HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-07-16, Page 54Page 30
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Please Phone:2:524,7711 For Reservations
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AT Baficx
from your neighbours
in the Municipality' of the
TOWNSHIP OF AS.HFIEL
An early barn raising in Colborne Township
Dunlop set up. Gairbraid
north of the Maitland
Gairbraid
In 1832 settlers were arriving at a rapid
pace. "Tiger" Dunlop, Warden of the
Forests vacated the Castle and took up`a
block of land bordering the de Tuyle Ridge
property and established Gairbraid — the
name copied his mother's old home in
Dumbartonshire.
Gairbraid was built of solid oak logs, the
house formed the letter H. It contained
eight or nine roomy apartments compris-
ing of a series of house,,. lean-to, porches
and passages. The view,vp'the valley of
the Minneseturig, has not often been
equalled. • .
■
Best Wishes
� I � P � Ali
to our many ood friends
in Colborne Township.
We,,at Durst .FarmCentre
ate proud`to play a role
in the agricultural
history'of.Colborne TOWnship.
OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:
*Complete Line of Purina Chows
—Bags &.Bulk •
• Purina Health Products
• Purina Pet Chows
•Hyland Seeds
'Gallagher . High Power Fencing
• Farm Hardware
*Feed Analysis'
•Livestock Record Keeping Systems
•Garden Supplies
Bryan
Len
Tony
PURINA
CHOWS
DURST FARM. CENTRE
Highway No. 8`WWVest Clinton
— 482.7706 ---
STORE HOURS: Monday to Friday 8 am to 5 prs , ,
• "Saturday am•42 noon - ,
The two rooms most characteristic of
the times and of the occupants were the
dining room and kitchen. Gairbraid was
the centre of Colborne life, a home, a
meeting place, and a refuge for all comers
— "Have you had your dinnerh?" was the
Doctor's unfailing greeting to all
passersby. Arid -"Will you tak' a drink — no
man must go from my house either hungry
or dry."
As described by the Lizar sisters, in the
Days of the Canada Company, a huge
liquors -stand made of mahogany, brass,
bound, with large brass handles stood in
the centre .hollow of the sideboard. It
measured seventeen and one-half inches
high by thirty-three in length and twenty-
three in width. It was simply a monster
"traveller" on wheels, built to hold twelve
gallons of liquid,containing a dozen large
bottles from a converted military chest,
each carrying a new label and measuring
a good sixteen inches by nine, with a half -
pound stopper, in itself a handful. These.
were termed by the irreverent Doctor the
"Twelve Apostles"; the brandy bottle was
Pani, and Peter held the whisky, and they
went the rounds of the room in pilgrimages
lief LL_ disposition
th
siiii�uae,a,U,a,coe uis�usauuaa of a,exe,a'.UmEraaey.
It was not only a homestead which the
Doctor and the Captain wished to found.
There was also to be a village of Gairbraid.
The Crown and Anchor was the village inn.
It was at this inn that the first meeting, •
'January 4, 1836, was held to elect the first
local governing body of Colborne
Township in .the formof commissioners.
The first schooling of Colborne children
took Place at Gairbraid.-The first Christian '
church services were held at Gairbraid.
Gairbraid was also the site of the first
marriage in•Colborne Township. The story
goes thus: Between 1833 and 1834, Louisa
McColl,a dairy woman was sent. out from
the Dumbartonshire Gairbraid to manage
the Canadian household.
She cared for the,Captain and the Doctor
community was, simpleas were the ways
of that primitive society, Mrs..Grundy had
arrived and it was demanded that the
Highland lassie should be let go. The Doc-
tor gravely told his brother that there was
but one way out of the difficulty, viz, for
one of them to marry her; he was willing to
decide which of them it should be, by three
tosses of 'a penny = he provided the coin.
Three tosses were solemnly given with a
double -headed penny, and the unsuspec- •,
ting Captain, became ',a candidate for
matrimony..
Gairbraid remained a popular meeting
place,but never fulfilled the dream of
becoming a town site. Today, the historical
Dunlop Tomb is. the only reminder of Col-
borne's first settlement.
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