The Halifax Explosion
At Halifax, two vessels rammed,
In 1917 A.D.
The one a deadly cargo held,
Her bulkheads jammed with TNT
'Twas shortly after nine o'clock,
That frosty bright December morn,
When with a sudden awesome sound,
The universe was split and torn.
At Bloomfield school I did attend,
The classroom we had just entered,
No orders did the teacher give,
She had not time to say a word.
Mid plaster, dust and flying glass,
We found the steps and then the door,
We thought it must be Judgment Day
Or invaders bringing hellish war .
The memory of the sights I saw
I cannot from my mind erase,
My mother looking for me then
Could hardly recognize my face.
We knew not what had happened yet,
But rumours flew both thick and fast,
And so we trudged with many more,
Escaping from a second blast.
Six, nine and ten, we children three,
Could scarcely realize our plight,
My father went to work that morn,
But did not come back home that night.
We stood awhile in frosty fields,
And then we went back home again,
Because our house was damaged so,
Some kindly neighbours took us in.
My mother searched day after day,
Through all the halls then being used
For injured, dying, and the dead,
To give up hope, she did refuse.
Ten days went by before we heard,
My father had at last been found;
Down at the dry-docks, 'neath the snow,
Iron girders wrapped his body 'round.
Till Gabriel's horn shall call us all,
He lies beneath the maple tree
Near where the Titanic's victims sleep,
In quiet Fairview Cemetery.
Note:
Fairview Cemetery is in the middle of Halifax not far from the harbour.
There is quite a story about how I found my grandfather's grave which bears telling some other time.
My dad's song above, written I believe to do something in memory of his dad is similar I guess to what I am doing here... remembering my dad, Charles Wesley Pedley
That is about as much as I know or probably will ever know about my grandfather, whom I have obviously never met as my dad was 10 at the time.
The only memory my mother has is that Dad told her that my grandfather would go to pubs but never touch a drop of alcohol as there had been in past family history abuse of the liquid.
At the pubs he became so good at playing checkers, my mother says, that he even beat the champion of Nova Scotia at one time. I still have the remains of a set of checkers made of a plastic-like material [perhaps Bakelite, an early plastic] and a wooden inlaid checker board that he won once.
I have a few other souvenirs of his such as an old pipe made from the burl of a branch, a pair of wire rim glasses with very thin frames.
In memory
-Charles, October 2010
Two of the Older Songs my Dad wrote when he was teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in a place called Coxvale as there were so many Cox families there.
Pine Tree Pedagogue
1. I'm just a pine tree pedagogue,
I teach back in the sticks,
I have a little log school house
Not more than four by six
Refrain:
Pine log schoolhouse, log schoolhouse built for me,
For I'm a pine tree pedagogue, far from the big ci-ty!
2. The pupils all look up at me
So innocent I think,
And yet the strangest things I find
A-floating in my ink.
3. Now do not chew your pencils up,
Such diet I forbid,
As food it may be right for goats
But 'twill not do for kids.
4. As I sat down in haste one day,
Sharp pains went up my spine
When I arose I found I'd sat
On a little porcupine (the version I remember said, "On a big fat porcupine!)
Back in the Backwoods
1. Back in the backwoods I got me a shack
Fixed up the windows and plugged up the cracks
Down in the city, I once used to roam
But back in the backwoods is now home sweet home.
Refrain:
Back in the backwoods, back in the backwoods,
Back in the backwoods, I'm free as the air.
2. Back in the backwoods I see the sun rise
Shine through the pine trees and light up the skies.
Down in the city, there's hustle and sound,
But back in the backwoods, sweet peace may be found.
3. Back in the backwoods, I take out my gun
Shoot me a partridge or a deer on the run;
Down in the city, you can't buy such meat,
But back in the backwoods I've plenty to eat
4. Down in the city, I toiled all the day
To get enough money my bills all to pay,
Down in the city, I paid a high rent,
But shacks in the backwoods just cost a few cents.
5. Down in the city, the girls all came round,
I'd be their husband these ladies were bound;
Back to the backwoods, I've got a fine wife.
`
Written by Charles W. Pedley
© 1967, 2010 by Pedley Family Foundation
At Halifax, two vessels rammed,
In 1917 A.D.
The one a deadly cargo held,
Her bulkheads jammed with TNT
'Twas shortly after nine o'clock,
That frosty bright December morn,
When with a sudden awesome sound,
The universe was split and torn.
At Bloomfield school I did attend,
The classroom we had just entered,
No orders did the teacher give,
She had not time to say a word.
Mid plaster, dust and flying glass,
We found the steps and then the door,
We thought it must be Judgment Day
Or invaders bringing hellish war .
The memory of the sights I saw
I cannot from my mind erase,
My mother looking for me then
Could hardly recognize my face.
We knew not what had happened yet,
But rumours flew both thick and fast,
And so we trudged with many more,
Escaping from a second blast.
Six, nine and ten, we children three,
Could scarcely realize our plight,
My father went to work that morn,
But did not come back home that night.
We stood awhile in frosty fields,
And then we went back home again,
Because our house was damaged so,
Some kindly neighbours took us in.
My mother searched day after day,
Through all the halls then being used
For injured, dying, and the dead,
To give up hope, she did refuse.
Ten days went by before we heard,
My father had at last been found;
Down at the dry-docks, 'neath the snow,
Iron girders wrapped his body 'round.
Till Gabriel's horn shall call us all,
He lies beneath the maple tree
Near where the Titanic's victims sleep,
In quiet Fairview Cemetery.
Note:
Fairview Cemetery is in the middle of Halifax not far from the harbour.
There is quite a story about how I found my grandfather's grave which bears telling some other time.
My dad's song above, written I believe to do something in memory of his dad is similar I guess to what I am doing here... remembering my dad, Charles Wesley Pedley
That is about as much as I know or probably will ever know about my grandfather, whom I have obviously never met as my dad was 10 at the time.
The only memory my mother has is that Dad told her that my grandfather would go to pubs but never touch a drop of alcohol as there had been in past family history abuse of the liquid.
At the pubs he became so good at playing checkers, my mother says, that he even beat the champion of Nova Scotia at one time. I still have the remains of a set of checkers made of a plastic-like material [perhaps Bakelite, an early plastic] and a wooden inlaid checker board that he won once.
I have a few other souvenirs of his such as an old pipe made from the burl of a branch, a pair of wire rim glasses with very thin frames.
In memory
-Charles, October 2010
Two of the Older Songs my Dad wrote when he was teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in a place called Coxvale as there were so many Cox families there.
Pine Tree Pedagogue
1. I'm just a pine tree pedagogue,
I teach back in the sticks,
I have a little log school house
Not more than four by six
Refrain:
Pine log schoolhouse, log schoolhouse built for me,
For I'm a pine tree pedagogue, far from the big ci-ty!
2. The pupils all look up at me
So innocent I think,
And yet the strangest things I find
A-floating in my ink.
3. Now do not chew your pencils up,
Such diet I forbid,
As food it may be right for goats
But 'twill not do for kids.
4. As I sat down in haste one day,
Sharp pains went up my spine
When I arose I found I'd sat
On a little porcupine (the version I remember said, "On a big fat porcupine!)
Back in the Backwoods
1. Back in the backwoods I got me a shack
Fixed up the windows and plugged up the cracks
Down in the city, I once used to roam
But back in the backwoods is now home sweet home.
Refrain:
Back in the backwoods, back in the backwoods,
Back in the backwoods, I'm free as the air.
2. Back in the backwoods I see the sun rise
Shine through the pine trees and light up the skies.
Down in the city, there's hustle and sound,
But back in the backwoods, sweet peace may be found.
3. Back in the backwoods, I take out my gun
Shoot me a partridge or a deer on the run;
Down in the city, you can't buy such meat,
But back in the backwoods I've plenty to eat
4. Down in the city, I toiled all the day
To get enough money my bills all to pay,
Down in the city, I paid a high rent,
But shacks in the backwoods just cost a few cents.
5. Down in the city, the girls all came round,
I'd be their husband these ladies were bound;
Back to the backwoods, I've got a fine wife.
`
