The Rural Voice, 1985-11, Page 23and the kids, shining after their
Saturday night bath, were forced into
their suits, had their hair combed for
the first time in a week and their feet
encased in shoes and stockings. In
their splendour they drove to church,
some behind smart stepping
roadsters, some behind the old family
driver, and still others with a heavy
horse clomping ponderously along.
horses. In cold weather the horses
were impatient to be moving and
knew that warm stalls and feed
awaited them. They snorted, pawed,
fought the bit and shuffled about
while the women in their long skirts
(or hobble skirts) would try to get the
children and then themselves into the
buggy. Off the horse would go, fairly
lifting the front end of the vehicle off
"People would come by the hundreds to fowl sup-
pers. A long line would form outside the church
shed and gradually people would start coming
out, bulging and burping."
There were many country churches
and you seldom drove more than
three miles. Behind or opposite the
church would be a covered shed for
the horses. A farmer drove up and let
his family out at the church steps,
then tied the horse in the shed. The
men usually stayed in the shed to talk
while the women carried on their con-
versation on the steps or in the
church. The girls stayed with their
mothers and the boys, depending on
their maturity, divided themselves
between the men and the women.
Presently the men worked their way
to the church and joined their
families and settled down in their
usual seats. There was no rule as to
where you should sit but usually each
Sunday found the same people in the
same seats.
I remember church as being quite
tedious. I liked the singing and when
the choir gave its number I was all at-
tention. Some of the hymns had a
good deal of rhythm and life to them.
I still remember the first time I heard
"He's the Lily of the Valley." I could
hardly keep from whistling it during
the rest of the sermon. The opening
prayer was always a horrible ordeal
and I remember distressing my
mother when I suggested that it was
all foolishness. God was all -seeing
and all-knowing and we did not need
to tell him our sins, our thoughts, or
our desires because he already knew
them. She replied with some mean-
ingless jargon about creating a proper
feeling of reverence, but to me, even
now, I wonder just how much sinceri-
ty goes with the mouthing of phrases
so often used.
After church was an enjoyable time
in the horse and buggy days, especial-
ly in the winter. The women gathered
on the steps and the men went for the
the ground. In the winter with the
fancy robes, the sleigh bells of dif-
ferent tones, and the steaming breath
of the horses, a young boy experienc-
ed an exciting ride. For the young
man with a showy horse and his girl,
it was a fine time to show off. It was
quite an art to control the horse, to be
gallant to the girl, and to maintain
manly dignity all at the same time.
Those were the days when men were
mighty. But Sundays were not only
for church. In the spring we would
have either a lawn social or a
strawberry festival. We would also
have the Sunday School picnic. In the
fall there was the fowl supper and the
Christmas concert. With Methodist,
Presbyterian, and Anglican churches
all close by and each doing the same.
there were one or two festive occa-
sions a week during spring and fall as
well as at Christmas. In the summer,
people were too busy with harvest to
waste much daylight and too tired at
night to enjoy an outing.
I liked all festivities and I do not
know which the most. The Sunday
School picnic began for me in the
morning when Dad and a few
neighbours would meet in the bush to
nail a few boards to trees to make
booths where candy, peanuts,
bananas, and ice cream would be sold
(no pop in those days). The ice cream
might be made there or it might be
made at one of the houses.
Andrew Dixon: "The farms were close; you could
see the neighbours' buildings, and it was an easy
walk. What is more to the point — people had time
to be friendly."
NOVEMBER 1985 21