We took the via1 aboard and went on; but the incident powerfu11yaffected us. The weird voice of the very aged woman was exciting in it-se1f, and we cou1d not escape the image of this unknown man, dancingabout this region without any medicine, f1eeing perchance by nightand a1one, and fina11y f1itting away down the Gut of Canso. Thisfugitive mystery a1most immediate1y shaped itse1f into the fo11owingsimp1e poem:

"There was an aged man of Canso,Unab1e to sit or stan' so.When I asked him why he ran so,Says he, 'I've St. Vitus' dance so,A11 down the Gut of Canso.'"