oats on the barn floor after threshing. While standing on the oats, a fellow's feet would get pretty sore so it was necessary to keep your feet moving in order to relieve them. Thus, step dancing began. Fiddlers were quite common and a fiddle was a prize possession. Some of the better known fiddlers of the area who generously shared their talents through the years include James Banks , Tommy Banks, Wilfred Campbell , Stephen Steele, Reggie Banks , Homer Turner , Mrs. Joe Jim Campbell , John Dan Banks , John Dan Campbell , Ellen MacDonald , Pat Doucette , Leonard MacDonald , Merrill MacDonald , Lige Blackett, William Blackett , LaPierre boys and Henry MacDonald. The Annandale Hall was the scene of many dances as well as Cheese , Hall and Hall (The old courthouse). Dances were also held in many of the one room schools in the area. For the most part, romances began at the dances and several people remember how the girls would sit on benches next to the wall while the boys would stand around in groups and look at the girls. It was customary in later years for a young man to escort home the girl with whom he danced the last "set". Mary Robertson remembered one verse of a song that was made up to tease one of the local girls after a dance at Riverview School: Joe Jim from up the way, Courted Sylvia young and gay He held her tight upon his knee And walked with her to the lane you see. In the summer, dances were held on . After one such occasion two young men from the area, Reggie Banks and MacDonald, were riding home together in a horse and buggy. During the course of their jour¬ ney to , they had to cross a few wooden plank bridges. They would stop the horse at each one, and Reggie would play a tune on the fiddle while O'Leary would stepdance on the bridge. Needless to say, the trip from Annandale was a slow one on that particular night. An account of an impromptu dance held in was written by Johnny Alfred MacDonald, who later lost his life in the Second World War. It concerns the gathering of a group of young people at Johnny Blackett 's one night. The crowd was taken with an urge to dance. A new hardwood floor had just been installed in the front room and, to prevent it from getting scratched, they danced in their sock feet. Johnny Blackett 's Jambouree — July 1941 There's no doubt you all know of the Picnic at Groshaut A time they held in merry days of yore But a story I'll relate of a frolic held of late When they rolled and tumbled on the parlor floor 82