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1884.] 
 
 Antigonisii. 
 
 41 
 
 and he leaned heavily against the hermit, with bis face upturned 
 to the snow-clouded sky ; and it so happened that the hermit's 
 beard brushed his chin anck^the weather-beaten cheek hiy for an 
 instant against his own. \ ^.--'^ 
 
 " Faintin', hey," said Scott. \^ou'lI have a spell of sickness." 
 
 " Not at all. I was just Jjdnkii^ of Linda's last words. They 
 
 are a good motto as wejJ^'Jl'sa prayer '.- ' That we may meet again.' 
 
 Good-night, Scott, and good-by. As usual, you are right. The 
 
 old life shall not out for the new." 
 
 He went off briskly down the road. 
 
 TO BE CONTINUED. 
 
 ANTIGONISH. 
 
 ' 
 
 " Change cars here for Antigonish and the Straits of Cans* !" 
 So sings the veteran conductor of the Intercolonial Railway 
 train between Halifax and Fictou, as the morning express rushes 
 up to the bustling station at New Glasgow. The train pauses to 
 allow those of its passengers to whom the above intimation has 
 reference to collect their ideas and their impedimenta, and dis- 
 mount to wait twenty minutes in the draughtiest ol waiting-rooms 
 until the carriages of the Halifax and Cape Breton Railway come 
 into view. New Glasgow is not a charming place in which to 
 while away even twenty minutes ; but if you come from Pictou or 
 from Prince Edward Island you must perforce spend six dreary 
 hours here and are likely to fall into uncomfortable musings. 
 
 A few yards from the station an iron bridge spans the small 
 river on which the town is built; on the other side of this river 
 is a narrow track, where, at all hours of the day and night, a 
 small, grimy locomotive, fairly draped in soot, crawls laboriously 
 backwards and forwards, dragging equally sombre coal-carts. 
 This is said to be tlie oldest railway in America. Tradition tells 
 that two llighhiDclers, who had never before seen that triumph of 
 modern mechanism, the locomotive, were once . rribly frighten- 
 ed by this coal-train. They were walking along the road towards 
 New Glasgow when suddenly, with a hoarse roar tbl lowed by a 
 series of short puffs, this black monster appeared to come out 
 of the earth, and crawled slowly along in a groove between two 
 banks of ashes, dragging a long line of '* coal-hoppers." " Seall ! 
 seall! Dondill, seall, tiodlilacadh an Diobhail ! " cried Sandy, which 
 
 \ 
 
 "1 
 
 V 
 
 <rw 
 
 ^ 
 
 :^ 
 
49 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 See! see! Donald, see the devil's 
 
 being interpreted means, 
 funeral ! " 
 
 Besides its great coal-mines New Glasgow boasts of man}' 
 other thriving industries, such as glass-works, steel- works, etc. 
 A short distance from the town, across the line of route of the 
 " devil's funeral," is the Catholic church, and beside it a beau- 
 tiful convent and schools, telling of the presence of the good Sis- 
 ters of Charity, who here do a noble work among the children 
 of the miners. The church is spacious and handsome, the style 
 of architecture resembling that of the more modern Anglican 
 churches. 
 
 New Glasgow contains probably the " oldest inhabitant " of 
 the globe. Some years ago a miner, in detaching coal from a 
 piece of stone in which it was embedded, broke the stone with 
 his pick-axe. To hi^ amazement out hopped two live toads. 
 The stone was hollow and contained a little water, and, as the 
 reptiles had neither mouths nor eyes, it would appear that they 
 had lived by absorbing the water through the pores of their skin. 
 One died on its exposure to the air and light; the other lived for 
 some time, and then, as befitted the scion of such an old family, 
 ended its days after the manner of the Duke of Clarence, and, 
 still preserved in spirits of wine, gives evidence that thousands 
 of years ago toads looked very much the same as do the toads 
 of this Darwinian century. 
 
 While we were meditating on all the history of all the ages 
 that might have been divulged had one of these toads developed 
 a woman's tongue, the Halii'ax and Cape Breton Railway con- 
 ductor shouts, "All aboard ! " and off we go to the unknown re- 
 gions of eastern Nova Scotia, ensconced in one of the cosiest car- 
 riages possible. The railway enters Antigonish County from 
 Pictou County by the Marshy Hope Valley, running along the 
 base of Beaver Mountain on the south and skirting the south- 
 ern extremity of Brown's Mountain on the north. It emerges 
 from Marshy Hope Valley and passes by Beaver Meadow on to 
 James' River, coming in view of a mountain called the Keppoch. 
 This molintain extends far back into the countr}-, and upon it are 
 one or two villages and ciiurches or " stations." After a while 
 we leave the Keppoch behind and come out into a more smiling 
 landscape, where the fertile intervales wave their golden grain, 
 and angry little torrents rush noisily along, clamoring in their 
 eager escape from their mountain fastnesses. Here and there 
 are [wonderful white hills, with a light tracery of hard-wood 
 
 Nearing Antigonish, we 
 
 throwing their chalky cliffs into relief. 
 .'. ••: .*. • •. • : .'. : . ••• 
 
 « 
 
 I 
 
1884.] 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 43 
 
 k 
 
 see the grand outlines oFthe Sugar Loaf, and Rrown's Mountain 
 gleaming russet and gold in the autumn sunlight, and towering 
 over the sister hill: Jiat with them keep watch and ward over this 
 " city of the vale." Antigonish, the capital of the county of that 
 name, is as pretty a little town as one would wish to sec. From 
 New Glasgow the grimy to Antigonish the fair and comely is a 
 sudden and pleasing transition. The latter is one of those places 
 that are always clean and neat and orderly. Yet there is one re- 
 miniscence that makes me pause. It is sometimes muddy. But 
 the mud is well-regulated mud : it seems to stick to the streets 
 and has no foolish ambition leading it to adhere to garments, and 
 shoes, and door-mats, and floors, as does the mud of Halifax. 
 One has a feeling that when Antigonish has sidewalks they will 
 be well-behaved sidewalks, and not tip up nor tilt down, but run 
 along snioothl}' and look fresh and new for ages. Without wish- 
 ing to belittle the green pastures of the highlands of Nova Scotia, 
 after the manner of Mr. Warner, I may say that comparatively 
 few people have much idea of Antigonish or of its eastern boun- 
 daries. They might not rush madly across maritime Canada it 
 sent to look' for Baddeck, but until the last few years this charm- 
 ing route for tourists was almost unknown ; and, as the Boston 
 traveller says in conceited wonderment, when speaking ot the 
 aurora seen in his midnight drive to Port Mulgrave, " these 
 splendors burn and this panorama passes night after night down 
 at the end of Nova Scotia, and all for the stage-driver dozing on 
 his box from Antigonish to the strait!" Then the beautiful 
 Bras-d'Or, and historic Louisburg, and other charming spots in 
 Cape Breton had not become fashionable, and Antigonish itself, 
 only accessible by post-roads or schooners, had not taken her just 
 place among the towns of Canaoa. 
 
 The population of Antigonish is about two thousand ; of these 
 almost all are of Scotch descent, and the large majority are Ca- 
 tholics — for it is a cathedral town and the home of the bisiiop ot 
 Arichat. The cathedral of Antigonish is generally admitted to 
 be the finest ecclesiastical building in the maritime provinces, 
 second only to the far-famed cathedral of St. John's. Newfound- 
 land. It is in the Roman style of architecture, and is built of blue 
 limestone and brick ; it is one hundred and seventy feet long 
 by seventy feet wide. The arched roof is supported by Corin- 
 thian columns, its white and gold relieved by light touches of 
 color. The chancel and numerous lancet windows are very fine ; 
 indeed, everything about this cathedral of St. Ninian is on a 
 grand scale and solid as well as beautiful. On the facade over 
 
44 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 the main entrance is fjraven the Gaelic Tighe Dhe (the House of 
 God) ; and the house is worthy of its dedication. 
 
 St. Ninian was chosen as the titular saint oi Antigonish by 
 Bishop Piessis in 1812. This prelate, according to his own show- 
 ing, was very particular in looking up Scotch saints for his chil- 
 dren in Nijva Scotia. St. Ninian was the apostle of the south- 
 ern Picts ; he was the son of a prince of the Cambrian Britons, 
 and went to Rome in early boyhood. After many years spent 
 in the holy city he returned home to teach his countrymen. He 
 built a church at Whittern, now in Galloway, which church he 
 dedicated to St. Martin, whom he had learned to love in France. 
 There he reigned as bishop, and from there he converted the 
 Cumbrians and the southern Picts. He died on the i6th of Sep- 
 tember, 432. In September, 1874, fourteen hundred and forty- 
 two years after his death, this stately cathedral of the New World 
 was consecrated and dedicated to his holy memory. 
 
 Beside the massive and beautiful cathedral stands St. Francis 
 Xavier's College, a flourishing institution, taught by secular 
 priests of the diocese. Across the road is St. Bernard's Con- 
 vent, one of the most beautiful houses among the many missions 
 of the Sisters of the C(jngregation of Notre Dame. Up on the 
 hill overlooking these religious institutions towers the palace of 
 the bishop of Arichat. From its windows the view is beautiful, 
 and the little town is seen in its best aspect. Here the saintly 
 prelate lives whose wisdom, learning, and prudence have made 
 him famous — the good and gentle Bishop of Arichat. From here 
 he rules his immense diocese, containing nearly sixty priests, 
 spending his leisure moments in literary pifrsuits. The Gaelic 
 catechism just issued for the use of the diocese is from the pen 
 of Bishop Cameron. 
 
 Little places, like little people, are apt to think too much of 
 themselves. And such is the case with this little country town. 
 The name Antigonish signifies in the Mic-mac language River of 
 Big Fish, and the metaphor may be applied to the towns-people, 
 who in their own estimation are very big fish indeed. Their 
 several callings are designated by the definite article: there is the 
 judge, the doctor, the professor, the banker, and, acme of provin- 
 cial greatness, the speaker ; for the legal gentleman who bears the 
 proud title of Speaker of the Nova Scotia Parliament resides in 
 Antigonish.* Here law and medicine run riot, as is the fashion in 
 Canada, and almost every window shows a " shingle " or a pestle 
 
 city. 
 
 * Indeed, the place itself is called the town, to distinguish it from Halifax, which is the 
 
^ 
 
 1884.] 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 45 
 
 f 
 
 ^F 
 
 and mortar. The shops are good, both as rc<:janls their arcliitcc- 
 tural merits and the quantity and style of their contents. Lines of 
 importation <;ct a little mixed sometimes. For instance, I bought 
 a "high art " copy of Bine Beard at a druggist's! There is 
 the usual book-store and fancy emporium — the rendezvous for 
 mild gossip, where, if one loiters long enough, one may gauge 
 the intellectual and artistic tastes of the place. Lawn-tennis is 
 much in vogue in Antigonish, and a love of flowers seems gen- 
 eral; the fair white houses rise up in the midst of blooming gar- 
 dens, and the tennis and croquet lawns are shaded by vene- 
 rable and cool-looking willow-trees, of the kind used by Rhoda 
 Broughton as reading-retreats for her hoydenish heroines. 
 
 A lovely little river runs through the town, and is spanned by 
 one or two graceful bridges, which must be crossed to gain the 
 most important spot of this town of thcs, the railway station. 
 Here twice a day is a scene of hurry and bustle and local im- 
 portance — a very Babel of English, Gaelic, and French. " How 
 are you?" and "How's yourself?" " Ciamar a tha sibh ? " and 
 ** Ciamar a tha sibh-fein?" and " Comment ga va-t-il?" etc., fill 
 the air. There one sees all the celebrities and most of the oddi- 
 ties. We were fortunate enough to travel with no less a person 
 than an acquitted murderer. I use the term advisedly ; he was 
 certainly acquitted, but public opinion held him as certainly to 
 be a party to the murder. Driving towards the station, we saw 
 the poor wretch washing his hands in the bright ripples of the 
 "Big Fish " River, and possibly echoing the somewhat profane 
 adjurations of that strong-minded Highland heroine. Lady Mac- 
 beth. Our other fellow-passengers were a poor woman, very 
 sick and weak, who had travelled home from the fur, far West ; a 
 comely dame from Bayfield, which is the seaport of Antigonish, 
 and distant about nine miles. Another and more frisky matron, 
 on her way to Sydney, discoursed loudly about thergayeties of 
 Halifax, in which she had been participating ; while a pale and 
 serious clergyman, seated opposite, read his breviary in happy 
 disregard of the latest gossip concerning Prince George or the 
 comparative merits of the balls given by the general and the 
 admiral. Behind this priest was a party of French people — three 
 girls just returning from Boston, who had acquired the Bosto- 
 nian accent and added it to their somewhat slender knowledge 
 of English ; the effect was funny, and became funnier when they 
 recognized in a stout Acadian, returning from shopping at Anti- 
 gonish,, an old neighbor who had not acquired "style." As the 
 train passes through South River district the view is most beau- 
 
46 
 
 Antigonish, 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 tiful. Cliffs of gypsum edge the shore, and lovely islets, all of 
 gypsum, (lot the water, with here and there ferns and vinca, and 
 little trees bending into the waves, forming a very fair landscape. 
 
 Hcatherton was our destination — a tiny village with a most 
 exquisite church all white and gold and inlaid wood, a gem of 
 delicate and refined taste. The country round Heatherton is 
 very rich and fertile, and settled by prosperous farmers, for the 
 most part Chisholms from Strathglass, in Scotland — men of a 
 clan that, unlike the dwellers in Antigonish, disapprove of a lavish 
 use of the word the ; in fact, according to the judgment of clan 
 Chisholm, the definite article is applicable only to four per- 
 sonages : the pope, the queen, the Chisholm, and the devil ! 
 Attached to the parish of Heatherton is the Indian church of 
 Summorside, where some of the descendants of the once mighty 
 Souriquois meet several times a year for the exercises of that 
 religion to which they have been so faithful. There are quite a 
 number of Indian missions in the diocese, in some of which the 
 red man seems to have retained his primeval simplicity. A 
 good story is told of a surveyor in this country who, many years 
 ago, was appointed to lay out some land at a place called Afton. 
 He ran his lines, and ordered an Indian who was with him to 
 drive stakes at given points. The Indian, maintaining that 
 the stake was not in the right place but encroached on the 
 Indian reserve, wished to drive it further back. The surveyor 
 allowed him to proceed as best it pleased him ; but what 
 was the Indian's horror, as he commenced driving the stake, 
 to hear coming out of the innocent-looking piece of wood 
 the words, " Devil here." At every stroke, back, clear and dis- 
 tinct, came the words, " Devil here " ! And all along the more 
 distant line, try where he would, his hammer elicited the same 
 awful refrain. The trembling red man came back to the sur- 
 veyor and reported what he had heard. The surveyor gravely 
 accepted the fact, and suggested that he should try placing the 
 stakes on the correct line. The Indian did so; they were ham- 
 mered in without further trouble, and the Indians were quite con- 
 vmced that they were the trespassers. The surveyor, it is 
 scarcely necessary to say, was an expert ventriloquist. 
 
 In this neighborhood they raise an immense number of cattle 
 for the Newfoundland markets. Within a circle of eight miles 
 are the thriving parishes of Pomquet (from Pogumkek, an Indian 
 name), a place chiefly settled by Acadians ; and St. Andrews, the 
 home of Father John MacDonell, a fine old Highlander, who has 
 never preached an English'sermon in his life. 
 
 T 
 
[Oct., 
 
 1884.] 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 47 
 
 the 
 
 tf 
 
 / 
 
 Lcavinj;^ Hcatherton, the train calls at Bayfield, the seaport of 
 Antlf^onish.* A little further on than Bay field is Tracadic, an- 
 other Acadian settlement on the shore. Tracadie, coniincrcially, 
 is chiefly celebrated for its oysters; religiously, for the monastery 
 of Petit Clairvaux. In a valley about two miles from the railway 
 station live a large and flourishing community of Trappis^ monks, 
 who work and pray, and are proprietors of a valuable and flour- 
 ishing farm. There are forty-two in the community, governed 
 by a mitred abbot, from whom we received the kindest hospital- 
 ity. About half a mile from the monastery stands what appears 
 to be a rookery of old and tottering buildings, innocent of paint 
 and gray with age. It is not inaptly named (if we may say so 
 without irreverence) the Convent of the Seven Dolors. Within 
 its humble walls nine poor old women represent a community in 
 its death-agony. Originally Trappistine nuns, founded by Father 
 Vincent, a Trappist of holy memory, they did a good work in 
 the neighborhood ; but the first sisters died, and those who re- 
 placed them were ignorant of even the rudiments of learning, 
 unable to read or to write, and without the knowledge of order 
 and routine necessary for the conduct of a religious house. So 
 matters went on from bad to worse, until the bishop of the diocese 
 forbade their receiving any postulants ; and the poor old ladies 
 live on in piety and simplicity, waiting for the summons that 
 will give to these humblest of God's servants an exceeding great 
 reward. To describe the Trappist monastery and convent 
 would take too much space; yet they are most interesting, the 
 convent especially so. Tracadie has quite a large colored popu- 
 lation, descendants of fugitive slaves who came to the country 
 in 1814. They are nearly all Protestants. 
 
 The next place of interest is Havre-Boucher, so called from 
 the circumstance of a Quebec captain being obliged to winter 
 there in 1759, O" account of the ice having formed too quickly to 
 allow him egress. This pretty French village guards the en- 
 trance to the Strait of Canso, the bright waters of Bay St. 
 George laving one of its shores, the swift tide of the strait flow- 
 ing past the other. 
 
 The people go in for both fishing and farming. Here we 
 were entertained by one of the most hospitable and popular 
 clergymen of the Dominion — the Rev. Hubert Girroir, His 
 piety and zeal were great, and his love for his race and their his- 
 tory knew no bounds. Death has since stilled the warm heart 
 
 * There is not sufficient deptli of water in Antigonish harbors to allow of ships loading 
 there. 
 
48 
 
 ANT/GONISff. 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 •I 
 
 and closed the bri^'ht eyes of this fine old man, but his pood 
 deeds outlive him, and his name will long be cherished in the 
 hearts of the Acadian people. 
 
 Few who have not travelled in the Highlands of Nova 
 Scotia have any idea of th" large Celtic population scattered 
 over the country from prosaic I'ictou to romantic Louisburg. 
 Antigonish County alone has a population of eighteen thousand 
 and Lixty ; of these fifteen thousand three hundred and thirty- 
 six are Catholics, Some of these people are the descendants of 
 emigrants, others are descended from the soldiers of the High- 
 land regiments that were disbanded. With but scant aid from 
 the government these gallant and indomitable men threw them- 
 selves into the work of clearing the forests and tilling the soil ; 
 most of them soldiers, accustomed to the desultory manner of 
 camp-life, or fishermen whose daily occupation had been to cast 
 their lines in the misty lochs of Inverness-shire or hunt for seals 
 in the northern waters of the Minch, it is wonderful how they 
 succeeded in the new role of hard-working farmers. They who 
 were contemptuously turned from their crotts to make room for 
 the Lowland sheep-tenders gave themselves heartily to the •^'^'v 
 avocation of agriculturists, and adhered to it with the tenacity of 
 their race. To-day their descendants are possessors oi " cattle 
 upon a thousand hills," and have become a power in the land of 
 their adoption. 
 
 Pictou town, a pretty enough place when seen at a distance, 
 has a very neat little Gothic church and a large and flourishing 
 convent taught by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre 
 Dame. The popular parish priest of Pictou is the brother of 
 the last incumbent. Father Ronald MacDonald, now bishop of 
 Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. This prelate, during his ministry 
 at Pictou, built both church and convent, erecting the latter at 
 his own expense. From Pictou to the boundaries of Antigo- 
 nish County the shore, called thg " Gulf Shore," is lined with 
 Highland Catholic parishes — Merigomish, Lismore, Malignant 
 Brook, and other names of mixed origin. Malignant Brook, 
 though a name calculated to inspire awe, is a harmless place 
 enough, and acquired its forbidding cognomen from its being 
 the scene of wreck of a ship of war called the Malignant, It is 
 either in connection with Malignant Cove or Lismore that 
 there is a good story of Indian generosity and taste. The 
 worthy pastor received one morning a visit from a Mic-mac, 
 who brought him as a present a fine moose. After thanking the 
 generous donor the good father said : "But how shall I cook 
 
 \. 
 
[Oct., 
 
 1884.] 
 
 Antigoxisu. 
 
 49 
 
 « 
 
 it?" The Indian made answer "First roast hiin. then l)i)il 
 him," and turned to leave the room ; but, struck by a forgotten 
 item in the rcciiie, he came back, and, [)uttin;^ his head round the 
 door, remarked : " More better put a piece ot candle with him, 
 father — make him more richer!" 
 
 Arisaiu^, the northern parish of Antiijfonish County, with its 
 districts of Knovchut and Moidart, was tlie pioneer settlement, 
 and anjund its history is a halo of unwritten deeds of bravery, 
 loyalty, and faith. To f|Uote from a sermon preached bv the 
 Ri<;ht Rev. Bishop of Harbor Grace when he was " Father 
 Ronald " oi Fictou : 
 
 " In 17S7 the tlrst Catholic llii^'lilandor. the pioneer of faitli, took up !iis 
 solitary abode .1 the l)os<jiu of the forest primeval which then \\a\iMl in 
 unbroken grandeur on these shores.* In the territory included l)v the 
 bvjundaries of the diocese of Ariciiat Catholics were at that piniofl few and 
 far between. In Noveiui 1, 17S3, the liighty-second Kefj^inicnt, which iiad 
 a large C(jntingent )f Catu lies from the western Uigliiands, was disbanded 
 at Halifax. None of thjse, however, had hitherto made their way thus far 
 to the west. To ♦ 1 se foilorn if'.ibitants of the forest in a strange land 
 the consolations ot religion '/-re first carried, as often they liad been to 
 others in similar circur.i-^' inces, by tiie irrepressible Irish niissic^nary a 
 character that perhaps ha 1 never before been more fully sustained tlian it 
 was in the present, instance by the zealous Father Jones. This was an 
 Irish Capucliin friar, as learned as he was pious. Protected by the tolera- 
 tion e.xtended to liitn by Edward, DuIvJ of Kent, he publicly e.vercisrd tlie 
 sacred ministry at Halifax unmolested, and he'd a vicar-apostohc's juris- 
 diction over the extensive region laved by the waters oi the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence. The country, it is true, had, uiider the doniinati )n of France, 
 an anterior period of Cathcjlic history dating as far back as 1604. I"cw of 
 the colonists of that period had remained, and fewer were the pros pects, 
 from the same quarter, of future colonization. . . . With the f(jrmer st ttlers 
 the Catholic religion was banished from Acadia, or at least was conlii ';d to 
 the poor, dear, faithful Mic-mac Indians. Thus had the fruits of the first 
 victory of faith gone. Could they ever again be retrieved ? Did the last 
 hopes of Catholicity in this country expire when the arm of Lhe Frei ch 
 monarch had become powerless to protect it ? No! ' IJehold the hand of 
 the Lord is not shortened.' Mow mysterious arc tiie ways in which h^ 
 brings about the accomplishment of the wise designs of his all-ruling pro- 
 vidence ! The invincible Highlanders who, on the memorable 25th ol 
 Julj% 1758, followed Wolfe to the conquest of the doomed city, were, in the 
 hands of God, the harbingers of a new, a more glorious, a more enduring 
 victory for our faith. 
 
 " On the restoration of peace in 1763 the Highland regiments were dis- 
 banded and ofTered by the imperial government free grants of lands in the 
 most fertile portions of the provinces in which they had so gallantly 
 served. But their predilections for their native straths and glens still 
 
 '*' One John Ban Gillies. 
 
 VOL. XL.— 4 
 
^^^ 
 
 50 
 
 Antigonish, 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 chained them to the sweet homes of childhood. And who could find it in 
 his heart to blame them ? What son of the heather could of his free, 
 will exchange his own ' loved green slopes of Lochaber ' for the then 
 inhospitable, unexplored wilds of America ? Alas ! the time at length 
 came when the exchange was no longer a matter of choice but of dire 
 necessity. The heartless chieftain has discovered that the raising of cattle 
 and sheep affords larger profits than the letting of his lands to poor tenants, 
 and forthwith he begins to eject them from the cosey cottages on the 
 mountain where they and their forefathers for centuries had found shelter. 
 This unpatriotic and inhuman policy was maintained in 1790. The year 
 following saw the full tide of emigration rapidly ebb away from the 
 * Misty Isles,' from the straths, glens, and mountains of Inverness, from 
 Glengarry, Knoydart, Arisaig, Morar, and Strathglass. With the prudent 
 forethought so characteristic of their race, these exiles kept together. 
 Wherever they went they settled down in large groups. The first arrivals 
 to this country colonixed the parish of St. Margaret's (Arisaig), and this 
 was the humble beginning of the second epoch of Catholicity in eastern 
 Nova Scotia. Hither the Highland immigrants were soon followed by the 
 first Highland priest, the Rev. James MacDonald, of Morar, and in 1792 
 their first church was built." 
 
 This Father James left Arisaig in 1795, and between that 
 date and 1802 the people of St. Margaret's depended for spiri- 
 tual care upon Father Angus McEachern, a missionary priest of 
 Prince Edward Island, and afterwards the first Bishop of 
 Charlottetown, who now and then visited them in his canoe. In 
 the year 1802 God sent these faithful people a priest whose name 
 will live for ever in all the country side. Rev. Alexander Mac- 
 Donald was born in 1754 at Cleanoeg, in Glenspean, in the braes 
 of Lochaber. He was a man of commanding appearance and a 
 brave and generous nature. Of him Bishop MacDonald says : 
 
 "The dark horizon which had hitherto circumscribed the wavering 
 hopes of the settlers was at once relieved of its gloom. He inspired them 
 with his own manly courage and cheered them by the example of his great 
 powers of endurance. Everything seemed the better and every heart 
 lighter for his presence." 
 
 For fourteen years this pastor led his flock, ministering, 
 preaching, exhorting, teaching, and helping them, loved and 
 venerated by all. In the spring of 1816 he went to Halifax on 
 business, and on the 15th of April he died in that city. 
 
 Deep and heartfelt was the grief of his parishioners, sincere 
 the sympathy of all who had known the venerable missionary. 
 The admiral on the station offered t5 send a man-of-war with 
 Father MacDonald's body to Arisaig ; but, though sensible of the 
 honor intended to be conferred both by the admiral and the 
 
 4 
 
[Oct., 
 
 1884.] 
 
 Antigonisii. 
 
 51 
 
 I 
 
 governor, the dead priest's people declined the ..ffer. A gallant 
 little band of Highlanders, who had hastened to Halifax ui)on 
 hearing that " he whom they loved was sick," decided that no 
 strange hands should be the means of conveying their dear sog- 
 garth to his long home. Carrying his loved remains on their 
 faithful shoulders, those sturdy men started on foot, and night 
 and day, over almost impassable roads, dense forests, and swollen 
 rivers, they bore all that was mortal of their best earthly friend 
 until they tenderly laid him to rest within the shadow of that 
 altar the steps of which he had so often ascended to offer the 
 Holy Sacrifice for the living and the dead. 
 
 Not far from Lochaber is a parish called St.- Joseph's, where, 
 under the shelter of the Keppoch Mountain, ripples a silvery 
 little lake, its waves reflecting one of the prettiest country^ 
 churches to be found in eastern Nova Scotia. The view from 
 St. Joseph's Church is singularly beautiful, with its lake, moun- 
 tain, and rich intervales stretching away as far as the eye can 
 reach. In autumn the foliage here is magnificent, in all the 
 bravery of crimson, russet, and gold. By the shore of St. 
 Joseph's Lake is one of those curious conical little hills where 
 the fairies are said to dwell. A belief in fairies prevailed very 
 generally among the Highlanders of old, and to this day it exists 
 in the minds of their descendants. These small, grass-grown 
 hills are named by them sin-shill, the habitation of a multitude, 
 or sith-eanan, from sith, peace, and dunan. a mound ; and here in 
 the gloaming the little people are supposed to hold their revels. 
 The idea seems to harmonize with the landscape. The tourist 
 might say with Kilmeny : 
 
 " She saw a sun on a summer sky, 
 And clouds of amber sailing by ; 
 A lovely land beneath her lay, 
 And that land had glens and mountains gray, 
 And that land had valleys and hoary piles, , 
 And marled seas and a thousand isles ; 
 Its fields were speckled, its forests green, 
 And its lakes were all of the dazzling sheen. 
 Like magic mirrors, where slumbering lay ^ 
 The sun, and the sky, and the cloudlet gray, 
 Which heaved, and trembled, and gent'y swung— 
 On every shore they seemed to be hung ; 
 For there they were seen on their downward plain 
 A thousand times and a thousand again, 
 In winding lake and placid firth, 
 Little peaceful heavens in the bosom of earth." 
 
52 
 
 Antigonish, 
 
 [Oct., 
 
 ) ! 
 
 The country for several miles around St. Joseph's is called the 
 " Ohio " — why, nobody seems to know. 
 
 In Antiironish town the first settlement was that of Colonel 
 Hierlihy and the soldiers of the disbanded Eighty-third Regi- 
 ment. The government granted to each soldier one hundred 
 acres of land and provisions for three years ; but after unsuccess- 
 ful attempts many of these amateur farmers gave up in despair 
 and left the place. Some of them sold their clearings ; others left 
 without even trying to realize money on their farms, which were 
 afterwards sold to pay taxes. It is said that in those days two 
 hundred and fifty acres of land were sold at auction for £2 \\s. 
 yd.y and one farm was sold for a suit of clothes ! 
 
 The principal purchasers were Captain Hierlihy, Edward Irish 
 Baxter, Ogden Cunningham, and several MacDonalds. To these 
 were added in time two parties of United States loyalists, one 
 of whom, Nathan Pushee, was said to be General Washington's 
 trumpeter. These people underwent great hardships. Pictou 
 WPS their nearest market for supplies. There were no roads, and 
 their only way of getting to it was along the gulf coast. This 
 journey they often performed on foot. If they possessed a horse 
 it was attached to a sort of vehicle constructed of two poles, the 
 ends of which served as shafts ; these were connected with a few 
 cross-pieces of wood. The harness was of straw, and, as a modern 
 historian writes, " Many an honest countryman preparing to 
 return home had the annoyance to find that the hungry village 
 cows had eaten the harness off his horse." As there were no 
 roads, the meal-sacks were often the victims of the thick bushes 
 through which they were dragged and it was usual for a driver 
 to be provided with needles and thread to repair damages. In 
 every possible way the early settlers suffered inconvenience — 
 from scarcit}'^ of horses and oxen, from want of wool and cotton, 
 from want of roads and mills and bridges ; their sheep, when 
 they got them, were in constant danger from bears and wild-cats, 
 which infested the forests. These and mosquitoes were a con- 
 stant source of annoyance, and one year, 181 5, the invasion of 
 mice became a real plague. They made their appearance in the 
 month of March, and stood not on the order of their coming, 
 but came in thousands. The first contingent were succeeded by 
 an army of smaller ones, and a deadly feud was kept up all sum- 
 mer. It is said that on their march they packed down the snow, 
 or, in local parlance, "broke the roads." A track through the 
 forest at that time was effected by what they called " blazing 
 it." The journeys were very arduous. Great economy was 
 
i 
 
 1884.] 
 
 Antigonish. 
 
 53 
 
 -necessary regarding the size and weight of parcels; the first 
 ■'Wheat was brought by handfuls, and the man who introduced 
 ^potatoes bought a bushel in Pictou, cut the eyes out of them, and 
 'brought them home in his pocket. As late as 1817 the mails for 
 
 the whole of Antigonish and Guysborough were brought over 
 'Brown's Mountain in the pockets of the postman. 
 
 Near what is called the Town Point the early settlers found 
 'the remains of a small chapel, supposed to have been a hundred 
 iyears old. Age had destroyed its walls, and the roof had sunk 
 
 lo the earth. Under it was a subterranean passage leading to 
 '- Ihe sea. Here were found several images. Tradition says that 
 
 the bell, chalice, and vestments belonging to this church are 
 ' buried among the plaster caves on the shore, and the Indians 
 ^affirm that on Christmas Eve, when "all things are in quiet 
 '^silence and the night in the midst of her course," the silvery 
 ^ tones of the bell are heard mingling with the plashing of the 
 /waves on the strand. This church was doubtless a relic of the 
 I old Acadian times, possibly of the pioneer Jesuits, Fathers 
 ' Richard, Lionne, and Fremin, who first brought the glad tid- 
 ^ings to this Ultima Thule. 
 
 i Dear, primitive old-fashioned Acadie ! What though the 
 < splendor has gone from He Royale and the picturesque costumes 
 Ifrom Grand Pre? Is not the whole land, from Louisburg to 
 ' Cape Blomidon, dowered with a history of undying fame ? The 
 ' lions of England now float where the lilies of France were wont 
 1 to wave, and the silvery notes of the sweet French language 
 1 are heard in concert with the guttural sounds of the Gaelic 
 
 ^ tongue. 
 
 Side by side, guaillean ri gunilkan, with the descendants of 
 rthe persecuted Acadians has risen a strong and stalwart race 
 f from the " true and tender north," and Acadia is richer than 
 vever in prosperity, in beauty, and in faith. For though 
 t " In the beauty of the liUes Christ was borne across the sea." 
 
 ^ these loyal sons of St. Andrew who have "left their nets 
 ^ and followed him" have done much to insure peace and lib- 
 ■^ci-ty in the exercise of that religion that was brought to their 
 ^shores by the sons of Loyola in the bygone days of the old 
 
 ^ regime. 
 u 
 
 cx 
 
 if 
 I?