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Pioneering On
The Scotch Line
"When (my father)
and his family reached what was to be his future home, (my mother)
sat down at the root of a big basswood tree until her husband
and his neighbours put up a shanty. She had eight children beside
her, and one of them (an infant) who was born in Brockville".
(1)
So said Mary Holliday Fraser
on the occasion of her eightieth birthday in 1890 as she recalled
a momentous event of her sixth year. It was the day when her
father, John Holliday, had arrived with his family on the Scotch
Line homestead and she, as one of the eight children, had sat
below the basswood tree.
Those words, "a big
basswood tree", give a clue to the nature of the land, a
land covered with forest. His neighbours helped him "put
up a shanty"; and that tells of the first co-operative effort
required of all such pioneers, - the provision of shelter. While
the young family of "eight children" gave promise of
a labour asset of great value in a pioneer household. The early
years of the Holliday family on the Scotch Line revolved in large
measure around those three elements.
The nature of the Upper
Canadian bush at that time is well described by a visitor who
wrote of his travels, "These lands were so thickly covered
with forest trees standing near each other, and of so large a
growth as almost wholly to exclude the sunshine from the soil
in the leafy season... Hardwood trees of fifty and sixty feet
high were plentiful; some white pines there were whose height
was found to be a hundred feet." (2) An early settler described
these dense forests in terms of their stillness. Apart from a
few pigeons, he had heard no song birds, "different",
said he, "from at home. No sound of music is ever heard
there, but a melancholy death-like stillness reigns through the
forests, except when they are agitated by the tempest or the
storm." (3)
To the first settlers bush
like that was not an asset, but a liability. Trees were a nuisance,
standing in the room of arable land needed for food production.
So the trees were felled. Most were piled indiscriminately for
burning. They had no value as lumber, saw-mills being far distant.
A relatively small amount was turned into cordwood which sold
cheaply on the Perth market. The potash from the burning was
more readily saleable and was almost the only product that summer
which brought cash to the pioneer household.
One of the basic errors
which had been made in the establishment of the depot at Perth
had been the omission of over-night accommodation for the settlers
as they arrived. They had, therefore, to erect shelters upon
their homesteads immediately. These were primitive enough. Mr.
Bell described them as "huts covered with boughs or bark".
Such was the "shanty" built by John Holliday and his
neighbours on that first day.
A temporary shelter being
thus provided, the family proceeded to the task of clearing the
land for crops. "In a new settlement", as Mr. Bell
said later, "much labour and perseverance are necessary,
to cut down woods, to build houses, and inclose fields; but here
these are not wanting." Doubtless John Holliday would be
able to use the labour of his two oldest children, - John of
fourteen years and William of thirteen - in the lighter tasks
incident to clearing. It will remain a conundrum how a man of
thirty-eight who had spent at least the past thirteen years of
his life in the sedentary work of a Scottish schoolmaster was
equal to the physical labour involved in the clearing of the
Upper Canadian bush.
To add to the pioneers'
difficulties the tools provided by the government as part of
the emigration contract (see above, chapter titled "Emigration")
and paid for by the settlers proved to be inadequate for their
purpose in Canada. Early in 1817, when the settlers had had a
year's experience behind them, the Quarter-Master General reported
on the axes which had been provided. "I am convinced",
he said after his investigation, "that they will be of no
service to (the settlers). They were made in England, and although
the shape and weight comes near to that of the felling axe of
Upper Canada, yet the manufacture is different, and axes of the
same kind have been found to open out and give way at the eye
when the handle is fixed.... The very existence of a settler
depends upon a good and proper axe." It was not until 1819,
however, that the slow-moving army administration made a final
decision in the matter. Its Board of Enquiry, Montreal, made
its finding in these words, "Re. 9, 881 common English axes
which were sent out for settlers: These are not fit for settlers,
being too narrow and too long and not of sufficient weight. In
the opinion of the Board they will serve for no other use than
for splitting wood. (It is recommended) that a portion be allotted
for the Service, and that the remainder be returned to England,
as if sold in this country they would only bring the price of
old iron". In the meantime the Scotch Line pioneers were
doing as best they could - and most of them did remarkably well
- felling huge trees with axes fit only for splitting wood. Doubtless
they expressed their opinion of the axes and of the delay in
remedial action.
As though heavy bush and
inadequate tools were not enough, nature itself contributed to
the difficulties of that first year on the Scotch Line. One of
the trials so added was the prevalence of insects. Mosquitoes
thrived in the bush, where swamps covered the low-lying areas.
One settler, recounting some of the problems of pioneering in
Canada, wrote: "In addition to these difficulties, we had
to encounter another - mosquitoes; wherever they sting it pierced
through the skin. I have had my legs pierced all over with the
fangs of these tormenting and mischievous insects, and from the
effects of their bites they seemed as if they had been covered
all over with the smallpox." (4) On occasion these hordes
of insects could render further immediate work in the bush impossible.
Even so determined a man as the Reverend William Bell discovered
that they could prevent him from carrying on the work to which
he had dedicated his life. He reported in his Journal that on
June 25, 1817, the very morning after his arrival at Perth, he
had set out to visit his new parishioners on the Scotch Line.
"The day was hot", he wrote, "but the mosquitoes
annoyed us so much that we had not proceeded more than two miles
when we were forced to return."
Another natural phenomenon
plagued the new settlers. Instead of the usual Canadian summer
of warm days conducive to crop growth, the summer of 1816 was
cold and wet, with virtually no June-July-August heat. It became
known as "the summerless year". This resulted in very
meagre growth on the necessarily small plantings, so that, as
one writer put it, "the poor Scotsmen had a bad start".
When Lieutenant-Governor Gore of Upper Canada visited the settlement
in October that year he found that the crops of 1816 had been
so unproductive that he recommended to Sir John Sherbrooke, the
Governor for Canada, that the government continue the issue of
rations for the settlers beyond December 24, the date originally
contracted for. When Sir John asked for a detailed report from
his Quarter-Master General he was told, "I am of the opinion
that none of the settlers of Perth and in its immediate neighbourhood
are in a state to provide for themselves during the winter..
. . I would, therefore, beg to recommend that rations of provisions
be issued to them until next June." (5) The immediate results
of the farming operations that first summer were not very encouraging.
In other respects, however,
John Holliday and his family had made considerable progress.
Having supplied a temporary shelter for his family with his neighbours'
help, he had proceeded with the arduous task of clearing the
land. Though hampered by nature and by government, this task
had some success. Three reports exist as to the acreage cleared
in that first season by the Scotch Line settlers. Lieutenant-Governor
Gore's report stated, "Many (settlers) have cleared and
sown from 6 to 10 acres of wheat. 11 Mr. Bell wrote a letter
on July 11, 1817, to his Presbytery in Edinburgh in which he
said, "Each settler has from 2 to 6 acres cleared, which
in another year will support his family .... It is evident the
settlers have not been idle." (6)
In that same month, July
1817, Robert Gourlay travelled up the Scotch Line and visited
each settler in turn. He collected from each quite complete data
about the settler's new life. From John Holliday he learned that
in the first year (which would include the winter months of 1816-1817)
he had chopped 7 1/2 acres of bush, had cleared 6 1/2 acres,
and had sown 3 acres in wheat and 3 1/2 acres in other grains.
(7) Gourlay's report emphasizes the size of the task when it
distinguishes among the chopping of the trees, the clearing of
the stamps and brush, and the sowing of grain. Probably John
Holliday would not in that first summer be as far ahead as some
of his neighbours who had arrived three months ahead of him.
But the exact statistics of Robert Gourlay's survey are proof
that whatever skill the Scots dominee may have had with pen and
tawse, he did not lack skill also with axe and plough.
Another urgent project
additional to land clearance faced the Scots settlers that summer.
This was the provision of more adequate shelter for their families.
As already shown, the first shelters constructed were rude indeed,
being little more than palings interlaced with branches and covered
with bark. Such were passable for summer weather, though in that
"summerless year" of 1816 they must have proved far
from comfortable. They would certainly be useless as shelter
against a Canadian winter. And winter was fast approaching. On
October 15 Governor Gore reported, "the settlers already
begin to feel the severity of this climate, living under canvas
and in small huts." Many settlers must have recalled at
this time, - and not without a grim humour - the words of the
emigration Proclamation in Scotland describing their prospective
location "in Upper Canada, where there is a choice climate."
So every settler had to take time in the early autumn to build
him a house.
John Holliday's daughter
Mary said years later that "during the fall of 1816 (my
father) built a large log building and covered it with bark."
(1) Robert Gourlay was more exact in his report, giving the dimensions
of John Holliday's house as being 33 feet by 19 feet. For a family
of ten persons this does not seem to warrant Mary's descriptive
adjective "large", and must surely be rightly used
by her only if it is by comparison with other log houses built
in the neighbourhood. A general statement by Gourlay supports
this inference, when he says that the larger number of settlers
had log houses "mostly 23 feet by 16 feet". John Holliday's
house, therefore, - 10 feet longer and 3 feet wider than the
average one - could be described as "large". The reason
for the size was given by Mary when she added, "Part of
the building was used for a school-house." (1) Such houses,
if properly caulked between the logs - and this one seems to
have had an additional insulation from a covering of bark - were
adequate protection even from a Canadian winter. So apparently
John Holliday's family faced their first winter in Canada with
good shelter and a good beginning made on the clearing of the
land.
The clearing doubtless
continued throughout the winter months. As the winter drew to
a close the family engaged in another out-door activity, and
here even the younger members might have a contribution to make.
This was the production of maple sugar. Hard maples grew in abundance
on the homestead. Tapping the trees, collecting the sap, boiling
to syrup and then the sugaring-off were the regular procedures.
While this was a change from the arduous work of chopping trees,
it was not recreation. The next year's supply of sugar for the
household depended upon diligent use of time and careful attention
to each step in the process.
John Holliday's family
gave the required attention. In September, 1817, Mr. Bell wrote
to a friend in Scotland that "most of the settlers made
as much (maple) sugar last spring upon their own land as will
last them through the year. In the spring it was sold for 6d.
a pound, now it is up to 15d." Robert Gourlay reported that
the Hollidays had made 50 pounds of maple sugar that spring.
As already indicated, the
bush crop of sugar was as important to the family's food supply
as was the field crop of wheat and oats and barley. According
to one of John Holliday's grand-daughters, each spring saw large
blocks of maple sugar stacked in the pantry from floor to ceiling.
This was meant for ordinary, family use. Refined sugar was a
luxury. The household's small stock of it was carefully husbanded
for special occasions such as the minister's pastoral visit.
The years have reversed the roles of the sugars: the luxury of
the early day has become the commonplace of today; the pioneer's
commonplace has become a luxury for his descendant.
An interesting sidelight
on the imposed self-sufficiency of the pioneer household is given
in a novel of early life on the Scotch Line, "Perth-on-the
Tay", sub-titled "A Tale of the Transplanted Highlanders".
(8) While the plot of the tale is fictional, its descriptions
of life are factual, even for those numerous settlers who were
from the Lowlands. In one incident narrated the writer gives
the menu of a dinner in a Scotch Line cabin. "This was the
dinner: Barley brose and kail, pigs' feet, potatoes grown on
new land and by and by bannocks and maple syrup from pure Canadian
sap." Every item on it could come directly from the pioneer
homestead. The fact inspired a popular ditty of the period:
"I grow my own lamb,
My own butter and ham;
I shear my own sheep,
And I wear it. "
The task of clearing and
cropping the hundred-acre homestead proceeded steadily, each
year seeing a few more acres reclaimed from the bush. Doubtless
each year also saw the boys in the family more able to take a
share in the work. Since their father was teaching in the Scotch
Line school at the same time that he was clearing his land, the
pressure upon all in the household must have been considerable.
Nor would all these be
incident to the out-door work on the land. While little exact
information exists about the family life in the home, enough
can be deduced from external events to give some idea of it.
Its furnishings in the first years would be sparse. According
to Mr. Campbell in Glasgow most families in the emigrant body
had taken with them such baggage as "webs of linen and woollen
staffs, uncut". They also had "clocks, bellows, wheels
and reels". John Holliday would doubtless be among the majority,
so one can assume that "wheels and reels" would be
in the home for the spinning and winding incident to home manufacture
of clothing. It is to be hoped he had also brought some of the
"woollen stuffs, uncut" for the more urgent needs of
a Canadian winter. Such activities would devolve upon Margaret
Johnstone Holliday and her older daughters, Jane of eleven years,
Janet of nine, and possibly even Mary of six. John Holliday's
wife would be one of the most industrious members of the household
as she managed the distaff side of a large and growing family.
Only a few items of household
furniture of those early years now are known to survive. One
is the "grandfather clock" According to Scots custom,
a family clock was bequeathed to the youngest son. John Holliday
was himself the youngest son of the Berryscaur family and may
well have been given the clock by his widowed mother when he
left Scotland. Be that as it may, the clock which told the hours
in the log house on the Scotch Line was left to John Holliday's
youngest son, Calvin. Through him it has descended through two
more generations of youngest sons, being now in the Canadian
West in the possession of Calvin's grandson.
A further item of furnishings
brought from Scotland was crockery. Since china of any quality
would be difficult to replace in the Canadian bush, doubtless
great care would be taken of the various pieces used on the family
table. At the same time, the fragile nature of the article militated
against its survival.
John Holliday's oldest
son, John, passed on to his youngest son an interesting souvenir
of the pioneer household. It is a snuff-box, hollowed out of
horn and mounted with a silver, hinged cover. This cover bears
upon it what is alleged to be "the Halliday family crest",
a wild boar's head with the inscription on the ribbon "Virtute
Parta". This is flanked by the initials "G. H."
Although no coat-of-arms is known to have been issued to an Annandale
Halliday, and therefore the use of a crest is suspect, it is
tempting to believe that the snuffbox is an heirloom John Holliday
inherited from his grandfather, George Halliday, the wauk-miller
of Dumcrieff and Berryscaur. The box is in the possession of
one of the schoolmaster's great-great-grandsons in Ontario.
There were books in the
Holliday household, as might be expected in a ,schoolmaster's
house. These would not be numerous enough to be considered a
library by today's standards. Neither pioneer conditions nor
a pioneer schoolmaster's needs demanded or allowed such. Not
many of his books have survived, though those which have illuminate
the ideas favoured in the household. The two most important volumes
were bibles, one being the Family Bible in which were inscribed
the record of family births and deaths. It probably was obtained
in 1801 on the occasion of the marriage of John Holliday and
Margaret Johnstone. This Family Bible passed on her father's
death to Mary Holliday Fraser and by one of her descendants to
a grandson of her brother James. The book appears to have been
lost quite recently.
The Family Bible was not
meant for frequent, household use. For the daily worship and
for individual study another bible was provided, less pretentious
in appearance. This volume was much used, as its worn, well thumbed
pages testify. It is now owned by one of Mary Holliday Fraser's
great-grand-daughters in Perth.
At least three other books
have survived the years. One is a book of five tales by James
Hogg, "The Ettrick Shepherd". It is entitled The Brownie
of Bodesbeck, its stories being about the persecution of Covenanters
in the very Annandale whence John Holliday came. It must have
appealed greatly to him, both for its geographical and its religious
elements. The book bears his signature, dated 1858. Quite appropriately,
it stays now with the household bible.
Two books belong conspicuously
to his pedagogical career. One is "Brande's Encyclopedia
of Science, Literature and Art", published about 1840. An
older book, "The Classical Geographical Dictionary",
was published in 1715 and bears John Holliday's signature on
its fly-leaf with the date 1812. It may well have been a text-book
from his years as schoolmaster in Boreland. These two books are
now in the possession of a great-grandson, the author of this
biography.
Doubtless other items from
the Scotch Line household do still exist in the care of various
descendants. At no time, however, would the furnishings of the
house be of such quality or uniqueness as to insure preservation
of many of them. It was a pioneer household.
By 1819 settlement was
far enough advanced for thoughts about title deeds to the land.
On August 2 of that year twenty-nine of the settlers, of whom
John Holliday was one, petitioned the Lieutenant-Governor to
issue them their deeds. They gave two reasons for it: First,
that Earl Bathurst had promised it when the primary conditions
of settlement should be fulfilled, as was now the case; and Second,
since it was reported that the area was to be allowed to send
a representative to Parliament, they would not have "fall
power to make that choice until we receive by the grant of our
Deeds an indisputable title to our Freeholds".
Apparently the petition
was favourably received. On June 28, 1820, Mr. Bell's Journal
reported, "The deeds of those who have been three years
and upwards upon their lands will be issued in a short time.
Soon after this we shall all have the privilege of electing a
member to represent us in the Provincial Parliament. Six candidates
for that honour have already offered themselves". That election
took place on July 10th.
The reference to the franchise
in the petition indicates that the settlers were ready and even
anxious to exercise all the rights of citizens. The degree of
such interest would vary among them and there is little evidence
extant to show that John Holliday took a very active part in
political life. This appears at first sight to be contrary to
the character of the man who had been so active as a leader in
promoting the community interest at Cornwall and Brockville.
It has been suggested that, once established on the settlement
as its schoolmaster, the salary for which was paid from defence
appropriations by the government, John Holliday would consider
himself virtually a civil servant precluded from political activity.
Be that as it may, the
only known record of a political interest by him is in a news
item of The Independent Examiner, Perth, in 1830. It reads as
follows: "Burgess and Elmsley inhabitants convened in the
Wellington Tavern in Perth on Tuesday, 5 October 1830, with Jonas
Jones in the chair and John Holliday as Secretary. Resolved -
to assist in the election of Mr. Gowan and Sherwood. A Committee
was formed composed of John Stewart, (teacher) Jolm Holliday....
(etc.)" It appears from this report that John Holliday gave
political allegiance at that time to the government party, known
as Tory. The party which Gowan and Sherwood, both of Brockville,
were supporting is not immediately apparent. However, one of
the members of the Committee listed in the newspaper was a Dr.
Reade, who himself was a Tory party candidate in Perth in 1833.
One might expect John Holliday
to support the anti-government "Reform" party, since
he had been in personal conflict with local government representatives
on several occasions. By 1830, however, the issues had been revolved
in his favour, while by that date he had come into conflict with
some of the leading "Reformers" of the area, notably
Rev. Mr. Bell. Local animosities such as that one could have
the effect of making John Holliday a supporter of the Tory party,
though apparently it was not a very public or continuing support.
There is evidence, however,
that the schoolmaster had a considerable place in the less-public
affairs of the local community. He seems to have been something
of an adviser to neighbours on matters of thought and conduct
ranging from religious belief to the problems of "star-cross'd
lovers". It has been pointed out (9) that Mr. Bell paid
unwitting tribute to this place John Holliday held in his community
when he admitted that many of the Scotch Line settlers withheld
support from their minister's views because "a knowing man
like Mr. Holliday had denounced them." On another occasion
he gave further evidence of John Holliday's influence in religious
matters. In August, 1830, he discovered what were to him "very
odd notions" existing among some of his parishioners relative
to religious doctrine. When he tried to argue against them one
of his parishioners rejected his argument and "proved (his
own interpretation) to be true, not by reference to scripture,
but to the opinions of Mr. Holliday". (10)
Another instance of the
same community influence, though in a different field, cast John
Holliday in a role similar to that of the popular columnist of
a later day. The story is vouched for by direct oral transmission
from the bride herself, the names of 9-11 the parties immediately
concerned being in the possession of this reporter. A young couple
on the Scotch Line were preparing for their marriage when the
prospective bride broke the engagement and left the area with
the man of her new choice. The rejected suitor was heart-broken,
but apparently believed that the centre of the affections could
be repaired if another bride could be found. He went to John
Holliday for advice. The latter suggested a Scotch Line lass
who was eligible and might be available. She, however, declined
the proposal and the would-be groom repaired again to his adviser.
A second name was given to the young wooer, but she also refused
the honour. Since both these young ladies married other local
youths within the year, it is reasonable to suppose that their
affections were already centred elsewhere. For the third time
the rejected suitor went to John Holliday. This time the suggested
lady accepted his offer of heart and hand. The couple were married.
John Holliday was present at the ceremony.
As the years went on life
in the pioneer community became less rigorous. This did not mean
it was less active, simply that some of the hardships of the
first years were disappearing. Thus, reasonably passable roads
replaced the trails through the bush. Mr. Bell had described
his first attempt to visit his Scotch Line parishioners in 1817
as a tiring trip, "going around swamps, climbing fences,
and getting over fallen trees". Before long the Scotch Line
could be traversed its full seven miles on horseback or on wheels.
As the homestead was cleared time and labour were available for
work that brought in a cash income. "The farmer, his boys
and his horses found employment in the bush, in the shanties,
and on the 'drive' in summer, bringing money to the family hearthstones
to meet the pressure of current necessities. And so household
wants found relief". So wrote an historian of the area in
the Perth Courier Centenary Edition of 1934. It is doubtful if
John Holliday himself engaged in this outside bush work, his
school keeping him on the Line, but his older sons certainly
did. The household benefited.
In due time, though the
exact date is uncertain, John Holliday found the "large"
log house of 1816 quite inadequate. It was inadequate in size
for a family which increased from the eight children of 1816
to twelve by 1826. It was inadequate in style for a homestead
becoming more prosperous each year. So the log house was replaced
by a stone one. It stood two-story high. Its centre door was
surmounted by an arched fan-light and flanked by vertical ones.
The entrance was balanced on each side by a window for the respective
"front" rooms. Above it, a gable in the roof-line gave
space for a second-story window. It was typical of the period,
unpretentious, yet with a solid appearance that spoke of hard-won
achievement. It indicated successful pioneering effort.
With time one member of
the Holliday family after another grew to adulthood. As the four
boys who had been born in Scotland became twenty-one years of
age, they applied to the Governor-in-Council for the one-hundred-acre
grant of land to which they were entitled by the original emigration
contract. This removed three of them from the Scotch Line. As
the four boys who had been born in Canada grew to manhood they
became apprenticed to the trades of their respective choice.
This removed them also from the parental roof, the village of
Perth being usually their first place of settlement. As the four
girls grew into womanhood they married and set up homes elsewhere.
Only one member of the twelve remained on the homestead, the
fourth son, James. On August 24, 1846, John Holliday sold the
farm to James for the sum of £330. On September 23. 1876.
the homestead passed out of the Holliday family when James sold
it to John Armour for $5,600.00 (11)
Note: In 1998 it was learned
that the house was sold by the Armour family, restored, sold
again and is now owned by Kevin Daly. The original log "shanty"
has vanished with the exception of an outline in the brush behind
the stone house.
John Holliday had owned
the property for thirty years. At the age of sixty-eight he was,
doubtless, ready to retire. He and his wife continued to live
with their son, however, in the old home, she until her death
in 1860 and he until 1862. In that year he removed to live with
his daughter, Mary Fraser, farther up the Line.
From that date any active
participation in the life of the community may be said to have
ended. It was the end of forty-six years of pioneering on the
Scotch Line.
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