Montreal City Weblog

Kate 10:25 on 2020-12-30 Permalink Reply  

• walkerp 13:26 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  Dog in the manger.

• JS 14:15 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  The perimeters of both CDN and Mont-Royal cemeteries are porous. I’ve spent more time traipsing about them this year than ever before, and I don’t think I entered or left through any of the official entrances.

• Kate 14:18 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  If you’re on foot they are, but not if you want to drive in.

• JS 14:27 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  Lazy Montreal motorists will miss out on the beauty and peacefulness of having the whole of both cemeteries all to oneself, the wildlife, and the liveried skeletons doing their rounds in white compact cars. Binoculars provide a good cover story for when they catch up to you and can help evading them in the first place. They’re also useful for spotting cool birds that can sometimes be observed.

• Kate 14:29 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  JS, was there still circulating security, did they see you, and did they do anything about it?

• JS 14:44 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  Kate: The security is the “liveried skeletons” I mentioned. I avoid them, sometimes crouching behind graves or Terminator-style vanishing into the forested areas, which it occurs to me will be harder to do in the winter. I ran into a few people this year who told me that they had inconsequential run-ins with them. The one time I did speak to one (in CDN) was after hours, and he realized that I wouldn’t be trapped inside even though the gates were closed.

• Kate 15:19 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  JS: thanks. I usually go up there a couple of times a year – it’s especially nice in spring and fall. But I once had a nasty run-in with security in NDN who told me I had no right to take photos. I’ve been cautious about going in there ever since, even though I have four great-great-grandparents buried in there so in some sense I have a right.

• GC 21:22 on 2020-12-30 Permalink

  What? Why wouldn’t people be able to take photos? Obviously one shouldn’t take photos of any mourners, out of consideration, but why should photos of the trees, headstones, etc. be restricted?

• Kate 02:09 on 2020-12-31 Permalink

  GC, if you read the small print on NDN’s website, they say you can’t film or photograph there without permission. I think it’s likely some security goon was bored, stupidly literal-minded, or just wanted to flex, because it’s not as if I was there with tripods and lights. I’d done photos there before and have done a few discreetly since then (the recent ones mostly for genealogical purposes) and not had trouble, but it was a nasty enough encounter that I don’t want to risk repeating it.

  Mount Royal doesn’t seem to have a problem with photography nor does the east-end Repos. But you never know when a security bozo might get a kick out of giving you the bum’s rush.

• GC 09:20 on 2020-12-31 Permalink

  It would never have even occurred to me to check because I wouldn’t think it would be a problem. I love taking photos in cemeteries–especially old stonework of angels. And, yes, I also went to a tiny village founded by my ancestors and took tons of photos at the cemetery, for genealogy. A lot of them are online now, of course, but it’s still nice to be able to go and see the tombstones in person.

• Kate 11:13 on 2020-12-31 Permalink

  GC, I only checked the detailed rules after this happened.

  Like most anti-photography rules, this one is completely undermined by how everyone has a reasonably good camera in their phone now, and can easily snap a few photos without being noticed.

  P.S. Some of my cemetery photos.

• GC 13:48 on 2020-12-31 Permalink

  Looking forward to browsing those photos!

  The only reason it would be a problem, in my mind, is if there is a culture that believes taking photos of the graves some how is disruptive to the dead or something. I’m not aware that such a thing exists but I would make an effort in that case, out of respect. I scanned the NDN online rules earlier today, however, and saw this: “At its complete discretion, it may also remove or order the removal of any object that is inappropriate or not respectful of the christian faith.” Being cross-cultural does not seem to be high on their list of priorities…

• Michael Black 14:41 on 2020-12-31 Permalink

  Tnere are websites that collect photos of grave markers. It certainly helps people doing genealogy, though I’ve not paid enough attention to know if there’s other interest.

• JS 11:31 on 2021-01-01 Permalink

  Different security guards have different temperaments. One snowier-than-this winter about fifteen years ago my then-girlfriend & I entered Mount Royal cemetery on snowshoes through the path that is accessed from the “wedge” part of the park on the other side of Camilien Houde. This trail leads to the area behind the Molson family tomb*, which is where a security guard “caught” us. So he’s giving us a hard time, and points out that we’re standing on [John or whatever his first name was] Molson’s grave. I forget if I was a wiseguy and said Mr. Molson, pointing downwards, himself wasn’t too discomfited by our presence or just thought it and kept my trap shut, fearing the truncheon of the wounded ego. When he asked how we had gotten in** we pointed to the other end of the cemetery, i.e. the gate near the Maison Smith, so we still got our cemetery snowshoe adventure.

  Worth checking out up close if you’re in the area

  ** You’d think the the cemetery “security” guard would be the same skeleton driving around who doffed his chauffeur outfit and donned a Sherlock Holmes-style cap and cloak, hunched over our trail of footprints with a magnifying class looking for clues on how we suddenly materialized seemingly out of the ether right under his nose but alas