Cape Breton's Magazine

Josie's parents: Norman K. and Effie (MacDonald) Matheson death took this woman. Then, they used to see her. A lot of people had seen her ghost walking back and forth, away out - - at the end of the field. (At the edge of the wood.) Yeah. And she'd be all white, and there'd be like a white cloud in back of her. It was true. It must have happened. Be? cause even the older people were a little leery going by that bridge. (What did they call her?) I don't know. Just The White Woman. And I'll never, never forget the time I told the story to Merrill Maclnnes and his cousin Charlie. And there was an? other fellow there with them. They were all 3 of them about the same age. And we were at Johnny Maclnnes' on the porch there one evening. Mary had to drive me home! I scared myself! (Did you not see this woman?) I never saw it. Because, you know, when we'd go, if it was dark, we'd start running before we'd come to this field, and we'd run up that hill so fast.... (The other night, we were talking about games. You were going to try to remember kind of a game rhyme or something like that in Gaelic that....) Oh, my grandmoth? er- -it was my mother's mother. Mary was her name. And she was a MacDonald. And she married a MacDonald. And his name was Ro? ry. And to this day I don't know (where he came from). I think he was either a sailor or a captain on a boat that went ashore down--I think it was Wreck Cove. There was something there. And he stayed around, and she married him. And that's how it was. And they had all these children. She had 18--was it 18?--children. But they didn't all live. Oh, my God, when you think of that. There were 13 in my family. But there were twins in my family. Oh, my God, poor Grandma. Oh, my God, I'm telling you.... And she used to do this with her leg, you know. (Bouncing her leg up and down. And you'd be riding on her knee.) And she had a wonderful voice, Gaelic singing, you know. She had a beautiful voice. Granny did. My mother had a good voice, too. My Uncle Iain--you balls in the stores So he used to get a it called?--the net net. We'd walk the piece of rope that take. Off the shore ball out of clay or And then he'd start around it, until he sized ball. But if kill you, almost! couldn't go and buy or anything like that. 11 the twine--what was the stuff for the shore. And every little he could find--he'd And then he'd make a something. And dry it. winding this twine all got a pretty good- it hit you, it would He'd make little paddles for us. Like the ping-pong paddle--something like that. And we'd stand with our bat. and the kids would be in the back--bunch of kids all around. And you were here, and you'd put the ball on the bat, and you'd be--over your head, you know. And then try and catch it. That was quite a game we had. And then (Uncle Iain would) take the spools--(from) Mother's spools of yarn, you know, and he (carved) right in the middle. And then he'd get it off (in two parts). And he'd put a stick through it. And it was a top. And you'd spin it? (Yes. He'd make tops out of the spools, for you children to play with.) Yeah. He was great in doing things like that. There were a lot of things like that.... (Uncle Iain.) We loved him. Oh, all us kids, we loved him. We'd trot around with him all the time. And we didn't know it for a long, long time. He was in bed. And he Funeral Home (In Business Since 1908) Three Generations of Service J. Michael Curry - Mgr. 140 Main Street - Giace Bay Phone 849-7617 AIMBULANCE SERVICE 849-2222