Cape Breton's Magazine

A Visit with IVIax Basque, Whycocomagh Interviewed by Ruth Whitehead and CAPE BRETON'S MAGAZINE (Where were you born?) Maximius Simon Basque: In Shubenacadie. On--they called it Indian Road then. That was marked on my baptismal certificate--"Born at Indian Road, Shubenacadie." That was 10th of August, 1913. And, well, I can remember as far back as 1917--March, 1917, I was going on 4 when my brother Isaac was born in Pictou. Two of my sisters were married in Pictou then. And then the youngest of those three Basque girls married there later. But I can remember when Elizabeth was still with us. (Ruth Whitehead; Those were your fa? ther's daughters by his first marriage?) Yes, my father's daughters by his first wife. He had three daughters left when he became a widower. The two boys died--John and Benjamin. And then the other boy, his first wife died at childbirth--it was a boy. Left him with three girls. And he was a widower for quite a few years, and then met my mother in Truro. She was a widow for about a year; had one little girl left. She had three daughters by her first husband. But the oldest of the three little girls, and the youngest, died--TB. And Nan? cy was the only one was left. So, my father and mother got married-- it'll be 75 years this spring. 1909. My mother was 21 and my father was 45. So they ended up with 4 little girls. And they moved to Whycocomagh. It'll be 75 years this spring. There's still apple trees up there. I think of my father every time I go by--right at The Point. He had 53 trees he had planted, apple trees. That's before they put the Trans-Canada right through his orchard. And there's still 13 trees left. See, when we lived there, the road--this little old dirt road--was right near the shore, all the way along. That was 75 years ago this spring. And we stayed there till after my oldest brother was born--he was born in Whycocomagh--Richard. He was born the 21st of June, 1911. And it wasn't long after that, they came back to Shube? nacadie. The reason they came back to Shu? benacadie, because my father was a farmer in heart. He was a seaman for years. But way down deep he was a farmer. And he loved that land in Shubenacadie. I remem? ber him telling another farmer, "Man, you can plow here all day, and never hear the sound of a rock once on your plowshare." On the intervale, see, loam. Old man who worked himself to death--he died when he was only 67--1931. But, we were in Shubenacadie most of the time. But times were really hard. And then he tried Pictou. Two of the girls married