To celebrate Mother's day,
I took a wee trip up to Mabou, Cape Breton Island,
home of the Beaton clan,
my mom's people. It was an
"in-between meals" trip, as my
brother Rick likes to say: 4 1/2 hours.
Claire Beaton, my
I took a wee trip up to Mabou, Cape Breton Island,
home of the Beaton clan,
my mom's people. It was an
"in-between meals" trip, as my
brother Rick likes to say: 4 1/2 hours.
In 1809, my great-great- great grandfather,
Alexander Beaton, sailed from the Highlands of Scotland,
and landed on Prince Edward Island. After only a few years,
he jumped on a boat with his brother Finlay,
and sailed (maybe even rowed) over to Cape Breton Island:
settling in the area called Finlay's Point or Mabou Mines.
His grandson, and my great-grandfather,
Alexander Beaton married Catherine Cameron.
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| Catherine (Cameron) Beaton Great Grandmother |
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| Alexander Beaton Great Grandfather |
I first visited Cape Breton when I was
sixteen. A lot has changed since then, eh?
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| Gertie Beaton (mom) Pati, Jon, Jude and Richard Prashaw (dad) |
first cousin once-removed
welcomed me into her convent
of the Congregation of Sisters of Notre Dame.
This "once-removed" bit is a
hierarchical technicality.
I don't feel removed at all from Claire,
except in distance: I live in Virginia (not during the last two years)
and Claire lives in Mabou, with a small group
of amazing and gracious women.
I barely kept up with
a couple of septuagenarians, a few
octogenarians and one nonagenarian: by day
two I needed a nap. It's a good thing I only stayed with the sisters a couple of days:
homemade cinnamon buns, cookies and cakes,
and fresh, Cape Breton biscuits with
homemade marmalade. How could I refuse?
in Lunenburg. This fabulous Cape Breton fiddler
of the Congregation of Sisters of Notre Dame.
hierarchical technicality.
I don't feel removed at all from Claire,
except in distance: I live in Virginia (not during the last two years)
and Claire lives in Mabou, with a small group
of amazing and gracious women.
 |
| Sisters Bertholde, Catherine and Claire |
 |
| Sisters Bertholde, Catherine and Elanor |
 |
| Sister Catherine |
 |
| View of Mabou Harbour from my bedroom |
a couple of septuagenarians, a few
octogenarians and one nonagenarian: by day
two I needed a nap. It's a good thing I only stayed with the sisters a couple of days:
homemade cinnamon buns, cookies and cakes,
and fresh, Cape Breton biscuits with
homemade marmalade. How could I refuse?
Even though it was a school night,
Bernard Cameron, my cousin, and his family,
Nancy, Maili and Alisdair, joined Claire,
Catherine, her sister (and Bernard's mom), and myself for dinner.
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| Bernard,Nancy,Sr. Claire, Maili, Catherine, and Alisdair Camerons and Beatons and Maggie (the dog) |
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| Alisdair and Maili Cameron |
Bernard teaches Gaelic and speaks Gaelic to
his children and also to Maggie, the dog. The
children are fluent but it is apparent that the dog
doesn't understand a word!
After a short, but oh so lovely visit with the clan,
I returned home to Blue Rocks, in time
to attend an Ashley MacIsaac concert
packed the Zion Lutheran Church on a
drizzly, Saturday evening. With strings
shredding off his bow, Ashley fiddled,
and danced, and sang his way through
the evening. True to Cape Breton style,
and with a slight lilt of the tongue,
he peppered his playing with hilarious stories.
All in all, a great way to celebrate
mother's day weekend.
On this mother's day,
I thank you, Gertie Beaton,
for giving me
my Cape Breton roots.
And to Alec Beaton, my son:
I love being your mom.
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| painting of Gertie Beaton |
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| Alec Beaton and his mom, Jude Prashaw |
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| sky over Cape Breton |
