| Alex Muir, teacher, musician. |
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| Written by Richard Schofield |
| Wednesday, 18 February 2009 13:20 |
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"In the days of yore, from Britain's shore," Alexander Muir, and his father John emigrated to Canada. The quotation is from the opening line of the Maple Leaf Forever, a song that won Muir second prize in a heritage contest, $4 in royalties and a $30 printing bill from the Methodist book room on King Street, Toronto. It also earned him a place in Canadian history. John Muir had taught school in England and later, in Scotland, where he met Catherine McDermid, a widow whose inheritance enabled the family to settle in Canada. Muir's teaching salary was barely sufficient to make ends meet.  After arriving in York in 1833, John is said to have found employment at the L'Amoreaux, a small log school in northwestern Scarborough. He later switched to another log school on the Markham Road in school section number three. A superintendence report of 1850 describe the school as being 18 x 16 feet in size and in "bad" condition. Despite the poor facilities, John gave the children, including his sons John Jr. and Alexander floral education.Although some historians say Alexander once taught at his father's log school at Malvern, this cannot be verified, because old records have been lost. However, any such employment would have been briefed. Alexander was only a teenager when he entered Queen's University in 1847. Graduating in 1851, he returned to Scarborough to follow in his father's footsteps as a teacher. Alexander Muir's musical contributions to the Presbyterian Church in Scarborough formed the background for his literary and musical attainments. After a year or more at L'Amoreaux, where his father had begun his teaching career 20 years earlier, Alexander moved Ellesmere to teach. Presumably it was during that time he met Agnes Thompson, whose family's farm was nearby. The two married and Agnes bore two sons and a daughter before her death in 1865 the age of 28. Alexander continued to teach in Scarborough until 1862, moving from Ellesmere to Hough's corner and finally to Woburn. While at the Hough school, Muir is said to have kept a loaded shotgun and school issued pigeons as they flew over the school. Leaving his father and brother to teach in Scarborough, Alexander moved to Toronto in 1862 continued to teach and later became famous as the composer of the Maple Leaf Forever a patriotic song that won second prize in a contest marking Canada's Confederation in 1867. Muir's song remained well known for more than a century. It was a candidate for the national anthem, when the country was split between O'Canada, and God Save The Queen. (L'amoreaux developed mainly along Finch Avenue west of Birchmount Road and included most of the north west section of Scarborough between Sheppard and Steeles.) |
