A Shout-Out To Town Criers

Hear ye! Hear ye! A venerable role from the past lives on in modern times.

- Lynn C. Bilton, Cobourg, Ont.

With backdrops of Cobourg’s heritage harbour and the historic Grafton Inn, the Ontario Provincial Town Criers Championship was held on Saturday, June 1, 2019. This event is billed as the oldest annual competition of its kind in North America. Mandy Robinson was appointed the first female Town Crier for Cobourg in 2015, and her enthusiasm for the role is contagious. We had met a few weeks prior to this event and she encouraged me to attend.

A hearty welcome from Bill McKee, Ontario Guild of Town Criers president, was followed by the benchmark cry from guest crier Dave Rose of Easton, PA. The competition itself featured three cries on diƒerent topics. The assembled crowd was captivated by the very first one, “The Home Town Cry,” in which virtues of the towns the criers represent were extolled. Victoria Hall, the crown jewel of downtown Cobourg, was the topic of the second cry. In the afternoon, the venue shifted to the Grafton Inn, where the third cry oƒered competitors the option of choosing an inn, tavern or heritage architecture as the topic.