Bluenose

The Bluenose was so fast in those days it couldn't be caught by either US or Canadian Coast Guard. The Blusnose was built at Lunenburg NS to chalange the Americans in the annual race from Marble Head MA to Lunenburg NS. The Americans had dominated this race for years, however their glory days were over when Captain Angus Walters set to sea with the Bluenose. The Bluenose and Captain Walters dominated the annual race until she sank in the Caribean, doing what she did best, hauling good rum back to new England and Alantic Canada.

Most North Americans are very surprised when they walk into Nova Scotia Liquor stores and find the high percentage of shelf space dedicated to RUM. Yes, we have never lost that taste for good rum. We lived about 40 miles inland and I can remember my grandfather making his semi-annual treck to the sea shore, supposedly for fresh fish, however the cargo usually included 2-3, 5 gallon wooden kegs of black rum. He used to bury some of it for later use. I can tell you some funny stories, of young lads searching out and stealing his rum. Two of my brothers gave a half quart of his rum to his sow pig. My dad and a neighbor got blamed for that until my brothers fessed up. They over heard him coming onto dad and friend about the missing rum, "Oh we poured that in the sows trough, she lapped it right up, stood there looking for more." That story spread like wild fire, folks were always asking my grandfather if one could make money in the hog business, feeding them black rum. He was a long while living that down. Dad and I found a keg of black rum, two years after my grandfathers passing in 1960. We know it had been there since before the war. A contractor doing some carpenter work for dad offered his day work for a qt of that rum.

Yes, Lowell, we may be Nova Scotians but we are also proud Bluenosers.