A Legacy Left For The Country

 Some final shots from around the Abbey Ruins.

It was time to head back.

Near the main house, some more items Mackenzie King acquired from various locations, and might have incorporated into follys, but which lay here on their own.

This is the garage at Moorside, today serving in multiple capacities.

I headed for the parking lot. Mackenzie King left political life in 1948 to retire to The Farm, a house here at the estate which is closed to the public. His successor, Louis St. Laurent, would follow him as prime minister.

King's remarks about the highest joy in life is found in some kind of public service speaks volumes. "Instead of the state being indebted to the one who gives of his time and means to the country's affairs and the betterment of human conditions, the obligation is the other way round." Very wise indeed.

He was the dominant voice in Canadian politics for the first half of the 20th century. He developed Canada's place in the world and kept the country united. He led the country through a good part of the Depression and the calamity of the Second World War. And he left his estate to the people of Canada as thanks for the opportunities of public service. There are many who could learn from that.

Retirement was not long; he died two years after leaving political office behind.

Gatineau Park is one of his other legacies- the creation of a federal park, administered by the National Capital Commission, preserving a beautiful region.

And he made Ottawa itself very much looking like a national capital ought to look.

One last look at the estate, looking into the woods beside the parking lot. I will return to the autumn series after the theme day, and back over on the Ottawa side of the Ottawa River.

If These Rocks Could Talk

The path to the Abbey Ruins is particularly photogenic in fall.

King would incorporate elements from buildings in Ottawa and beyond, everything with specific meaning, into a design that evoked something ancient for this folly.

This section consists of stones from the former Center Block, which was destroyed by fire in 1916. A tablet set into the wall includes the arms of England.

This section includes a mantel from the original Canadian House of Commons, beneath the crest of a former Speaker of the House of Commons at Westminster in Britain. The hearth includes stones from the printing offices of King's grandfather, William Lyon Mackenzie.

Another section of the Abbey was taken from the Batson House, which was being torn down in Ottawa. King knew it had once been home to a former Premier of Quebec, and for that reason included it into his design as appreciation of the support from French-Canadiens.

This section, once a bay window, comes from the same house, and completes the structures making up the Abbey. A group of women were present in fantasy costumes- this one looking like an elf of Tolkien.

Window On The Forest

A look back up through the English and French gardens towards the main house at Moorside.

Beyond the English garden is this folly, called The Window On The Forest. Mackenzie King was a man of contradictions- a staunch Scots Presbyterian with an interest in spiritualism, and a deeply sentimental streak. I've always thought that if he were to walk into the room, I'd like him a whole lot. He took elements of a building being torn down in Ottawa, and refashioned them here.

The Rock Garden lies beyond, where plants grow hardy between the natural rocks of the Canadian Shield in this clearing, with the forest beyond.

The estate is a popular place.

Another folly- the Arc de Triomphe, also taken from a building being demolished and repurposed here.

I was heading to the last of the follys. 

Heart Of The Estate

 A look at the main house at Moorside. Aside from the present, a good portion of the house is open for visits. Mackenzie King made this place into another home. He lived at Laurier House in the city, willed to him by the widow of his predecessor as leader of the Liberal Party- Wilfrid Laurier- and that house is similarly also open to visitors as a national historic site.

It was here that King entertained the great and the good, including the Churchills and Roosevelts, particularly as the world went back to war.

King had a distinct interest in collecting pieces of old architecture, some from the old world and some from the new. He would incorporate some into what were called follys, and others would be found here and there on the estate, like this regal lion.

During his time here, King's interest in gardening took him in new directions, both as a work obligation and for pleasure.

Gardening applies to around the house, but also to formal gardens that run down the slope towards the woods.

This panel looks at two of his follys.

While this looks at the layout of the two formal gardens- the French and the English garden.

There was a wedding party here while I was visiting, having photos taken.

A look back through the French garden at the house.

And down slope at the English garden. We'll carry on here tomorrow.