Cape Breton Post February 09, 2009 Torquil MacLean has a valuable place in the history of the Englishtown ferries RANNIE GILLIS The Cape Breton Post It was around 1870 when Torquil MacLean started to ferry people across the narrow body of water between Englishtown and Jersey Cove. He used a large row boat and if you arrived on horseback, you would sit in the boat while your horse swam behind, tied to the boat by a short length of rope. After a few years Torquil decided that he needed a larger boat, so he had one built in Wreck Cove, where he was born and raised. Kenneth Morrison and his son Alexander (Sandy) were excellent ship-builders and they produced a row boat about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. It had a flat bottom and two sets of oars. Although the boat had a normal bow, the stern of the vessel was square, which made it easier to get things on and off. It could carry two horses and one wagon, along with several passengers. Needless to say it was not an easy task to row this ferry back and forth across St. Ann's Gut, but Torquil and his helper were up to it. He charged 25 cents to transport a horse and wagon and five cents for each passenger. By 1919, with the help of his sons, Torquil was transporting the royal mail in addition to his regular passengers. The mail for northern Cape Breton would arrive from Baddeck, was sorted at the post office in Englishtown and then ferried across to Jersey Cove, where a horse and wagon would take it on to the end of the road in Wreck Cove. (The Cabot Trail and the road over Cape Smokey did not open until 1932.) Torquil, who was still working at the grand old age of 81, died a few days after Christmas, 1921. He is buried in the Englishtown cemetery, just a few yards from the ferry service that he operated for more than 50 years. The provincial government had taken over the ferry service in the summer of 1921. A new, motorized, wooden ferry was built at Bay St. Lawrence, in northern Cape Breton, and taken around to St. Ann's Bay. At the same time a total of four wharfs were constructed, two at Englishtown and two on the Jersey Cove side. Two of these were used when the tide was low and the other two when the tide was high. This new ferry was about 35 feet long and 11 feet wide, and had a square stern for loading and unloading. She had a 12-horsepower motor, with a reverse gear and could carry only one vehicle. She remained in use for 15 years, until 1936, when she was replaced with a new boat that could carry up to three cars. In 1952 a new larger ferry took over the Englishtown service. She was named "The Highland Lass" and had been built at the Marine Railway in North Sydney. She was retired after 10 years and was replaced in 1962 by a much larger boat called the "Gordon S. Harrington." I would like to thank Jo-Anne Wood, of Utah Valley State College in the United States, for making it possible to access historical information relating to the early history of the Englishtown ferries. Rannie Gillis is an author and avid Celtic historian whose column appears every week in the Cape Breton Post. We welcome your comments on this column or any other material appearing in the Post. You can write c/o Letters to the Editor; Cape Breton Post, 255 George St., PO Box 1500, Sydney N.S., BIP 6K6 or Fax to (902) 562-7077 or e-mail ranniegillis@ns.sympatico.ca