Ontario’s Derelict Barns

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Barn, Grey County

I’m not sure exactly what inspired me to pull off onto the gravel shoulder and climb the hill to this deserted, derelict barn, but it turned out to be the perfect setting for this pair of unusual Greensleeves arrangements.

A hardcover reference book recently purchased at Ten Editions Books for a song (well, not literally!) yielded the music. This store serves as a treasure trove for used books, especially if one is looking for biblio-canadiana.

The curio tucked in the book was the original order card from Britnell’s, one of Toronto’s most romantic bookshops that used to be just around the corner from the Yorkville Fire Hall! The best part about Britnell’s was the traditional, old-world service that yielded, yes, specially ordered books wrapped smartly in brown kraft paper!

Like the Grain Elevators that were until just recently rapidly vanishing from the Prairie Landscape, Ontario’s historic barns appear to also be in steady decline. My studies for a number of years were in a wonderful bucolic barn-setting in southern Vermont, just outside of Brattleboro.