Stories from Stones
A curious pyramid towers over Monument Island's trees in Lake St. Francis. This oldest and biggest cairn in North America remains a notable monument to the 1837 Rebellion.
Glengarry Highlanders who terrified the rebels on the U.S. shore were given a make-work project of building a cairn which they dedicated to their commander, Sir John Colborne. Such cairns float us into the flow of history.
For millennia people have piled rocks on eventful places. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land each tribe picked up a rock from the river bottom to pile on the shore. They did this so their children would remember. Today our Ontario cairns continue the pattern set by the megalithic structures built by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples. Daily life may have changed but the need for a place in eternity has not.
The book is organized geographically with a map to show locations of 27 cairns. Historical research, the foundation for each cairn's story, makes people and events a living part of our heritage.
As well as being the aunt to enthusiastic nieces and nephews, Marion Heath holds a BA in English from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and a MRE from Union Seminary in New York City. She has written "The Competition In Russia" for Alberta Grade 9 Studies, and various articles on cairns and monuments.
BOOK LAUNCH SIGNINGS 2003
- Thursday, November 13th from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 48th Highlanders Museum, in St. Andrew's Church, 73 Simcoe Street, Toronto
- Saturday, November 22nd from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at The Glengarry Bookstore, Main Street, Alexandria, Ontario. At 2:15 p.m. the author will give readings and background information.
- Saturday, November 29th from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Goderich Main Library, Goderich.
- Saturday, December 6th from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at Kitchener Main Library, 85 Queen Street N., Kitchener, Ontario.
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