Red Shoe Pub acquires piece of Rankin family's past

Until now, perhaps the oldest thing about the Red Shoe Pub in Mabou, N.S.,was the building itself, a former general store converted 13 years ago into a showplace and eatery by members of the famous Rankin Family musical group.

Now it can boast a bit of crafted heritage befitting the establishment's name.

A tiny pair of handmade leather baby boots once worn by the great-great-grandmother of the Rankin siblings has been donated to the pub to hold pride of place in the building's new wing.

The shoes are mounted behind glass with a photograph of an elderly Ann (Nancy) MacFarlane MacDonald Smith, for whom they were made in 1857 or 1858 by a shoemaker near Brook Village.

"They're kind of red because of the process the leather goes through in its being tanned," said Jim St. Clair, a Cape Breton historianand Nancy's great-nephew. He donated the shoes to the pub.

"They used to use various kinds of bark, heated, in order to tan the leather so it was soft."

Throughout her life, Nancy was known as a dancer, said the 88-year-old St. Clair. She lived until 1946.

"Even when that picture was taken," he said, pointing to the framed shoes, "she was still dancing on the floor of her kitchen, particularly when she was making tea. She loved to dance and she loved to sing."

The shoes were also worn by Nancy's younger sister for a time in the mid-19th century before being put away as mementos by her parents.

"They came out of my family's house (in Mull River) and they were kept there by members of my family all through these years because this woman was my grand-aunt," St. Clair said. "And so it seemed to my family that we should give them here as a celebration of the new building."

St. Clair will formally make a gift of the baby shoes later this summer when the Red Shoeofficially celebrates its expanded space.

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