130 Community

(‘oumsy Plctures of the Past by ltards

Souris West Baseball Team, 1911. William J. MacDonald, later Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, sixth from the left - coach.

Fortune and France. The remaining settlers of Scottish origin were proba- bly strangers to each other as well. They visited back and forth helping each other, exchanging ideas, rejoicing together in good times and sharing sorrow in sickness or disaster. They became a small community interested in each other’s welfare. Their sociability, of course, had a wider scope. The Acadians had friends and relatives at Souris West and the Scottish settlers similar connections on the North Shore of the Island.

To be sure, life was difficult at times but never dull. When the day’s work was done and the candles lit, neighbours gathered to talk of the day’s events: Yankee schooners in at the spring for fresh water, a ship on the River nearly completed. They could look forward to a launching party. Charlie Bushey would be there with his fiddle.

They had a great ability to enjoy simple pleasures: an evening spent with friends singing songs in French or Gaelic depending on where they were and who was supplying the music, or listening to tales of the Old Country. To their children born in early Souris, these must have been fascinating stories.

In later years, as the settlements grew larger, there was a need for a different type ofentertainment to raise money for special community needs. The old Court House which stood on Prince Avenue was an imposing looking building with high cement basement walls containing thejail cells. It was used for public meetings, concerts and entertainments ofall kinds for a long time. There was great consternation in 1883 when it was made known in the press that it was no longer available to the public. “Who owns it