Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago | Page 3

has proved to me that those
who rear a numerous progeny go through a vast deal of trouble and
anxiety. At any rate I made my appearance on the stage, and began my
performance behind the footlights of domestic bliss. I must have been a
success, for I called forth a great deal of applause from my parents, and
received their undivided attention. But other actors came upon the
boards in more rapid succession, so that in a few years the quiver of my
father was well filled, and he might have met "his enemies in the gate."
My father, when he married, bought a farm. Of course it was all woods.
Such were the only farms available for young folk to commence life
with in those days. Doubtless there was a good deal of romance in it.
Love in a cot; the smoke gracefully curling; the wood-pecker tapping,
and all that; very pretty. But alas, in this work-a-day world, particularly
the new one upon which my parents then entered, these silver linings

were not observed. They had too much of the prose of life.
A house was built--a log one, of the Canadian rustic style then much in
vogue, containing one room, and that not very large either; and to this
my father brought his young bride. Their outfit consisted, on his part,
of a colt, a yoke of steers, a couple of sheep, some pigs, a gun, and an
axe. My mother's dot comprised a heifer, bed and bedding, a table and
chairs, a chest of linen, some dishes, and a few other necessary items
with which to begin housekeeping. This will not seem a very lavish
set-out for a young couple on the part of parents who were at that time
more than usually well-off. But there was a large family on both sides,
and the old people then thought it the better way to let the young folk
try their hand at making a living before they gave them of their
abundance. If they succeeded they wouldn't need much, and if they did
not, it would come better after a while.
My father was one of a class of young men not uncommon in those
days, who possessed energy and activity. He was bound to win. What
the old people gave was cheerfully accepted, and he went to work to
acquire the necessaries and comforts of life with his own hands. He
chopped his way into the stubborn wood and added field to field. The
battle had now been waged for seven or eight years; an addition had
been made to the house; other small comforts had been added, and the
nucleus of future competence fairly established.
One of my first recollections is in connection with the small log barn he
had built, and which up to that date had not been enlarged. He carried
me out one day in his arms, and put me in a barrel in the middle of the
floor. This was covered with loosened sheaves of wheat, which he kept
turning over with a wooden fork, while the oxen and horse were driven
round and round me. I did not know what it all meant then, but I
afterwards learned that he was threshing. This was one of the first rude
scenes in the drama of the early settlers' life to which I was introduced,
and in which I had to take a more practical part in after years. I took
part, also, very early in life, in sugar-making. The sap- bush was not
very far away from the house, and the sap-boiling was under the
direction of my mother, who mustered all the pots and kettles she could
command, and when they were properly suspended over the fire on
wooden hooks, she watched them, and rocked me in a sap-trough.
Father's work consisted in bringing in the sap with two pails, which

were carried by a wooden collar about three feet long, and made to fit
the shoulder, from each end of which were fastened two cords with
hooks to receive the bail of the pails, leaving the arms free except to
steady them. He had also to cut wood for the fire. I afterwards came to
take a more active part in these duties, and used to wish I could go back
to my primitive cradle. But time pushed me on whether I would or not,
until I scaled the mountain top of life's activities; and now, when
quietly descending into the valley, my gaze is turned affectionately
towards those early days. I do not think they were always bright and
joyous, and I am sure I often chafed under the burdens imposed upon
me; but how inviting they seem when viewed through the golden haze
of retrospection.
My next recollection