Page 69 - Visit with Will Pringle, Richmond County

ISSUE : Issue 63

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1993/6/1

(And yet your grandmother saw her husband going, and saw her sons--at least one on-- go to the Grand Banks.) Yes. It was a rough, dangerous place.... And then Capt. Angus's widow came home to Cape Breton, near West Bay. And her brother was heading for the Marble with a sloop. And a squall, the North Mountain, tipped it over. And his two children were lost. Wasn't that sad? An American girl swam ashore about 2 or 3 miles. When they found her, she was on the shore. Today they'd have artificial respiration, but it wasn't.... She was with them too. (Any idea why your father didn't work at Marble Mountain?) No. he couldn't because, running the farm here, and there was a big family. And he also had the ferry, you see. (So he went to the Grand Banks before that time.) Oh. yes. And when he came home from the Grand Banks he started with the ferry across.... (Was he paid by the gov? ernment or was it his own business?) He got $35, I think, for the year. For the summer. And he charged either 30C or--I forget now--25 or 50 cents, something like that. (To take people from Pringle's Har? bour....) Across to the Marble. (And why would people want to make that particular journey?) Well, they were go? ing- -they were coming from River Bour? geois, and from St. Peters, and French Cove, and Grand Anse. And, of course, there was no car to go around. (They were going from those places to work at Marble Mountain.) Right. (Would they go every day...?) Oh. no. They would go and board there or--sometimes for months at a time. (This ferry that your father had. did he build it?) No. Donald MacLean built it. a relative of ours. He called it the Doris Pond; he'd call it "the sloop." A 19- Danena's Restaurant! and Take-Out LICENSED OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK ( Home Cooked Meals * Home Baking ' 383-2118 SOUTH HARBOUR on the Cabot Trail near Cape North ' SPEEDWAY GLACE BAY HIGHWAY • SYDNEY, N. S. • I Opening May 30,1993, till the end of September | ( REGULAR RACING SCHEDULE EVERY WEEKEND ) ?? SPECIAL EVENTS: Demolition Derbies • MASCAR Racing • Stunt Drivers • Mud Racing' ! • • CALL 564-5464 • • ! footer. A deck fore and aft. Big mainsail and jib. Pair of oars, three years old, $35. Today they're up in the thousands. (The ferry only ran, you say, in the sum? mertime. Did the marble quarry close down in winter?) No, the lake froze over, you see, usually in the winter. (Froze solid?) Oh, yes. I remember skating across there to the Marble to a horse race, Johnny MacLean and I. It was nice and shiny. The teacher said, "Going to be a horse race at the Marble tomorrow, and if there is-- there'll be no school." Next day was right fine, and my brothers and sisters skated across. I went down and got Johnny Mac- Lean- -no phone-- down and got him. Johnny and I skated across. Oh, it was great to watch the fast horses. It was about a mile or three- quarters of a mile. And they would score and come down the ice, hooves a- pounding. And then after that, there was a skating race. I tell about it in LooJc to the Harbour.... 1 remember work? ing in the woods all day with my brother cutting logs, back at Paddy's. He's still living-- he's about 91 or 92. And coming home and having supper, and skating out from the hut there-- beautiful ice. And going up near West Bay, stopping there and looking at the moon coming over the moun? tain and shining on the ice. And going down in? side the is? lands, and see? ing this girl and her brother, and talked with them awhile. And down to the Mar? ble, and skated there with the MacDonalds and MIKE - A Variety of Entertainment ~ • Fiddlers • Bagpipes • Stepdancers • Folk Singers MacDOUGALL From All Over CAPE BRETON ISLAND and MAINLAND NOVA SCOTIA • Food Concessions Souvenirs MEMORIAL Come for the Whole Day III 12:00 NOON to 9:00 P.M. FESTIVAL OUTDOORS! at the Cape Smokey Ski Lodge Ingonish Ferry On the Ski Slope Overlooking BeautiSul Ingonish Harbour 69

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