The Collaboration
A man fires a bullet and a mother is dead
Surrounded by her children, just the little ones in bed
With the rosary passing her lips
Through the window, from a distance, it was the perfect hit.
Mary Ann how did it come to this
One wild man with moonshine on his lips
Set his sights on your eldest girl
He wouldn’t take no, then he took your whole world
Mary Ann…
A bully in a small, small town
When he hurt your daughter you don’t stand down
Charged him then he’s out on bail
You would’ve stayed safe if they’d kept him in jail
Mary Ann…
And all along the cove
Everybody knows
And everybody’s tied together
11 children on their own
Left to find their way back home
Back to the farm at Little Harbour
Mary Ann…
Life was never easy for you
You always found a way to make it through
You read your books and write your poems
Married for love and made love your home
And they can’t take that from you
Cause it’s love that carries
through
And it’s love that ties us all
together
11 children on their own
They all found their way back
home
Back to the farm at Little Harbour
Mary Ann…
Catherine MacLellan, 2025
Patricia MacAulay, 2025
When we have a public remembrance for someone, we offer aspects of that person to others. For me, learning about Mary Ann has given me a resolve to stand up against threats, harassment, assaults – every form of violence. Sharing this song provides an opportunity for others to find some meaning for themselves while showing respect to Mary Ann and her surviving family members.
How many young women on this Island have returned home after an assault and have told no one? Or, if they do share their experience with others, they are advised to be quiet to stay safe, protect their “reputation”, or keep the peace. Our mistaken belief in the safety of girls and women on PEI has been purchased by their silence.
This project was made possible through support from the Gender Based Violence Arts Grant Program offered by the Inter-Ministerial Women’s Secretariat and Innovation PEI as part of the National Action Plan to End Gender Based Violence.
I was deeply honoured to be asked to write a song for Mary Ann MacKinnon. In writing this song, I wanted to share her story as a way to honour her and to remind people of the long lasting and wide reaching impact of violence against women. Mary Ann was a single mom with eleven children. This story continues to unfold today despite it happening over 75 years ago. Her children deserve her name to be heard, her life to be remembered. Women are so often silenced, but Mary Ann refused to be.