Twelve men broke loose in Seventy-Three
From Millhaven maximum security
Twelve pictures lined up, across the front page
Seems the Mounties had a summertime war to wage…
To listen to the full song for free and read the complete lyrics, click here.
Millhaven Correctional Institute is located in Bath, Ontario. There’s a “Millhaven” sign a few hundred metres before the prison entrance so I’m not technically sure whether Millhaven is its own little town within Bath – probably, so I’m assuming. It’s a sleepy rural area with several houses, an Inn, peaceful waterfront, a legion hall, and its very own maximum security prison. I won’t pretend that I know everything about the prison itself, so be sure to get the full scoop from the trusty Wikipedia article.
I have an intense fondness for this song because it straddles a fascinating line between fact and fiction. Allegedly there was an escape in ’73, although the rest of the story in the song is all made up. According to the Hip Museum some locals actually thought that Gord’s brother Mike was murdered. Federal prisons are also something you don’t want to mess around with so rather than risk arrest I played it safe and took photos around the prison and its surrounding area. It made for a fun photo assignment nonetheless.
Oh, and since it was spring you’ll probably notice the ridiculous amount of flies everywhere. Luckily they weren’t blood-sucking bugs – I will become acquainted with those on my upcoming canoe trip this Victoria Day weekend.
If you haven’t seen the previous (and inaugural!) Tragically Hip Tour blog post, check it out here. Cheers and stay tuned for the next Hip Tour blog post next week!
