Fwd: Music has faded Auction Nov. 22, 2017

Begin forwarded message:

From: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

Subject: Music has faded Auction Nov. 22, 2017

Date: November 24, 2017 at 11:16:53 AM EST

To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>, Kate McCartney <katemccartney4@gmail.com>

Cc: johngillespie@sympatico.ca

Mary…This  is  what I am working on to send to our kids and  grandkids…rough , unfinished…but you might like it.  if you do not like it just press Delete.

Iff I had  help I wold have bid  on the big cutting box in the barn…I am an historian and  that machine is  fantastic.  But too hard for me to load and

a  bit too far for my sone to come with  his truck.  I hope you find a proper home for it.  I did  an  MA thesis long ago on machine design in 19th century…yours

was  part of the thesis  (300 pages).

Sorry  about your husbands injury…farming is  a  tricky business…no need to list the injuries for there are many.

the dolly?  No way I could have known it was not part of the purchase, sorry about that.  you will get it back.

alan

Kate and  Jim,

I  just assumed  the dolly was part of the sale…under the  organ…it will be  returned  somehow.

MUSIC HAS FADED

alan skeoch

nov. 22, 2017

McCartney auction at Ayr

“Alan, tell me why you went to that auction today…cold, November day like this…cold, cold, cold.”

“Pushed  on by a force greater than myself…power of change in our society…to be  a ‘witness to history’ as has been said by persons far

more observant than myself.

“But Let me try to answer…”

“There are forces  in out lives…events, people, places,  songs…that get lodged in our brains  and  are so deeply imprinted that they cannot escape.

Some woul call these memories.   But to me they are greater than that…forces.  They just cannot be repressed.

Today this  ancient pump organ forced up the memories of a farmhouse deep  in water…January, february…long long ago in

the late 1940’s when Grandma and Grandpa were still alive living on their tiny hardscrabble  farm on the fifth line of  Erin Township, a farm

lodged on the southern tip of  Wellington County, Ontario.

They had retreated into the small front room of the house…the only place where there was a big wood stove so hot to the touch that it could make a fine pile of toast on the bent wire toasting grill.   Crammed into that room often, so often that those winter evenings  all blend together into one evening…a  forceful memory that just burst forth 

at the farm auction today…November 22,2017.  Grandma cold  play  the pump organ as could my mom.  Look at the worn foot treadles above…and then the  ivory   keys

below.

Who was  in that room?  First there was the big dog Laddie.  He had a fine vice  and  loved to sing as soon as Grandma opened  the organ and

began pumping the treadles to get wind into the hidden reeds.  Laddie howled.  Now I realize he hated the organ. Wanted to protect us from its unholy moaning.  Love and  hate are sometimes confused as you probably know.

Laddie  was not the only animal in the room.  There  were mice lured from hiding to get their necks broken on the Victor snap trap guillotines.  And below the

floor in the field stone foundation there were snakes  hibernating.  And  perhaps  bigger things  being the plaster walls…raccoons for instance.  All made alert

by the moaning organ and the human voices…Grandpa, mom,  Eric, myself and occasionally Dad  if the harness horses were not running at Differin track.

Grandad would get out his Stradivarius violin, the treasure of his life other than Grandma who he called Lou.  And soon Grandad  played the  Devil’s Dream accompanied by Laddie howling.

Not much room for us all.  Big Victorian sideboard jammed with dishes and  food, a  day bed long the south wall tucked safely behind the wood stove which 

dominated the  room.  Grandma treated the wood stove with caution for two reasons  First, she had severe parkinson’s disease which meant her hands shook all the time. Lighting the stove with the paper tubes she made was  done cautiously.  The second  reason was the memory of the log cabin they lost at Krugerdorf in Northern Ontario.

They only had time to rescue a few  valuable things.  One of  which was  the pump organ, similar to the one above only less fancy.  That organ stood beside the hall  door, always ready for use.  Then there was  the  kitchen table and assorted chairs and a small cupboard.  All this in a room that was about 10’ x 15’.  To say we were a close family would be an understatement.

So when I  bought this pump organ at the Gillespie farm sale in 2017, memories popped  up.

This  story will be a bit unusual.  Interspersed  among the tools  of agriculture…ancient and modern…will be  the lyrics  of songs

that came to mind..songs of  the First World War and  songs of  the post war years between 1945 and 1949.  In particular Roses  of Picardy which grandma 

played on her organ many times…and sang until her voice got shaky, All part of my childhood  and

the  reason these farm sales, sad though they be, are important to me.  

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b2/Roses_of_picardy_sheet_music_01.jpg/500px-Roses_of_picardy_sheet_music_01.jpg 2x” data-file-width=”1596″ data-file-height=”2126″>Verse 1:

She is watching by the poplars, Colinette with the sea-blue eyes,

She is watching and longing and waiting Where the long white roadway lies.

And a song stirs in the silence, As the wind in the boughs above,

She listens and starts and trembles, ‘Tis the first little song of love:

Refrain

Roses are shining in Picardy, in the hush of the silver dew,

Roses are flowering in Picardy, but there’s never a rose like you!

And the roses will die with the summertime, and our roads may be far apart,

But there’s one rose that dies not in Picardy!

’tis the rose that I keep in my heart!

You asked why I go. So now you have your answer.  Complicated  spider web is it not?

All of  the Gillespies family horses and cattle  were gone.  You know where.  To a place few farmers want to mention.  Instead they use the expression “They have been shipped.”  Farmers , most of them , come to love their animals so the whole business of raising livestock has  an unpleasant ending.  One farmer I knew  lived on peanut butter rather than beefsteak  and  bacon.

The last living animal was their dog, an Alsatian with signs of hip displasia.  He endlessly circled  the  crowd wondering no doubt ‘what the hell is  going on?”

The snap of  my  camera startled  him but instead  of attacking he dragged  his back legs in a hasty retreat.

On-Site Farm Auction Sale For John Gillespie & Mary O’Connor (519) 501-1668 (Jomar Cattle Feeders Inc.)   Wednesday, November 22nd at 10:30 a.m. (Preview Tuesday 12 – 4 p.m. )   Located at 869 Brant, Waterloo Rd, (Ayr). From Hwy 401 take Exit 268. Go West on Cedar Creek Rd. (Hwy 97) approx. 2 miles then South on Northumberland (Reg. Rd #58) for approx. 3 miles to Ayr, then South on Swan St. (Reg. Rd. #58) for 1 mile to Brant-Waterloo Rd. (Watch for signs).   Consisting of Tractors – Tillage – Planting – Haying – Livestock Barn & Equipment – Conestoga Wagon   Tractors: ‒ John Deere 4050 Cab & Air 4 x 4 – 20.8 x 38 rears – front fenders – IH 3288 Cab with 2350 Loader – IH 966 – Cab, Case 630 with hyd Loader (gas), 6’ Loader Stone Pork   Equipment: – John Deere 1750 Maxemerge XP 6 x 30” planter with liquid, J.D. 7000 6 x 30 planter (dry), IH 4800 – 24’ Cultivator Vibra Shank with Walking Tandem, J.D. 24’ – 1010 cultivator, John Deere 235 – 24 hyd fold disc, A.C. 19’ 3300 wheel disc, IH – 720 s.m. 4 x18” plow, Kewanee 22’ hyd fold packer, Brillion 3 P.T.H. 6 row corn cultivator, Case IH 5100 soybean special 21 run drill with press wheels and markers (grain only), IH 6500 conser-till 9 shank 10’, Brady 5’ flail chopper, 2 row N.I. Picker sheller (314), 6-gravity boxes (3 with 963 J.D. Gear) and wagons, Fertilizer hopper tender & Auger, Precision Tandem 500 gal 60’ hyd boom sprayer, A.C. (Model 6-30) 6 row 30” corn head   New Holland: – 489 Haybine, bale elevator 30’ steel frame Tandem Round Bale wagon, 4 bar ground drive hay rake, IH 580 Tandem manurer spreader, J.D. 12’ wheel disc, 6” x 32’ transport Auger 6’ 3 P.T.H. B.N.E. flail mower, Flat deck wagons   Cattle Barn & Access: – Approx 120’ x 60’ post & trust open sides to be dismantled, approx. 40-9’ x 4’ H.D. gates – Petitions 2” x 2” tubing, Approx 20 concrete J.Fedders with steel headrail, Approx 140 10’ x 4’ concrete slat flooring, Misc 1” tubular gates, Husky Manure pump & pipes, Butler (Oswalt) 2840 single axle feeder wagon, Farm Hand grinder & blower, new Digi-Starz EZ 2100 scale head.   Good Selection of Rough cut pine lumber mostly 2” various widths & lengths, 3-30” logs up to 20’, misc hand hewn barn beams (varying sizes)   Misc: Conestoga Covered Wagon, Honda TRX 200 4 wheeler, (as is), Watson’s Antique cutting box on steel, 44” x 48” Feedmill scale, old 3 wheel Watson bag cart, 12’ chain harrows, 8’ 3 P.T.H. blade, old 2 wheel 6’ pull type road grader, Acre meter, Barn Scales, 10’ tandem boat trailer, J.D. fast hitch, shair saw, roller chain, shop and related smalls, J.D. Lawnmower LX, digital electronic scale head, Perry grain blower – Antique Bell Pump organ & stool, old cupboards, Pine Boxes, misc. primative tools, Walking plow, 2 row turnip planter, misc. household items Many more miscellaneous farm related items   Terms: Cash – Cheque ‒ Interac® ‒ VISA® day of sale Lunch Booth on Grounds   Jim McCartney Auction Service Ltd. 905-689-8778 Waterdown 1446 Views