Ugly stick

The ugly stick is a Newfoundland musical instrument fashioned out of household and tool shed items, typically a mop handle with bottle caps, tin cans, small bells and other noise makers.

In outports and remote villages, social gatherings such as concerts, "times," mummering, and kitchen parties were an important part of the rural culture.

[2]Winston Stanley may have been one of the first local musicians to popularize the ugly stick, making his own in the late 1970s,[3] while Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers acquired their first one in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1983.

[7]Also during the 1990s, ugly sticks became widely available in local music and gift stores, crafted by makers such as Grenfell Letto.

Originally from the Labrador Straits, Letto started making mini ugly sticks that tourists could take home more readily than the larger version.

In 2007, folklorists Maureen Power and Evelyn Osborne documented the playing of a "silly stick" by Melvin Combden, Seldom-Come-By, Fogo Island.

I felt it would help to preserve this part of our culture and heritage.”[10]The Mummers Festival, established in 2009, regularly includes ugly stick making workshops,[11] often featuring Trepassey-based maker Wayne Cave.

[8] Founding festival director Ryan Davis noted in 2014, For mummering especially, the ugly stick is the perfect accompaniment.

Unlike say a guitar which is somewhat fragile, the ugly stick is a sturdy instrument that can withstand a hard night of winter weather and partying.

[19]In 2015, the Terre-Neuve Newfoundlanders & Friends Association organized an ugly stick contest during the Newfie Days Festival in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

[20] In 2016, a children's book by Joshua Goudie on ugly sticks was published to emphasize Newfoundland and Labrador's musical culture.

To acquire enough bottle caps for one ugly stick, you’ll need to preplan at least two long weekends before your first big gig.

The instrument would be lifted and dropped on the floor in a rhythmic fashion while the musician would strike the attachments and cymbal to embellish the sound.