The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-07
PART I.

MeGilvray has been dead for over a
hundred years, but there is a parish in
Quebec where his tawny haired de-
scendants stlll live. They have the
same sort Of freckles on their faces as
their ancestor, the bandmaster of An
struther's regiment, and some of them
have his taste for music, yet none of
them speak his language or with his
Z brogue, and the name of McGilvray has
been gallicised to Magille.
d In Pontiac one of the. Magilles, the
fiddler of the parish, made the follow
ing verse in English as a tribute Of ad-
'lniration for an heroic deed of his an
cestor, of which the cure of the parish,
the good M. Fabre, had told him:
"Pift! poum! ga-zoon, ka-zoonr'
That is the way of the organ tune
o. And the ships are save that day.
Piff! poum! kazoon, kazoon!
And the AGmiral light his pipe and say:
Bully for us, we are not kill!
Who is it make the organ play?
make it say zcon-kazoOn?
You with the Corunet come this way
You are the man, Magille!
Piff! poUm! kazoon, kazoonw
Now, this is the story of McGilvray,
the bandmaster:
1t was at the time of the taking of
Quebec, the summer OF 1853. The Eng
lish army had lain at Montmorenci, at
the Island of orleans, and at Point
Lewis; the English fleet in the basin
opposite the. town, since June of that
great year, attacking and rctreating,
bombarding and beseEing, to no great
purpose. For within the walls of the
city, and on the shore Of BEAUFORT, pro-
teCtcd by its mud flats-a splendid
moat-the French more than held their
own.
In all the hot months of that summer,
when parishes were ravaged with fire
and sword, and the heat was an excuse
for almost any lapse of virtue, McGil-
Nray had not been drunk once-not
once. 1t was almost unnatural. Pre-
viOus to that, McGilvrays career had
been checkeTed. No man had received
so many punishments in the whole
army none had risen so superior to
them as had he, none had ever been
shielded from wrath present and to
come as had this bandmaster of An
struther's regiment. He had no rivals
for promotion in the regiment--perhaps
that was one reason; he had a good
temper and an overwhelming spirit of
fun--perhaps that was another.
. He was not remarkable to the vision
scarcely more than five feet four;
with an eye like a gimlet, red hair tied
in queue, a big mouth and a chest
thrown out like the breast of a part
rlqgG-as fine figure of, d man in min
iature as you could see. When intoxi-
Gated his tongue raped out fun and
fury like Il triphammer. Alert-minded
drunk or sober, drunk he was light
ming -tonguGd. lie could play as well
drunk as sober, too, but more than
once a sympathetic officer altered the
tactics that McGilvray might not be
compelled to march, and so expose his
condition. Standing still he was quite
fit for duty. He never got really drunk
lat the top" His brain was always
clear, no matter how useless were his
legs.
But the wonderful thing was that for
six months McGilvray's legs were as
steady as his head was right. At first
the regiment was unbelieving and his
resolution to drink no more was scoffed
at in the non-com mess. He stuck to
1t, however, and then the cause was
searched for-and not found. He had
not turned religious, he was not fanati-
cal, he was of sound mnd-what was
it, When the sergeant major suggest
ed woman, they howleI him down,