Cape Breton Places & Foods

Here’s another amazing fact. A point about halfway between Elmsdale and Milford Station, which is about halfway between Halifax and Truro is exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.

You see, there are exactly ninety degrees between the equator and the North Pole and the forty-fifth parallel cuts across the Halifax-Truro road at that point. Believe it or leave, nevertheless it’s a fact.

Halifax has a church that was built in a day. In case you are not familiar with it, may I point out that this church is called Our Lady of Sorrows and is located in the Roman Catholic Cemetery on South Park Street. Service is held in it once a year, on All Souls Day. Nearly one hundred years ago a large number of interested citizens, having gathered the material together assembled one morning at dawn, and by sunset that evening the building was completed including the roof.

Sports fans, particularly those interested in hockey, will be surprised to know that Hockey, Canada’s national pastime, was first played on the Dartmouth lakes, just across the harbour. As a matter of fact it was just seventy years ago. There was only one rule, but no set number of men to a team. School boys and Indians were the players. The sticks had shorter handles with rounded heel and blunt blades, and were called hurleys. A ball was used instead of a puck and goal posts were rocks on the ice.

Colonel B. A,. Weston remembers playing hockey in it’s primitive form in 1865-66-67. he recalls the only rule, which was one more of conscience and very flexible in interpretation. The players were not supposed to raise the hurleys above their shoulders or to slash at their opponents. This same rule in modern day hockey can be classed in a similar category. Captain J.T. Sutherland of Hamilton, Ontario, one of Canada’s earliest prominent hockey players also recalls the playing of hockey at Halifax before Confederation.

Believe it or leave it, nevertheless it’s a fact that the possession of Bible once saved the lives a Nova Scotian crew from South Sea island cannibals. The fortunate Nova Scotian who always carried a Bible was Captain Jim Ellis of Maitland whose ship becalmed near a cannibal king’s domain. The cannibals came on board and were looking the situation over, when quite by accident, the Captain’s Bible was discovered by the cannibal chief. He immediately ordered his men ashore and returned to present the Captain with a very rare sea shell. It appears that a missionary some years before had done a favour for this cannibal chief, and at the same time taught him that the Bible was a good book and all men who read that book, were good men, and should not be interfered with. It is said that the Captain was a firm believer in missionaries after this experience.

The mention of the Bible brings to mind a fact which to strangers might be news. Nova Scotia has a Paradise and a Garden of Eden within its boundaries. Paradise is a lovely village and will be found in the Annapolis Valley. The Garden of Eden as the name would denote is also a place of beauty, and has a Mount Adam and a Lake Eden. The first settler was William McDonald of Scotland, a pioneer of the sturdy Highlanders who selected Nova Scotia as their abode in the new world. This attractive spot in Pictou Co.

Leads into the picturesque valley of the East River Saint Mary’s, with its beautiful intervals, great timber resources, numerous water courses, fine fishing and abundance of game. That’s our Garden of Eden.

Believe it or leave it, Halifax has a house whose total width is only ten feet. This house can be found at 36 ½ Dresden Row. It has stood on its foundations for many years and is a two story structure, boasting four rooms. On the ground floor there is a living room in front, with the door opening right on the street and one window close by the door. To the rear is the kitchen with two bedrooms upstairs.

Next time you go up to Dresden Row take a look at No. 36 ½.

Strange as it seems, it’s true, that Scotch heather, exactly the same kind that grows wild in old Scotland grows wild here n New Scotland. You can see it in Point Pleasant Park, if you take the trouble to enter the park via Tower Road and keep on going until the road turns to the left in a large circle. There, you’ll find it growing in a field outside one of the old forts that was used years ago by the Imperial troops. But how did the wild heather of old Scotland take root in New Scotland? Well here’s the explanation. The Imperial troops brought their bedding with them, which consisted of covers filled with straw. A Scottish regiment came out here and after a period of time when ordered to renew their bedding, dumped the old hay and heather they had gathered in Scotland, outside the fort and refilled their bedding with Nova Scotian hay. In the course of time, the heather took root, and has been growing wild ever since at this spot, and there it is growing wild in Point Pleasant Park.

It is surprising to be told that Nova Scotia had the only giantess in the world. There have been lots of giants but only one giantess. Her name was Annie Swan and she belonged to New Annan, Colchester County. She was one of a family of thirteen children. The other twelve were quite normal in size. Annie weighed eighteen pounds at birth and at eleven years of age was so big that she could get into her mother’s clothes. Her mother was a woman of five feet, seven inches. Annie kept on growing and at maturity weighed 509 lbs. and was eight feet, one inch in height.

She married an American giant who was well over seven feet tall. They built a special house for themselves with doors nine feet high and ceilings of eleven feet and large rooms in proportion. An ordinary person when dining with them, had to climb upon the chairs like a child, by placing one foot on the rung to get on the seat.
They had two children, a boy and a girl, but neither of them lived any time. The boy weighed twenty two pounds and the girl eighteen pounds at birth.
Annie Bates, that was her married name, was for a number of years was under contract with the great American Showman, Barnum, and traveled extensively and even was presented to Queen Victoria. She died in 1888 at the age of thirty-six. You can see some of her clothing at Green Hill museum in Pictou County. It is said that her skirt would reach up to the head of an ordinary woman.

Are you aware that the faces of the Old Town Clock are different sizes? If you closely inspect the Old Town Clock, you will see that the faces on the North and East are larger than the faces on the South and West sides. You see, the Duke of Kent was a very practical man. The people all lived on the North and East side, so he had large faces towards those directions. Nobody lived South and East of the clock, so he had small faces on those outlooks. Next time you go by, take notice of this old fact.

Speaking of Halifax, it reminds me of the fact that Halifax once had a coloured policeman. The late Doctor Akins, who wrote A History of Halifax, and read it to the Nova Scotian Historical Society in 1839, has this to say about police matters in Halifax around the year 1821. “Drunken people were frequently seen in the streets in those days, yet the peace of the town was tolerably well preserved by the three or four police constables. Old Jock Henderson was very corpulent, but his great knowledge of his profession rendered him as an exceedingly useful officer. Jock Mahar was celebrated as a detective, but King Alcohol at last put an end to his usefulness. The practice of publicly whipping thieves had almost altogether gone out of fashion by this time, though occasionally resorted to at the workhouse.

Among the oddities was Constable Hawkins. He was a Negro, one of those who were brought from Chesapeake Bay by Admiral Cockburn. He had for some time been employed at the work house to do the whipping. He was usually dressed in an old military green uniform, epaulets, plumed cap, with red sash, and on state occasions, a sword.

With constable’s staff in hand, this worthy might be seen in the morning at the opening of the police office, escorting prisoners down George Street to the office for examination, accompanied by a mob of boys.

And now for one of the most amazing facts! Believe it or leave it, Nova Scotia was at one time owned by a woman! On May 16, 1613, a ship arrived at Le Have with some forty people aboard, including two priests. There at Le Have they set up a cross, bearing the arms or crest of Madame de Geurcheville, and claimed the entire Atlantic Seaboard for her, she having purchased it from the King of France, with the right to send out an expedition to stake her claim.

Madame de Geurcheville was the wife of the Governor of Paris and very influential in court circles.

The expedition was led by Mons de Saussaye. Madame de Guercheville never came out here, and apparently never did any more about her claim and purchased rights. It would appear she was a sort of agent of one of the religious orders anxious to establish themselves in the New World. So, believe it or leave it, nevertheless it’s a fact that Nova Scotia for a short while was actually owned by a woman.

Can you imagine an army starting off to capture what was believed to be the strongest fortress in the world, armed mostly with pitchforks, rifles axes and cannon balls but no cannons? When you read the story about the first capture of Louisburg in 1745, by an untrained army of recruits under a Boston merchant named William Pepperell, you will find out that this statement is not far from the truth. It is also an interesting fact that the generosity of the government of those days was stretched to the point where it magnanimously gave each volunteer an extra issue of one pound of sugar and a few ounces of ginger for risking his life.

Strange as it seems, nevertheless it’s a fact that a lottery provided the funds to build the first Halifax lighthouse. In the year 1752 it was decided that Halifax Harbour needed a lighthouse at its entrance so someone thought of the bright idea of raising the necessary funds through the medium of a lottery. The point selected was Sambro at the western entrance. One thousand tickets of three pounds each were sold and the first prize was to be five hundred pounds. When the authorities in the old country heard about it the lottery was quashed, nevertheless the lighthouse was built, the funds being provided by the authorities to repay the purchasers of the tickets.

Almost incredible gut true is the fact that the Halifax Citadel was at one time eighty feet higher, than it now is. When the city was first founded a small wooden fort was established at its peak. When the present stone fortress was erected with its drill shed and star shaped moat, it was necessary to take the top of the hill off to give a flat surface to accommodate the area taken according to plan, and as a result some eighty feet of earth was removed from the crest of the original hill.

Dartmouth citizens may be surprised to know that at one time to travel on the ferry on Sunday, it was necessary to assure the captain that the passenger was on the way to or from church. According to an old history of that town published in 1890, it is recorded that the early ferries were only allowed to run on Sunday to carry passengers who were members of Halifax churches and were desirous of crossing the harbour to attend Divine service. It does not state whether the Captain would ask passengers to quote the text of the sermon heard or not, before he would ferry them back to the Eastern capital.

It would surprise many to know that if they have the honour of being asked to visit Government House, the residence of our Lieutenant- Governor, that they would be invited to enter Government House by the back door. You see, when Government House was built, Hollis street was then “Main Street”, where the prominent citizens lived, and the front entrance faced east towards Hollis Street and the Harbour. Barrington Street was then back in the pasture, so to speak, adjoining the Governor’s fields. Gradually the centre of traffic was moved up the hill and Barrington Street has become the main thoroughfare and Hollis Street,- well that certainly is not one of the spots where one takes visitors these days, if it’s beautiful residences they have in mind. So, for at least the last thirty years the Barrington Street entrance of Government House has been used as the main entrance, which is really the back door. So dear reader, you see, it’s the usual thing to be invited in, via the back door.

Speaking of Governors, brings to mind the fact that Nova Scotia at one time had two Governors. The history books record the fact that in the year 1635 Charles de La Tour believed himself to be the Governor, and carried on as such and suddenly Sieur d’Aulnay de Charnisay, turned up and claimed he had been appointed to that high office. These two French gentlemen fought it out for nearly twenty years and the stories of their activities in Nova Scotia ended in one of the most remarkable romances ever recorded, when Charles de La Tour and Madame de Charnisay joined forces, after both had lost their former life partners, through the fortunes of war.

Believe it or leave it Nova Scotia has the destination of being the only province of the Dominion of Canada and the first colony of Great Britain to possess a flag of its own. The flag of Nova Scotia is a silver field with a blue St. Andrew’s Cross, a small shield with the Royal Arms of Scotland being placed as a escutcheon upon the cross.

It traces its origin to the Charter of New Scotland granted in 1621 to Sir William Alexander [afterwards the Earl of Sterling] by King James the Sixth of Scotland and First of England. In this charter the name Nova Scotia [which is Latin for New Scotland] first appeared in contradistinction to Acadia or the Acadie of the French . the flag itself is derived from the Royal Coat of Arms granted to Nova Scotia in 1625 by King Charles the First of England, and son and successor of King James the Sixth. This ancient and beautiful armorial bearing is the oldest of all the Arms borne by the British Dominions, and by reason of the unique combination therein of the Royal and National Arms of Scotland is pronounced by heraldic writers as the grandest of all.

In the register of the Lyon Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms at Edinburgh, the Scottish heraldic office of the British Government, the Arms of Nova Scotia are recorded as follows; “Nova Scotia, the Province, of Bears argent, a cross of St. Andrew azure, charged with an escutcheon of the Royal arms of Scotland. Supported on the dexter by the Royal Unicorn and on the sinister or wild man proper. Crest, a branch of Laurel and a Thistle issuing from two hands conjoined, the one armed and the other naked. Motto:”Munit haec et altera vincit.”
The mount at the base is adorned with Mayflower and Thistle floral badges, the former being the national flower of Nova Scotia and the latter the badge chosen by James the Third, king of Scots. The Latin motto may be rendered; “With this [the naked hand] he labours, and with the other [the armed hand] he protects “ It is a sturdy motto, for implies not only diligence in our own business but an active interest in our public welfare.

The Royal Arms of Nova Scotia were granted by Charles the First as a signal mark of royal favour to the New Scotland which had been founded as a compliment to New England. They may be seen on doors in the Province House at Halifax, and the banner is flown at the masthead on the public and private buildings around the Province.

The Ancient Arms of Nov Scotia, in the changes following the union of the Provinces in 1807, were officially supplanted for a time by a commonplace design of a salmon and thistles, but they are now officially restored to their proper place, and this unique and ancient armorial achievement of the romantic days of the Stewart Kings is after three centuries of colourful history the official badge of nova Scotia and the basis of her famous Flag.

Is it any wonder, with so many interesting facts available in the history books of Nova Scotia, that Tales Told Under the Old Town Clock, which have given details of historic and unusual events of our storied past, have proven a popular radio feature?

Some of the items mentioned in this introduction have been selected in more detail for your approval in the stories printed herewith, along with those talks for which the greatest number of requests for copies were made during the past year.

There are many more strange and interesting items stored away for future use, for more Tales to be Told Under the Old Town Clock.