Mr. Young Claimed, On The Maternal Side, As
Ancestor, Donald Fraser, One Of Fraser's (78th) Highlanders, A Regiment
Which Distinguished Itself At The Taking Of Quebec, Whilst Fighting Under
Wolfe, On These Same Grounds.
Forming a portion of this estate, to the west, may be noticed a cosy
little nest, Bruce's Cottage, as it was formerly called - now
Bannockburn - surrounded on all sides by trees, lawns and flowers.
WESTFIELD.
"What, sir, said I," cut down Goldsmith's hawthorn bush, that supplies
so beautiful an image in the DESERTED VILLAGE! 'Ma foy,' exclaimed the
bishop (of Ardagh,) 'is that the hawthorn bush? then ever let it be
saved from the edge of the axe, and evil to him that would cut from it
a branch." - Howitt's Homes and Haunts of British Poets.
At Mount Pleasant, about one mile from St. John's Gate, a number of
agreeable suburban residences have sprung up, as if by enchantment, within
a few years. This locality, from the splendid view it affords of the
valley of St. Charles, the basin of the St. Lawrence and surrounding
country, has ever been appreciated. The most noticeable residence is a
commodious cut-stone structure, inside of the toll, erected there a few
years back by the late G. H. Simard, Esq., member for Quebec, and later,
purchased by the late Fred. Vannovous, Esq., Barrister. Its mate in size
and appearance a few acres to the west, on the St. Foye road, is owned by
the Hon. Eugene Chinic, Senator. In the vicinity, under the veil of a
dense grove of trees, your eyes gather as you drive past, the outlines of
a massive, roomy homestead, on the north side of the heights, on a site
which falls off considerably; groups of birch, maple, and some mountain
ash and chesnut trees, flourish in the garden which surrounds the house;
in rear, flower beds slope down in an enclosure, whose surface is
ornamented with two tiny reservoirs of crystal water, which gushes from
some perennial stream, susceptible of great embellishment at little cost,
by adding Jets d'eau. The declivities in rear seem as if intended
by nature to be laid out into lovely terraces, with flowers or verdure to
fringe their summits.
In the eastern section of the domain stands,
"The hawthorne bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made."
Whether it blossoms on Christmas Day, like the legendary White Thorn of
Glastonbury, "which sprang from Joseph of Arimathea's dry staff, stuck by
him in the ground when he rested there" deponent sayeth not. This majestic
and venerable tree, branching out like a diminutive cedar of Lebanon, is
indeed the pride of Westfield. It is evidently of very great age, though
each summer as green, as fruitful as ever; the oldest inhabitant cannot
recall when it was smaller. If trees could reveal what has passed under
their boughs, would not the veteran hawthorn tell of wounded men resting
beneath it; of the strange garb and cries of combatants, English, French,
Celts, Canadians and Indians, on that luckless 28th April, 1760, when
Murray's soldiers, were retreating in hot haste from St. Foye and placing
the city walls between them and Levi's victorious legions; of shot, shell
and bullets, [281.] whistling through its hoary branches, on that
memorable 13th of September, 1759, when the Sauvages d'Ecosse, with
their reeking claymores, were slashing at, and pursuing the French, flying
from the battle field, over the St. Foye heights, to the French Camp on
the north bank of the St. Charles, in a line with the Marine Hospital.
Various indeed for as are the attractions of stately trees; we can
understand why this one is the pride of Westfield.
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