IslandVoices

Audio

Recording Details: Keir MacKay T2 [Tape Two]:

***The audio from 00:00:05 -- 00:00:55 is a recording of music which appears to be unrelated to the interview.

SIDE A 00:00:55 -- 00:01:41 Brief discussion about WWI and the Spanish Flu; WWI, 1913, 1918, Spanish Flu. 

SIDE A 00:01:41 -- 00:05:05 Discussion about working on working on Herb Ramsay's farm continues, with mention of working on George McGoughan's farm; Harold Stewart, Herb Ramsay, farming, wages, food, George McGoughan, cars, Chevrolet. 

SIDE A 00:05:05 -- 00:06:09 Brief discussion about the first cars he remembers; Model-T Ford, cars, Jack Bassett. 

SIDE A 00:06:09 -- 00:08:08 A story about hidden boat rum; boat rum, Jack Bassett, rum, Darnley, County Line Road, bootlegging. 

SIDE A 00:08:08 -- 00:09:30 Discussion about local bootleggers; John D. MacKay, bootlegging, prohibition, rum, Andy Perry, rum prices. 

SIDE A 00:09:30 -- 00:13:00 Discussion about his work as a blacksmith; blacksmith, Johnny Peakes, Victor Peakes, Malpeque, church gates, Peakes. 

SIDE A 00:13:00 -- 00:14:12 Brief discussion about Johnny Peakes from Lower Malpeque; Johnny Peakes, mailman, Lower Malpeque, mail, breaking the road. 

SIDE A 00:14:12 -- 00:15:13 Discussion about snowstorms and snow that was 20' high; snow, snowstorms. 

SIDE A 00:15:13 -- 00:15:50 Discussion about working with the Peakes brothers continues; Peakes, Johnny Peakes, Victor Peakes, blacksmith, Hart Abbott. 

SIDE A 00:15:50 -- 00:16:50 Discussion about the first radios; Chapman, radios, Baltic. 

SIDE A 00:16:50 -- 00:18:45 Discussion about farming, tractors, and combines; tractors, combines, farming, farming machinery, acerage. 

SIDE A 00:18:45 -- 00:27:25 Discussion about work he did as a blacksmith with the Peakes brothers, with mention of horseshoeing, tiring wheels, roping horses, and sleighs; horseshoeing, blacksmith, Peakes, welding, metal, tiring wheels, sleighs, horseshoe prices, Johnny Peake, iron, roping horses, 1920s. 

SIDE A 00:27:25 -- 00:29:49 Discussion about his blacksmith shop in Sea View and the end of his work as a blacksmith; Sea View, Murphy's store, blacksmith, Stanford Pickering, Roland Pickering, 1940. 

SIDE A 00:29:49 -- 00:31:51 Discussion about working on Johnny Cousins' farm in 1940; 1940, Johnny Cousins, wages, farming, hired man. 

SIDE A ends at 00:31:51.

SIDE B 00:31:01 -- 00:36:36 Discussion about other blacksmiths in the area, with a story about a man who drowned; Owen McGoughan, Johnny Peakes, Ed Burt, 1935, drowning, blacksmiths, RCMP, Mr. Spencer. 

SIDE B 00:36:36 -- 00:38:03 Discussion about Ed Hickey; Emmit Hickey, Ed Hickey, blind. 

SIDE B 00:38:03 -- 00:39:02 Brief discussion about pack peddlers; pack peddlers, peddlers. 

SIDE B 00:39:02 -- 00:39:40 Brief discussion about blacksmith supplies; Kensington, blacksmith coal, shoes, nails, Malpeque store. 

SIDE B 00:39:40 -- 00:41:15 Discussion about western horses, with a story about Jack Bassett buying wild horses; McNeil, wild horses, western horses, Jack Bassett, horses. 

SIDE B 00:41:15 -- 00:43:06 Discussion about trading horses for tractors and his first tractor; tractors, tradings, horses, Oliver 77. 

SIDE B 00:43:06 -- 00:47:15 Discussion about the tools and equipment from his blacksmith shop, with mention of the Peakes brothers; anvils, blacksmith shop, blacksmith tools, Peakes, Johnny Peakes, Victor Peakes. 

SIDE B 00:47:15 -- 00:48:18 Brief discussion about his family and ancestors; Abbott, MacKay, fire. 

SIDE B 00:48:18 -- 00:51:05 Discussion about tansy tea, liniments, and home remedies; vinegar, tansy tea, cures, cows, horses, Sea View, home remedies, arthritis. 

SIDE B 00:51:05 -- 00:52:14 Discussion about windmills; windmills. 
 ***The tape appears to have stopped at 00:52:14.

SIDE B 00:52:15 -- 00:57:26 Discussion about sleighs and wagons, with mention of John Marks, Lee Moose, and a story about his father's horse breaking a wagon; wood sleighs, Baltic, Bob Clark, yellow birch, John Marks, Margate, sleighs, Marks sleigh, sleigh hearse, wagons, horses, wagon prices, Lee Moose. 

SIDE B 00:00:57:26 -- 00:58:41 Brief discussion about horses and courting, with mention of moving pictures; horses, courting, dances, Kensington, moving pictures. 

SIDE B 00:58:41 -- 01:00:37 Discussion about traveling on the train; train, Kensington Station, livery stable, livery stable prices, train fare. 

SIDE B 01:00:37 -- 01:02:58 Discussion about Christmas; Christmas, Santa Claus, presents, Christmas dinner, goose, Christmas tree. 

SIDE B 01:02:58 -- 01:03:55 Brief discussion about Sundays and religion; Sundays, United Church, Summerside. 
 Tape ends at 01:03:55.

Overview:

Interviewee(s):
MacKay, James "Keir"

Playing Time:
01:03:55

Interview Date(s):
1999-01-28

Interview Summary:
This is the second half of an interview with James "Keir" MacKay of Darnley and Summerside, P.E.I. In this interview Keir talks about working on the farms of Herb Ramsay and George McGoughan. He talks about cars, hidden rum, bootleggers, and snowstorms. He tells about being an apprentice blacksmith with the Peakes brothers, and tells all about his work as a blacksmith. He goes on to tell a story of a blacksmith who drowned and talks about horses, trading horses for a tractor, radios, Johnny Cousins, Ed Hickey, pack peddlers, family, and home remedies. He then talks about sleigh and wagon builders, with particular mention of John Marks. There is also mention of Christmas, Sundays, western horses, blacksmith tools, courting, and traveling on the train.

Place(s) Discussed:
Sea View, PE; Malpeque, PE; Summerside, PE; Kensington, PE

Time(s) Discussed:
1913, 1918, 1940, 1920s, 1935

Rights Information:
All content on this site is made available for personal research and private study only. Any other reuse, reproduction, or re-purposing may require the permission of the rightsholder(s); please contact the UPEI Library for more information on permissions/clearances.

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