Cape Breton's Magazine

because her mother had been away to the States and she had good English. And maybe she had seen more, and she thought.... I don't know. I shouldn't say. (But it's a question. We get an attitude. We say the English-speaking world hated Gaelic. It's often talked like that now.) Yeah. Well, the Scots are so.... (I think it's closer to--in many cases--it disre? garded Gaelic. It didn't see the value of it, but it did see the value of English.) Yes. And so did the Scots people. Not alone the English-speaking people, but the Scots themselves. They felt, "What are we going to do with this language? You go out into the world and you're going to--even go to the steel plant or Sydney Mines-- you'll have to have English. Gaelic is not going to get you anywhere." And maybe they didn't appreciate holding onto it. (Let's go back to concerts for a second. There were concerts with the school-- there'd be no Gaelic there?) No, not dur? ing my time. (And were there any other kinds of concerts?) No, not that I can re? call, either. All I can remember is mill? ing frolics, weddings, Christmas concerts, and sales for the church (at) the time of Church Union. They'd have a big gathering where there'd be a sale, and they'd have sort of a--oh, I remember one of them was down across from Dan Murdock's, at D. L. Morrison's. When they were building the hall--the Presbyterian hall. They had a full day down there. And it was really a big thing for us at that time. And it was Trust H&R; BLOCK ?? Income taxes are our only business. ?? We have more experienced preparers than anyone in the business. ?? We stand behind our work. ?? We provide year-round service. ?? We provide thorough and accurate service. ?? We are reasonably priced. ?? We are conveniently located. Ifs why Canadians retum. H ?e R BLOCK The income Tax Specialists Year Round Service. 564-4584 296 Charlotte St. Sydney During Tax Season: jhe Bay Store 862-7129 849-4440 539-8350 3473 Plummer Ave. 65 Main St. Mayflower Mall New Waterford Glace Bay Sydney Other Locations: • North Sydney • Baddeck • Port Hawkesbury ' strange that we were there, because we didn't belong to--you know--we were Unit? ed. But I remember walking down there. Five of us, I can remember us walking down. And it was on the old road. And when we came in sight of--it was all cleared then, you know. And there were more people there than we had ever seen together, I guess. We were quite young.... They had homemade ice cream. And that was great. And I think they had candy. And they were selling homemade articles. And they had tickets--which was unusual for a church. I don't know if you've heard this story. My Uncle Alex got the winning ticket on a homemade quilt. I can't tell you who made the quilt, but I guess it was pretty nice. And his wife was there--Uncle Alex's wife. Aunt Maggie. And they were poor--he wasn't noted to be overly ambitious. And they weren't well-to-do. And I'm sure she would have appreciated the quilt. And his name was picked. And didn't he turn around and give the quilt to a woman who had come home from the States for the summer-- Sullivan's sister. And she was well-to-do. Wouldn't that break your heart, if you had been his wife? (Just another example of male dominance, as far as I can see.) Yeah. I don't know was it that he felt he was a bigshot in giving her the quilt, or --but his wife was a meek, peaceful per? son, and I bet she never quarrelled with him. I would have killed him, but...! No, I don't think I would have.... We talked on about community concerts, and where the slower Gaelic songs might have been sung, occasional dances and so forth. The light was falling, and it was about time for Evelyn to head for home. Before she left, she told a story in Gaelic and then told it again in Eng? lish • a story the world has come to know as "Let out the cat!" Readers will remember it from Cape Breton's Maga? zine Issue 51. It's worth reading it again! The poem on page 63 is from Alexander "Sandy" MacDer- mid's booklet. Simple Lines for Simple Folks.