Local town crier competes internationally

Photo by Cecilia Nasmith.

By Cecilia Nasmith

As the Alnwick-Haldimand Town Crier, Liam Cragg has participated in his share of town-crier competitions – and the one this fall will see him as one of five Canadian contestants in the World Town Crier Tournament in Chester, England.

As well, there will be 10 contestants from England, one from the Channel Islands, one from the United States, one from Germany, two from Australia, three from Belgium and four from the Netherlands crying in Chester Sept 21 to 26.

Joining Cragg from Canada's shores are James Stewart of Glasgow, NS, Summer Gallant of Riverview, NB, Chris Whyman of Kingston, Ont., and Bruce Kruger of Bracebridge, Ont.

With a strictly enforced limit of 100 to 125 words, three cries will be delivered – the Hometown Cry (extolling the virtues of one's home community), the Retail Cry (an advertisement of a retail outlet that will be assigned) and the Hotel Cry (singing the praises of your accommodation while you are there).

Each is marked on a scale of one to 100, the largest cumulative total rewarded with the championship.

Judgment is on five criteria – vocal proficiency, confidence and bearing, engaging the audience, content of the cry, and accuracy (how closely the exacting rules are followed – for example, if your script refers to the year 1066, you write out “ten sixty-six” and it becomes two words).

A winner is declared for each of these cries (as opposed to the tournament championship), and there are also prizes for Best Ambassador and Best Dressed.

City of Chester crier David Mitchell has been sharing rules and helpful tips already, and Cragg is surprised at one of them – usually, the crier emphatically does not try to engage his or her audience. But the host crier has a lot of say in these things. And in Chester, England, the crier appears every day in the market square to make a proclamation.

“He's probably always looking for material,” he guessed.

And the livery – it's regalia or livery, not costume – can be surprising in its variety. Cragg has competed in the livery of Cobourg's legendary former crier Tom MacMillan, but has assembled his own version as well.

Brantford Town Crier David McKee liked the uniform of the Rogers' Rangers from the War of 1812, but he was criticized for promoting colonialism (even though many of them were Native Americans). He has since changed to business dress from the time of Alexander Graham Bell (who was from Brantford) with a daffodil pattern in tribute to the early daffodil-model telephone.

“Criers are territorial. To be accepted into the Guild, you either have to be named by a municipal bylaw or championed by an historic or other group,” Cragg said.

His first town-crier gig was in a Bracebridge Santa Claus Parade one year, on a float developed by a Rotary Club committee headed by former Premier Frank Miller. The theme of the float was communications, and Miller told Cragg to dress up like a town crier.

“It went over so well, the mayor said, 'Great idea – we should have a town crier.'”

A competition was arranged, and two contestants showed up. Cragg finished second to Kruger, who now does the Wiarton Willie ceremonies (and will be at the competition in Chester).

After moving to Grafton, he became active with the heritage committee and thought it might be fun for the township to have a town crier. Fellow committee member Bob Dean brought it before council – and was turned down.

Dean suggested Cragg should become town crier anyway.

“I asked, 'What if someone complains?' He said, 'Then we will have a competition.'

“No one complained.”

A decade later, he still hopes a younger prospect may step up whom he can mentor and pass along the mantle to, share tips on things like writing proclamations.

“There's no handbook, nothing that says, 'Here's what you do.' The best way to learn is to enter competitions, witness other criers' style – and styles do vary,” he said.

In addition to his crying duties, Cragg's voice often turns up onstage. He is a thespian from way back – since 1999, when he lived in Bracebridge. He moved to Grafton in 2014 and immediately became part of the VOS family, with parts in many of their shows (most recently as the king in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella).

Initially appointed to the Alnwick-Haldimand post in 2016, he participated in his first competition on Amherst Island two years later. And Grafton and Cobourg co-hosted a provincial competition in 2019.

His tournament days were interrupted by the pandemic, but returned in full force with events like the Muskoka Escapades of Town Crying Competition (hosted by his Bracebridge colleague Kruger).

“This year Amherstburg – down near Windsor – is having a fun competition Aug. 1, which I will attend because my daughter lives in Windsor. Might as well!”

Competitions outside Canada haven't worked well so far. Bermuda closed down the island during COVID just as he was slated to compete there. Then, two years ago, he was set for a competition in Provincetown, Mass., and couldn't go because of his own case of COVID.

He really enjoyed last year's international competition in New Glasgow, NS, where he enjoyed hobnobbing with British and American criers during a special project – the Provincetown crier had arranged for a documentary to be shot there.

Looking ahead, he keeps in mind a message from Chester that crier Mitchell calls Our Promise of Imperfection.

“No matter how carefully we prepare, I can promise you that the experience will not be perfect. There may be frustrations, delays, wet weather hot weather, imperfect accommodation arrangements or decisions with which not everyone agrees. When problems arise, as they inevitably will, they provide an opportunity for your character and professionalism to shine.”

This is nothing new to Cragg. He was travelling to an Ottawa competition last year when he lost his voice on the way up. He struggled through the first cry, but was totally hoarse by the second. He was invited to take a bow and let the host explain, when he had the idea of getting his third cry delivered by a colleague – who agreed, and prefaced the cry with “Liam says...” His idea was found to be acceptable.

As for what may arise in Chester – well, stay tuned.

For more information, visit towncrier.on.ca