1873: Memoirs of a Professional Lady Nurse

This is one of those “memoirs” of the frontier-era Pacific NW that seem more like fiction…

“Memoirs of a Professional Lady Nurse” by M. Stannard ought to be a valuable eyewitness source about Victoria and other parts of British Columbia during the frontier era.

But I have the feeling it’s an atrocious, plagiarized moneymaker.

From page 184, the caption of this illustration is enough to show me the author is a fraud:

HYAS CLOSE, CHUCK MAN, MEDICINE MAN OF THE CHEROKEE TRIBE, NORTH AMERICA.

Hyas Close Chuck Man = hayas-ɬúsh(-)chə́qw-mán = ‘very good water man’, a phrase we’ve never seen the likes of in real Chinuk Wawa.

Also important to know, Cherokees have nothing to do with Chinook Jargon.

Here’s the author’s “Chenook jargon” vocabulary, for anyone who wants to do us the service of figuring out where she stole it from & masked it by altering some spellings:

Ict.
Moxt
Cloon .
Larket
Quonum . .

Sun
Moon .
Hyas .
Tenasse
Cloosh

.

.

.
.
.

One
Two
Three
Four
Five

Day
Month
Large
Small
Good

Tuckum .
Senimoxt
Tutka
Queets
Tatlum

Seeshak . . Bad
Nah-witka . Yes, or certainly
Wake. .
. What
This

Six
.. Seven
Eight
Nine
. Ten

No

Icta . .
Ohook .

Coopa
Charco . . Come here
Clat-awar .
Kwan-seick. How many
Tik-kee . . Want
Tum-tum . Intention
Me-sarchee. Dirty
Man . ..
Clootch-man
Yacca
Nika .
Mika . .
Pulten
Tyee
Sacullah .
Kik-willer
Sapo-tele
Mar-witch
Mus-mus
Lem-to
King-George- Englishman
man .
Boston-man . American
Hy-you . . Plenty
Kella-kella . Birds
Patch-latch . Give
Is-cum . . Take
Cap-she-wolla Steal
Chick-a-man Silver or metal
Nothing
Cuppet . , No more
Halo. . . None
Midlite .
Al-kee .
Timolidge . Tub or cask
Water
Eat

. . In or on

Go away

I71

Salutation at
meeting or parting
Berries

. Red blood

. .

Olo .
Hay-hay.

.

. Exchange

.

Man
Woman
He or she
I or me
You
Foolish
Gentleman
High or up
Low or down
Bread
. Deer
. Cattle
Sheep

Morning

Cultus . .

Stay
Wait

Chuck – .
Muk-a-muk

Chenook Fargon.
Clar-hoe-yar
O-lal-lee
Po-lal-lee . Powder
Canim . .
Canoe
Ai sick . . Paddle
Pell-pel .
Tarcope . White
Quarss . . Afraid
Tired or hungry
Play
Mammook . Make or work
Mar-kook . Buy or sell
Hoy-hoy
Camox. . . Dog
La-tete . . The head
Lee-man. . The hands
Lar Pied . . The feet
Moosum . . Sleep
Ten-asse-sun
Sit-cum-sun . Noon
Polikely . . Night
Sitcum polikely Midnight
Caa-aheve . All
Sitcum . . Half
Gleese . . Grease or fat
Stick . . . Wood or trees
Illa-hee . . Land
Clar-o-ney . About or near
Salix .
War-woo . Speech
Tap-so .
Syah …
Anaty . .
Cum tax .
Too-toosh . Milk
Ti-karry . .

Angry

. Hair
Far away
Other
. Understand

Don’t care.

There are copious illustrations in Stannard’s book, although they seem to be cobbled together from other sources, many of which must deal with other regions than BC!

Here’s an intensely negative contemporary review of the book (click to go read it, I can’t be arsed to correct the OCR spellings):

Memoirs of a Professiunal Lovly Nurse, By M. Stannard, (Simpkin,
Marshall, and Co.)-Lest anyone should be led by the title of this book
to imagine it may contain any information useful to women intending
to devoto themseives to the work of nursing, we think it may be as woll
to observe there is no hint on the subjeet thronghout the book, which is
merely the very uninteresting autobiography of a person whe managed
in the gold-flelds of Australis, on ahipbour, and elsewhore, to carn i
livelihood as a nurse, and ended by becoming matron to seme hopital.
Her adventures are recorded in very ungrammatical English, and with
an amount of egotism which touchea the ludicrous. The atyle of the Look
may be gathered from the following mild specimens, Mre. Stannard
had been frightened by the frequent appearauce of a moan she believed
to be a bushranger, and observes :- “Three weeks passed, and one
Saldath morning I felt as if I eould not cease wrestling with God, that
He would not allow the man to do us any harm. But no promise eatie
to my mind to give me comfort. But the same day, in the afternoou,
as the man was passing our tent, he fell dewn when opposite the deor.
It was soon diseorered that he was dead. When the people were eatry-
ing bim away, I thanked the Lord for such a display of sovereign lore.”
And here is a verse taken at random from a rhyming letter whiel the
authoress says “brightened her pathway of eare” :-

+ Rat tbia paper looks so badt,
It wilt not be wisdot tote 14 sdd.
And thuagh to you it may seem dark,
I trust that you are in the ark.”

If any one feels dispesed to queation if the prose of this pretentious
little volume ean be equally vague and unsatisfactory, we would ask
them to try and transpose into lucid English the following sentence :–
“In the meantime, streaks of canvas hnd arison, in tho shape of stores,
and whieh received the title of township; yet. in apito of these stores,
everything could be bought, such as meat and spirita of every kind,
and from a silk dress to a tin pot, yet up goes a . shanty ‘ or . Tom and
Jerry,’ which bas been, and still is, the eurse of the colony.” Wo
should not have thought tuis book worth our notice, but for its title,
whieh is likely to deceive the unwary.

I’ll continue trying to figure out if there really was a woman named M. Stannard, and if so, who she was…

ikta mayka chaku-kəmtəks?
What have you learned?
And can you say it in Jargon?