If one were engaged upon a formal work of biography rather than a mere
essay in character, it would be just and proper to investigate the
family sources from which the individual member is sprung; but I must
content myself within the bounds which I have set, and leave the larger
task to a more laborious hand. The essence of history lies in the
character of the persons concerned, rather than in the feats which
they performed. A man neither lives to himself nor in himself. He is
indissolubly bound up with his stock, and can only explain himself in
terms common to his family; but in doing so he transcends the limits of
history, and passes into the realms of philosophy and religion.
The life of a Canadian is bound up with the history of his parish, of
his town, of his province, of his country, and even with the history of
that country in which his family had its birth. The life of John McCrae
takes us back to Scotland. In Canada there has been much writing of
history of a certain kind. It deals with events rather than with the
subtler matter of people, and has been written mainly for purposes of
advertising. If the French made a heroic stand against the Iroquois, the
sacred spot is now furnished with an hotel from which a free 'bus runs
to a station upon the line of an excellent railway. Maisonneuve fought
his great fight upon a place from which a vicious mayor cut the trees
which once sheltered the soldier, to make way for a fountain upon which
would be raised "historical" figures in concrete stone.
The history of Canada is the history of its people, not of its railways,
hotels, and factories. The material exists in written or printed form in
the little archives of many a family. Such a chronicle is in possession
of the Eckford family which now by descent on the female side bears the
honoured names of Gow, and McCrae. John Eckford had two daughters, in
the words of old Jamie Young, "the most lovingest girls he ever knew."
The younger, Janet Simpson, was taken to wife by David McCrae, 21st
January, 1870, and on November 30th, 1872, became the mother of John. To
her he wrote all these letters, glowing with filial devotion, which I am
privileged to use so freely.
There is in the family a tradition of the single name for the males. It
was therefore proper that the elder born should be called Thomas, more
learned in medicine, more assiduous in practice, and more weighty in
intellect even than the otherwise more highly gifted John. He too is
professor of medicine, and co-author of a profound work with his master
and relative by marriage--Sir William Osler. Also, he wore the King's
uniform and served in the present war.
This John Eckford, accompanied by his two daughters, the mother being
dead, his sister, her husband who bore the name of Chisholm, and their
numerous children emigrated to Canada, May 28th, 1851, in the ship
'Clutha' which sailed from the Broomielaw bound for Quebec. The consort,
'Wolfville', upon which they had originally taken passage, arrived in
Quebec before them, and lay in the stream, flying the yellow flag of
quarantine. Cholera had broken out. "Be still, and see the salvation of
the Lord," were the words of the family morning prayers.
In the 'Clutha' also came as passengers James and Mary Gow; their
cousin, one Duncan Monach; Mrs. Hanning, who was a sister of Thomas
Carlyle; and her two daughters. On the voyage they escaped the usual
hardships, and their fare appears to us in these days to have been
abundant. The weekly ration was three quarts of water, two ounces of
tea, one half pound of sugar, one half pound molasses, three pounds
of bread, one pound of flour, two pounds of rice, and five pounds of
oatmeal.
The reason for this migration is succinctly stated by the head of the
house. "I know how hard it was for my mother to start me, and I wanted
land for my children and a better opportunity for them." And yet his
parents in their time appear to have "started" him pretty well, although
his father was obliged to confess, "I never had more of this world's
goods than to bring up my family by the labour of my hands honestly,
but it is more than my Master owned, who had not where to lay His head."
They allowed him that very best means of education, a calmness of the
senses, as he herded sheep on the Cheviot Hills. They put him to the
University in Edinburgh, as a preparation for the ministry, and supplied
him with ample oatmeal, peasemeal bannocks, and milk. In that great
school of divinity he learned the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; he studied
Italian, and French under Surenne, him of blessed memory even unto this
day.
John Eckford in 1839 married Margaret Christie, and he went far afield
for a wife, namely from Newbiggin in Forfar, where for fourteen years
he had his one and only charge, to Strathmiglo in Fife. The marriage was
fruitful and a happy one, although there is a hint in the record of some
religious difference upon which one would like to dwell if the subject
were not too esoteric for this generation. The minister showed a
certain indulgence, and so long as his wife lived he never employed the
paraphrases in the solemn worship of the sanctuary. She was a woman of
provident mind. Shortly after they were married he made the discovery
that she had prepared the grave clothes for him as well as for herself.
Too soon, after only eight years, it was her fate to be shrouded in
them. After her death--probably because of her death--John Eckford
emigrated to Canada.
To one who knows the early days in Canada there is nothing new in
the story of this family. They landed in Montreal July 11th, 1851,
forty-four days out from Glasgow. They proceeded by steamer to Hamilton,
the fare being about a dollar for each passenger. The next stage was
to Guelph; then on to Durham, and finally they came to the end of their
journeying near Walkerton in Bruce County in the primeval forest, from
which they cut out a home for themselves and for their children.
It was "the winter of the deep snow". One transcription from the record
will disclose the scene:
At length a grave was dug on a knoll in the bush
at the foot of a great maple with a young snow-laden hemlock at the side.
The father and the eldest brother carried the box
along the shovelled path. The mother close behind was followed
by the two families. The snow was falling heavily. At the grave
John Eckford read a psalm, and prayed, "that they might be enabled
to believe, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
unto them that fear Him."
John McCrae himself was an indefatigable church-goer. There is a note in
childish characters written from Edinburgh in his thirteenth year, "On
Sabbath went to service four times." There the statement stands in all
its austerity. A letter from a chaplain is extant in which a certain
mild wonder is expressed at the regularity in attendance of an officer
of field rank. To his sure taste in poetry the hymns were a sore trial.
"Only forty minutes are allowed for the service," he said, "and it is
sad to see them 'snappit up' by these poor bald four-line things."
On Easter Sunday, 1915, he wrote: "We had a church parade this morning,
the first since we arrived in France. Truly, if the dead rise not, we
are of all men the most miserable." On the funeral service of a friend
he remarks: "'Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God,'--what a
summary of the whole thing that is!" On many occasions he officiated in
the absence of the chaplains who in those days would have as many as
six services a day. In civil life in Montreal he went to church in the
evening, and sat under the Reverend James Barclay of St. Pauls, now
designated by some at least as St. Andrews.