The book Arran; - Cook Clan

224 THE BOOK OF ARRAN
for bride and bridegroom, bridesmaid and groomsman, a
walk of forty miles to the crossing and forty miles back, on
a rough highway by forest and clearing. Later, a clergyman
could be found nearer at hand, which reduced the tramp to
fifteen miles each way ; it became a point of honour to cover
the whole distance in one day. Of course the time came
when the settlement had its own minister and church, and
could dispense with the services of a devout layman like
' Captain ' M'Killop or a travelling clergyman ; though the
first log church had to serve for all varieties, and it was
a bit later ere the predominant Congregationalists had a
tabernacle of their own. So, too, the first teacher went from
house to house till a schoolhouse was provided ; where
brown paper was used for copy-books, pens were made from
quills, and a real lead pencil was a great acquisition.
The new country, too, raised some new religious problems.
We have observed the fragility of the Sabbath in Arran ; it
was broken as easily as a blown egg. Canadian frost made
short work of one scruple. Water for use on Sunday must
be carried in on Saturday ; such had been the rigid home
fashion. But in the hard Megantic winter the supply froze
overnight, and the iron vessels were cracked and marred.
This was an extremely serious sacrifice ;
while between the
work necessary to break the ice and that of bringing in fresh
water the difference was not even theologically apparent.
So that particular observance had to be scrapped with the
broken pots. Then in the season of sugar-making the maple
sap flowed into the troughs regardless of days. Monday
morning found the trough as full as usual. Nature, like
St. Paul, esteemeth not one day above another. There was
searching of conscience, until a parallel case suggested itself
in the growing of corn, which, in its season, halts no day of
the week. Thus may our religious prohibitions vary with
the latitude : there was no keeping a Sabbath of the old
Arran type in Canada.