[Granville-Hough] 27 Jul 2009 - Ole Sharp
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough-trust at oakapple.net
Sun Jul 30 19:08:28 PDT 2017
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:37:20 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Ole Sharp, My Collie Friend - 27 Jul 2009
The first dog of which I have a memory was Ole Sharp, a collie with
long hair, who was my dear companion in my pre-school days. Everybody
recognized that we had a special bond and he was my caretaker.
When I was two and one-half years old, my father and three older
brothers had laid by the crops and decided to go fishing on Cohay Creek,
where my parents had grown up and formerly lived. They loaded the wagon
for an overnight trip, but I was not yet fully-trained and house-broken;
so I could not join. Of course, our dog Sharp had to stay at home with
my mother and me, as the guard dog. (My mother was seven or eight
months pregnant with my next brother Clifford, who was born in August 1925.)
So Sharp and I decided we would go on our own fishing trip. I do
not know what path we took, but I have a distinct memory of Sharp
finding a depression in our boundary fence with Mr. Jim Meadows. This
place was a quarter mile from our house. Sharp went under the fence,
and of course I followed. This is all I remember, so the rest was
repeated to me by others.
Of course, my mother was quite anxious, but she knew she could not
contact my father and brothers who were by then finding a camp site
somewhere in Cohay Creek Swamp. She took some comfort in the fact that
Sharp had also disappeared. She told all the neighbors I had
disappeared with Sharp and asked for their help. During the remaining
daylight hours, they organized search parties but found no trace.
Early the next morning the black Vaughn Magee family heard a child
crying in the distance. They knew of our disappearance and went to
investigate. They found us in a briar patch about a half-mile from
home, but Ole Sharp would not allow anyone to get close. The Magee
family knew that Ole Sharp had formerly belonged to Mr. Jim Meadows and
would likely allow him to get us out of the Briar Patch. So they ran to
get him.
Mr. Meadows immediately went to the briar patch and took over, to
Sharp's great relief. but Mr. Meadows had forgotten to bring anything
to cover the debris of the day and night. So he got me out of the
briars, took off his shirt, and wrapped me in it, and took me home,
with Sharp following along dutifully but hungry.
So my mother had a baby to clean up and feed, a dog to water and
feed, and a shirt to wash, and a story to tell the fishing party when it
returned. I, too, had gone fishing.
Of course, Sharp and I had other adventures. We frequently shared
drinks of water. My mother collected rain water from the rooftop in
washtubs as it had no minerals and clothes became cleaner when washed in
that water. When the washtubs were full, Sharp would go by and lap up
all the water he needed. Then I would follow along and do the same. I
well remember how much better the washtub water tasted than the well water.
Now, collies are herding dogs, and Sharp could bring in the cows and
calves, but the mules resented his presence. We believe he got kicked
by one of the mules and he became psychotic about mules after that. He
behaved strangely. My father became afraid to have him around
children. We had to put him away, but to this day I could return to his
gravesite.
May God give every child who wants one a canine companion and
friend. Grampa
More information about the Granville-Hough
mailing list