Canada - Niagara on the Lake

By David Ellis

With the Americans lobbying cannon balls about them and the British and Canadian protectors of the besieged village of Newark in Ontario answering back with their own cannon and carbine, Captain Colin Swayze of the Canadian Militia decided it was no time for retreat, but one for red-blooded action.

So he went to the pub.

And there he engaged in one last passionate fling with his lady-love, the beautiful barmaid Euretta, before insisting she flee lest the Americans sack the place; he remained, fighting hand-to-hand and dying heroically of bayonette wounds in the cellar of the Harmonious Coach House Inn as the retreating Americans fired the Inn and most of Newark (which was later rebuilt and re-named Niagara on the Lake.)

But while Captain Swayze may have died in May 1813, his legacy and that of his militia mates lives on in the-now Olde Angel Inn that was built in 1816 over the remains of the Harmonious Coach House, and is today Ontario's oldest-operating inn.

For Captain Swayze and some of his comrades appear never to have really left the site of their favourite watering-hole: guests over the years have sworn to seeing apparitions resembling the red-coated Captain passing through the Inn’s bar, outside the cellar and in upstairs rooms… and some have signed affidavits of hearing the sounds of fife and drums and marching feet in darkened courtyards, boisterous male laughter long after the Inn has emptied for the night, and the clinking of glasses in the Inn’s vacant ‘snug.’

Others have testified to seeing chairs propelling themselves across the room, and one of the Inn’s owners tells of “hearing a terrible thrashing in the corridor outside my room,” and on opening the door “finding the darkened corridor empty but for a heavy horseshoe I’d nailed to a post, ripped down and laying on the floor 6-metres away…”

And ladies using the powder room that’s next to the cellar in which Captain Swayze died, swear to seeing a red-coated man in the mirror, but on turning finding the room empty but for themselves…

And there’s a further fascinating mystery: legend has it that so long as the British Union Jack flies over the front door of The Olde Angel Inn, no harm will come to it or its occupants.

Just a few years ago, a then (foolhardy?) inn-keeper decided that legend or no legend, it was time to raise the Canadian flag over the front door, not Britain’s Union Jack.

No sooner had he done so, than the beer pipes from the cellar to the bar’s taps suddenly stopped flowing, leaving thirsty customers looking on a-gape.

Then when the Union Jack was hurriedly hauled back to its rightful place, the beer miraculously flowed freely once more…

The Olde Angel Inn is a delightful retreat in which to hear such ghostly yarns first-hand, and to tackle English and Irish-style pub foods of fish and chips, bangers and mash, and a grand steak, Guinness and onion pie.

Or in the Inn’s restaurant, traditional crab cakes, bacon-wrapped scallops, slow-roast prime rib, grilled salmon and pasta dishes.

It’s all a long way from Captain Swayze’s days: troops and weary coach travellers then would front up to set fourteen course meals including fried pork belly, salted salmon, stewed chicken, boiled beef, pigs cheeks, boiled potatoes, a half-dozen seasonal vegies, home-baked breads, tarts, cakes and puddings.

Or Captain Swayze’s favourite at the time, St George’s Dragon Pie. This heartburner that drew him time and again to the Inn and the arms of the beautiful Euretta, consisted of curried chicken, cream, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, onions, celery, parsnips and coriander under a 5cm thick crust of golden pastry…

If you’re heading to Niagara Falls do yourself a favour and have a few days at picturesque Niagara on the Lake (dubbed The Prettiest Town in Ontario,) and stay at the boutique Olde Angel Inn with its delightfully-named Captain’s, Sweethearts’ and Governor’s Rooms, or the Swayze and Courthouse Cottages.

Book through Canada & Alaska Holiday Specialists on 1300 79 49 59; the Niagara on the Lake Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Centre has plenty of information about things to do and see. Check them out on www.niagaraonthelake.com