by H. M. MacDonald 4? Ker S*' °sen Laoe •<:• Sidewalks •cA'o^ stUake eL a s* Gho mp % Bum m GEMS OF ANTIGONISH dn^i*-* Lffit, '^i'fyV? .-• own ^^ALemorij J^ane with Gems of Antigonish to Remember by H. M. MacDonald 1972 All Rights Reserved A CKNO WLED GEMENT The author is indebted to the many sources that made the publication of this volume possible. Thanks to the longevity of a large number of families whose ancestors pioneered the County of Antigonish and their desire to preserve much of its early history, it has been possible to research personally much that had not reached print. To such the author is grateful. Then there are the local historians who have made records of the develop­ ment of Antigonish, the people who dwelt within its boundaries and the in­ stitutions they enriched, a labor of love. The author particularly acknowledges: History of Antigonish by D. G. Whidden A History of Antigonish County by Dr. J. W. MacDonald History of Antigonish Diocese by Rev. A. A. Johnson Hierlihy and his Times by C. J. McGillivray THE ANTIGONISH CASKET which for a period of three years carried a weekly column on Memory Lane Finally the author is compelled to express his sincere gratitude to CASK­ ET readers who urged the publication of our gems of memory, not least of whom is Rev. J. A. Ross of Detroit, a former resident of Antigonish, who made this volume a reality. To Tess, my wife, who for more than two score years has travelled with me down Memory Lane in Antigonish County I dedicate this volume '•'-"•''.';:• "•A'^9|JT '&• P;-1P TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 8 1. THE BEGINNING 11 2. THE RURAL SCENE . 14 3. THE SHIRETOWN 29 4. LANDMARKS 36 5. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS 48 6. SENTIMENTAL 63 7. GHOSTS AND KINDRED SPIRITS 75 8. PLACE NAMES 87 9. UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS 98 10. ETHNIC MILESTONES 113 11. WHEN FARAWAY FIELDS LOOKED GREEN 120 12. NATIVE HUMOR 130 (See Index,p. 136) ANTIGONISH I found a town where children play And church bells ring to greet the day, Where I can smell the August hay It's here I thought that I would stay. I wanted so to hear the streams Writing the score for idle dreams. To be where people did not run And stopped to pray when day was done. A town of youngsters, trim and strong, Of little children, bells and song, I told myself should this I find, I would know peace of heart and mind. All this I found and even more So I shall not wander evermore But stay until my life doth end, Counting each and every friend. And I shall live the fullest life Serenely labor, freed from strife, Drinking deep of time and space And seeking not another place. Walking fields both green and brown Climbing up and climbing down. Meeting creatures face to face That do not live in every place. For I shall know the timid deer, The wily trout, the awesome bear. I will find my own retreat Where my town and the forest meet. The nearby sea will roam and foam Calling to me that I am home, And I will laze along the sand Skipping stones with weathered hand. Life will end in the quiet night And all will stop, for death is right. When that time comes, I ask of thee The bells to ring, just for me. Then take me to the hillside high Where so many good folk lie. Cease not to sing, because I go . I lie in peace, my town below. J. H. (Reprinted courtesy of Brian O'Connell) ILLUSTRATIONS Cover: aerial photo of St. Francis Xavier University- campus, showing part of the town of Antigonish. 4: Lochaber Lake, subject of Joseph Howe's well- known poem. (Formac Photo) 28: Ballantyne's Cove — Many immigrants, including Dr. Murphy, first minister of health, landed here. (Formac Photo) 33: Wilkie and Cunningham's, Main Street, Antigonish; as it used to be. 35: Main Street, Antigonish, during the annual High­ land Games parade. 36: Aquinas and Xavier Halls, St. Francis Xavier Uni­ versity, Antigonish. These are among the oldest buildings on the campus. 38: Unfortunately, no photograph of the original An­ tigonish bandstand was available for publishing, but it greatly resembled the one in this picture. 42: The town clock in the tower above the old post office, corner of Main and College Streets. 47: This cairn was erected in 1961 on the site oi St. Bean's Roman Catholic Church, built at Keppoch in the year 1870. 57: Antigonish Rural School, Maryvale. 62: St. Ninian's Cathedral, Antigonish, built 1867- 1874. 82: This photo shows part of the skeleton of a ship buried in the sands of Malignant Cove, Antigonish County, only visible during an extreme low tide. 86: A view of the old bridge at Doctor's Brook. 112: The silver teapot (referred to in the story on p. 110) which Queen Victoria presented to "Captain Angus" MacDonald. NATIONAL WEEKLY PUBLISHED IN ANTIGONISH SINCE 1352 Ch VOL. )]?.. NO. 3 ,.., aviONISll, N. S. UJGUST 26 Down Memoiry Lane Rev. Malcolm president of SI. F University, anno dav that new ho tions would be i F. X. for the u[ astic year. The presider CAMERA SHOTS silent movies Charlie Chap- universitv sen lin, Ben Turpin, Harold Lloyd, ed throe tvpa How long ago it seems since Fatty Arbuckle, the Three for male stud; a dedicated teacher of the old Stooges and a score ol conic- dances, residi 11;::n S.reet School aroused dims carried the torch male visitatioi his so-so class in elementary through the medium o f cine- fined f) lor science l;y demonstrating how ma. "open" reside the first camera was conceiv­ be visited h ed. Then TV entered the homes certain hoin and families wait in v in for • "Or~ shalk box every morsel of hums r that His .stati- he sul)- WJUl'd lighten the burden of dents we- )f foil the dav and the heat One polled a 'iirccl feature, Candid Camera made tions w h a its appearance and so n era basis o my of homely relaxation \ •as i i Introduction Several years ago when the spectre of retirement began to cast its inexorable spell across my path the urge to share with my contemporaries some of the precious experiences of youth that lay dormant for many years, was irresistible. The freelance writing which had been a hobby of mine in leisure moments for some years previ­ ously and had produced "These Changing Times", "Recol­ lections" and "Memory Lane", suggested that a weekly column in our local newspaper would strike a responsive chord. Shortly after the final installment of the last series was published the author was urged by readers on the home front and kinsfolk abroad to compile a volume of the pieces from which, in the words oi one, "dreams are made" and revived. To this end I have selected from a total of 110,000 words in the column installments some sixty historic and nostalgic topics to produce a volume of twelve chapters of 36,000 words, woven around a rural community and its shiretown. While the reader is guided down memory lane of Antigonish, Nova Scotia and the county of which it is the shiretown, the landmarks, the unassuming men and women of the community — their idiosyncrasies and their superstitions, their culture and racial characteristics are no different than the homesick individual of Saska­ toon, Detroit or Kapuskasing in Ontario. It is the same longing of the spirit, the same hunger for home prompted sometimes by the chance remark of a stranger overheard on a tram car, or the facial resemblance of a pedestrian on a city street, or the voice on the radio singing a favorite song or lament such as one which touches the heart of every Scot — the predominant ancestry of the majority of those who made Antigonish their home away-from- home: "I mourn for the Highlands, so bleak and forsaken, The land of our fathers, the gallant and brave. To make room for the sportsman, their lands were all taken, And they had to seek out new homes o'er the waves." Memory Lane is just such a chronicle of the emo­ tions experienced by the elders of the Antigonish com­ munity who chose to remain near the scenes of their youth and by those less fortunate ones who found it necessary for economic or professional reasons to wander abroad but are compelled from time to time to cast a glimpse at the nostalgic past, recalling Main Street and its landmarks, the countryside with its homely comforts and the hospitality and the unpretentious culture which entible them to preserve the annals of their historic strug­ gle for survival together with their native legends and folklore without professing belief in either of them. To better understand Antigonish, and indeed any county of Nova Scotia one naturally places no small importance to the names attached to them. Some com­ munities are named by governmental agencies, others for no particular reason or by jesters. Sometimes a dialect peculiar to an area gives rise to placenames which when spoken convey quite a different meaning from that which they were intended to convey. Few natives of Antigonish really bother to learn the significance of the descriptive terms used, only to dis­ cover too late that a colloquial expression had 'stuck' and thus was embarrassing, as in the instance of the sometime recurring use of 'beach' and 'beech'.