Interview # 39

Name: Mary Walsh

Sex: Female

Age: 66

Place and date of birth: February 8, 1933

Education: Grade six

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Various

Number of children: 8

Names of children and where they live:

Jervase - St. Alban's

Lucille - Halifax

Valerie - Ottawa

David - Ottawa

Charlene - Mount Pearl

Tommy - St. John's

Kelvin - St. Alban's

Linda - St. Alban's

Phone: 538 - 3413

>Place of interview: St. Alban's

Date of interview: March 9, 1999

Interviewers: Leah Marshall and Dale Willcott

Mary's father was Dave Dollimont from St. Joseph's Cove and her mother was Ann Cox from St. Alban's. They lived at St. Joseph's Cove in a two-story house, with seven children, five girls and two boys. Mary lived at St. Joseph's Cove but later moved to St. Alban's when she married.

When Mary was fifteen years old, she worked for Gordon Long for three months at $5.00 a month. She helped to look after the children while Gordon's wife rested from delivering her child. After that she went to Kitchener, Ontario for two years. She worked as a home care worker for her sister while she went to work. It took Mary fourteen days total to travel to Ontario. For seven days she traveled by boat and the remaining days she went by train from North Sydney to Ontario. Her pay was $10.00 per week. With her first pay cheque Mary bought herself a dress for $1.98.

When Mary returned from Ontario, she went to St. John's to work at St. Claire's hospital. She was part of the cleaning crew for the chapel and convent. She was twenty years old at the time. She worked there for two years. At first she was paid $20.00 per month. She was later paid $45.00 per month. Not everyone received this raise. Only those who were the cleanest got the raise. Mary and Francis O' Leary was one of the few who earned this raise because of their hard work and cleaning abilities.

Growing up at St. Joseph's Cove was quite similar to growing up in any community. Mary claims that as children they enjoyed themselves more then children of today. "It is harder for kids today, maybe not for the rich but for the poor kids. Everyone was poor then. No one had extras. You made your own fun. We played games such as hop scotch and tiddley. We also used to have fun with the horse stingers. We would catch them and take a piece of grass in it's behind and watch them fly around with the grass hanging out." Mary said. Another common activity Mary participated in was jumping ice pans. She fell in once but that did not stop her from continuing. Mary would also skate on the bay. She got used to going to Milltown quite often. Her father made her woodstocks by taking a piece of wood and a sharpened down "rass" (file) and placing the rass into the center of the wood. "Dad always said stay away from Anner's Crack if we were going to Milltown." Mary said. This was a pressure crack that formed every year close to a point at Milltown. It was called "Anner's Crack" because a woman who lived on the point was named Anner.

Chores were a common task for Mary. Her father would be away working at Glenwood. While he was, away Mary had to cut firewood in the morning before school and chop it after school.

Mary would clean the sheep and cut boughs for their barn. Making hay was another common task. They would cut the grass in the morning and spread it over the cut areas, so the sun would dry it. The hay was raked and rolled by the evening. Once completed, Mary would have fun jumping on the hay stacks. They had a cow named "Sparkie." The only person who could milk the cow was her mother, because the cow was really brazen. Her mother had to wear the same outfit to approach Sparkie. If she wore something different, you could not go near her. For badness Mary and her friends would tease the billy goat they had. "The goat would chase you but he never caught you. We would jump fence or jump on the roof. The roofs on the shed were small back then." Mary said.

Family activities were quite common with Mary's family. During meal time everyone had to be present. No one was allowed to eat elsewhere. They would not start eating their meal until everyone was at the table. Every evening there would be someone in charge of setting and cleaning the table. In the night time, Mary and her family would play card games such as Rummy 500's and 120's. During the day time Mary and her mother would collect driftwood and slabs from the beaches to use for firewood. Berry picking was a common activity for the Dollimont family. They would pick berries to store for the winter and sell.

When Mary was asked about some common diseases of the past, she mentioned TB, chicken pox, and measles. She could not recall any specific home remedies for curing them but she said that turpentine was always used for every disease in different forms. For the flu you would steep bark from trees and drink the broth. "There was no doctor here. The only doctor was Father Hayes. Once he pulled my teeth with a pair of rusty pliers. My gums started to bleed a lot. Father Hayes tried to stop the bleeding by "wading" on my gums. Mary Hunt came down to help him but she ended up fainting when she saw the blood. Father Hayes had to stop working on me and tend to Mary. When she woke up, I told her to go home." Mary said. Father Hayes had to walk to St. Joseph's cove from St. Albans to tend to Mary.

Church was important to the people of St. Joseph's Cove. They did not go to church every day because they had to walk a great distance to get there. On Sundays people from St. Joseph's Cove would leave their homes at 7:00am for the 10:00am mass at St. Albans, weather permitting. Every evening before the supper dishes were done, the rosary was said.

School was held at St. Joseph's Cove. Some teachers were Miss O'Leary and Molly Molley. They were very strict. Once Mary got put on her knees for fifteen minutes for writing notes. She had to promise not to do it anymore. She still wrote notes but she never got caught.

When Mary was asked about some holidays she recalled Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, St. Anne's Day, and Pancake Day. A couple of days before Christmas you had to get all your work completed. All your wood would be brought in your house because you did not do anything during the twelve days of Christmas. Some examples of gifts were rubber boots, toys, and apples. Mary recalled how for one Christmas she was given a paper witch that you'd squeeze and hear her squeak. Most of the gifts given were for practical usage. For St. Patrick's Day there was always a dance and everyone wore something green. During Easter they would hold a dance in the school room. For their morning Easter breakfast Mary enjoyed a feast of eggs that her mother collected over periods of time. For St. Anne's Day, Mary would travel to Conne River by boat for mass and return home for a dance held at her community.

For Pancake Day, Mary's mother would place items such as a nail, ring, and money in pancakes. Each object had a different meaning. The nail meant you were going to be a carpenter, a ring meant marriage, and money meant you were going to be rich. Whenever there were dances held at St. Albans Mary would walk to St. Albans. If there was a death in the community, they canceled dances.

Mary recalled one storm where a lighting bolt struck Ches Collier's house. No one was hurt but they were lucky.

In 1955, Mary married Tom Walsh from St. Alban's. They were married in the morning by Father Hayes. They held the party at her father's house. They served the guests cake or pie with a drink. They served the women syrup and they gave the men a drink of rum that Mary and Tom bought. They did not allow women to drink in the past. "It was very critical to see a woman drink." Mary said. "Weddings held today are quite different compared with the past. Now, they hold receptions in bigger places such as the Lions Club and people are served a meal. Weddings are more expensive today and the bridal parties are bigger." Mary had three brides' maids for her wedding. A couple of years after Tom and Mary were married, they opened a take out. They operated the take out for ten years.