Did you hear the one about the pioneer who walked his dinner home?

That would be the first settler in the eastern part of Arran Township, David Chalmers, a bachelor and a bit wet behind the ears.

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It was back in 1851, before Arran was surveyed into farm lots. Historian Norman Robertson tells the story, quoting from a letter by Mr. Chalmers himself:

“In the month of May, 1851, three travellers left Owen Sound on a land hunt, intending to locate and settle as farmers in the township of Arran. The party consisted of David Butchart, a man of about forty years of age; James Roch, an importation from Dundee, Scotland; and myself, a lad of about twenty years of age.

“All three of us were practically green at bush work; on starting we took to the road carrying heavy loads of

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