{"id":7118,"date":"2020-12-24T13:12:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T18:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7118"},"modified":"2020-12-24T13:16:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T18:16:41","slug":"episode-205-manure-spreader-and-some-skeoch-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7118","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 205 MANURE SPREADER AND SOME SKEOCH BOYS"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE  205     MANURE SPREADER AND SOME SKEOCH BOYS<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec.  2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
EARTHY is the best word I can you to describe those visits to the Skeoch farm on<\/div>\n
the southwest corner of Fergus.  Earthy for sure.  \u201cWould you fancy a beer, Alan?\u201d<\/div>\n
And Uncle Norman would lead the way to the barn stable where he kept a case<\/div>\n
of Molson’s Golden tucked  under the hay of the first manger.  Why there?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Because Norman\u2019s sisters had \u2018taken the pledge\u2019 so to speak.   Temperance<\/div>\n
people.   Nice people\u2026warm, hearty, educated, informed, leaders.  All of  this<\/div>\n
including  the deep belief that beer and  other alcohols were a blight on the<\/div>\n
country.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That was a good thing.  Kept visitors out in the barn where stories always<\/div>\n
seemed richer than  around the kitchen table.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Left to Right:   The  Skeoch Manure spreader, long retired but still admired,  then  Uncle Norman Skeoch (my Dad\u2019s youngest brother),<\/div>\n
the Jake Raison (first husband of cousin Jean Skeoch\u2026Jake played box Lacrosse), Bruce Skeoch, Hubert Jim Skeoch (brothers from<\/div>\n
the Skeoch farm on the North east side of Fergus), and finally Long John Skeoch \u2026 possible  to play dominoes  on his pants.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
HOTTER THAN A PEPPER SPROUT<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Jake and cousin Jean got married in Mimico.  One of the best weddings I ever attended.  All the Skeoch men were there in the back rows<\/div>\n
of the church while the Skeoch women were attentively listening to the minister at the front.   My brother, Eric, sat  beside me for<\/div>\n
a  while then he just disappeared.  Uncle Archie or Uncle Norman had reached under the pew, grabbed him by the ankle and<\/div>\n
hauled  him in a game of  \u2018pass the kid\u2019  to other uncles and hangers on until Eric  got close to the women when he was released.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What a wedding.  Uncle Art and Aunt Mary and the Rawsons had rented a hall not far from the church.  It had a  kitchen <\/div>\n
walled  off from the main hall using thick paper board.  I know it was paper  board because Uncle Ernest (who  was really a cousin)<\/div>\n
came smashing through the wall \u2026 pushed  hard by Dad (Arnold  Skeoch)  as they argued  about politics, or sports, or anything<\/div>\n
worth arguing about.  In my mind I still see  his body as a kind of ‘cut out in paper board’ which made  a new door to the kitchen.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Greta,  Aunt Lena and  mom  acted  like mother ducks protecting ducklings.  They were determined that<\/div>\n
the children  should  not enter the kitchen while the discussion was happening.  Someone had got beer into the hall.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Uncle Ernest\u2019s wife, Aunt Ayleen, had the warmest laugh  of anyone I had ever met.  She was an Arawak<\/div>\n
from the Caribbean\u2026loved us\u2026she was a  hugger.   I don\u2019t know how she<\/div>\n
reacted when her husband smashed through the wall.  I do remember, however, that Ernest and Ayleen drove<\/div>\n
mom, dad and us home that night.  Laughing. No hard  feelings.  No.  I do  not know who paid  for the wall.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What a  great wedding\u2026\u201dHotter than a pepper sprout\u201d but eventually \u2018the fire went out.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
See Hubert Skeoch next to long John.  he was in the air force in  World War II.  Somehow he<\/div>\n
got his teeth knocked out and they were replaced with some kind of plate.  He would swirl <\/div>\n
the plate around  in his mouth for the Amusement of Eric  and me when he lived with<\/div>\n
us at 18 Sylvan  Avenue.  He hated the name Hubert\u2026wanted us to call him Jim\u2026which<\/div>\n
we never did.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Long  John Skeoch and I  got the unpleasant job of being the executors of the Norman  Skeoch estate.  <\/div>\n
We presided over the selling of the Skeoch farm and  all the equipment.  Norman  left the farm to all<\/div>\n
his brothers and sisters  which was the death knell of the farm.  Had to be sold.  Sad  ending.  Wish I had the sense<\/div>\n
to buy that manure spreader.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Bruce Skeoch  was the historian of the bunch.  Father to Lloyd and Vernon.  He Kept the records as best he could.   The Skeoch women kept<\/div>\n
a lot of the records as well.  When i showed an interest Aunt Elizabeth loaned  me the letters sent back<\/div>\n
and forth to Scotland  in the 1840\u2019s .  I laboured  long and hard transcribing them.  Maybe I got a little to <\/div>\n
close to the truth behind the Skeoch  migration.  Aunt Elizabeth got them them back.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  205     MANURE SPREADER AND SOME SKEOCH BOYS alan skeoch Dec.  2020 EARTHY is the best word I can you to describe those visits to the Skeoch farm on the southwest corner of Fergus.  Earthy for sure.  \u201cWould you fancy a beer, Alan?\u201d And Uncle Norman would lead the way to the barn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}