The Dark Harbour Hermits

The Dark Harbour Hermits, Lewis “Lucy” Greene (1863-1940) and William “Darby” Greene (1861-1937), were two bachelor brothers who summered and harvested dulse at Dark Harbour.  During the 1920-1930s they were themselves a major Grand Manan tourist attraction, and their photo was included in Tourism Brochures of the day. Visitors from as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal and South Africa would make the long trek out to Dark Harbour where the Hermits would entertain them with songs and poetic recitations, and show off Lucy’s skillfully created folk artifacts (a guest book from May 1931-Jan 1932 records over 300 visitors to “The Bat”, the name of Darby’s camp).  

An expert craftsman, Lucy created unique dioramas showing the life of real and imaginary fishing communities, carved elaborate gun stocks inlaid with hand-tooled silver and brass imagery, and modified existing cabinets and knifes so that they became unique works of art.  The largest gun stock in our display is fashioned of wood salvaged from the Wreck of the Lord Ashburton, another exhibit found in the Shipwrecks Gallery.