2_Hamilton-Bea-Ina_SSLife-part2.mp3

otter.ai

20.01.2023

no

Unknown Speaker 0:04
Yes, and I'll be tickled by his beard, I remember. And he asked me to interpret the Bible story about if you are not good, you go to a hot climate and if you will go to go to heaven and all the sort of things I was telling Claude and Claude started to talk back to me, and he was arguing, and it was meant, what did you say? What did he say? But I did not I, my parents that you must always answer a grown up person, you must never be rude or anything. So I thought, well, I'll have to tell him. So I did bother. Well, if God is so good, why would he want to see anybody at all to hell? And he says, he doesn't think God would want to send any person into hell because he knows that he couldn't hurt another person. And if he couldn't personally show God couldn't hurt a person. Well, that finished it. I was never asked to interpret any more. And Claude was never asked to give his opinions about that, or settled it.

Unknown Speaker 1:07
But he was a wonderful man, though, if he believed thoroughly in what he preached, you know, but I've often thought of that story. And anyway, I didn't have to sit on his knee after that.

Unknown Speaker 1:22
Do you remember who

Unknown Speaker 1:23
besides the Hamiltons? Were these prominent families in this area down here?

Unknown Speaker 1:31
Not too many in old days are busy. the Shaw family Oh, well, when I was here, they show us right here. Definitely, yes.

Unknown Speaker 1:48
It was nobody forced to compared with Mr. Bullock and the other end.

Unknown Speaker 1:53
That was the other end of the island, Mr. Bullock was really a institution and himself. You know, it was a nice final chapter. But around here, too many people came in no. All in, say 19 1520s. So on, I do remember that the vehicle enough for me. I remember when the Fuller's used to come quite early in the and they had a place up on Musgrave mountain that way up 14 miles back of us. And Jed fuller used to call in here with his an aunt of his missus roach. And they'd come in here and he'd been all his little brothers. And for bread and jam on the way up, you know, they drove up. He got one of the first Model T Ford cars. And this pie acquires a lot of trouble getting up must be a mountain because it very steep. He discovered that if he turns around the wind up backwards one day you could get up. So he went backwards up the hill in this vodka. And because it was the gas you see, wouldn't flow. In appeals. They turned around and he went right up over the hill backwards and coming down, his brakes fail. So we've cut a third branch. And he used for branch for breaks all the way down that lesson mountain. So you see the old timers, the people of pain, they sort of live dangerously you might see around these places. Actually, I told you enough now, because you've had an awful lot.

Unknown Speaker 3:39
I'd like to ask you about

Unknown Speaker 3:42
a bit more about the old people around here. What do you remember Vince is about to tell the NBN how it got started. And so

Unknown Speaker 3:51
when we came here, that's all I know was and we used to get down for the mail. There were generally some drunks around there. So we just went straight for the mail and got it in a way we never stayed there. With the Western people living up in the valley, the other side of the church but Naima Wilson, they had a farm. And the two of them he's making if Todd will take all his moves. So they said to my mother, people the name of Wilson Palmer says Houston live there and the shores that are living there now bought from them. They looked pharmacy, and they were very nice people by people. And they told my mother that tea, we could if we could go down every day or every second day and get a gallon of milk, skim milk. So we used to do that we had a cow but we could also so many children, we could always use the extra milk and they had a beautiful garden lovely flowers. I remember they used to give us flowers and then they were we'd go in and perhaps we'd stay 15 minutes or so rest and they'd give us the milk and perhaps give us a piece of pie or a piece of cake or something and chatted to us. We I found a very charming people. They were very friendly with the beaver point people over here. And they, they were some of the people here about the hotel who

Unknown Speaker 5:13
would it take hunter who was a drunk?

Unknown Speaker 5:15
Oh, I couldn't tell you that too. I didn't know the drugs. I don't want to mention names anyway. I'm careful what I say people.

Unknown Speaker 5:23
I mean with mostly local inhabitants.

Unknown Speaker 5:27
Everything. Just a mixture of everything. Just a jumble. Oh, they probably would have to because we were not there enough to know we just go straight down to the mail. And there you see. Then there was there was Bob a Cummins. Grandfather was a fine old man. He told us a lot. And he used to walk up sometimes and see us and stay for an hour or two. The people in the valley used to do that. They'd come up and they make a call. They come at 10 o'clock in the morning estatal five at night. But nobody in the valley in their level observed afternoon teas or anything like that. In those days. The way we served it was quite new to them quite new. And this old Aikman Bob, a Cummins grandfather. He before he came to Salt Spring Island, he lived in Victoria, and he had a market garden in Victoria. And where do you think the market garden? Where did where do you think the market garden was? Where the parliament buildings now stands. He had a market garden and flaking Over to Salisbury Island. Oh, Bobby Cummins grandfather. He was one of the original inhabitants. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. They have been here long after us known Aikman was one of the original inhabitants. Oh, yes. Oh, I beg your pardon? Oh, yes. He was one of the first one of the first bike wasn't the first yp I think there were about three. However, I definitely can tell you more of that than I can because she's studying for this history. And he told us our limits. He let me see how many years was he here before us? Oh, a great many. Was that it? Just imagined way over 100 years ago, because the Indians were not very long civilized when he came here. But they were quite friendly. We found them friendly. Then

Unknown Speaker 7:23
the match, remember?

Unknown Speaker 7:25
Oh, yes, the Maxwell's Maxwell's are here. Mr. Maxwell came from a very fine, very, very aristocratic Irish family. I believe. He married an Indian. And during the First World War. One of the sons over he's still living here. Dave next fall. He's quite old. He's in his 90s he went over to Ireland to visit an old aren't there. And he was telling my husband about he said she was a final lady. She welcomed him well, which I think was very nice if I don't You said he was always he was fine. And he was delighted. I think he'd gone. There was another brother that disappeared in the wall. I think he was in the old country. They think he was murdered. I don't know but you could perhaps see Dave Maxwell he can give you some I think

Unknown Speaker 8:13
the original backs

Unknown Speaker 8:15
Well, I've seen him is I've seen him I've seen a lot of the original people. But I don't think I knew him not really odd. I knew who he was like the old original Mr. rattle around he I remember him. And one day he said something about the sea and the rest of it is all yet it's nice and warm now for swimming. He said well you look like the kind of lobster that will enjoy your swim. Lobster. I will tell you a funny little thing to my youngest brother. He's dead. I did all these paintings. He went to school and he was very very clever. And he picked things up very quickly. Well at any rate, he gave us all names. My mother was a butterball she was small, she used to wear black and white a lot he called her a little butterball. And he called me a lobster. I had rather high colors was That was why and then my oldest sister went out was going on fishing one day she had displeased him in some way and she saw him go kneel down by the sofa and say a prayer she said You say it but yes he said I fixed you he's I asked God that you kept just a dog fish don't fish now that you're gonna catch missed every day because your bed Well, she came in about two or three hours later holding up one dog fish. And so he called the dog fish from Milan

Unknown Speaker 9:41
Do you remember you remember?

Unknown Speaker 9:44
or Yes. I remember the old bill. Hey Mia. He lived around the corner and yet Elena point is the mouth of Fulford harbour and he came to see us one day and he brought some samples of his fruit He wanted to see if he could sell things. And he had such lovely fruits. So we bought all our fruit separate and eggs and things from him, I think for some time till we got our own. And one day I know we were had calls and when he came in, my father was giving us all quinine horrible stuff. And so he said, Well, he said, I want some I want some, so he gave him a spoonful of this horrible tasting quinine. And then we gave him a cup of tea to take the taste out of the sea. No, no, he didn't want it. He still was nice. He liked it was good.

Unknown Speaker 10:36
Fishing cheaply, fishing or farming. Some of them had farms, mostly fishing. This fisherman, I suppose they use their own bank. Well, they spoke English when we were here. I don't know what they use before we came, but there was English. We understood them all. When they came here. Any music? Yes, they have any musical?

Unknown Speaker 10:58
Would they do this? Or would you get them all together?

Unknown Speaker 11:03
Or we generally because we didn't, we didn't go to anything much and we didn't congregate. We were not allowed to mix with people very much. I suppose we were too far away for one thing. And they would eat up or down in the boat. We used to be so nice to hear them. Then there was sometimes some of them could yield all they can imagine how nice that sound is on a clear evening. yodeling the sounds coming over the water. They got the plans and you would hear them singing while again clams. I remember the lameness once hearing them singing I wonder who's kissing her now which sounded awfully nice in the moonlight night cuz they in clams, you know? Oh yes. And my sister was mentioning to you about the fires they had what to dig clams by they would collect the pitch pitch from trees and things like that and picky wood and they cut the tops off. They all call L tins which are four gallon tins perhaps you don't know them. But in those days we bought our coal oil in four gallon tins they cut the tops out and they put a wire in for a handle and they put their pitching stuff in this and they would like that and have a periodical right along the beach too so they could see to dig the cans and when the HMS egeria that I spoke up before was in here they happen to be doing that one time the low tides night and so they came in a support is all the illumination we saw out here so we told us all we thought perhaps he was celebrating somebody's birthday or something special going on. But it was pretty. Isn't the connectors are the end all together all mixed in there so they got mixed in I think now but they're all mostly connected. The neck is really I think I'll find out find out the two lots. Is that fine fine qualities. About the solid they say the hours who's kissing her now I wonder who's kissing her now that's Kate beautifully over this until the first time I'd ever heard it. And I could hear this and all sorts of different songs in those days because that music the songs in those days they made more sense I think than they do nowadays a lot of them there was more words to them anyway

Unknown Speaker 13:12
with the collective sing their own songs.

Unknown Speaker 13:15
Or possibly I don't know all it was singing possibly. Oh yes. Read he has wired music. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And here on a different musical instruments lovely Hawaiian music. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. So sometimes when they'd have a concert up in the schoolhouse as I mentioned before, they would come in each do their date and they sing them dance and do their bit on their string instruments. Do you see? Oh yes, they would very nice it was do they do that? Oh, not so much. Not so much then. They we should they should have got them I suppose nobody thought to ask them to do that. Those days possibly nowadays they would. But they some of them are very good at step dancing and things like that. And that was quite something in those days. There wasn't so much of that. And they does beautifully. The Dark is dance beautifully to come down. Anybody, everybody in anybody. We were not allowed to the mix dances when we were young. Not until the first world war then we could mix with other people we're not allowed to mix the people before that. Why don't know why I suppose but my people roll country and I suppose they were very strict the way they were brought up in the whole country. We had to be brought up the same way. Hopefully Raul was friendly with everybody. Was there a few north and south? Yes. You got here? Yes. But it went over the hill right over the divide Hill as they called it. And that was cut out those sides of the hill you'll see it was very steep and above the road and then steep below in some parts because quite a long hill. I've been in three runways down that road One month we were my father and mother went Bob Aikens father in, they put put hay in the wagon and iron some friends sat in the back of the wagon and coming home from this fall fair the farmers has to fall fair. The horses ran away the team and we're behind on laughing and enjoying it. When we got down this at all they seemed to enjoy it but we didn't they didn't know they thought they were going over the bank every second we didn't know anything about it. And the second time I was in a runaway coming down, there was some people that live here, Blackburn's Lake, their name was Blackburn. I was walking home from Ganges Harbor. And Mr. Blackburn stopped and asked me if I would like to have a lift as far as they are placed in this little, just two little two seater, one horse, you know. And coming down the hill, the horse ran away. And it was all he could do to hold that horse in it went near the edge notice like this, you're all the way around. And when we got to the foot of the hill, it turned around on one wheel almost wanted to get home. And so I said, Oh, I could see he couldn't stop the horse has to do when he could I said I better get out because he's only taking me further away from home. He's you're coming home with me. So he took me into his wife. And he said I brought a very brave young lady in here and told what happened. He said she kept quiet the whole way. I never I always keep quiet. I never thought of Nikki first. And the third time was the worst. I had a stiff wheelbase bicycle, because I bought for $5 from some of the craft items. And I was coming home from Ganges Harbor. And as I came down that hill, my brain gave way. There was no pedals is just a stick wheel. I don't know how I stayed on that bicycle. And I was only lucky that I met no vehicle or nothing on the road. But here I was somewhere like this, I think like this all the way down. And there were several rolling hills after there like that. And as I came down, I went up that hill and down through about three hills. Then I saw a wagon load of hay coming and the roads were very narrow, then you know, you couldn't pass. I couldn't pass that big hay thing on my bicycle. So I had to have tumble, and half jump off my bicycle into the side into the brush into the burn. And all I had from it was a scrape down my leg and almost absolute exhaustion. So I sat down there for a bit and the man stopped and asked if I was alright, I told him what had happened. So he has now just raised here to go on. So that was one of my three adventures down the divide hill and then went to work in the during the First World War in Vancouver.

Unknown Speaker 17:55
It's really before the world. Yes, yes. Do you remember about the record?

Unknown Speaker 18:01
The record? The record was where we looked up to them. We thought they were very fine. Some of the finest people around here. We didn't meet them very often. I hadn't been to their place for many years. And we went by water. They were farming. There was old Mr. Mrs. Rattle? Old Mrs. Rachael. She was very, very religious. I think she was the sort of an army an army girl, you know, very religious. She didn't like her people to have any ornaments of frills of any kind, but a very fine woman very fine, fine people. All I can say is just pick the very highest of them all. Remember the Stephens? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I can say the same of them. Yes.

Unknown Speaker 18:49
Mr. Bullock ever come down? Oh, yes. He we were great friends used to come down. Yes. Oh, it was funny. He'd been here several times. And this is something rather funny. He came down one day, and we had a little drawing room. Now of course, you know, all beautiful, beautiful colors and all the best things in it. And he was having tea, we made tea and took him. And my mother came out with two little jewel boxes. A pair of earrings for me and a pair for my oldest sister. And a little Ranger put him in the ears appears. So I said all but Lamar. We can't accept those. Why not? As you've taught us that we must never accept a doula or a gift from a man or this is a book or flowers. And it's very engaged him as an I've not been to be engaged. So I listen. Well, this is all right. And you didn't accept it from me. We've accepted it for you. So it's all right. So we were delighted. So then, the awful thing was they said, Well, we can go to a doula or doctor and have our ESPs or they could put a darning needle through it. So my father got a darning needle, and he sterilized it. And he put a dirty needle through my ear. I fainted. And so I came to and he said, Well, you ready to have the other done? I didn't want other oh there. Then I thought it was beautiful earrings with real jewels in such beautiful earrings. I got all right, do it. So I had my other ear pierced. Then we wore these little bow ones. You know what rings till the tables up? You turn them around every day to make sure that oh, one of my years was so solid swelled up. Oh, I could poison it. It was so sore. I wouldn't go through it again. Thanks for having a donnatal three a year. And then a second one. We used to go to his dances. Field. He's the father Well, first World War. We were growing up you're seeing he would send out these informal these very Formal Invitations RSVP. We'd have to wear our proper evening dresses and our evening gloves and our evening fans. I still have someone that my fans. And sometimes he'd get dinner parties or luncheon parties. They were just something he had this Have you seen his house you didn't see a boy it was burnt? Oh, it was a beautiful house. Big thing. A great huge hallway with stairs up wide stairs up to the top and then branching off. And on one side of this hallway was a great huge drawing room, which was cleared out for the dance. And the other side was a dining rooms with a great long, long table. And he used to give these dinner parties

Unknown Speaker 21:38
used to have what was it the kind of people used to waiting on?

Unknown Speaker 21:43
Oh yes button says button. The first button I remember that he had was Mr. Bond Jesse bond is still on the other farmers up there. You should see him. Yes. And he was a nice boy. But a slim is still slim. With his battles on each side. He'd stand behind them as the bollocks chair. And we'd be there and my brothers we tried to make him laugh and poor boy, what agony was sometimes he tried to laugh but couldn't be allowed to you know. And these wretched brothers can do all they could start in love. Oh, but he was a final gentleman. He had his fed. He used to tell us how he liked to see the girls. They had to have 18 inch waist but I couldn't get below 22 That was real smallest I could make mine. And they wanted high heeled shoes five inches high, which was very high in those days. He liked them to have earrings and a veil. Oh yes. Gloves used to give us gloves every now and again. Well, I thought I could accept gloves from even my mother's allowed me to accept the earrings. So we had gloves down again, beautiful things. Or he was awfully good too. awfully good. Then afterwards when we were growing up he had the younger girls has to do the same for them which was very nice. What is that big clock in there was one of our wedding presents from him. He gave us that and two beautiful chairs.

Unknown Speaker 23:08
What is this about the

Unknown Speaker 23:12
the dress this

Unknown Speaker 23:14
evening dresses?

Unknown Speaker 23:15
I didn't know that. In case nobody had one. guess somebody didn't have one.

Unknown Speaker 23:21
Lady was calling and didn't have an evening dress. He has these two dresses. And they stayed there for years.

Unknown Speaker 23:27
I wonder what sizes they were? Oh, well. He wouldn't have to introduce her to that we always had our own. Well, it wouldn't have done for me. No.

Unknown Speaker 23:41
He was quite a character.

Unknown Speaker 23:43
It was a church with his. Oh yes. He still had. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It's still Kevin. I remember Mrs. Wilson. The croutons grandmother, telling my mother she told us about it that there was the people living opposite the place. The place that Beth wood has now bought, you know, Beth wood and the former mayor of us. She's bought that place now. While it was the people living there, that the reasons didn't consider quite a while they quite like themselves. You know how snobbish they were and there was old days. And one day Oh, Mr. Bullock came and asked Mrs. Wilson, if he would supply equal suits. And so cats for the two boys Norman and Keith, his two younger sons, would they let them wear them to church? So they finally got was braided. All right, they've got to be alright. So they wore these Eaton suits. So cat church. And then one day, the boys opposite which were considered quite a bit lower down on the scale came out in the same. There was so horrified. I think they sent the Eton suits and hats back to Mr. Bullock.

Unknown Speaker 25:00
I suppose I shouldn't have said things like that because they've got relations up there. Perhaps you better cut that piece out

Unknown Speaker 25:09
the old days? Yes, I still days. Used to have his

Unknown Speaker 25:13
own boys. Yes. Oh, yes. Oh, in darkness

Unknown Speaker 25:19
in the church you have any concerns?

Unknown Speaker 25:21
Or possibly I don't know. I don't remember that. Oh, possibly I wouldn't be surprised. I didn't see was awfully good to his voice because Really pauma He's one of the boys that used to work that he wasn't no buttons, but he, his mother was a housekeeper. And a very, very fine lady. She was two. We used to go see her sometimes we had our own sitting room her own past. And he used to entertain us in our own quarters quite often. We used to go camping scanning sometimes. Mr. Bullock said when he got a dance coming over a dinner or something you'd like us to go. And so he'd invite us to take a little cottage he had for a week we'd stay up then everybody was awfully nice to us. We had a good time. Then we were able to go to these dances or parties or whatever it was. We enjoyed the journey be about three or four things through the winter months up again, as we went to Christmas, nothing downhill and nobody of that kind down here those days. So lots of people now it's very different

Unknown Speaker 26:31
they won't put a quarter for dinner. They used to make most of the canoes though.

Unknown Speaker 26:43
Okay, fine, going back to when we gave all Bill Hamill the quinine. We didn't know at the time when we were giving him quinine, and t, et cetera, et cetera, that we were entertaining a cannibal. He had been accountable. In the old days before there was civilized it was just that but I didn't know I was I should have told you something. You mentioned that I

Unknown Speaker 27:10
was speaking over the cost. You were comparing you're talking about just briefly about the Indians and the

Unknown Speaker 27:17
different qualities involved.

Unknown Speaker 27:22
In relation to the tinnitus relations.

Unknown Speaker 27:27
They were very much the same, I think, but I think we sort of I don't like to say, no, okay.

Unknown Speaker 27:36
I just speak you

Unknown Speaker 27:41
know, no, we don't want to hurt anybody. No, no, no. Yes, that's true. See, that's it. We have to think of those things. Now to catch yourself up now and again. That's true. But what about Oh, yes. I don't know if they want to know. What's the Archdeacon Hamilton of Londonderry Ireland. He, and that says, That's one view of his wife's father's home. He was gentle heart of kilberry in Ireland, and that's one view of it. And the other view is like a beautiful garden. That's called Redfern. I think isn't it? That's a painting from it anyway. What is your father called is drawn more. Dr. Rowe mo Ari named after my grandfather's estate in Ireland. He had an estate deal with a river running through it but 100 acres of fishing and drama Dr. O mo rd in Ireland means a high hill. But it was named Dr. Seuss. Anyway. We had a place over there that we called rathmore. On that main that meant a strong fortress in Ireland that we sold it.

Unknown Speaker 29:06
Did you have any other kids that you're

Unknown Speaker 29:10
not when we were young there was nobody near enough? We were not allowed all those? No, we didn't know. We were and we missed them because when we were talking we had so many. Yes, we were lonely at times just the first. But of course things soon improved and changed. The most of the friends we had what people are much older than us. The people that are like the Wilson family down there. They were very nice those wills and some of the rattlers we'd meet now and again, but we were friendly with them, but we have too far away aceto see much of each other. If we were to oh, we just have to come on the boat. Be one vote a week for Victoria one from Vancouver. The only way unless we went by our own votes sailboat to Sydney and took the train. They could almost do it that way. But that was quite a journey. It was alright in fine weather. Yes. Oh yes, we've been in some great growth. I remember one we were sailing our boat over to Sydney My father wanted to go to Victoria. And so my two older brothers and I went with him we stole we sailed the boat over there and when we got round it oftentimes when it's calm in this harbor when you get to the mouth it's rough. And you'll notice especially in a small boat and I suppose my father was a bit perhaps a little nervous more service we were more benches someone he was perhaps being younger the it got quite rough and we wanted to take take in the refuel we had to reaps reduced shortened sale and they left it too long had good winds so strong we couldn't so we just had to let it go so we held there and did we fly across that we didn't ship any water but to which was flying out and we flew across that little gap between Isabella point and pears island in just no time. We don't lovely sail. And my father was so nervous in the rest of it. So we will need to raise no laughing matter you know, laughing valleys this is just getting rougher and laughing is Oh, I wish Mr. X was here was the same man I was talking before. What do you want him here for us? It's so he could pray for us? Yeah, he was so one of these kind. So they could pray for us. I remember that. But coming back, the window changed. Did we have a lovely sail back my polygon the two brothers and I we had a beautiful sail back by it was lovely. The winds change and we were able to sail back without tacking. It was just beautiful. We've had lots of adventures. Lots of adventures in the sea.