When we did some local sight seeing back in September (including The Corran), we also visited Bruce’s Caves, near Wiarton. The kids enjoyed scrambling over the rocks and Andrew and I enjoyed reading the plaque about the history of the caves.
The caves are named after Robert Bruce, a Scotsman born in the Orkney Islands who immigrated to Canada at the outbreak of the Crimean War. He purchased land from the Crown and built a shanty near the entrance to the caves. In the summers he worked at railway construction and during the hard winter months he boarded at the local jail . Later he bought the next lot and built a large house.
Apparently Robert Bruce was an eccentric figure. According to the plaque on the trail to the caves: “He was a tall, muscular man with blonde complexion and a full beard and moustache, soft spoken, and loved to tell stories. He smoked a mixture of forest leaves in a clay pipe. For clothing, he bought grey flannelette blankets with pink or blue stripes and had them made into loose fitting jackets and pants (with the striped running around the bottom). As the temperature got colder, he simply layered himself with clothing. He was always seen wearing a square bag-shaped hat made from a white flannelette sheet. Local tourists, with horses and buggies, that wished to see the caves, were charged a small fee by Bruce.”
It certainly would have been interesting to meet Robert Bruce, but even though he is no longer around (he died in 1908 at age 84), Bruce’s Caves are only a short walk from the parking lot and definitely worth a visit!
Sources
- Grey Sauble Conservation website
- Grey Sauble Conservation plaque
- Robert Bruce via BillionGraves