Cape Breton's Magazine

and he got adopted. And Bay of Islands, that's where they make their living catching herring, cutting holes in the ice and set? ting the nets through. His two feet was froze, the toes. He had no toenails. On the road, he walked barefeet. And people were hard to him, so he took off. He left and he ended up on Codroy. Somehow or another somebody took him in. My old grandfather, he was a schooner man in them days, and he was up there fishing, and he shipped him (George's father), and brought him down to Isle- aux-Morts. And my grandfa? ther, he only had the one daughter, my mother. He had twelve kids and my mother was the only (one) single. That's how my father got to Isle-aux-Morts. At the Whitney Pier Legion "I always say, the people at the Legion • that's George's second family." • Adeline Prosser Luckie I've been in Cape Breton for a long time. I've been seventy years living here. I worked in the lumber woods in West Bay, Malagawatch, up there around Marble Mountain. And what do you call that place there. Little Narrows? That' s where we' d load the pulp wood there. But I didn't work her very long. I worked there about three months. The skin come off your hand with that old balsam in the woods with a saw and an axe. Every? thing was done by elbow grease. So I got out. My brother and me. He got the job cooking. Cooked for about fifty, sixty men. And I took off. It was enough for me. I come back here to Sydney to get a ship. I got back here and it was all Limey ships. So I went home and started fishing again. We had a good life (on Isle-aux-Morts). My old grandfather, like I say, he owned two George Prosser playing darts, at age 91. George with fellow Legionnaire Abby Neville. Right: Ray Digout after singing an Irish traditional song for George at his 92nd birthday party. The Legion gave him clams, lobster, a birthday cake, the male bartender dressed like a wom? an • and probably a drink or two. boats at one time, and he fished. He fished for the whole family. About twelve children, oh, say about fifteen that was in the house. They had a kitchen and a parlour, and three bedrooms upstairs. That's how we all stowed. There was a bed? room downstairs too. It was a big house. An old-fashioned house. We got along very good up till like I said, just before the war broke out. Things got bad then. When the bottom fell out of the fishery. We just called it the island. There was no name to it. Just the island. You'd just say, "I got to go over on the island for something." CpierScape'99 Ihc VUHnci Vicr Festival Of Visvi'l Arts September 20-26 'Juried Exhibits "Workshops "Photography Fun "Architectural Tours "Family Day "Concerts and much, much morel! For Information: (902) 567-1492- gpiergcape office pierscape('ns.sympatico.ca- cpiergcape email _ yt ri Nova Scotia Arts Council iXSjL-''' Conseil des arts de la Nouvelle-??cosse Breton Energy Ltd. FIREPLACE PRODUCTS 564-4949 94 Johnstone Street, SYDNEY 95