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King’s Frog & Bog Pond,
The Devil’s Punch Bowl and Clifton’s Piper’s Pond
by Holly Hammett-Vaughan
The
existence of two ponds on the "Plan of Lands" for King’s College was
a puzzle to me. I grew up in Windsor and between 1970 – 1984, spent much time
in College Woods at the pond which my friends and I knew as "King’s Frog
Pond" or by our favorite, dramatic name, "the Devil’s Punch Bowl"!
There was only one pond, as far as I knew, on the college grounds.
As I
learned from my father a few years ago, the name of "Devil’s Punch Bowl"
was originally given to another, small, circular pond, located away from the ponds
as shown on the "Plan for a College", (neither being a round "bowl"
shape). "The Devil’s Punch Bowl" was one of the gypsum sink holes, also
known as "Punch Bowls" or "Kettle Holes" as I learned from
Haliburton in his Historical and Statistical Account "in which the bones
of animals and the skeletons of Indians have sometimes been found, who had falled
into these caverns, and were unable to extricate themselves from their prison".1
("Truth is stranger than fiction." T.C.H.)
["Honey
Pots" – Sam Slick, the Clockmaker]
The original Devil’s Punch Bowl
was similar to "Piper’s Pond" on the Clifton Property in that "it
was one of the few "punch-bowls" in gypsum regions that are not found
dry" 2 .
Titus
Smith and Haliburton tell us that the whole of Windsor and the surrounding land
rests on a bed of Gypsum which was covered in these sink holes of varying sizes
3 . A map of Windsor
and the surrounding farmlands (not signed or dated), owned by Richard Bulkeley
and Jonathan Belcher (who was Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia 1761 – 1763)
shows the extent of these holes 4
which made farming difficult in their area 5
. King’s College grounds, particularly the Woods, and the adjoining property which
eventually became Clifton were very uneven due to these holes. Haliburton used
the top soil excavated from his large gypsum quarry to fill in many of the sink
holes and give his property a more uniform contour 6
.
But the King’s College "Frog Pond" that I remember had no immediate
neighbour, and as the John Clarke’s "Plan for the College" shows "Two
ponds not dry in any season" next to one another, I wondered what had happened
to the second pond.
In reading the King’s College Record, written by the
students of King’s College School in Windsor, I found a note on improvements being
made to the College grounds, Oct. 1880. "We are glad to be able to state
that the drainage has been greatly improved about the College. It is said that
the Bog Pond is to be filled up, which doubtless, will be regarded by all as a
act of pure philanthropy on the part of the authorities" 7
. This may be an explanation for why only one pond remains in the vicinity of
the two ponds shown on the "Plan" but it is not conclusive, only conjecture
on my part.
"College Ponds" Bibliography
1
– An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia.
In two volumes. Illustrated
by a map of the province, and several engravings.
By Thomas C. Haliburton,
Esq.
Barrister at Law and Member of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia
(originally) Printed and Published by Joseph Howe, Halifax 1829
Edition consulted
– Candiana Reprint Series No. 51
Mika Publishing Belleville, Ontario 1973
Volume 2, Pg 100 – 110, Section III.
Middle Division. This Division contains
three Counties,- Hant’s County, Lunenburg County, and Queen’s County
2
– Thomas Chandler Haliburton : A Centenary Chaplet
Published for the Haliburton
Club, King’s College, Windsor, NS
by William Briggs Toronto, Ontario 1897
HRL SG REF 921 H172K
3 – Plan of a Survey by Titus
Smith, Sept. & Oct. 1838
Butler Estate on Avon River (by Windsor Township)
Plans in Hants County Portfolio #12
Crown Lands Office
E – 18 – 33
4
– Crown Lands Office
Plans in the Hants County Portfolio
14. Old plan
of part of the lands on Piziquid River Belonging to the Hon. Richard Bulkeley,
Jonathan Belcher. E – 18 – 38
NOTE: Script on map shows land owned by to Liet.
Governor Jonathan Belcher who hled that office in Nova Scotia 1761 – 1763)
5
– Plan of a Survey by Titus Smith, Sept. & Oct. 1838
Butler Estate on
Avon River (by Windsor Township)
Plans in Hants County Portfolio #12
Crown
Lands Office
E – 18 – 33
6 – Thomas Chandler
Haliburton : A Centenary Chaplet
Published for the Haliburton Club, King’s
College, Windsor, NS
by William Briggs Toronto, Ontario 1897
HRL SG REF
921 H172K
7 – Kings College Halifax Library
King’s
College Record, Vol II,
Oct. 1880, Pg 119
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