Order of Good Cheer

The Order of Good Cheer (French: L'Ordre de Bon Temps), was originally a French Colonial Order founded by suggestion of Samuel de Champlain upon arrival in New France, present day Canada. The Order of Good Cheer, was founded at Port-Royal, Nova Scotia and was originally chartered under the Royal auspices of the Baron de Poutrincourt and Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The Order's practices were established by the first Chief Steward Marc Lescarbot.

On May 11th, 2001, the Speaker of the House in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Hon. Murray Scott reaffirmed official recognition of the Order in Canada as grant of the Province under the custodianship of the Nova Scotia Ministry of Heritage. According to resolution 1111, the minimum condition of membership to the Order is that a pledge to visit Nova Scotia must be made. The Order is generally presented in recognition of individuals valued by the Province of Nova Scotia and or in Honour of the Acadian tradition in Canada.

One becomes a member of the Order of Good Cheer by receiving an invitation from the Province of Nova Scotia or by a Chevalier / Member of the Order.

It was after an impossible winter at Ste. Croix Island where many of the first French settlers in North America died of scurvy that the French fur trading colony relocated across the Baie Française (Bay of Fundy), settling the following year in a location they named Port-Royal.

At the time it was believed that "land sickness" (now known as scurvy) was caused by idleness, so Champlain organized the Order to include not just food, but also entertainment. The first meeting, which took place on November 14, 1606, included a theatrical performance called "Le Theatre de Neptune en la Nouvelle-France". The play told the story of sailors travelling to the New World, only to encounter Neptune, god of the sea on the way.

The Baron de Poutrincourt, Intendant to the King of France in North America, had been on an expedition on the Atlantic coast to the coast of present-day Maine, and, on the occasion of his return to the fort at Port-Royal, the Order was founded at a glorious reception, the preparations for which reportedly involved all those remaining at Port-Royal.

His return on the 14th of November, 1606, is a date to remember in the annals of the New World, as the establishment of the first North American Order of Chivalry and the birth of the Nouveau Noblesse of New France. The feasting of the Order occurred weekly and continued throughout the winter until the last of March only to recommence annually in the Fall.

The First Toast of the Order made by the Baron de Poutrincourt...

"We meet tonight to witness an event.

That will, I pray, go ringing down the years. At marking the sure founding of the Order,

Which God and France shall ever serve as beacon to our goal" —Baron de Poutrincourt

Quoting Lescarbot, Rameau writes: "Poutrincourt returned from his excursion on the 14th November, 1606; Lescarbot, who was always full of ideas, and who knew, no doubt, the useful part to be obtained by exterior demonstrations, foresaw to prepare for his honor a quasi- triumphal return from his voyage; Nature itself has already furnished the principle initiative, and advantage of it had been taken, everywhere were decorations and garlands of natural green; a magnificent forest hid the rusticity of wooden buildings and huts; even a theatre was built where allegoric scenes were represented; there was a feast, a discharge of musketry, and as much noise as could be made by some fifty men, joined by a few Indians, whose families served as spectators."

In 1606, there were less than 70 men at Port-Royal. Lescarbot states that, in total, about 50 Frenchmen, joined by Indians, participated in the welcoming home of Poutrincourt and the first gathering of the Order. However only fifteen men of birth are recognized as founding the Order. These would have been the only men present at the time of sufficient social standing with whom Champlain and the Baron de Poutrincourt would care to dine. The guests of the Order likely sat at other tables, probably getting equally good dinners as the rest, but without being recognized as official members of the Order.

Likely everyone at the settlement took part in the staging of "Le Théâtre de Neptune en la Nouvelle-France," written by Lescarbot and performed at the first celebration Order marking the first theatrical performance in North America.

Read more about Order Of Good Cheer:  Founding Chevaliers

Famous quotes containing the words order and/or cheer:

    ... the sentimentalist ... exclaims: “Would you have a woman step down from her pedestal in order to enter practical life?” Yes! A thousand times, yes! If we can really find, after a careful search, any women mounted upon pedestals, we should willingly ask them to step down in order that they may meet and help to uplift their sisters. Freedom and justice for all are infinitely more to be desired than pedestals for a few.
    Bertha Honore Potter Palmer (1849–1918)

    [Your letters] serve like gleams of light, to cheer a dreary scene where envy, hatred, malice, revenge, and all the worse passions of men are marshalled to make one another as miserable as possible.
    Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)