Bras D'Or

Dennis Jessome
The Boy From Bras D'Or

"My First Haircut"

I know I talked about a few people from around Bras D'Or and area and one in particular is Raymond Boudreau "Remy" our local barber.

Remy came from Boudreauville up around Arichat. He had brothers in the States but decided to move to the Bras D'Or area.

He met and married a woman named Gertrude Gillis "Gerty" and had children.

His first house was a small place just on the Bras D'Or corner, where he made the front room into a barbershop and that is where he cut hair till he built a new home next door.

That gave him room to expand his barbershop and make it a little bigger.

Well it was time for my first hair cut. I was a little scared but he made you feel comfortable, jigging a few French tunes, as he had a French accent. I remember the big leather chair with all the silver rails and footpads.

There was a man from down north getting his haircut as he had a Scotch brogue to him. The man said, "Thanks now Remy boy and I'll be seeing you the next time I'm coming through. Rory don't forget the rabbits". "Sure won't", replied Remy. And he left.

I was next to get my haircut. Daddy was sitting by me and I was holding on his arm. Remy said, "Hello Darby and who do we have here".

"This is my son Dennis".
"Well now, come here Dinnie and we'll give you a little trim. You can sit in the big chair since it's your first hair cut".

Boy I sure felt important sitting up so high and looking out the window. I could see everyone passing by.

Remy started with the hand clippers and you could see the hair fall on the floor. You'd swear he was shearing a sheep. I didn't think I had so much hair. I was sure comfortable and anxious to see the outcome.

While Remy was Cutting my hair he was jigging a tune. Ta dittle da de dum, ta da dittle da de dum, ta da diddle diddle diddle dittle dittle da de dum. It was a nice jig.

I found out later it was the tune called "The Old Man And The Old Woman".

Dominique Boudreau used to hum that tune and I asked him what it was and he told me. I never forgot it and when I went back for a haircut I used to ask him to jig it for me.

Remy was still cutting my hair and I had the quarter in my hand, all sweat, waiting to pay him after all it was my first paid haircut.

Then he put some Booster Cologne on me and I smelt as fresh as a daisy. Daddy took me down to Art Dicks and got me an Oh Henry Bar and a bottle of Iron Brew.

I was sure getting the treatment today. When I was walking home with Daddy I was thinking of Remy and I was jigging the tune that stuck in my mind and Daddy was looking at me and had a smile on his face.

Thinking back to Remy, he had a smaller chair, which I got to use at a later date and it used to wind up to the height he wanted to cut your hair.

I got to know Remy over the years. His wife Gerty was a very nice lady and they had four daughters
1- Theresa (m.) Austin Reid from North Sydney;
2- Yvonne (m.) Lawrence Laidlaw "Sonny" from Sydney Mines;
3- Ellen (m.) Dave MacKeigan son of Murdock MacKeigan b. 30/4/1902 and Gertrude from Florence.
Dave's sister Sandra is married to a good buddy of mine Elmer Charles Roper b. 20/5/1938, Sydney Mines s/o Elmer Roper Sr. and Freda May Crowther Roper from Sydney Mines.
4- Emma (m.) Eddy Reashore form Mill Creek. Eddy is my father's first cousin. His father Frank and my grandmother Maude (m.) James Jessome was brother and sister.

When I got a little older and little beaver hair cut was on the go, I wanted a little beaver haircut.

So Lawrence Carey, Uncle Jo-Jo's and Aunt Dorothy (Long) son and I went up too get one.

Remy didn't mind and said, "Sure, get in the chair. I'll make you look like little beavers".
I think it was the worst thing Larncie and I did in our lives. When we got home everyone laughed at us but that wasn't too bad.

When we played Cowboys and Indians with Sonny Carey, Uncle Louis and Aunt Sadie (Pentz) Carey's son and Irwin Baptist we were the underdogs and we were always getting conked on the head with their guns and shot dead all the time. That was it for the beaver cut.

Remy always had fresh rabbits, deer meat, eels and what have you from people that came in from down North and Margaree.

Remy's wife Gerty was a Gillis from Margaree. Remy would sell some of the rabbits and give some away to different people of the area.

Mama used to get some of his rabbits for her rabbit pie at Christmas. She'd always save him a piece.

All in all Remy was our Barber in Bras D'Or for forty-seven years and cut a lot of hair in that time.

People from all over Cape Breton knew Remy. Emma and Eddy Reashore reside in their family home and the little barbershop is still standing there on the corner where I got my first haircut. Eddy has it as a workshop now.

But the Memory of Remy will always be with me.

Thanks Remy, Gerty and family for the wonderful memories.

These pages were created by Lark Szick
© Copyright All Rights Reserved. Jan. 2007.

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