Cape Breton's Magazine

to take, like you were getting driven out, eh? Everybody going with an animal. Mau? rice: It reminded me right there that day of the Expulsion of the Acadians. I saw those in pictures, of the women leading cattle when they left. This was the Expul? sion of the Irish this time. (Out of the Clyburn Valley.) (Now a lot of people might say that you folks are lucky to get out of there. "What do you want to be way back, cut off from everything?" And what do you say to that?) Emma: Oh, we loved it, and the kids loved it. That was the beautiful part about it. The kids, they all loved it. They all liked it so well. In fact, when they were leav? ing, you could hear them crying and me telling them not to cry. They were crying because they had to leave. It seemed like you had everything to live for there. You know, you grew every? thing.... Maurice; Lots of game. Rabbits and deer and partridge.. Emma: And your fish. We had a strawberry garden. We had everything, you know, we wanted. Our own milk and butter and.... Maurice; Chickens, eggs. Emma: Cream. We had lots of hens. We had everything we wanted.... Leona Dunphy and Tom Doucette Leona Dunphy: I believe it was probably isolation that drove my grandfather out of here (at the turn of the century). The piece of land he left was never lived on again until my dad came back. The next birth after my father's birth was the twins, and it's quite unusual when you think of it, because his great-great- grandmother died up there (Clyburn) giving birth to triplets--and her and the three babies were buried together. They all died. (About the twins....) During my time in the Clyburn Valley there were two midwives in the Ingonish area. One was Mrs. Flo Dou? cette and a Mrs. Kate Barron. Mrs. Doucette was the nearest one to the Valley. My mother was due to give birth in May '37. But during Easter week that year, she did not feel as well as she thought she should. My father had the horse harnessed to take four of the older children to confession, so as an afterthought she asked him to keep over to the Beach and bring Flo back with him. Because every spring during the thaw. the river flooded the valley, leaving us housebound for as long as a week. My older sister Rose, who was 17 at the time, was home with my mother and I. I was given the chore of washing the dishes, and I noticed Rose was going back and forth from the kitchen to the bedroom. Rose came out in the kitchen one trip, and I thought we must have baby chicks, so I told Rose. Her reply was, "How do you know?" and I said, "I hear them peeping." It was then she told me I had a baby sister and a baby brother. I was elated. When Dad and the TARBOT VALE 'NORDIC SKI HIGH QUALITY CROSS COUNTRY EQUIPMENT & EXPERTISE '-- 929-2603 RoUie's (Wharf) Restaurant and Lounge ' Specializing in Fresli Seafood and Steaks -- LICENSED RESTAURANT LOUNGE Lunch and Dinner Monday to Saturday * 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. 11:30 a. m. to 10 p.m. * 7 Days a Week Live Entertainment * Large Video Screen and Dance Roor 411 Purvis Street in North Sydney on the NORTHSIDE WATERFRONT near MARINE ATLANTIC Near Lifeguard Supervised Recreation Newly Remodelled Wharf For Pleasure Craft