My husband's grandmother, Bessie Earle Smith, was from Twillingate Island, Newfoundland. This island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, was originally called Toulinguet by the French in the 1600s. Over time the name changed to Twillingate from years of use by English settlers.
Bessie was born in 1902 and lived in Durrell, a community adjacent to Twillingate, the largest town on Twillingate Island. During Bessie's life on Twillingate, people travelled by boat to the main island of Newfoundland.
Bessie told a story about an elderly gentleman in Twillingate hearing about autos coming to the island of Newfoundland. The man listened with interest, thinking about when they would get to his little island.
Finally he said, "I 'ope dat don't 'appen very soon, my dear. It'll only be someting else ta git in da garden 'n' eat da cabbages."
As it was, Twillingate Island was not connected to the rest of Newfoundland by a causeway until 1973. The old gentleman need never have worried. By that time, they had found a way to keep autos out of the cabbages.
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