Teacher Joseph's Sound Archive
Audio, video and spoken communication.
Part 12 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil and Esther encounter a mysterious masked horseman whose appearance is linked to local stories of death. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, superstition, mystery, and belonging.
As Neil and Esther got ready to leave the cemetery, they both heard a noise. Looking towards the road, they heard a horse galloping, its hooves thumping against the ground. In the distance, they could make out a figure dressed in black, riding a black horse that was drawing ever closer.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (12): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1228)”Part 11 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Esther helps Neil uncover Maggie’s final months and the hidden grave marked by a pebble. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, grief, and belonging.
Esther and Neil playfully sat on the ground on a summer’s day. “Oh, my mother’s the same, Neil,” muttered Esther with a deep sigh. “Even the mention of the Catholic Church can throw her into a rage. I think it was a Lowland Scotland thing. Around Glasgow it became much worse because of Irish immigration. My mother’s family came from Kilbirnie, but my father’s people were from Skye, and they never seemed to carry the same bitterness.”
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (11): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1225)”Part 10 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil confronts three silences around grief, religion, and the Keating threat. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
After feeling more settled because of the café visit, Neil was thinking of ways he could help the family move on from the death of Thomas’s sister Maggie. Thomas clearly couldn’t speak of her except when he was upset and the rest of the family seemed to have forgotten her, but it was simply their way of grieving.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (10): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1223)”Part 9 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil visits town, meets Mrs Brant, and begins to feel that Canada might become home. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
The frost had lifted a little by the time Robert said,
“You’d best come with me to town today, lad.”
Part 8 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. A dead deer and a warning at the door expose danger around Thomas and the Keating conflict. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
The morning began with a strange sound.
It was not the stove, or the wind, or birds.
It was something heavy, bumping against the front door.
Part 7 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil struggles to write home, receives Esther’s help, and learns the wound behind Thomas’s anger. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
News of Joseph Brisco’s departure rippled through the settlement like a thawing stream. By the month’s end, he would sail east across the Atlantic, returning to Scotland on family business. He had agreed to carry letters for anyone who wished to send word home, and the announcement stirred the community.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (7): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1113 )”Part 6 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil attends the Gaelic kirk and sees faith, language, and community binding the emigrants together. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
Sunday broke with a sharper cold than the day before, a frost that glittered over every fence post and pine bough. Neil woke to the sound of voices moving quietly in the kitchen, the muted clatter of crockery, and Agnes’s low tones urging the children into their best clothes. By the time he came down, the house was alive with the preparations of Sabbath.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (6): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1110 )”Part 5 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil hears Gaelic again, meets the MacLeods, and begins to feel the pull of shared heritage. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
Saturday came with a softer light, a pale sun hanging low over the snowy fields. The usual rhythm of boots on floorboards and tools clattering was absent; instead, the household moved with an easy quiet. Agnes set bread to warm on the hearth, and Robert announced, over the steaming mugs of morning tea, that there would be no work today.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (5): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1106)”Part 4 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil begins farm work, senses the family’s grief, and takes his first steps toward writing. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
The small back room smelled faintly of pine boards and woodsmoke. Its single window was frosted at the edges, letting in only a sliver of moonlight. A narrow bed, a wooden chair, and a shelf were all it held, but after the ship’s hard benches and the cold hall in Halifax, it felt like his own corner of the world.
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (4): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1104)”Part 3 of Neil McTaggart’s Crossing. Neil reaches Robert Jefferey’s farm and meets the family who will shape his new life. A historical fiction audio story about Scottish emigration, Canada, family, and belonging.
Part 3: The Road to Halton Hills
Continue reading “Neil McTaggart’s Crossing (3): A Story of 1920s Scottish Emigration to Canada (Podcast 1101)”