Re: How about Sisters?

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 20:03:07 +0100, MH <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>late 60s sounds about rate - maybe 69 ?  he was mid to late 20s when 
>playing the hex in 1985.

Whoa, he's substantially older than Charmaine then. What is their
family background? Are they recent immigrants?

(If you recall, a lot of escaped US slaves settled in Canada,
especially in the Quebec area, interestingly enough. Peter Worrell,
ex-Panthers player, comes from this background, IIRC)

>well the immigration was mostly pre-1750s.  

Yes. I thought I overshot too much when I said early 1800's. I thought
maybe there was a general spillover until that time, but no.

> After the Plains of Abraham 
>there wsn't much reason for an adventurous French chap to do the "go 
>west young man" thing.  Since then it has been a case of multiplying 
>rapidly. Many Québecois my age come from families of 15 kids or so, 

Sure, like the Dionne Quints and I believe Celine Dion is the youngest
of 21/22. ;)

(Hey is Quintland still open? *g*)

>though currently the birth rate is so low that they are worried about 

Traditionally, since before the times of Napoleon, the French have
incredibly low-birthrates. 1, 2 at most children. It's a big big
problem. Now the French government are motivating parents by giving
them amazing childcare grants so we'll see.

>being diluted out by "laine impure" and offering big baby incentives.

"Impure yarn"?? Weird. :)

>So anyway, the Francophone settlement of Canada (not only Québec) 
>predates the era when sports got organised. And hockey always has been 
>and remains big there.  

Like the Irish love of baseball and football. I guess you feel more a
part of the new country that way.

> There are lots of "founder effects" as we 
>geneticists say for names in Québec - a lot of names we take for granted 
>are very very rare in France.  (Dion, Dionne, Cournoyer, Tremblay, etc.)

Yes! I wondered about that. Other common French surnames which I've
rarely heard in France are Lemieux and Fleury. A veritable who's who
of hockey. :)

>The various groups that settled the prairies in the late 1800s and early 
>1900s (Russians, Ukrainians, Hutterites etc.) have no particular 
>affinity for football at all.

Thanks for the knowledge!