HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-07-31, Page 35Hello there! I -low are ye
doin?
I'm sure youhave
heard it over and over
again, many of our
forefatrets ;oft . their
native land early in the
last century ; and
colonized the great
Continent of North
America, They arrived
on virgin soil, cleared.. it
of trees and undergrowth,
built their own log cabins
and ate -whatever they
grew, 411 the time con-
tending with the hazards
of wild men and wilder
animals. -
w-it's-aa-starry-whielr ever
fails to thrill,- but there
have been so many novels
and films of ,that period
that we begin to take it,all
for granted. At least I did
until recently, when I met
a 95 -year-old lady who
showed me some letters,
which were written. to her
grandfather living on the
borders of Tyrone and
Fermanagh, by his
brother who emigrated to
Canada away back in the
1830 period even before
Queen Victoria began to
reign. -
The old lady is a living
link with the past and
thank goodness she was
sensible enough to keep
the old letters, for they
are intensely interesting.
A feature of them is the
bold clear handwriting,
correct spelling and
gran mar; all -from " a
young country boy who
left his wee school before
he entered his teens.
Well, whatever schooling
he got. must- have been
good!
The ink must have been
good too, for it's scarcely
faded, although some of
the letters were written
as far back as September
1842 and that's not
yesterday!
Another feature is that
they hadn't any en-
velopes. The letters were
simply folded in three,.
the address written on the
bask, and then they were
sealed with red wax
.pressed down with,' a
'thumb. Those which I
saw didn't seem to have
the usual postage stamp
but simply a date franked
on them.
It seems to have been
usual too, to send letters
out from home by
someone who was
emigrating. Doubtless
this served as an in-
troduction for the
newcomer as well as
news from home.
Unfortunately, this
practice seems to have
- caused delay for one
recipient wrote home
saying:
"Your letter written on
15th April was not
received by me until 16th
September carried by
W.H. James O'Bern, also
carried ,a letter to
Thomas and from both of
these we are glad to hear
good, of yourselves and of
the country."
Thomas was evidently
a brother who followed
his older brother out and
got a parcel of land near
to him so that in this way
the two of them could pool
their resources. This
practice was evidently
the beginning of the large
Canadian farms.
"Thomas has got a
parcel of land opposite to
us ,. 88 acres at 2 pounds
. British per acre and he
has: ten. years to pay. it.'
Our development com-
pany is allowing us 12
years to pay for their
land, for every 100 acres
you pay . 3, pounds at the
end of the, first year, 4
pounds at the end .of the
second year, the third
year 5 pounds and so on to
the twelfth when it is 16
pounds. When all the
installments are paid up
you get a deed forever but
mark you,, the land is a
wilderness. We are near
Goderich West Township
a township being .12
square miles on the
shores of Lake Huron.
(I'm sure all our Ontario
readers will know where
that it.)
"Between Thomas and
me, we have a yoke of
oxen, another yoke of
four-year-old steers
(youngbullocks), a yoke
of two -year-olds and two
cows. We have also about
40 pigs between us; 14
that would weigh 10
score, a great number of
sucking pigs and six sows
breeding. We put the
elped to tame a wilderness
sows out in the bush and
don't see them for weeks
on end; then they come
home With the young pigs
if they are lucky enough
to escape the wild
animals, Unfortunately,
the wolves and the foxes
carry a great many of
them off.
"When the wolf begins
to howl, it's like a dog
crying at first and then it
'raises to a fearful howl at
midnight. It's very
frightening to hear at
first."
As a- sample of the
dangers as well as the
no-velty-of--unknown-veil -
animals, the . next
paragraph makes in-
teresting reading.
"Lately Thomas and
myself went down to cut
cedar at the river to help
make things for his barn
and we spied an animal.
moving through some
weeds. He was as big as a
fox, brown with a white
stripe down each side and
with his tail turned over
his back. I fired at him
and he fell - not quite
dead. He began to crawl
and Thomas threw an axe
at -him. The instant the
axe hit the animal, it spat
in his face and almost
blinded him - and I never
smelt anything like it. I
believe *it is called a
polecat; they are not
plentiful, thank good-.
ness!"
(Then a few notes of
various. friends from
home who had also
emigrated).
"Old Mr. William Shaw
who lived in the Diamond
in Enniskillen, is our
school master, a civil old
mangy He boards and
lodges with us at 61- a
week. Robert Beacom
has got land 12 miles
from Goderich but a very
bad road and few neigh-
bours. Robert Acheson is
wellout r n
the Misses . Richardsons
are in good health."
"I'm sure you'd like to
hear about "'our"crop:"'Th'e
wheat that was sown on
15th May is all cut and in
the barn (17th Sep-
tember) . The oats were
sown after the wheat and
they're cut too and our
potatoes were planted
after the oats - no wonder
they are so small. Wheat
is sold `down in States
from 15 to 25 pence per
bushel of.60lb.
"Here are some prices
you might like to com-
pare: beef 3 d. ib; butter 5
d; eggs 5 d. per doz.;
geese 5/-a pair ; ducks 216
and turkeys 6/- per pair."
"I see that Canada has
Page 15.
got a loan of a million and
a half pounds from
England for public works
such as roads, canals and.
railroads. What a country
this.will be."
drawers or attics, letters
which make the past live
again? If you have any,
please let -me know for
I'm sure that readers
would like''to share in the
pleasure of reading x-
tracts.from them.
So long now- and the
best of luck.
Barney McCool
-doing hare, 'and What a prophea►as he -
and an interesting writer
too.
• I wonder are there any
other' old' letter's` hiding in
•
This wedding picture of George and 'Rebecca (Smith), Caldwell in 1897
shows the style of clothes fashionable at the time.
Happy Birthday
Dungannon
NANCY QUINN
Q., Q f
ucnn s Towns
OlUe$S CSC c is
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I
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Campbell St.
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,il4uJLnn
on your
1 25th Birthday
Dungannon
From
Bill's Place Variety
Lucknow Phone 518.2238
HappyBirthday
Dungannon
Best of luck on your
- 125th Celebrations and for
the future of your community
From your friends
. � et -the L_ -_
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CENTRE
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