Cape Breton's Magazine

But, he was the big strong husky fellow. I'm fully convinced--! don't care what a guy's religion is or what he thinks--I'm convinced that your number is pulled some where. Really. I really believe that. Be? cause I've seen so many situations, you know. (When you were a small boy, were you the life of the party?) No, not really. (I'm just think ing of the terms of be? ing a storyteller. Or does it take the combi? nation of Hughie and Allan to make that kind of humour? Was Hughie a funny man, left on his own?) Oh, yeah. Fabulous. He had a great sense of humour. We had heard a lot of the old people, you know, that drove horses and that sort of thing--this was their en? tertainment, you know, at night. Because there was no television, no radios. And they'd gather at a house, and drink tea Quality Cameras Building, ''id play cards corner George & Dorchester Streets. __j '.-t-, _'.- PEOPLE YOU CAN TALK TO. '""' '''' ''? Allan: The old fellow that got married. He was 75, and he married a young one, 25. And someone was talking to him at the wedding and he said, "Now, Angus, remember, that young one's only 25 and you're 75. You just take it easy, boy." "Well," Angus said, "if she dies, she dies." ries. And one guy'd try to outdo the oth? er. There was always a storyteller some? where in the gang. But I don't know--Hughie and I saw a lot of these old fellows. Like I said, I drove a horse-and-sleigh for awhile at the cream? ery, in the winter? time- -we had a car in the summer. Hughie drove a horse for Shaw's Cash Store, which was on George Street. And we'd meet down at the old coal depot there. They had a coal depot and a big watering trough where you stopped the horse to get a drink. Right about where the Centre 200 is now. Right on George Street. Malcolm MacAulay had a forge there where they would shoe the horses. 'Cause all the fellows had horses, delivering coal-- hauling coal. There were always 4 or 5 fellows sitting outside of that forge there on a bench, waiting for somebody to come along and order a load of coal. And every time I'd meet Hughie there, he'd al? ways let the horse have a drink. And we'd walk over and listen to these guys. And the lies were fabulous, you know--one try? ing to outdo the other. Hughie's father was a coal hauler. And Hu? ghie 's father's sister was married to the Peters that owned the horse that I was driving. So every time I pulled up to give the horse a drink, old Neil MacKenzie, Hu? ghie 's father'd come over and look at the horse, give him a little pat because it was his brother-in-law's horse. And one day I had been driving pretty fast, and the horse was sweating a little bit. And he came up to me, lifted up the horse's mane, and he was feeling around-- "This horse is warm. I catch you driving this horse too fast, I'll give you a good kick in the arse, boy!" And he would! Great big fellow, about 6-foot-2, 180 pounds. We often talked about that after, when we were in the Army, the same outfit. Education in Your Community University College of Cape Breton Extension and Community Affairs wiU offer a series of university credit courses in select communities in rural Cape Breton during the 1993-94 off-campus program. You can earn university credits in your community. For application and information, contact: University College of Cape Breton Extension and Community Affairs P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, N.S. BIP 6L2 Phone:(902)539-5300 Fax: (902)562-0119 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF CAPE BRETON Extension and Community Affairs