The magog was also described beeing greyish-white and yellowish-brown as far as i remember Martin103s post...on page 1
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The magog was also described beeing greyish-white and yellowish-brown as far as i remember Martin103s post...on page 1
Thanks for your input guys, I am sure I have seen either a blog or site of your Doorsch, looks like you have compiled a great deal of information on a wide variety of stones, I plan on getting back to take advantage of your hard work.
Martin103, I have another one of them stones , shame about the label, I got it in its current condition, I have never wet the stone as I did not want to damage the label further, now I have found another, I am able to make out some of the extra information, although, it would appear this next stone is advertised as another variety.
I hope the pics are ok.
Attachment 208743
Attachment 208744
Attachment 208745
small white stone is a very hard noviculite, the green stone is a local slate, I hope they are of some interest, thanks again for your time.
Steve, have you listed another one of those with complete label ?
Yes Sebastian, it is on previous page of this thread, page 4, I have also included more pics in a folder i have created for public viewing, if you want more pics please just ask, fingers crossed some one can tell me more about the manufacturer,
T H & co HO & GM, another member was good enough to point out the
Victoria & Albert portrait, maybe common wealth at that time (Canada).
I would like to see a complete version of the one in bits, looks like there is quite a bit more to it.
Albert had died by 1861 if that helps any further,
Victoria was Monarch from 1841 to 1901
Iam not sure, the other stone ive seen had the same Shortcuts and portraits...
It was named "yellow River Oilstone" and had written down "British Product". So my theory is as it has been with other hones that these shortcuts mostly appear on the British Market....
I think that the shortcuts might stand for some British Tool Manufacturers like for Planes, etc...probably some well known Names from Sheffield...thats just a Theory...
It also show a grinding wheel and has written LONDON in one Corner...
I thought it was your listing, but it was someone else, here the full label ;-)
http://up.picr.de/22778803pn.jpg
cool looking label, I have just met a guy who works as a geologist for a living, sad thing is he is rather set in his ways, he travels round the UK mines / quarries looking for business for the company he works for.
I have not had chance to show him this yet, but if he can not tell me, then I am due to go to the museum at Sheffield this summer , over the next week I will be walking through the Cumbrian fells, looking to see if Stone age man has left any half worked axes left high on the fells, I would like to sample the same stone as a hone, it is classes as a Horne stone, being exceptionally hard, it is made metamorphic rock veins that have been exposed through the slate beds, fingers crossed I get lucky, if we don't get an update before then, I will have to get along to see him , well, at least I know it is not a magog, having said that, we don't have any Noviculite here in the UK, lots of chert, but none so far up to scratch for an industrial output
You would be surprised to hear but there is quite a bit of novaculite in UK and also is used for hones.
Hi Adrspach, thanks for the input, I am aware of the masses of chert we have, I had tried to qualify my statement, I was not aware of any company quarrying Noviculite in the UK on a commercial scale, I would be very interested in any further info you have.
All the best steve
There is a plenty of information on novaculite hones from UK here on this forum such as about CF or LI. There are also other bits about possible location of Arkie type hone quaried somewhere on Lleyn peninsula.
if you prefer different sources of information you can check Henk's online book or Brian Read's book.
Either I read too fast, or I couldn't find a clear location shown in this thread, so I decided to add that ;)
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/%C3...!4d-72.2352485
Île Whetstone ('Whetstone' Island in French) is its official name, and is near Owl's Head, in case you like to ski AND straight razors.
I suppose that it sounded weird to call it Île Pierre-à-aiguiser, and thus they kept the English name.
From what I understand, after reading through this thread and a few others, is that no clearly labelled "Magog Oilstone" has yet been found?
Well, I'm about to move to Magog, so I will volunteer to scour the area. I'll try and find a Magog stone locally on the off chance that everything wasn't exported. I also will try and visit Whetstone Island next summer and see if I can find any novaculite remnants (maybe enough to make myself a hone?). Who knows what I may find.
Wish me luck!
Sure you can try this, please be aware that whetstone island is private property. The area where the stone was quarried today is beyond the surface. It was written that somewhere outcrops have been found....
If youre interested in more information shot me a PM!
I won't be able to explore until after the winter, and I'll need to settle into my new job & home, but I'll definitely reach out when I'm ready to dive deeper into this! I'm pretty sure that after living in the area for a few months (maybe years) that someone will let me snoop around....
The island where the stone was quarried is owned by two owners who have their Montreal-escape vacation abodes there. When visiting the area around four years back, and following some initial Internet-sourced leads from Sebastian (doorsch), I chanced across a local who put me in contact with the current the caretaker of the island, who took me for a visit. I asked him if it would be possible to re-establish a limited production there, and his response was, "Not a chance, the owners just want to have peace and tranquility in their vacation homes." The water level of the lake was raised by at least ten feet since the mid-19th century, also hampering efforts, but I was able to take some pictures of a couple of places where a local historian thought the quarrying might have taken place. I also looked in the town of Magog archives, and there was not a trace of the stone's actual existence, but there were a lot of documents dealing with the Lake Memphremagog monster (think Loch Ness). Also, there is the Derby area of Vermont, where the stones were apparently cut to size until a change in Anglo-American relations around 1850. A similar investigation into Derby, Vermont's archives turned up with very little. My guess is that the town of Stanstead, Quebec's archives might provide a few leads if leads there are, maybe also Vermont's archives at the state level. The whole Quebec area in question is an interesting sociological study in that it was settled by anglophone Tories escaping from Vermont during the American Revolution. Subsequently, it has been dominated by 20th century francophone development from Montreal.
Well, I’m going to be head of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which is half in Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont, so hopefully there will be some local resources on both sides of the border open to me. I find this whole subject fascinating, and plan on investigating thoroughly once I’m settled in!
I will say that is one stone i really want to get. My mother is from that part of Canada.