Quote:
Originally Posted by TorontoDrew
Do you know why? I do. I learned it on a Horse Drawn tour of the old city by a very gassy horse on a very hot day. According to our guide who was knowledgeable on some things and way off on others like Gouin Boulevard being the longest street in the world.
He said that back when Montreal was becoming a major port Briton was the largest trading nation, when they would come to North America they would use stones from Scotland as ballast in their empty ships for balance crossing the ocean. They would offload them here before returning with timber and pelts. That's why the older cities along the North Eastern coast of North America have more buildings that look like those in their heritage stock. The Scottish stone was used for construction.
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My understanding was always that the ballast stones were the granite setts that were used as pavers.
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