Cape Breton's Magazine

Usually these shore fishermen own about 100 acres of which one-fifth of an acre is in potatoes, five or six acres in rough pasture and the rest is unimproved tim? bered hillside. They keep one or two cows, a few remarkably fine sheep and some chick? ens. Most of them are extremely poor, rug? gedly independent and more than usually contented. It is probable that they have been less affected by the depression of the past five years than almost any other class of Canadians. I was informed that the transfer of land between themselves is usually made at a rate of from three to four dollars an acre. It must be remembered, however, that the real value of the land to them is as a home from which they can pursue their main occupation, namely sea-fishing. If the land was being purchased for a park, on the understanding that the purchase in? volved expatriation, it would probably prove to be a more difficult matter to get them to sell willingly at all. Their holdings add to the picturesqueness and interest of the country, but the fact that they are scattered all over the coasts would undoubtedly create difficul? ties in Parks administration.... Detailed Explanation of Proposed Park Boundari' The greater portion of the area under dis? cussion is included within the Oxford Pa? per Company's Lease, but since the Premier of Nova Scotia is fully aware of the terms under which a National Park may be estab? lished, there can be no doubt that he is prepared to dissolve the said Lease in as far as the lands which may be required for a Park are concerned. Considering first the east coast, it will be seen that the whole of the coast-line from Indian Brook to within three miles of Smoky Cape is privately owned for a dis? tance of a mile or more back from the sea, and that the Cabot Trail lies close to the sea frontage of this Crown-granted land. The settlement along this part of the coast has been established for several gen? erations and some of the present owners have fairly well-developed farms. It would appear to be out of the question to redeem all this land and--even more so--to expa? triate the people who live on it. North of Smoky Cape, the Trail passes for about nine and a half miles through the various villages that comprise Ingonish. There is considerable population scattered throughout the Ingonish area and it should not be considered as part of a National Park. On the other hand, it is absolutely essential that the Park shall include some part of the coast which is capable to be? ing developed as a Parks resort, both on the east and west sides of the Island and, since there is no suitable land which has not been Crown granted, it will be neces? sary to acquire it by redemption and a cer? tain amount of expatriation. In this con? nection, it should be understood that only a comparatively small proportion of the Crown-granted land is occupied or improved; most of it is wild land. For instance, it will be noted that there is considerable Crown-granted land adjacent to Warren Brook, but, as far as I was able to find Don't Miss Future Issues of CapeBreton's magazine Subscriptions: *' i ISSUES IN CANADA $8.00 BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE (except 2, 5, 19, 26) Issues 1 to 29 each $1.00 Issues 35 to 38 each $1.75 4 ISSUES (FOREIGN) $9.00 Issues 39 to 41 each $2.25 THE SIXTH COLLECTORS' EDITION Issues 30 through 34 in One Book ?? $6.50 INCLUDES: Cape Bretoners in World War One * Shipwrecks on the Fourchu-Framboise Coast * Alex John Boudreau & the Co-op Movement * Mabel Dubbin, V.O.N. * Mine Rescue Team * Janie Nicholson, Midwife * Cartier & the Cape Breton Shore * Bill Fraser, R.C.M.P. * Sorcery around Cheticamp * Wilfred Poirier. Lobster Buyer * AND MANY MORE STORIES Cassette Tapes Mike MacDougalls Tape for Fr. Hector Mike MacDougall, violin; Tim Don? ovan, guitar Notes, and tran? scriptions based on 9 tunes, in Issue 38 ($1.75) IN NOVA SCOTIA $6 • 60 I $7.70 REST OF CANADA $6.00 I $7.00 OUTSIDE CANADA $7.00 I $8.00 (AVAILABLE ONLY BY MAIL) Cape Breton Fiddlers onr Early LPs Dan R. MacDonald, Donald Mac? Lellan, Theresa MacLellan, Dan Joe Maclnnis, Johnny Wilmot, and their accompanists Notes about the tunes, and transcriptions based on 7 of them, are in Issue 41 ($2.25) Cape Breton's MAGAZINE WRECK COVE • CAPE BRETON • NOVA SCOTIA BOG IHO Edited & Published by Ronald Caplan with the help of Bonnie Thompson & Paul Cranford AUGUST 1986 Our thanks to Carol Kennedy, North Shore, who printed most of the photographs in this issue.