Toronto of Old Part 42

"Behold us at Richmond Hill," he exclaims, "having safely pa.s.sed the Slough of Despond which the vaunted Yonge Street mud road presents between the celebrated hamlet of St. Albans and the aforesaid hill."

And again: "We reached Richmond Hill, seventeen miles from the Landing, at about 8 o'clock (he was moving southward) having made a better day's journey than is usually accomplished on a road which will be macadamized some fine day;--for the Board of Works," he proceeds to inform the reader, "have a Polish engineer hard at work surveying it; of course, no Canadian was to be found equal to this intricate piece of engineering; and I saw a variety of sticks stuck up; but what they meant I cannot guess at. I suppose they were going to grade it, which is the favourite American term."

The prejudices of the Englishman and Royal Engineer routinier here crop out. The Polish engineer, who was commencing operations on this subdivision of Yonge Street, was Mr. Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski, whose subsequent Canadian career renders it probable that in setting up "the variety of sticks," the meaning of which Capt. Bonnycastle does after all guess at, he understood his business. We are a.s.sured that this portion of Yonge Street was in fact conspicuous for the superior excellence of its finish.

Captain Bonnycastle indulges in a further little fling at civilians who presume to undertake engineering duties, in a story which serves to fill a page or two of his book, immediately after the above remarks on Yonge Street, about Richmond Hill. He narrates an incident of his voyage out:--

"A Character," he says, "set out from England to try his fortune in Canada. He was conversing about prospects in that country, on board the vessel, with a person who knew him, but whom he knew not. 'I have not quite made up my mind,' said the character, 'as to what pursuit I shall follow in Canada; but that which brings most grist to the mill will answer best; and I hear a man may turn his hand to anything there, without the folly of an apprentices.h.i.+p being necessary; for if he have only brains, bread will come; now what do you think would be the best business for my market?' 'Why,' said the gentleman, after pondering a little, 'I should advise you to try civil engineering; for they are getting up a Board of Works there, and want that branch of industry very much, for they won't take natives: nothing but foreigners and strangers will go down.' 'What is a civil engineer?' said the Character. 'A man always measuring and calculating,' responded his adviser, 'and that will just suit you.' 'So it will,' rejoined Character, and a civil engineer he became accordingly, and a very good one into the bargain, for he had brains, and had used a yard measure all his lifetime."--Who "the Character" was, we do not for certain know.

A short distance beyond Richmond Hill was the abode of Colonel Moodie, on the right,--distinguished by a flag-staff in front of it, after the custom of Lower Canada, where an officer's house used to be known in this way. (In the neighbourhood of Sorel, as we remember, in the winter of 1837, it was one of the symptoms of disaffection come to a head, when in front of a substantial habitan's home a flag-staff was suddenly seen bearing the inscription "----, Capitaine, elu par le peuple.")

Colonel Moodie's t.i.tle came from his rank in the regular army. He had been Lieut.-Colonel of the 104th regiment. Sad, that a distinguished officer, after escaping the perils of the Peninsular war, and of the war with the United States here in 1812-13, should have yet, nevertheless, met with a violent death in a petty local civil tumult. He was shot, as all remember, in the troubles of 1837, while attempting to ride past Montgomery's, regardless of the insurgent challenge to stop.

"Thou might'st have dreamed of brighter hours to close thy chequered life Beneath thy country's victor-flag, sure beacon in the strife; Or in the shadow of thy home with those who mourn thee now, To whisper comfort in thine ear, to calm thine aged brow.

Well! peaceful be thy changeless rest,--thine is a soldier's grave; Hearts like thine own shall mourn thy doom--meet requiem for the brave-- And ne'er 'till Freedom's ray is pale and Valour's pulse grown cold Shall be thy bright career forgot, thy gloomy fate untold."

So sang one in the columns of a local contemporary paper, in "Lines suggested by the Lamented Death of the late Colonel Moodie."

At a certain period in the history of Yonge Street, as indeed of all the leading thoroughfares of Upper Canada, about 1830-33, a frequent sign that property had changed hands, and that a second wave of population was rolling in, was the springing up, at intervals, of houses of an improved style, with surroundings, lawns, sheltering plantations, winding drives, well-constructed entrance-gates, and so on, indicating an appreciation of the elegant and the comfortable.

We recall two instances of this, which we used to contemplate with particular interest, a little way beyond Richmond Hill, on the left: the cosy, English-looking residences, not far apart, with a cl.u.s.ter of appurtenances round each--of Mr. Larratt Smith, and Mr. Francis Boyd.

Both gentlemen settled here with their families in 1836.

Mr. Smith had been previously in Canada in a military capacity during the war of 1812-13, and for many years subsequently he had been Chief Commissary of the Field Train Department and Paymaster of the Artillery.

He died at Southampton in 1860.

Mr. Boyd, who emigrated hither from the county of Kent, was one of the first, in these parts, to import from England improved breeds of cattle.

In his house was to be seen a collection of really fine paintings, amongst them a Holbein, a Teniers, a Dominichino, a Smirke, a Wilkie, and two Horace Vernets. The families of Mr. Boyd and Mr. Smith were related by marriage. Mr. Boyd died in Toronto in 1861.

Beyond Mr. Boyd's, a solitary house, on the same side of Yonge Street, lying back near the woods, used to be eyed askance in pa.s.sing:--its occupant and proprietor, Mr. Kinnear, had in 1843 been murdered therein by his man-servant, a.s.sisted by a female domestic. It was imagined by them that a considerable sum of money had just been brought to the house by Mr. Kinnear. Both criminals would probably have escaped justice had not Mr. F. C. Capreol, of Toronto, on the spur of the moment, and purely from a sense of duty to the public, undertaken their capture, which he cleverly effected at Lewiston in the United States.

The land now began to be somewhat broken as we ascended the rough and long-uncultivated region known as the Oak Ridges. The predominant tree in the primitive forest here was the pine, which attained a gigantic size; but specimens of the black oak were intermingled.

Down in one of the numerous clefts and chasms which were to be seen in this locality, in a woody dell on the right, was Bond's Lake, a pretty crescent-shaped sheet of water. We have the surrounding property offered for sale in a _Gazette_ of 1805, in the following terms; "For Sale, Lots No. 62 and 63, in the first concession of the towns.h.i.+p of Whitchurch, on the east side of Yonge Street, containing 380 acres of land: a deed in fee simple will be given by the subscriber to any person inclined to purchase. Johnson Butler. N.B. The above lots include the whole of the Pond commonly called Bond's Lake, the house and clearing round the same.

For particulars enquire of Mr. R. Ferguson and Mr. T. B. Gough at York, and the subscriber at Niagara. March 23, 1805."

Bond's farm and lake had their name from Mr. William Bond, who so early as 1800 had established in York a Nursery Garden, and introduced there most of the useful fruits. In 1801 Mr. Bond was devising to sell his York property, as appears from a quaint advertis.e.m.e.nt in a _Gazette_ of that year. He therein professes to offer his lot in York as a free gift; the recipient however being at the same time required to do certain things.

"To be given away," he says, "that beautifully situated lot No. one, fronting on Ontario and d.u.c.h.ess Streets: the buildings thereon are--a small two-and-a-half storey house, with a gallery in front, which commands a view of the lake and the bay: in the cellar a never failing spring of fine water; and a stream of fine water running through one corner of the lot; there is a good kitchen in the rear of the house, and a stable sufficient for two cows and two horses, and the lot is in good fence.

"The conditions are, with the person or persons who accept of the above present, that he, she or they purchase not less than two thousand apple-trees at three s.h.i.+llings, New York currency, each; after which will be added, as a further present, about one hundred apple, thirty peach, and fourteen cherry trees, besides wild plums, wild cherries, English gooseberries, white and red currants, &c. There are forty of the above apple trees, as also the peach and cherry trees, planted regular, as an orchard, much of which appeared in blossom last spring, and must be considered very valuable: also as a kitchen garden, will sufficiently recommend itself to those who may please to view it.--The above are well calculated for a professional or independent gentleman; being somewhat retired--about half-way from the Lake to the late Attorney General's and opposite the town-farm of the Hon. D. W. Smith [afterwards Mr. Allan's property.] Payment will be made easy; a good deed; and possession given at any time from the first of November to the first of May next. For further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the premises. William Bond. York, Sep. 4, 1801."--The price expected was, as will be made out, 750 dollars. The property was evidently the northern portion of what became afterwards the homestead-plot of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout.

It would appear that Mr. Bond's property did not find a purchaser on this occasion. In 1804 he is advertising it again, but now to be sold by auction, with his right and t.i.tle to the lot on Yonge Street. In the _Gazette_ of August 4, 1804, we read as follows:--"To be sold by auction, at Cooper's tavern, in York, on Monday, the twentieth day of August next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon (if not previously disposed of by private contract), that highly cultivated lot opposite the Printing Office [Bennett's] containing one acre, together with a nursery thereon of about ten thousand apple, three hundred peach, and twenty pear trees, and an orchard containing forty-one apple trees fit for bearing, twenty-seven of which are full of fruit; thirty peach and nine cherry trees full of fruit; besides black and red plums, red and white currants, English gooseberries, lilacs, rose bushes, &c., &c., also a very rich kitchen garden.

"The buildings are a two-and-a-half storey house, a good cellar, stable and smokehouse. On the lot is a never-failing spring of excellent water, and fine creek running through one corner most part of the year. The above premises might be made very commodious for a gentleman at a small expense; or for a tanner, brewer, or distiller, must be allowed the most convenient place in York. A view of the premises (by any person or persons desirous of purchasing the same) will be sufficient recommendation. The nursery is in such a state of forwardness that if sold in from two to three years (at which time the apple trees will be fit to transplant) at the moderate price of one s.h.i.+lling each, would repay a sum double of that asked for the whole, and leave a further gain to the purchasers of the lot, buildings, and flouris.h.i.+ng orchard thereon. A good t.i.tle to the above, and possession given at any time after the first of October next.

"Also at the same time and place the right as per Register, to one hundred acres in front of lot 62, east side Yonge Street, for which a deed can be procured at pleasure, and the remainder of the lot procured for a small sum. It is an excellent soil for orchard, grain and pasture land. There is a field of ten acres in fence besides other clearing. It is a beautiful situation, having part of the Lake commonly called Bond's Lake, within the said lot, which affords a great supply of Fish and Fowl. Terms of payment will be made known on the day of sale. For further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the former premises, or the printer hereof. William Bond. York, 27th June, 1804."

Thirty years later we meet with an advertis.e.m.e.nt in which the price is named at which Lot No. 63 could have been secured. Improvements expected speedily to be made on Yonge Street are therein referred to. In a _Gazette_ of 1834 we have: "A delightful situation on Yonge Street, commonly called Bond's Farm, containing 190 acres, beautifully situated on Bond's Lake upon Yonge Street, distant about 16 miles from the city of Toronto: price 350. The picturesque beauty of this lot," the advertis.e.m.e.nt says, "and its proximity to the flouris.h.i.+ng capital of Upper Canada, make it a most desirable situation for a gentleman of taste. The stage-coaches between Toronto and Holland Landing and Newmarket pa.s.s the place daily; and there appears every prospect of Yonge Street either having a railroad or being macadamized very shortly. Apply (if by letter, free of postage) to Robert Ferrie, at Hamilton, the proprietor."

In the advertis.e.m.e.nt of 1805, given above, Bond's Lake is styled a pond.

The small lakes in these hills seemed, of course, to those who had become familiarized with the great lakes, simply ponds. The term "lake"

applied to Ontario, Huron, and the rest, has given a very inadequate idea of the magnitude and appearance of those vast expanses, to externs who imagine them to be picturesque sheets of water somewhat exceeding in size, but resembling, Windermere, Loch Lomond, or possibly Lake Leman.

"Sea" would have conveyed a juster notion: not however to the German, who styles the lakes of Switzerland and the Tyrol, "seas."

Bond's Lake inn, the way-side stopping place in the vale where Yonge Street skirts the lake, used to be, in an especial degree, of the old country cast, in its appliances, its fare, its parlours and other rooms.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

XXVII.

YONGE STREET: FROM BOND'S LAKE TO THE HOLLAND LANDING, WITH DIGRESSIONS TO NEWMARKET AND SHARON.

We now speedily pa.s.sed Drynoch, lying off to the left, on elevated land, the abode of Capt. Martin McLeod, formerly of the Isle of Skye. The family and domestic group systematized on a large scale at Drynoch here, was a Canadian reproduction of a chieftain's household.

Capt. McLeod was a Scot of the Norse vikinger type, of robust manly frame, of n.o.ble, frank, and tender spirit; an Ossianist too, and, in the Scandinavian direction, a philologist. Sir Walter Scott would have made a study of Capt. McLeod, and may have done so. He was one of eight brothers who all held commissions in the army. His own military life extended from 1808 to 1832. As an officer successively of the 27th, the 79th, and the 25th regiments, he saw much active service. He accompanied the force sent over to this continent in the War of 1812-13. It was then that he for the first time saw the land which was to be his final home.

He was present, likewise, at the affair of Plattsburg; and also, we believe, at the attack on New Orleans. He afterwards took part in the so-called Peninsular war, and received a medal with four clasps for Toulouse, Orthes, Nive, and Nivelle. He missed Waterloo, "unfortunately," as he used to say; but he was present with the allied troops in Paris during the occupation of that city in 1815. Of the 25th regiment he was for many years adjutant, and then paymaster. Three of his uncles were general officers.

It is not inappropriate to add that the Major McLeod who received the honour of a Companions.h.i.+p in the Order of St. Michael and St. George for distinguished service in the Red River Expedition of 1870, was a son of Captain McLeod of Drynoch.

That in and about the Canadian Drynoch Gaelic should be familiarly heard was in keeping with the general character of the place. The ancient Celtic tongue was in fact a necessity, as among the dependents of the house there were always some who had never learned the English language.

Drynoch was the name of the old home in Skye. The Skye Drynoch was an unfenced, hilly pasture farm, of about ten miles in extent, yielding nutriment to herds of wild cattle and some 8,000 sheep. Within its limits a lake, Loch Brockadale, is still the haunt of the otter, which is hunted by the aid of the famous terriers of the island; a mountain stream abounds with salmon and trout; while the heather and bracken of the slopes shelter grouse and other game.

Whittaker, in his _History of Whalley_, quoted by Hallam in his _Middle Ages_, describes the aspect which, as he supposes, a certain portion of England presented to the eye, as seen from the top of Pendle Hill, in Yorks.h.i.+re, in the Saxon times. The picture which he draws we in Canada can realize with great perfectness. "Could a curious observer of the present day," he says, "carry himself nine or ten centuries back, and ranging the summit of Pendle, survey the forked vale of Calder on one side and the bolder margins of Ribble and Hodder on the other, instead of populous towns and villages, the castles, the old tower-built house, the elegant modern mansion, the artificial plantation, the enclosed park and pleasure-ground, instead of uninterrupted enclosures which have driven sterility almost to the summit of the fells, how great then must have been the contrast when, ranging either at a distance or immediately beneath, his eye must have caught vast tracts of forest-ground, stagnating with bog or darkened by native woods, where the wild ox, the roe, the stag and the wolf, had scarcely learned the supremacy of man, when, directing his view to the intermediate s.p.a.ces, to the widening of the valleys, or expanse of plains beneath, he could only have distinguished a few insulated patches of culture, each encircling a village of wretched cabins, among which would still be remarked one rude mansion of wood, scarcely equal in comfort to a modern cottage, yet there rising proudly eminent above the rest, where the Saxon lord, surrounded by his faithful cotarii, enjoyed a rude and solitary independence, having no superior but his sovereign."

This writer asks us to carry ourselves nine or ten centuries back, to realize the picture which he has conceived. From the upland here in the vicinity of Drynoch, less than half a century ago, gazing southwards over the expanse thence to be commanded, we should have beheld a scene closely resembling that which, as he supposed, was seen from the summit of Pendle in the Saxon days; while at the present day we see everywhere, throughout the same expanse, an approximation to the old mother-lands, England, Ireland, and Scotland, in condition and appearance: in its style of agriculture, and the character of its towns, villages, hamlets, farm-houses, and country villas.

We now entered a region once occupied by a number of French military refugees. During the revolution in France, at the close of the last century, many of the devotees of the royalist cause pa.s.sed over into England, where, as elsewhere, they were known and spoken of as _emigres_. Amongst them were numerous officers of the regular army, all of them, of course, of the n.o.blesse order, or else, as the inherited rule was, no commission in the King's service could have been theirs.

When now the royal cause became desperate, and they had suffered the loss of all their worldly goods, the British Government of the day, in its sympathy for the monarchical cause in France, offered them grants of land in the newly organized province of Upper Canada.

Some of them availed themselves of the generosity of the British Crown.

Having been comrades in arms they desired to occupy a block of contiguous lots. Whilst there was yet almost all western Canada to choose from, by some chance these Oak Ridges, especially difficult to bring under cultivation and somewhat sterile when subdued, were preferred, partly perhaps through the influence of sentiment; they may have discovered some resemblance to regions familiar to themselves in their native land. Or in a mood inspired and made fas.h.i.+onable by Rousseau they may have longed for a lodge in some vast wilderness, where the "mortal coil" which had descended upon the old society of Europe should no longer hara.s.s them. When twitted by the pa.s.sing wayfarer who had selected land in a more propitious situation, they would point to the gigantic boles of the surrounding pines in proof of the intrinsic excellence of the soil below, which must be good, they said, to nourish such a vegetation.

After all, however, this particular locality may have been selected rather for them than by them. On the early map of 1798 a range of nine lots on each side of Yonge Street, just here in the Ridges, is bracketed and marked, "French Royalists: by order of his Honor," _i.e._, the President, Peter Russell. A postscript to the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 gives the reader the information that "lands have been appropriated in the year of York as a refuge for some French Royalists, and their settlement has commenced."

On the Vaughan side, No. 56 was occupied conjointly by Michel Saigeon and Francis Reneoux; No. 57 by Julien le Bugle; No. 58 by Rene Aug.

Comte de Chalus, Amboise de Farcy and Quetton St. George conjointly; No.

59 by Quetton St. George; No. 60 by Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalus. In King, No. 61 by Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus and Augustin Boiton conjointly. On the Markham side: No. 52 is occupied by the Comte de Puisaye; No. 53 by Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus; No. 54 by Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalus and Rene Aug. Comte de Chalus conjointly;--No. 55 by Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalus; No. 66 by le Chevalier de Ma.r.s.euil and Michael Fauchard conjointly; No. 57 by the Chev. de Ma.r.s.euil; No. 58 by Rene Letourneaux, Augustin Boiton and J. L. Vicomte de Chalus conjointly; No. 59 by Quetton St. George and Jean Furon conjointly; No.

60 by Amboise de Farcy. In Whitchurch, No. 61 by Michel Saigeon.

After felling the trees in a few acres of their respective allotments, some of these emigres withdrew from the country. Hence in the Ridges was to be seen here and there the rather unusual sight of abandoned clearings returning to a state of nature.

The officers styled Comte and Vicomte de Chalus derived their t.i.tle from the veritable domain and castle of Chalus in Normandy, a.s.sociated in the minds of young readers of English History with the death of Richard Coeur de Lion. Jean Louis de Chalus, whose name appears on numbers 54 and in 55 Markham and on other lots, was a Major-General in the Royal Army of Brittany. At the b.a.l.l.s given by the Governor and others at York, the jewels of Madame la Comtesse created a great sensation, wholly surpa.s.sing everything of the kind that had hitherto been seen by the ladies of Upper Canada. Amboise de Farcy, of No. 58 in Vaughan and No.