Vv .1.tJ,.Ji: 2 The Leith Belles 1 Poetry "ror.1 "Lit tle Chips" by ''·ar~::ir e t Hprkness .::ald!:!r 2 Early Doctors 6 Scottish Expressions 9 The Pioneers -tr . .Ialter Aitken 10 •·•r . John Coui:,e r 11 Mr . Gideon H~ rkness 12 I•,r . Andrew Sibbald 13 j•lr . J ar.es Gibson 15 J.·ir . Huri;h Re id 16 e •\•r . ~dam Ainslie 17 J.•.1.r . ·'illiam P . Telford I 18 T-.,e .ilrmstrong Families 21 f.ir • J chn Couper Jr. 26 The Ross F:;imily 27 The <·1cKeen Fsmily 29 The Rutherford Family 31 The f·,itchell Family 40 Tom Tho:nson 44 The Irish Block-School 51 Items of I nterest 52 Pioneers 53 St. •·•i chael ' s Cer.et-ery 54 :>t . 1'.ichael' s 11ission 55 .lnnan Un ite<'! Church-forl'lerly Presbyterian --llistory 57 Choir 63 Dr . J • a. Fraser 66 Other :r.inisters 67 Session 70 Excerpts-old records 72 ->tewards 73 100 th .-ln'1 i ve rs 3.r ; 75 The ,lindow · 77 0enntennial 1967 79 Youth activit es so ~rie~dly Fellowship 88 .: • r ... S • and U • C • . / • 89 Annan Cemetery 99 Leith 0hurch- History 101 Window 107 Trustees and sr,ewards 108 Sessi on 109 lCOth inniversary 110 ~omen of the church 111 Sunday cichool ' 113 Leith Cemeter y 114 Le:.th Hall 116 vr"'anizations 117 Leith Baptist Church 11s· An~an School History 121 Garryo·,1en Schoo l History 141 Leith Sc~ool History 149 · _,i,•'·· ' l THE Ll!:I TH BELLES • Back Row- L. to R. Janie Alexander, Mame Waddell, i•linnie Thomson, !da Scott, Louisa Thomson , Lizzie Ross, Mary Cameron. Middle Row-Maggie Th<:>mson, Jessie Reid, Bird McNei l, Belle McKean, Bert ha J\teNeil, .Agnes McKean, Lila i1cNeil. Front Row- Mary l•,cNeil, Etta McKean, Jessie Ross, t.laggi e Ross, Ollie Cameron, Ida Scott • 1903 . • Photographed from the ori ginal picture by Mr . ctarold Ceasar . • 2 Poetry from the Book 11 :.... i ttle Chips" Volume 2, by tvirs Margaret Harkness Calr:ter. J\~rs . Calder was fl)rmer ly Margaret Mc.::Jonnld . 11er mother w:i s a sist<:1.r of jv1r. James _.\itken . A i.treRth of Forget-Ne- Nots .~e lived in Owen .:.ounti four years, Then in knnan , then in Lei th, So it ' s forget- M~ - nots from there 1 will 1~eave into a wreath; • So please won't you bear wit~ me , lihen you find my ~1eavings wrong, For t"l\cts or d'ltes or names, my .friends, Just will not we,1ve a song. I can't forget ~he Owen Sound Bay, The Hill St reet school or store, J'he sheltering rocks around the to•.m, The drives along the shore. The many many red brlck homes, The many shady bowers, The lare• and spreading chestnut trees, The many ferns and !'lowers . I c~l'.l ' t forget my tlrandac1' s home, Snu~gled back runong t he trees, I sti~l can see their willows Uancing in the evenine breeze; I sti ll remembe::- Cannon' s farm, And that of James Grady ' s And also ,/illiam Keefer' s place, And that of t\l:1drew Jpeedy I s 1 still can see the Annan School And the boys who went there then­ Oh how they did deli~ht to tease! Tho' thev were almost men , ,lho could forget the Ross store, Or G.impbell' s , the shoeme.k"r , Or Richie Hogg or M:iry HoJg, Our quiet, good dressmaker? t/ho could t·orget the bl'3.cksmith shop or Hr . Char~es l.emon? Tne church and the parsonage or Dr . l''r aser either? l'he ::lpeedy store, and Dr . Slo.;ms, fhe ~athr~-.~ and the ttid1les? The pretty view f'rom Annan road, And that of '1' . J . Harkness!. The ol d .fright mi 11, the Annan hill, These all are memory's pictures! 1 still could find the path to Leith , Round Grand~d ' s corn and grain, ~nd whe n l ' ve time I mean to walk O' er that old path again ; lt t ook one past the Julian home, Through pastur e field and l:i.ne; Twas such a pr ett y qui et 1talk In swishine or in rai n . How many folks have 'rl'llked to Leith From Ross • to the school, tJp open road, o ' er Harkness cr~ek, Then through a woods so cool? 1/ho forget the Uame r on•s pump • Or yet che ~ameron store, 'l'he Rixon home, t.he old mill pond, And the sancty bathing shore? - 3 'Page 2 A ,ire<itb. of Fo rget-,1e-Nots One can' t rorget the winding creek, '!'hat 1 lowed pa st John ,•lcK,en • s The hawthorn... hect~e alnng their p_ace, Or tneir lawn and evergreens ; iJr, can I t ±'or.:;et the Thorr1pson ' s place, Not for tne farm a lone, rlut paintinr;s by r,hi! Thompson men • Ar~ t'ound in every home . vie c~m' t forgei: r.he rtuu1ert'ord I s "hlliam 1'1cKeen ' s or uhe Mi tchell' s The 8ay ' s and Kemps and Gam~ron ' s, 'fhe !~cNeil' s and rteid' s and Veitche's; ~le can't forget the red bri ck churcn, Or the cool r:.ei're shi ng spring, It seems to me I Can ' t t·orget A solit~ry thine. ,i~at man or woman can forget Our happy days in school, The time we barred the t e-acher out, Ur hit him with a rule? And ,~ho forgets on ·1rbor days, How we 1 d sw~ep and dust and clean, Then rake the yard and plant some trees Some no•,·1 are large and :1;resn. {nd we can' t for~et the campers! Some have been i;)lere rorty years, And if I ' m not mistaken, r'lemings were the pioneers, They paved the way and other folll!s , SoQn built upon Leith shore, A.nd very soon our vi.Llage hummed tspecially at the store. • Tis somewhat over tnirty years, Since we left ¥eii:h to stay So we saw many changes As we drove al0ng the ~ay ; The evergreens have ~rown so! ~nd campers everywhere! 'l'he " Bumm~r ' s iioost" l saw was e;one , But the willow tree was there . "rt e old grist mill i s quite at rest, L'he creek i s almost dry; 3ome things have changed, that I know best And T could see just why ; I did not see the old, old school, Or even the old 1•1ell , Nor did I see t he old playmates t.here Or hear the old school bel l . U~dicated to Elizabeth Ross of Leith "Little Llhi ps" \folume 2 was publis)led in 1941 , in the United Jtates • • 4 P:13e J Poetry fror• 1•l,U'E;aret Harkness ~al6er's !:loo!: nLittle ,., :tps~ 'ro .::tt/l: 'IOU-Cl You? l 'o 1 ik• to -~o i;:; the cc ..tn r.ry 1' 'Ur •ind S1'll;"le :111 the che~se, ! ' ri like to ~e~r e IAmiliar voice day : nrtckets, ~h1!dren, please'', But l'd rather spend a holidlly , And~ think you know why-- 3zfely hid in a beec~nut tree P~ltin~ husks ~t p35cer~ by . • .iotP: .::tta was l•lis~ 11arg.a~-.t 1•,cKecn Musint.i;s on Seeirt-; a Print of rom Thornson ' s "w"'st <• ind" 'l'om had gone into the for est benea cn a clear, blue sky, And i t mattered not t o him how the hour s j ourneyed by; He found a pl ace of comfort, that faced the sunny south, Tilted back hi s slouch hat, stuck a !long pipe in his mouth, I'nwnb-tackect his sketciilng paper a l i ttle carelessly Then placed his easel f:r mly before a stur dy tree . He felt tbe morning bree ze Ulowine i n his nair Hear d the crackling underbr ush when leapt on by a hare; Sketched on and on for hours us ing sheet after sheet, ,ti,mche<l away on appl es f r om a sack at his feet ; i''illed ni s pipe quite oft en, then blew great rin~s of smoke, Cnuckled somewhat loud~y as he recall ed a joke; 'iandered at inter vals to the land of memory, Unaware the morning br eeze had gained velo<~ity Until he saw a s ~plln~, bedecked with pretty green, !:lend bei'or e the west wind ' s wratn while the sturdy stood serene. Above great clouds had gathered and were quickly driving east, Travelling like f;:ictory men and children to a .feast; The sloping wester n i'o:-est of mi1ple, beecb ana f ir, Had let th<" west wind s •,i eep the lake--it bad begun to stir, Then foam , and l ash the boulaers on the rugged shore, Sounding at that di stance like a caged l i on ' s r oar. Tom ' s inspirati on f l amed like embers fanned to fir e • At the risi ng wind ' s power from a Greater and a Hi~ner, .ti~ we s startled t A glorious vision 11as r eveal ed 'fhat painted i nto ,/e,.,'1' ,11,~ll cqn never be concealed . ro U1<en Sound., Ju .nan and Leith I have crossed t he ):(ocky .•.ount ains i n the dawning or the day , I h av'!! crossed them when t he shades began t o fall ; I have t ouched the great Pacif ic a nd the broad .Atlantic too , ·rhey are ma rvelous: and Uur I<'a t her made t hem a.il l .