Garron Brae, New Kincardineshire, N. B. 12th Oct. 1873
Dear Friend:
I am happy to tell you that we are well and doing well, and better than we expected. The summer is past, and so is the heat and the flies. Our crops are all, I think, safely stored up, and if we get over our winter as pleasantly as the summer, we will be quite satisfied with New Kincardineshire.
We had a few cold and stormy days when this month came in, and some frosty mornings, but since then we have had delightful weather. There are no such warm and pleasant days in Scotland in the month of October. I have been working at home as much as I could for the last couple of weeks and the boys and I have cleared a large field. We had a most splendid burn in September, and had four acres piled before we set fire to it and it burned from Friday morning to Sabbath evening. We have now about Five acres ready for crop, and are pushing on to get three more.
I am proud to look at our summers work, for besides what we have done at home, counting only to this date, we have earned $150, and if the weather keeps good, we will earn a few more yet. There is plenty of work in the colony and plenty on the railway besides. We will get a great help this winter from the timber on our lots. The Surveyor General has given us permission to let our timber for six months. I have sold my heavy birch and maple. I calculate 300 tons will be cut on my lot this winter. I have only let it for the season as timber is rising in value.
We had a very dry summer and the crops in general light, especially buckwheat, which is a staple food here. We all like it, and use it constantly. What will our friends think when I tell them we consume as much as 20 lbs of first class ox beef in a week. We buy it now at 6 and 7 cents per pound and real steak too, –not “weavers beef,” which was all Kitty invested in at home. I tell you I am getting fat and strong now.
The young folk suffered a little from the flies in summer, but are alright now. Tell all the friends that we are very contented and happy. I have a splendid cooking stove for which I paid $20. We have potatoes enough for the winter, and they are in quality the best we ever tasted. We have also a lot of good turnips. We have got our house fixed up for the winter, the joints between the logs plastered, and the walls all papered with newspaper. Hoping you will write a line sometime soon.
Your sincerely,
Wm. Duncan
Notes:
1. The letter was published in New Kincardineshire: An Intimate History of the Early Years of a Scottish Settlement in New Brunswick by Duncan A. MacPhail, Centennial Print & Litho LTD, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 1977.
2. The original letter written by Wm. Duncan was published in the Stonehaven Journal in 1873 back in Scotland.
3. It appears that Duncan named his New Brunswick farm “Garron Brae.” He refers to his wife Elizabeth as Kitty. It is said that William did not want to move to Canada at first and that it was his wife who wanted to leave Scotland in order to get out of poverty (Stuart Duncan in an Echoes magazine article.)
4. Duncan, 44, and his wife Elizabeth, 41, emigrated with nine children: William age 16, David age 14, Alexander age 12, Annie age 11, Barbara age 10, James age 7 Elizabeth age 5, Mary age 3, and Stuart age almost 2. Another daughter Helen was born September 1874.
