Names

Where do all the names come from? My father and mother were humble farmers of land that was rocky and boggy at best. Yet they raised six children before, during and after the Great Depression through iron persistence and hard work, undoubted traits of Scottish Presbyterians.

Both my parents went to elementary shool but no farther, so it is ironic that they met at a book club, one of the social events where guys could meet girls. Married in 1912, they created six children, Ray, George, Dorothy, Madeline, Enid, and after a gap of seven years, me.

And where did the names come from? George is easy, since his great grandfather George brought it all over the ocean from Scotland. The name Ray is problematic, as is Dorothy, Madeline and Enid, fairly unusual names that makes me think that they could have come from novels --remember that book club?

But my name trumps them all: Clare for a boy! I can only think that it was the Irish "Clare" they had in mind, since my grandmother Rebecca McQuade was Irish and she might have had something to do with it.

I have met several male Clares in my life and at one time there were two other Clare Hendersons living in Oakville. We used to get each others' telephone calls --who would think there might be more than one person in town with that name!