I think the three books cost me 75 cents. But that was for the new grade. But when I went back to school, she wouldn’t let me use them, see? They put me back.

I never opened a book after that. I got so fed up with it that I never opened a book. And I still stayed ahead of the class. At that time you lined up, and if you couldn’t answer the question the teacher put to you, the next fella that could, he went up. And I was at the head of the class. And I never opened a book. I says the heck with it. I won’t be bothered with it. I’d be 14 then.

The Farmers

Then I left. I left school at 14 and I went to work with farmers because I couldn’t get any new clothes. I still had the clothes that I came from the Old Country with.

You know, I remember 1914. Big Neil MacDonald, his son Allan joined the army, and he give me his two pair of shoes, his Sunday shoes and his work shoes. The Sunday shoes were brown shoes, fine pair, but the work shoes was just cowhide leather shoes... . Neil was up one day buying a steer

Courtesy Lena MacEachem

The Harland. 1 08 BELFAST PEOPLE