Branch Come Home Year

August 9-19, 2007

The Way It Used To Be

 

By: Eleanor (Nash) Conway

 

Our way of life was peaceful,

not rushed like it is today.

We lived in a small community,

called “Branch, St Mary’s Bay.”

We have our own different memories,

but our life styles were the same.

We’ve gone on to greener pastures,

but we know from where we came.

 

Our fathers fished the oceans,

and they worked the land as well.

We were used to kelp and caplin,

and had adjusted to the smell.

We helped with the fish and gardens,

and worked late into the day.

Then there were the meadows,

where they cut and spread the hay.

 

Soap was used for cleaning,

it was made from fat and lye.

Clothes were scrubbed on wash boards,

and hung outdoors to dry.

Lamps were filled with kerosene

to provide us with our light.

Rocks were heated in the oven,

to warm our feet at night.

 

Our parents worked throughout the day,

and after the evening meal.

Wool was washed and carded,

and spun on the spinning wheel.

Water was brought in buckets,

and bread was made at night.

Things were certainly different,

but to us it seemed so right.

 

We have a special dialect,

that sounds Irish to the ear.

Its because of our Irish ancestors,

that we have settled here.

We believed in ghosts and fairies,

from tales that we were told.

Our strange beliefs were passed to us

from the very old.

 

There are many songs and stories

that tell about our past.

There are many things forgotten,

as the years slip by so fast.

 we’re reminded of our heritage,

as we grew up by the sea.

Branch will always be home to us,

with memories, for you and me.