But the voyage has not been without its tragic losses.
Today I feel I need to be among friends who understand.
This little house, the Mouck House of South Marysburgh, was built around 1836.
PJ Stokes figured it was the oldest house in the township.
The fact that it was brick, at a time when brick was used mostly in big houses of well-off folks, tells you just how proud the folks were of their little house.
But what I loved about the little house was that it showed me its brick heart...well, it showed anyone who cared to look, its brick heart. The side wall shows the way early builders used reject bricks (remember they were fired in pits nearby, short on quality control) for an inner layer of brick "nogging," good for insulation. You can see the outer bricks holding on at the corner. You can see the nogging between the frame members, the interior plank walls. You can see her little warm soft handmade brick heart.
But like making friends with a very old person, and beginning to learn so much from them, the relationship ended too quickly. Last week I made a return trip to the area, on a quest for a log house I'd read about. I carefully passed a large flatbed truck parked at the roadside. Men were loading a large yellow machine. I'd travelled a bit farther before I realized that I must have passed the old house, so did a U-turn and came back. I found, not my little old friend under the big trees, but a smooth flat area of new soil where hours before, the little Mouck house had stood.
I asked some walkers, so deep was my feeling of denial at the death. "Yup, it was time that happened, it was falling down". Great. A spot for another vinyl sided, many-gabled fake craftsman style house. History here? Nope.
Its an interesting house with its brick and frame parts, side by side, all under one roof. A bit reminiscent of Ward House, Digby Co., NS:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1375&pid=0
I´m always struck by the attitude of some, and the complete disregard for history. "Yup, it was time that happened....". Time for what, exactly, to happen ?? Time for the march toward an amusement park existence ?(e.g.: Vaughn, Ont., ....where does Canada´s Wonderland end, and the real part of town begin ???). To quote someone else, "there´s no ´there´ there."
Oh, how very sad! How can someone not have cared enough to preserve such a piece of PEC's history! I can only begin to imagine how you must have felt. I'll be interested to see what develops on that spot. Keep us informed?
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to hear that this old gem has bitten the dust. When I was working on the Settler's Dream in 1981, the house had only recently been vacated by its final occupant, Wilber Mouck, a retired seaman whose health was failing. I tracked him down, living at his sister's place further up South Bay. He was a colourful character with lots of stories and he shared a number of pictures from his family album. The Moucks were descended from a band of German Hessian soldiers, mersinaries on the British side of the American Revolution. He referred to them, perhaps only half-jokingly, as "bloodthirsty killers."
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