive.

After touring the house and vistor centre, you can stop by the restaurant on site to buy snacks and raspberry cordial. There is also a gift shop that sells Anne-related merchandise and L.M. Montgomery's books.

In addition, the Green Gables Heritage Place includes two special trails. You can take a walk in Anne Shirley or L.M. Montgomery’s footsteps on the Haunted Wood Trail and the Lover’s Lane and Balsam Hollow Trail. Both places were important to Montgomery, and she portrayed these settings in Anne of Green Gables. The Haunted Wood Trail connects with the Cavendish Cemetery, where L.M. Montgomery's grave is located, as well as the Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home, where Montgomery once lived and where she wrote Anne of Green Gables. You can visit these sites and the nearby Cavendish Post Office, which has a great exhibit on Montgomery, and then return to Green Gables along the Haunted Wood Trail.

World of Anne Shirley's Anne of Green Gables Travel Guide Banner

Official Websites:
Green Gables Heritage Place, Parks Canada
Green Gables House, Parks Canada
Virtual Tour: Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:

Green Gables Heritage Place
PE-13, Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada

Map of Green Gables Heritage Place by OpenStreetMap

Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Green Gables House. Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/maison-house

MacEachern, Alan. L.M. Montgomery’s Green Gables. The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript. Retrieved from: https://annemanuscript.ca/stories/l-m-montgomerys-green-gables/

MacEachern, Alan. Myrtle Webb & Her World. The Green Gables Diary. Retrieved from: https://greengablesdiary.ca/myrtle-webb-her-world/

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

Montgomery, L.M. The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume II: 1910–1921. ed. Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston. Oxford University Press, 1987. page 38–40.

Virtual Tour: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/OgXR54HZxKGSfQ?hl=EN


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 15, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place

L.M. Montgomery's Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Embark on a spine-tingling adventure through the eerie Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Prince Edward Island National Park. As a child, L.M. Montgomery believed these woods were haunted, a fear she vividly brought to life in Anne of Green Gables. In the novel, Anne Shirley's overactive imagination transforms the path between Green Gables and the Barry home into a realm of ghosts and shadows. Experience the haunting beauty of the trail that inspired such unforgettable scenes, and let your own imagination wander as you walk in the footsteps of Anne and Diana.

The interpretative trail is a short, 1 mile (1.6 km) path that begins in front of Green Gables and heads east through the forest. Along the trail, you can see the site where L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish School was once located. It inspired the Avonlea School in Anne of Green Gables. The Haunted Wood Trail winds past the Cavendish Cemetery, where L.M. Montgomery's grave is located, and it connects to the Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home. You can visit these sites and the nearby Cavendish Post Office and then return to Green Gables through the Haunted Wood.

Sign describing the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Interpretive signs placed along the trail provide L.M. Montgomery's own descriptions about her imagination and inspiration.

As a child, L.M. Montgomery shared many adventures with two little boys who came to board at her grandfather's house to attend school. Their names were Wellington and David Nelson, and they were known as Well and Dave. Well was the same age as Montgomery, and Dave was a year younger. The two boys are pictured on the sign below.

Well and Dave believed in ghosts and loved to tell frightening stories, and their stories "infected" young L.M. Montgomery with a belief in ghosts. The trio shared a deep fear of the spruce grove near their home, especially after dark. These childhood memories inspired Montgomery's "Haunted Wood" in Anne of Green Gables. In her autobiography, The Alpine Path, Montgomery writes:

"Readers of Anne of Green Gables will remember the Haunted Wood. It was a gruesome fact to us three young imps. Well and Dave had a firm and rooted belief in ghosts. I used to argue with them over it with the depressing result that I became infected myself. Not that I really believed in ghosts, pure and simple; but I was inclined to agree with Hamlet that there might be more things in heaven and earth than were commonly dreamed of — in the philosophy of Cavendish authorities, anyhow.

The Haunted Wood was a harmless, pretty spruce grove in the field below the orchard. We considered that all our haunts were too commonplace, so we invented this for our own amusement. None of us really believed at first, that the grove was haunted, or that the mysterious 'white things' which we pretended to see flitting through it at dismal hours were aught but the creations of our own fancy. But our minds were weak and our imaginations strong; we soon came to believe implicitly in our myths, and not one of us would have gone near that grove after sunset on pain of death. Death! What was death compared to the unearthly possibility of falling into the clutches of a 'white thing'?"


Photograph of a sign along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The inset shows a photo of Wellington and David Nelson and an unknown girl. Photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

In Anne of Green Gables, Anne's imagination goes too far and she frightens herself in Chapter XX ("A Good Imagination Gone Wrong"). She describes the "Haunted Wood" and her fear of "white things" to Marilla, saying:

"Diana and I just imagined the wood was haunted. All the places around here are so—so—commonplace. We just got this up for our own amusement. We began it in April. A haunted wood is so very romantic, Marilla. We chose the spruce grove because it’s so gloomy. Oh, we have imagined the most harrowing things. There’s a white lady walks along the brook just about this time of the night and wrings her hands and utters wailing cries. She appears when there is to be a death in the family. And the ghost of a little murdered child haunts the corner up by Idlewild; it creeps up behind you and lays its cold fingers on your hand—so. Oh, Marilla, it gives me a shudder to think of it. And there’s a headless man stalks up and down the path and skeletons glower at you between the boughs. Oh, Marilla, I wouldn’t go through the Haunted Wood after dark now for anything. I’d be sure that white things would reach out from behind the trees and grab me.”


Some parts of the Haunted Wood seemed very peaceful...during the day...

Photograph of a path along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

In The Alpine Path, L.M. Montgomery wrote, "Everything was invested with a kind of fairy grace and charm, emanating from my own fancy."

This next sign reminds visitors to use their imaginations: "L.M. Montgomery worked a special magic on her quiet Cavendish surroundings. Use your own imagination to discover how real-life people, places and events inspired the enchanting world of Anne."

Sign on the Haunted Wood Trail about L.M. Montgomery's imagination at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

There were many bare trees along the path, which were a bit spooky.

Photo of bare trees taken along L.M. Montgomery's Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Keep an eye out for birds, chipmunks, and other woodland creatures as you walk through the Haunted Wood. I saw this downy woodpecker.

Photograph of a downy woodpecker on the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

This sign explained that L.M. Montgomery had an imaginary friend in her childhood named Katie Maurice. She later used these memories to give Anne Shirley an imaginary friend with the same name in Anne of Green Gables.

Photograph of a sign about L.M. Montgomery's imaginary friends on the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

I didn't notice any ghosts here.

Photograph of a path along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

L.M. Montgomery went to school in a one-room schoolhouse called the Cavendish School. In her autobiography, The Alpine Path, L.M. Montgomery wrote,

"The Cavendish school-house was a white-washed, low-eaved building on the side of the road just outside our gate. To the west and south was a spruce grove, covering a sloping hill. That old spruce grove, with its sprinkling of maple, was a fairy realm of beauty and romance to my childish imagination. I shall always be thankful that my school was near a grove — a place with winding paths and treasure-trove of ferns and mosses and wood-flowers. It was a stronger and better educative influence in my life than the lessons learned at the desk in the school-house."


Photograph of a sign describing L.M. Montgomery's one-room school along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Although L.M. Montgomery's old school no longer stands, you can visit the site where it once stood, which is marked by a sign. L.M. Montgomery's school inspired the Avonlea School in Anne of Green Gables where Anne Shirley, Diana Barry, and Gilbert Blythe attended class.

Photograph of a sign indicating the location of L.M. Montgomery's one-room school along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

L.M. Montgomery, like her fictional creation Anne Shirley, often gave the places around her special and fanciful names. Some of the fictional places she described in her stories are based on real ones like Lover's Lane and the Haunted Wood.

Photograph of a sign explaining how L.M. Montgomery gave names to special places just like Anne Shirley on the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

I found these bare trees pretty spooky. Maybe it was just my imagination taking effect. For fans of Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables miniseries, exterior filming was done along this pathway.

Photo of bare trees taken along the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

The Haunted Wood Trail is a special place where you can use your imagination and pretend to be Anne Shirley or a young L.M. Montgomery. Just watch out for the spooky ghosts and "white things!"

World of Anne Shirley's Anne of Green Gables Travel Guide Banner

Official Websites:
Haunted Wood Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park, Parks Canada
Trails at Green Gables, Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:
Haunted Wood Trail
8619 Cavendish Rd. 9 (Route 6), Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada .

Map of the Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place by OpenStreetMap
Image credits:

Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Haunted Wood Trail. Hiking PEI. Retrieved from: https://www.hikingpei.ca/Trails/PEIPark/Cavendish/HauntedWood.html

Haunted Wood Trail. Prince Edward Island National Park. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/activ/sentiers-trails/haunted-hantee

Krzewinski, Agatha. The Original Homes of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment. Retrieved from: https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/the-original-homes-of-lucy-maud-montgomery

Montgomery, L.M. The Alpine Path. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1997.

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

Trails at Green Gables: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/sentiers-trails


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 12, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place

Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Immerse yourself in the enchanting woodland walk of the Balsam Hollow Trail, located on the grounds of the Green Gables Heritage Place in Prince Edward Island National Park. This delightful 0.5-mile (0.8 km) interpretative trail begins behind Green Gables, winding south through serene forests and along a babbling brook, before looping back to the historic house.

The trail's journey begins along a path that L.M. Montgomery fondly called Lover’s Lane. Once a route from the barnyard to the pastures, this tranquil lane was a treasured retreat for Montgomery, offering her peace and rejuvenation. She captured its beauty in numerous photographs, preserving its essence.

Montgomery's penchant for naming places was a trait she shared with her most beloved creation, Anne Shirley. In Anne of Green Gables, Anne names the path below the orchard "Lover's Lane," mirroring Montgomery's own cherished pathway. L.M. Montgomery writes:

"Lover’s Lane opened out below the orchard at Green Gables and stretched far up into the woods to the end of the Cuthbert farm. It was the way by which the cows were taken to the back pasture and the wood hauled home in winter. Anne had named it Lover’s Lane before she had been a month at Green Gables.

“Not that lovers ever really walk there,” she explained to Marilla, “but Diana and I are reading a perfectly magnificent book and there’s a Lover’s Lane in it. So we want to have one, too. And it’s a very pretty name, don’t you think? So romantic! We can’t imagine the lovers into it, you know. I like that lane because you can think out loud there without people calling you crazy.”


There’s something magical about walking in the very place where L.M. Montgomery found her inspiration. As you meander along the trail, interpretive signs guide your journey, offering Montgomery's own poetic descriptions of nature from her journals and letters. Discover the parallels between fiction and reality as you stroll through the landscapes that inspired her timeless storytelling.

L.M. Montgomery had a deep appreciation for nature. It consoled her and encouraged her. In 1909, she wrote about Lover's Lane in her journals, saying:

"This evening I spent in Lover's Lane. How beautiful it was—green and alluring and beckoning! I had been tired and discouraged and sick at heart before I went...and it...stole away the heartsickness, giving peace and newness of life."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of August 1, 1909.

Sign describing Lover’s Lane at the Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's a view of the peaceful forested pathway. For fans of Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables miniseries, some exterior filming was carried out along Lover's Lane.

Photograph of the forested pathway in Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Much of the pathway follows along a stream, and lovely bridges cross it at several points.

Photograph of the stream in Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

In L.M. Montgomery's day, Lover’s Lane was longer, but it was shortened due to the construction of the Green Gables Golf Course.

View of the Green Gables Golf Course from Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

After walking along Lover's Lane, the Balsam Hollow trail continues. The interpretive signs have additional quotes about the woods and provide the names and images of plants, such as the ferns, trees, and flowers, that grow along the trail.

L.M. Montgomery enjoyed spending time alone in nature. In 1896, she wrote:

"...I would like to go away on Sunday morning to the heart of some great solemn wood and sit down among the ferns with only the companionship of the trees and the wood-winds...and I would stay there for hours alone with nature and my own soul."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of July 26, 1896

Quote by L.M. Montgomery on a sign along the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

There are sweet wildflowers along the path.

Photograph of flowers on the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

L.M. Montgomery shared her observations and thoughts about nature with her longtime pen pal G.B. MacMillan. In 1904, she wrote:

"A brook was laughing to itself in the hollow. Brooks are always in good spirits. They never do anything but laugh. It is infectious to hear them, those gay vagabonds of the valleys."
-My Dear Mr. M.: Letters to G.B. MacMillan, November 9, 1904.

Quote by L.M. Montgomery on a sign along the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's another view of the woods in Balsam Hollow.

Photograph of the woods in the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

This sign has L.M. Montgomery's description of the brook, wind, light, and ferns. In 1899, she wrote:

"Once and again, I stray down and listen to the duet of the brook and wind, and watch the sunbeams creeping through the dark boughs, the gossamers glimmering here and there, and the ferns growing up in the shadowy nooks."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of July 24, 1899

Quote by L.M. Montgomery on a sign along the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's a view of the brook with ferns and plants growing on its banks.

Photograph of the stream at the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Writing to her lifelong pen pal in 1906, L.M. Montgomery shared that she felt at home in the woods, saying:

"The woods always seem to me to have a delicate, subtle life all their own...in the woods I like to be alone for every tree is a true old friend and every tip-toeing wind a merry comrade...I always feel so utterly and satisfyingly at home..."
-My Dear Mr. M. Letters to G.B. MacMillan, September 16, 1906

Quote by L.M. Montgomery on a sign along the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Prince Edward Island National Park was established in 1937. According to this sign:

"When Prince Edward Island National Park was established in 1937, many of L. M. Montgomery's favourite haunts were preserved. Now we and future woodland wanderers can share in the natural beauty of this area which gave her so much joy and inspiration throughout her life."

Sign along the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

I'm glad this region was preserved so that we can visit and walk along the same paths that L.M. Montgomery once did.

World of Anne Shirley's Anne of Green Gables Travel Guide Banner

Official Websites:
Balsam Hollow Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park, Parks Canada
Trails at Green Gables, Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:
Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail
8619 Cavendish Rd. (Route 6), Cavendish, PE C0A 1N0, Canada.

Map of Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place by OpenStreetMap
Image credits:

Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Balsam Hollow Trail. Hiking PEI. Retrieved from: https://www.hikingpei.ca/Trails/PEIPark/Cavendish/BalsamHollow.html

Balsam Hollow Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/activ/sentiers-trails/balsam

Krzewinski, Agatha. The Original Homes of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment. Retrieved from: https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/the-original-homes-of-lucy-maud-montgomery

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

Trails at Green Gables: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/sentiers-trails


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 7, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home

Foundation of the L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Step into the world of L.M. Montgomery at the site of her beloved Cavendish home, where she wrote Anne of Green Gables. This location is part of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site, alongside the neighboring Green Gables Heritage Place. A stroll through the Haunted Wood, named by Montgomery herself, connects these two iconic sites.

After her mother’s death from tuberculosis, young L.M. Montgomery was raised by her maternal grandparents, Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, at their Cavendish homestead. For more than three decades, from 1876 to 1911, Cavendish was her cherished home, and she fondly referred to it as “hallowed ground.” It was the land she loved and wrote about, even after she married and left Prince Edward Island.

Today, little remains of the original home except the foundation and stone cellar, but in recent years, the kitchen was returned to the site. Although much of the structure is gone, you can explore the gardens, forests, and landscape that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write Anne of Green Gables and many of her other stories. She loved the old apple trees, birches, poplars, spruces, pathways, and flower gardens surrounding her home.

Foundation of the L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

There are many mature trees around L.M. Montgomery's home.

Old trees at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Following her grandmother’s death in 1911, L.M. Montgomery married Ewen MacDonald and left Cavendish for Ontario. The homestead remained in the Macneill family, but the house was closed after L.M. Montgomery moved away. Around 1920, much of the original homestead fell to ruin, except for the kitchen. Today, the farm property is still owned by the Macneill family. In the 1980s, John Macneill, a great-grandson of Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, alongside his wife Jennie Macneill, lovingly tended to the site and opened it to visitors. It is now maintained by their son David Macneill.

The Old Lane at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's a photo of the fields around the home.

Surrounding fields at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here is a photograph of the vegetable garden.

Garden at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Here's a well on the property.

Well at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

Placards with quotes from L.M. Montgomery’s journals are placed around the homestead property to help visitors see the site through her eyes. L.M. Montgomery began writing Anne of Green Gables in the kitchen of the Cavendish homestead, and wrote most of it in her cherished bedroom by its gable window. Nearby, you can walk down "Lover’s Lane" or you can spook yourself along the "Haunted Wood" path, which leads to the Green Gables house. Montgomery named these places in her real life, and she brought them to life for her readers in Anne of Green Gables.

Sign Showing L.M. Montgomery's gabled window at the Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, photograph copyright World of Anne Shirley

In the site's bookstore, you'll find an array of books by and about Montgomery, as well as other charming gifts. The original desk and scales from the Cavendish Post Office, run by Montgomery and her grandparents, are also on display, with the current Cavendish Post Office nearby housing an exhibit on her life.

The kitchen, the heart of the old house, has a fascinating history of its own. After the house fell into disrepair in the 1920s, only the kitchen survived. L.M. Montgomery’s uncle repurposed this part of the building and used it as an outbuilding in the barnyard to house animals and later as a storage shed. In the 1960s, a Catholic priest and historian named Father Francis Bolger was researching L.M. Montgomery and writing a biography about her. Father Bolger asked the Macneills if he could use the kitchen building, and they gave him permission to use it. He moved the kitchen structure to his summer home, cleaned and repaired the building, and then used it as his writing cottage. In 1974, Father Bolger published a biography on L.M. Montgomery called The Years Before Anne. After Father Bolger’s death in 2017, the kitchen was returned to the Macneill property, where it now serves as a museum next to the bookstore.

Visiting the Site of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish home is a poignant experience, offering a deep connection to the places and memories that shaped her stories. The sense of home, so central to Montgomery’s writing, comes alive here, making it a truly special place to explore.

World of Anne Shirley's Anne of Green Gables Travel Guide Banner

Official Websites:
The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home
L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site, Parks Canada

Location:
The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home
8521 Cavendish Road Rte, PE-6, Cavendish, PE C0A 1N0, Canada.

Map of The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home by OpenStreetMap

Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Cavert, Mary Beth. (2024). The House of Home: Montgomery’s Macneill Grandparents’ Homestead. The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript. Retrived from: https://annemanuscript.ca/stories/the-house-of-home/

Hamilton, Kathleen and Frei, Sibyl. Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island. Ragweed Press. 1998.

Krzewinski, Agatha. The Original Homes of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment. Retrieved from: https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/the-original-homes-of-lucy-maud-montgomery

L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site. (2024). Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/cavendish

Piece of L.M. Montgomery's childhood home returned to original homestead. (2018, December 18). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-lucy-maud-montgomery-kitchen-building-homestead-1.4951107

The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home. Retrieved from: https://www.lmmontgomerycavendishhome.com/


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated September 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com