Family Ties The house parties were really wonderful.... Lots of times you'd just go and dance your feet off, and they 'd enjoyed it anyway. That was a house dance. My brother Lawrence, he and Joe MacCallum ..., they'd go down Saturday evening or Friday when there'd be a dance down in Flat River . They'd go down on the train, and they'd get off at Melville, and they'd walk to Flat River , and then they'd dance, and they'd walk home from Flat River to our place. Some few miles, wasn't it? And then drive. We went a lot to Lower Newtown to dances. You know, my father was really wonderful. There was a dance one night out at Coadys' in Newtown . And we had always lots of horses...but...only had one wagon. And Tom and Lawrence, they were going to CMB A [Catholic Men's Benevolent Association] Hall. There was something going on at CMB A in Vernon River and they were taking the wagon. Father was great, and he said, "If you could just borrow a wagon, I'll take you to the dance." So we went over to Morrisseys' and we asked for the wagon, and we got the wagon, and Father took us out, Mary and I, to this dance. And Father, he was good to dance. He'd dance with us, mind you. Another time, when I was 15 and Mary 17, there was a tea party up at Fort Augustus . Tom and Lawrence were working at the Corner and Kate was keeping house for them, so they were grown. By that time Kate was keeping company with this Trainor that she married, see? They were going [to the party]. So Father... had a three-year-old mare and she was out in the pasture, and he said, "Girls, you just feed that mare oats." We had black oats. I never saw black oats for years, but black oats was better than white oats.... Anyway, then [we] went up to Fort Augustus . So we were coming home. Tom and Lawrence had a horse, an old-timer, you know, well used to it. Tom and Kate and Lawrence were in this wagon, and Mary and Father and I had the mare behind. We come out here to Orwell... in the morning; oh, it was broad daylight, five o'clock. Didn't Father pass them? Well, lookhere. We couldn't get over it. I can remember that same as if it was yesterday. Oh, Fort Augustus from our place down home, it' d be 20 miles all right.... The boys couldn' t get over it, how Father with this young mare just starting out travelling could pass them on the way home. Josephine Morrissey 127