In
outports and remote
villages, social gatherings such as concerts, "times,"
mummering, and kitchen parties were an important part of the rural culture. The principal melody instruments were
accordions and
fiddles. Starting in the 20th century, rhythmic accompaniment came from the ugly stick. The instrument's early history is vague. However, there are clear precursors: While often described as a "traditional" Newfoundland instrument, the ugly stick likely only became familiar to Newfoundland and Labrador audiences in the early 1980s. The
Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival Guide for 1987 featured an ugly stick player on the cover. The guide noted the instrument was "Not available in any music store" and included the following explanation: Winston Stanley may have been one of the first local musicians to popularize the ugly stick, making his own in the late 1970s, while
Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers acquired their first one in
Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island, in 1983. The instrument was likely given a boost by its use by the Folk of the Sea Choir, a fisher choir that formed after the
cod moratorium in 1992. At the Choir's first concert in 1994, it was introduced by the Dunne Brothers, Rick and Doug, from
Renews, accompanied by Gerard Hamilton. Doug explained his instrument to the audience: 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 2012, he was reported as making around 150 large ugly sticks and between 200 and 300 of his mini ugly sticks per year for the tourist market. The name ugly stick was not universal even into the 2000s. In 2007, folklorists Maureen Power and Evelyn Osborne documented the playing of a "silly stick" by Melvin Combden, Seldom-Come-By,
Fogo Island. In the early 2000s, communities started to organize ugly stick making workshops. One early community-organized workshop was held in
Trepassey, as part of a
Come Home Year celebration. Yvonne Fontaine was the then Coordinator for the Southern Avalon Development Association: The
Mummers Festival, established in 2009, regularly includes ugly stick making workshops, often featuring Trepassey-based maker Wayne Cave. A workshop on making ugly sticks was included as part of The
International Council for Traditional Music World Conference, held in St. John's in 2011, and workshops have been organized independently in communities such as
Summerside and
Bauline, which held an "Ugly Stick Clinic" in 2018. Expats and travelling musicians have spread the use of ugly sticks across Canada and internationally. Traditions continued to evolve in the 2000s: a 2000 wedding in
Pembroke, Ontario with a "Nova Scotia born Newfoundlander" bride involved an ugly stick: In 2015, the Terre-Neuve Newfoundlanders & Friends Association organized an ugly stick contest during the Newfie Days Festival in
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. In 2016, a children's book by Joshua Goudie on ugly sticks was published to emphasize Newfoundland and Labrador's musical culture. ==Construction==