Cape Breton's Magazine

stories about Buried Treasure Alex Dan MacKinnon Margaret Brown Robert Fitzgerald Angus Dan MacKinnon, Bay St. Lawrence: Peo? ple used to talk about treasure all the time. Every night they'd be talking about it, you know, when they'd get together. They planned on going up and trying to find it, dig it up. There was supposed to be pirate money. And Alex E. Fraser from the lowlands, he found full of a kettle on top of a bank at Cape St. Lawrence. The bank was going, giving away. And he was down there one day, and he ran across this dish full of gold • an old kettle. It was right full. But he was keeping it to himself. And he was going to move down with one of his relatives to Meat Cove. And he turned to work, one night he left his relative's place in the middle of the night; he went up to his old home and he hid it outside so no one would find it • and I don't think anyone ever found it yet. He died and he never did a thing with it • just hid it in the woods somewheres. His wife, Maisie Fraser, she was going to give it to my brother, the fellow that lives in Sugar Loaf • and she was a cripple. She told him, you come and take me up to the old place and you'll be all right the rest of your days. But he was too young himself then and she was crippled • and he never took her up. Finally sh,e passed away. No one knows exactly where it's at. And years later we'd be talking about going up, searching for it, to find it. And at Sailor Brook • there's 12 people bur? ied there. My grandfather buried them, Sandy MacKinnon. Him and old Archie MacKinnon • they wrapped them up in canvas that was a- board of the boat, and they buried them there. I know where the graves are at; I can walk right to it. There's supposed to have been gold coins aboard of the boat. Went right in between the Big Brook and Sailor's Brook. That's why they call it Sailor's Cove. (Did they bury them with money belts on?) The old people believed they wouldn't do a thing like take the mon? ey belts off, in case the head fellow would come back and kill them. So they'd put the money right in with the ones that were dead. Me and my uncle were going to dig it one time. We used to fish near there. But we never got around to do it. Be nothing to bother us. The old pirate time is up • you know what I mean? After 100 years, anybody wants to go and get it can get it. That's what they'd be talking • the old people. But I don't think anyone would bother you any time. I saw a bunch of them digging for the gold at Paulie's shore, you know. The marks are there for it but no one ever found it. And my wife's father was with them. It was just coming dark when they started to dig where they thought the money was. When they looked over down the top of the bank, they saw a fellow coming up with a suit of oilclothes on him. And they took for it • and left ev? erything. I guess it was someone trying to scare them. Or it could be the ghost of the fellow left the money there. I don't know. I wouldn't say it was and I wouldn't say it wasn't. If that was pirate money was there, that's the way they used'to do it. The fath? er maybe'd kill the two sons. He'd bury the gold and perhaps shoot the two sons right there where the gold was • the old pirate money--and he'd tell them when he'd shoot them, "You watch this." The old.people • I couldn't put it to you the way they had it • Cape Breton's Magazine/9