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Next to religion and the
family influence, the school is the most powerful force in the training
and development of mankind. Three things are necessary to constitute a
school, namely, organization, financial support and teachers. None of
these things existed here when our ancestors began to settle on our
shores. Those brave colonizers had to spend long and toilsome years in the
wilderness before their scattered communities were ready for schools. And
even then, teachers were about as scarce and precious as is radium. The
few there were came upon a wave of reluctant emigration from Ireland and
Scotland. Some of these had been well educated in the homelands, but their
labors here were performed under circumstances of inconceivable hardship.
They had to teach in a new
country utterly devoid of literature. They had to teach in a language
which most of their pupils never heard, and the most of their pupils'
parents never spoke. There was neither chart nor compass. The teacher
"boarded round." School books were hard to procure. The geese supplied the
pens, and the old women manufactured the ink. The first school house was a
squatty log building, caulked with moss,- the teacher's desk and platform
at one end, and a large fire-place made of stone and clay at the other.
The seats consisted of a long rustic bench on each side of the room, with
a long improvised writing desk behind each bench.
Despite all the hard
conditions of the time these schools did useful work. The old settlers
were eager to give their children some schooling. Their eyes were opened
to the need of it. They made willing efforts and sacrifices to pay the
teachers; they visited the schools frequently; they saw that their
children attended regularly; they co-operated conscientiously with the
teacher in matters of discipline; and they showed that teacher the decent
respect which every man devoted to a noble service has a right to expect
and receive.
We should be the last to
depreciate the general work of our present day schools, but we think the
old schools were more conspicuous in the formation of character. The
children of those dark days had, on an average, distinctly better manners
than are usually found now among the children of the light. There were
reasons for this. At home and in school, the children of the olden times
were subjected to careful authority that was feared and respected. The
effect was visible in their conduct and conversations.
There was another thing
which received more attention in the old schools than it does now. That
was the art of penmanship. This, would seem to be a lost art in our time;
but it was strictly attended to in the early schools. The worst beating we
ever got at school was for sitting in an awkward posture and holding our
pen improperly at our writing exercises. In the distant past people who
wrote at all wrote a good hand; today the most of people would appear to
be writing with their feet. The school Returns of some of the old-time
teachers were marvels of artistic neatness.
We think the older teachers
exercised more care and took greater pains to teach all they knew in
English, Reading and Mathematics. We happen to know personally that in
some of the schools of today a lesson in reading is not taught, it is
simply heard. The same statement would be almost correct with regard to
mathematics. Of course we• speak of the rural common schools. The teachers
of by-gone times had more initiative. They gave themselves to the pupils,
instead of the dry bones of little text-books.
A FEW OF OUR OLD-TIME
TEACHERS.
There is none alive now who
can give many particulars of the grand old pioneers in this line who did
such excellent work in this county. Amongst them, however, there are a few
in respect of whom some traditions survive, namely:- A Mr. Ayer, Nicholas
Loftus,. William McQuarrie, John McLellan (Red), Malcolm McLellan, James
McG. McKay, Alexander Cameron, John McEachern (Big), Robert Hill, John
MacDougall, and others of a later day. From what has been gleaned, Mr.
Ayer was an old-Country man, probably an Englishman, though he may have
been a Scotsman. Nicholas Loftus was an Irishman, John McLellan was a
Scotsman, McKay, McQuarrie and Cameron were native Nova Scotians of
Highland descent. Mr: McQuarrie's mother was a near relative of the late
Bishop Cameron. McKay and Cameron became Presbyterian ministers, McQuarrie
became a Catholic in his early life, and John McDougall became a Catholic
Priest.
Tradition, and there is
nothing else left to us, reports that both Ayer and Loftus were good
scholars, and capable, practical teachers. As a very general rule,
teachers in those early days, especially those who came from the Old
Country, were highly educated, particularly in mathematics and classics.
Mr. Ayer finally went to Halifax, but nothing is known now of his later
days. Mr. Loftus, also, moved to Halifax where he died some forty odd
years ago.
Mr. MacQuarrie taught
throughout near his old home at Brook Village, and was probably a pupil of
both Ayer and Loftus. It can be said of him with entire truthfulness that,
to the extent of his knowledge, which in comparison with some of the
teachers mentioned, was not at all wide, but so far as it went, was
thorough, a more efficient teacher never taught in the country. If his
pupils failed to learn and completely understand their studies, the fault
was theirs, not his. He spared no pains to impart knowledge, and to see
that his pupils grasped it fully; he was well equipped to convey it, and
was extremely patient withal, especially with the duller class of pupils.
His method of teaching the subjects then most generally taught, namely,
writing, spelling, reading, grammar, geography, arithmetic-mental and
otherwise,-including some elementary subjects in science, was excellent
and left nothing to be desired. The present writer was one of his pupils
and bears cheerful and most cordial testimony to .the foregoing; he is
able to say, too, what perhaps few are now left to say, that he was a
pupil in Mr. McQuarrie's school when it was inspected by J. W. Dawson,
Superintendent of Education, afterwards Sir James, the famous head of
McGill.
John McLellan comes next in
the order of time. He was a highly . educated Scotsman, who taught in many
districts of Antigonish and Inverness County. He too was a splendid
teacher, but not over patient with dull or slow pupils. He was inclined
too much to force knowledge into his pupils through the agency of "The
Birch." Apart from this he did his work well, and laid the foundations of
after success for a fair proportion of those whom he taught. He was never
married. in the afternoon of his life he went from here to Minnesota
whither several men from Inverness had previously gone. He did not like
Minnesota, and after a few months he came back again to Inverness. While
travelling from Mabou to Broad Cove he took sick on the road and died at
the house of the late Duncan Boyle of Strathlorne early in October 1874,
after a week's illness.
Mr. McKay taught for some
time at Hillsborough, and was a most lovable and cultured man, a teacher
of excellent quality, and : enjoyed a high reputation as such, and later
as an expounder of the ..gospel. He died at New Glasgow not many years
ago, honored and revered.
Alexander Cameron taught at
the same place some years later. He resided at Lower Stewiacke for many
years towards the end of his life. It is doubtful if the county ever had
the advantage of a more patient, painstaking teacher, who devoted himself
heart and soul to the advancement of his pupils, or one who attained a
greater measure of success with them. The late Governor MacKeen whom
everybody knew, Robert Frizzle, a very successful business man, Neil Gunn,
M.D.,. Lewis Murray, M.D., his brother Isaac, a prominent business man in
Halifax some years ago, and Mr. Justice Meagher, now retired, and the only
survivor of those named, were amongst Mr. Cameron's pupils. To these may
be added a number of successful farmers, Walter MacDonald and his brothers
who carried on a large manufacturing enterprise for years at Glendyer, and
a Mr.Fraser. TheArchibishop of Toronto, Daniel McNeil late Judge of the
County Court and his brother, Alexander MacNeil, brothers of the
Archbishop of Toronto, were products and teachers of the Hillsborough
School, and proved in full measure their capacity as well-equipped,
industrious teachers.
Malcolm McLellan was a
brother of John McLellan, above described. Their father had been a Captain
in the Army, a circumstance which enabled the two sons to receive a very
liberal education. Malcolm taught a large number of the old Catholic
clergy of the Diocese of Arichat. He was not so impatient in the school
room as his brother John. Both were exceedingly interesting men. Malcolm
was married, but his wife died young, leaving one child-a little girl.
After the death of his wife he taught for the most part around Broad Cove,
South West Margaree, Black River and Mabou Coal Mines. When his daughter
had grown up she married John Beaton (Sandy Ban), a good farmer of Coal
Mines, Mabou. At the home of that married daughter the father died some
thirty years ago. The splendid education of these two brothers, whatever
it may or may not have achieved for themselves, did powerful service for
the Catholic counties of Inverness and Antigonish, at a time of intense
need.
John MacEachen taught for
the greater part of his life in the County of Inverness. He was the son of
John McEachen of Rear Long Point (lain Mhic lain Gobha). He was one of the
very earliest products of the Judique Schools. He showed in his youth a
special streak of talent, and a will as strong as a stone wall. He was
probably a pupil of Mr. Ayer, possibly of some other old Country teachers.
He may also have attended the Arichat Academy shortly after its
establishment by Bishop McKinnon. He was a practical, conscientious,
teacher who did telling work in different sections of the County. He had a
notable turn for mathematics. Orangedale, Whycocomagh, Broad Cove Marsh
and other sections had the benefit of his solid services to our schools.
He was the first teacher appointed by the Dominion Government for the
neglected Indians of the Whycocomagh Reserve. He was up in years when he
got this position, and retained his place there till failing health and
old age obliged him to retire from the teaching profession His permanent
home was at Orangedale where he owned a large lot of land. He was married
twice and had children by each marriage. A. J. G. MacEachen now of Regina,
but formerly a practising Barrister of Sydney and a Pofessor of English in
St. F. X. College, is one of his clever sons. As to family, see
Whycocomagh sketch.
John McDougall was also
raised at the Rear of Long Point. See Judique sketch. He was a
contemporary of Mr. John McEachen with whom we have done. He received his
preliminary education in the home schools and at the Arichat Academy. He
taught for several years at Broad Cove Banks and other places, but merely
as a stepping stone unto the church for which he intended to study. He was
a careful man, a deep thinker and a tireless worker. He was a very loyal
and successful teacher, and was among the first residents of Inverness to
be raised to the Catholic priesthood. After his ordination he was placed
in charge of the Parish of Red Islands in the County of Richmond, where he
remained continuously for the rest of his life. He never made any notable
noise, but performed a great deal of quiet, useful, and lasting work.
John Vincent McDonnell was
another sturdy teacher of the olden times in Inverness. He was a son of
Farquhar MacDonnell, one of the first settlers of Rear Judique Banks.
Judique, it may be here mentioned, was one of the earliest settlements on
these shores. This John Vincent MacDonnell was one of the first young men
of Inverness to strike out for mental, moral and spiritual equipment. His
quest was difficult. For years he was obliged to teach and attend school,
alternately, in different places. His high school training was received at
the Arichat Academy, in the fresh young years of that once vigorous
institution. He was a forceful teacher, and an excellent disciplinarian.
He afterwards studied for the Church, and spent the latter part of his
life in charge of the important parish of St. Andrews in the county of
Antigonish. He was a sturdy Gael, a worthy priest, a teacher to be
respected, and a man of faith and fine ideals. |
