HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1980-07-30, Page 42Congratulations
Neighbours
on your
125t
Birthday
A11 0w Best
from
Sepoy
Ceramics & Crafts
Lucknow
HWY, CODEMCH AT
/140 CONCESSKNI KO. 4
'PHONE 52411111 #.5744"
CONGRATULATIONS
TO
DUNOANNON
ON YOUR
125th Anniversary
For the finest in motion picture entertainment comil'to the
Park Theatre or Mustang 'Drive-in. Watch your kcal
newspaper for listings and shovvtimes.
30 THE SQUARE
PHONE,S24 7811
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Hello there! How are ye
all doin?
These columns ap-
peared in the Tyrone
Constitution printed in
Omagh, Tyrone County,
Ireland, a competitor of
the Tyrone Currier,
publishedio -Dungeo° ,
County - Tyrone, Ireland.
They are written by T.P.
McDivett who created the
character of Barney
McCool, on radio over 40
years and for television
20 years ago. Much like
Don Harron's creation, of
the character, Chalie
Farquharso n,. 'McCool is
an old rural character.
Mr. McDivett sent the
columns to Marie Park,
the Lucknow Sentinel and
Goderich Signal-Star's
Dungannon columnist
also a member of the
Dungannon 125th bir-
thday :registration
committee. They were
published in the Con-
stitution in February,
1970 and January, 1971,
Donaghni ere near
Dungannori„,in Tyrone.
As a further connection
with Ulster he tells rrie
that he served on convoys
during the war years-and
was often laid Up ia
Londonderry for a week
at a time; ‘and naturally
enjOyed the time , ashore..
What little he new of the
country he really liked,
and hopes to come back
here for a holiday some
day. He has fond
memories of , lady
member of a choir that he
heard - singing in the
Guildhall, in Derry; says
she, :4 sang like an angel
and looked like one too!
Another letter from the
same, area, Goderich, is
from a lady bearing a
truly Tyrone 'name,
Carrie O'Neill. Her
grandfather else came
from Dungannon? Co.
Tyrone, but emigrated to
Dungannon, Ontario, in
the year of the famioe,
1847. So now we kpoiv how
the people and the places
over there managed to
get the same names as
the people and , the places
over. here.
In a newspaper cutting
which she' enclosed there
are plenty Of names
which are commonplace
over here; Jack
Anderson, JimBlack,
Ben Crawford, Jim
Davidson, Charlie Elliott,
Bert FoWler; Johnny
Gray, .John Hamilton,
Bob Lowry, Beth
McConnell, Willie
Sproule, Robert Thom-
pson, Jim Wilson and
Sam Young. Sure yOu
might as well be' reading
the Con!
After all, there are
almost as, many reading
ilie Con over there as
over here, and plenty
more eager to read it if
only the friends at home
would. send it out to them.
So, a nod's as good as a
wink!
I understand that
Dungannon over there is
only, a small place of
about 250 inhabitants but
that Goderich has almost
7,000. It is the county
town of Huron County and
was built about 1630 after
a design in which the
streets radiate from an
octagonal civic parkbuilt
by a Dr. Wm. DUnlop
another name not
unkoown in Tyrone. It
has been greatly
developed since the end
of the last war and in
addition to grain stores,
flour mills and salt works
etc., it has• the largest
harbour on the Canadian
Side of Lake Huron.
I'm telling you all this
because I've unearthed
another letter, dated July
29, 1844, sentfrom
• Goderich to Fermanagh,
not in an envelope but
simply folded over into
three and sealed with red
sealing wax,:as the
custom seems to have
been at that time. In it,
the writer, who originally
hailed from near
Enniskillen said that:
"Pat end_...1ohn_got_two
lots of land -- 200 acres for
200 poynds, froth the
Canada Conipany (I'm
sure they're worth a,
penny or two more out
there nowadays!) '
"Partly cleared land
can be bought -- 100 acres
with about 40 cleared and
fenced fetches about 10 to
16 dollars an acre. You
could get 100 acres for as
low as 16 pounds but it
must be cleared:of timber
•etc. This, is the sort that
would suit a man with a
family of young strong
boys who 'could chop
down .trees and clear the
woods, but the work is
hard -- make no mistake
about that! There are
some men who take on
job_ work and who will
clear an acre of land for
301- without board.
"A pair of horses or
yoke of oxen to work the
farm would— cost 30
pounds; a plough will cost
2 pounds, a. wagon 15
pounds,-as. harrow 1 pound
and a sleigh for the
winter 5 pounds. Harness
for the horses will be 4
pound and yoke chain for
the oxen 1 pound. A milk
cow will cost 4 pound and
a sheep about 10/-. The
cost of making a new set
of shoes for the horses
and fitting them will be
about 15/ -, and they
should last a year.
"A servant man for the
year will cost 18 to 20
pounds plus his board and
lodging; a servant girl 10
pounds plus board and
lodging. These servants
are-fed on the very best;
home-baked bread, pork,
beef or mutton twice
every day -- and tea both "
morning and evening."
In those days, when tea
was so expensive that it
was served usually on
Sundays only at home,
the prospect of getting it
twice a day must have
been very tempting.
By the middle of 1848,
things seems to have
improved around here,
for hi anothet letter the
writer says: "We expect
a railroad from. Toronto
to Goderich -- the ground
is already__survey_ed_ao
passed by the Provincial
Parliament if the.
money can be raised.
However, there is op-
position -- the route may
be. via Hamilton and
London and Chatham to
Sandwich opposite
Detroit," •
(I understand they
eventually got both lines
and the route. to Sand-
wich, renamed Windsor
in 1836, became the
terminus of the old Great
Western Railway of
Canada which later
became part of the
Canadian National
Railroad network.
Another claim to fame
Sandwich has was the
home of the first
newspaper in Western
Ontario, "The Canadian
Ernigrant.".1 wonder is it
still in existence?
Perhaps some of our
Canadian readers could ,
let know about that.' '
In view of_ what I've
already' said-- about
present-day Goderich the
following will be of in-
terest :
"The stores here now
(1848) are as good as you
have back home in
Enniskillen and we can
get almost any article
and, just as cheap too. •
You can hardly believe
unless you see with your
own two eyes the splendid
articles you can get in the
Goderich stores.
"For instance, men's
boots_are sold at...151- a
pair and, shoes at 10/ -,
with women's about three
quarters that. If you like,
you" can pay, partly in
money and partly in farm
produce.
"There are • two
newspapers printed here.
We also have two tan-
neries, two breweries and
two distilleries. We also
have four churches, a
Courthouse and a jail,"
(necessary no doubt after
a thirst of
righteousness !)
"Our little school is at
the point where three
roads meet and is at-
tended by about 14
children. The Master
Miller is paid about 20
pounds, I think by the
Government, at the end
of each year, but we have
to board and lodge the
Master in our turn, about
one week in every 16 or
tub, 14 inches over inside
and about 7 inches deep,
holding about 60 lb.•• of
wheat, potatoes or peas)..
• Flour sells in Goderich at
17/-6d, for a barrel of 196
lb„ oats • about.. a
bushel, beef 1 pound for
100 lb:, and mutton at 3d.
or 4d. per lb, You can buy
an ox hide at the rate of
214d. per pound weight!''
We had a hard winter,
beginning about the
middle of November with
about .18 inches of snow,
and fierce frost. The
people here seem to like
that because then they
.can go _to market-in the-
sleighs and cutters easier
than over the muddy cart-
tracks in the thaw! Each
of these horse-drawn
sleighs or cutters has a
string of bells (9 or 10 of
them.) around each
horse's neck and on the
straps and buckles. Each
bell is about the size of a
small, apple and inside it,
there is' a little metal ball,
which as it rolls around,
gives out a very pleasant
sound. "The law is very
particular about these
balls and there is a heavy
fine if a person drives into
town without sufficient
bells to give warning of
his approach.: You see, if
you were walking in the
snow with the wind
whistling past your
covered-up ears, you
might not hear the ap-
proach of a sleigh and the
horses might , run over
you and you'd, be
seriously injured."
Evidently there were
traffic problems, even
then!
Hasn't this old letter
made very interesting
reading? I wonder how
many more old letters,
equally interesting about
one subject or another,
are lying in drawers or
old-.albums, maybe even
in your house? Would, you
have a good look, please,
and if you care to let me
have a loan of them,
perhaps• between us we
can share the interesting
news with thousands of
readers all over the
world.
So long and the best of
luck.
'Barney McCool
Some of you may
remember that about a
year ago I wrote an acs
count of life in Canada in
•the 1840 period, based on
some old letters from a
n—settier to his reletiVes In
this, country. In the let»
ters the writer said he
had settled in wild'
country near a place
called Goderich,- near
Lake Huron, Oniario,
Canada.
Wel) what do you think -
- now I get 'a letter from a
William Tigert who lives
near and whose forbears
came originally from
Fermanagh. Believe it or
not, he.'s living near a
small town called
Dungannon which must
have been called after
our own town of that
name because some of his
ancestors over there
originally came from
respectively.
Now a note about the
eternal subject, the
weather, "Spring opened
about the beginning of
April and I planted some
spuds, but frost after
frost, even as late as 5th
June, killed them all off.
The best time to plant
potatoes is the last week
of May and the start of
June. Even as late as
that, we sometimes have
spuds on 12th July as big
as you would have at,
home on 12th August." (A
d----h-in-t---there regarding
which foot he dug with.)
Wheat is good this year,
fetching about a bushel
(a small tub like a milk