Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

238 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
formed he is steadfastly improving in a manner which his good conduc
and steady liabits fully deserve. The mercantile houses exhibit Gordoni
Mackays, Campbells, Macdonalds, Mackenzies, Mathesons, and other sue
Highland names without number on their signboards, making you fe(
quite at home as you pass along the principal streets of the city, Whij
here I took a run out to
Beaverton and Woodville
by the Toronto and Nippising narrow gauge railway, the manager
which was good enough to send me a return pass over his line to and frpi
Woodville wJiere I had to change and travel some eight miles on anothife]
line to Beaverton. At the Midland junction, about 100 miles due nort .
from Toronto, I had to wait for more than an hour the arrival of the trail
which was just an hour behind time. The othcials showed the moj
delightful unconcern as to its appearance ; and, making inquiry, I was to]
by one of them that the trains were almost invariably equally late sank
was " not once in a fortnight up to time," the delay generally taking pla(
at Lindsay.
My principal object in going to this district was to see the Eev. Davi
Watson, M.A., one of the earliest subscribers to the Celtic Magazine i
that quarter — a genuine Higlilander, whose father at one time occupie
the farm of Knocknageal, near Inverness. He was in the village to me
and drive me to the manse, about a mile further on, where, on arriving,
received a warm Highland greeting from his wife and family. I soon di
covered that Beaverton, situated on Lake Simcoe, a maguitlcent sheet •
water, was almost entirely populated by Gaelic-speaking Highlandeife
those from IsJay and Kintail forming the great majority. I much desir* I
to see them, but my kind host stuck to me so closely and attentively th >
I could not leave him to go among the people, without a seeming rudenei i
and ingratitude which 1 naturally felt most anxious to avoid. Howeve
on Sunday morning, hnding that I could not have my desires satisfied
to the living, I went to the churchyard, and wandered and mused amoi £
the tombs of the dead, until it was time to enter the church to hear n
eloquent friend preaching to his devoted Highland flock. Here, amoi
the tombs, I enjoyed a sermon in stones which surpassed in interest "
me any that I had ever heard preached from living lips. There I four ji;
from the inscriptions and sculpture which abounded that vast numbers
my exj)atriated countrymen lay under a strange sod thousands of mil'
away from their native land, waiting for the great day when the
and sea shall give forth their dead, Hardly a monument or head-
but proclaimed that he or she over whom it was placed was " a native
Scotland" — Campbells and Mackays "from Islay," Camerons "
Lochaber," j\Iacraes "from Koss-shire" or " from Xintail," Gordons
Murrays " from Sutherlandshire," Macewens " from Perthsire," and
from ail the Highland counties. The whole surroundings and the tliough
to which they gave rise were touching beyond description, and made i
impression upon my mind which I shall never forget. The harsh cruel'
or callous indifference on the part of the Higldand Chiefs, who must 1
held principally responsible for the expatriation of their noble countr
men, was recalled and presented in vivid colours before the mind's ey
The ties of affection for fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends, for counb