Cape Breton's Magazine

ashamed to go to my mother, you know, we could ask our older sisters. Whether we got the right answer or not. but we did. But we'd always go to Peggy. Always go and ask her. She was left with 5 children, very young--very, very young. She had 2 girls and 3 boys. And she stayed young. She really did stay young. We girls were starting to grow older. And she never grew older in her mind, she stayed young with us. And she was really great.... (What about dances? Were there a lot of dances on the North Shore?) No. There were a lot of milling frolics, an awful lot of milling frolics. Because they'd have to mill the cloth that they'd make--the cid-- the homespun, and the blankets.... (So dancing wasn't encouraged?) No. The only dancing there would be--have dances in Peg? gy Thomais's barn. There'd be a bunch of us in the wintertime. Not in the summertime, there wouldn't be any. We would be dead be? fore you could--we'd be working up until 9 o'clock, really. Anyway, in the wintertime we'd congregate there, boys and girls.... (When we say that Peggy Thomais stayed young, what do we mean?) We mean--is--she didn't seem to grow old like my mother did. My mother had a husband. Well, (Peggy Tho? mais) seemed to stay young with her 5 chil? dren. And all us girls were going there all the time. And we were always, all us girls stayed with her. We'd go visiting her all ',: KEEP ** * YOUR DREAMS ALIVE n't replace dreams. Th Know the difference. Ke the time. Her house was full of people all the time. And she stayed young. (Do you think being a young widow helped them stay young?) I think so. I really do. (Try to...tell me why.) Well, the only thing I can think of is that they stayed young be? cause they were with young people.... (That's an interesting question, whether taking care of a husband can take a lot out of a person.) At this idea. Josie laughs. Well, I guess what that would mean to me, it would be, she'd give her atten? tion to her husband more, and not so much to the children. She was there for the children, but she'd go out (to work) with her husband more and all that. But with this Peggy, she'd go for walks with us, she'd do things with us. And she was a seamster--she made clothes. People'd bring a cloth to do, you know, yards of cloth, and make a dress, a suit, or whatever. So like that. And she'd go with us. And she'd go swimming with us. You know, that kind. Well, my mother didn't. She had too much to do, probably, or something. I don't know. Or she didn't have that youth. (She had more of a man's schedule, too.) Yeah. She'd be working with my father more.... Hallowe'en--we'd never break anything. Everybody had gates to their houses. And we'd take the gates.... Take it up halfway up to Breton Cove. And (put it) up in a tree. That's all. But we wouldn't break it. We'd just take it off the hinges, you know. The boys'd be doing it, mostly. And there was one--the last Hallowe'en that I was here was. There was a man--he was really very, very stingy man. And we went there. He was so stingy, to give even an apple to you, to a child. My cousin and I went visiting one time. And he came in-- he had a great big yellow apple. And you could smell the apples all over the house. And he put it on the table like that. And he put the finger on (top of) the apple like that, and he did like that (Josie struck down on her finger), and it split open. So, he gave Annie Mae one half and he gave me the other half. He couldn't give--and he had barrels of them--he couldn't give us a whole one--that's how stingy he was. So, that Hallowe'en, we went. Oh, there was a crowd, an awful crowd. So he had a little dog. And he used to put the dog in 42 25 McKeen Street GLACE BAY, N. S. B1A5B9 849-6365 Bibles • Books * Music • Plaques Gifts • Novelties • Sunday School & Church Supplies Ail Types of Photography • Cape Breton Scenes