Cape Breton's Magazine

says Charlie, "yes, there's a woman!" "No, you're fooling," I says. "Look at her then, sitting on my bed!" We went in and the woman was there all right. (Laughter.) He got a scare. Duncan Fortune had a brown moustache, and he always used to wear a brown coat and a brown hat. Sometime later, he died at his brother's place. It was beginning to get dark one evening, and Charlie went out to see to the cows in the barn. (Duncan's old brown hat and coat were still at our house,) and I put them on and I sneaked out. Charlie went up to the scaffold, and started to put the hay out. I sneaked in. Charlie looked down, and who's there in the corner, but me in the coat and hat. Dhia, Ross RUDDERHAM PLUMBING & HEATING SPECIALIZING IN DEPENDABLE PACK-0-MATIC FURNACES Replacements also available in any make of furnace! Sales & service for world famous r?'h?th R?aH . • ' .m '' .y 443 Coxneatn rioaa Buaerus Cast Iron sydney, ns bir isi coalf wood and oil fired furnaces ' Phone 562-3455 • Fax 562-6621 :::;:,';:s'"rsTRAiT-HIGHLANDS soo 546 3390 ' REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY [email protected] Proud to Serve... MULGRAVE • PORT HAWKESBURY • INVERNESS COUNTY RICHMOND COUNH AND VICTORIA COUNH PO BOX 2200 PORT HAWKESBURY NOVA SCOTIA BOE 2V0 CANADAl Leonard MacLellan Dhia, he took one look at me, he threw the (pitch) fork, and it pretty near went in me! He ran out of the barn and into the house. He told Jim's mother that he saw Duncan Fortune in the barn. "Ach, go away," she said. "Yes, he had the brown coat and hat on his head. I threw the fork, jumped off the scaffold, and I ran inside." (In the meantime,) I ran into the toilet, and I took the coat and everything off. I came out of the toilet, and I came into the porch. Charlie told me, "I saw Duncan, I saw Duncan Fortune! He was in the barn with the brown coat and everything, and I almost put the fork in him!" I said, "You can't put a fork in a ghost." He was clear blue scared. And after that, Charlie wouldn't go out anymore after dark to feed the cows. (Laughter.) Oh, I was bad! (Laughter.) Our thanks to Leonard MacLellan, who collected these stories from Mary Ann. He told us about his method. He used to go to the house and read her stories from the Cape Breton Book of the Night. "You know," he told us, "there's an old saying: The visitor tells the first tale, and the host tells tales till dawn." After Another Night was published, he used that book to get the sto? ries flowing from Mary Ann. We were honoured to hear of his tactics • using books published by Breton Books! Leonard collected these stories when Mary Ann was 96. He told us that she "still loves to hear and tell a good story, as do her ten nieces and nephews, 27 grand nephews and nieces, and thirteen great-grand nephews and nieces." Our thanks to Jeff MacDonald who, with the help of his neigh? bours, transcribed and translated the Gaelic song about the wedding. r Oceon Jlentolsltd. Contractors Lawn & Garden Equipment Equipment Compressors Tillers Welders Sod Cutters Drills, Saws Air Eators General & Engine Hoists i'''j, Jacks Tow Bars More... Call: GLACE BAY 849-1616 South (Campbells Comer) • P. O. Box 265 7fCtliwJ.t Computerized Wheel Balancing Complete Road Service SS 539-5670 '''' 265 PRINCE ST. • SYDNEY BPGtoodfteh brunswick" 52