It was a very select affair - and
of no long duration. Among the members, if my memory serves me right, were
John Coltman, George Hamilton, Sir John Caldwell, Sir George Pownall,
Herman Wistius Byland, George Heriott, (Postmaster and author) Hon.
Matthew Bell, Gilbert Ainslie, Angus Shaw." (Notes of W. Henderson.)
The other club went under the appropriate name of "Sober Club," - lucus
a non lucendo perhaps: it flourished about 1811; we believe one of the
By-laws enacted that the members were expected to get elevated at least
once a year. It seems to be more than likely that it was the Club of
Barons, and not the Sober Club, who caroused under the romantic walls of
the Hermitage. The third Club flourished at Montreal in 1785 and later, it
took the name of the Beaver Club) and was, I believe, composed of old
Northwesters.
[325] It is painful to watch the successive inroads perpetrated by
sportsmen and idlers on the old Chateau. In 1819, an old Quebecer, Mr.
Frederick Wyse, visited it; doors, verandah, windows and everything else
was complete. He, too, lost his way in the woods, but found it again
without the help of an Indian beauty. It was then known as the haunted
house, supposed to contain a deal of French treasure, and called La
Maison du Bourg Royal.
[326] Error - he was a bachelor.
