A Cock n’ Bull story

After 44 years, a historic downtown
dive closes its doors

HOME AWAY FROM HOME:
Cock n’ Bull barflies get their suds in while they can

by ROXANE HUDON

“It’s a home away from home, no matter where you’re from. If you’re here, you’re home,” says Tony Webb, cradling a glass of cheap beer and sitting at the same coin-encrusted bar he’s been sitting at for the past 40 years.

Under a barn-like red roof shining like a beacon of greatness amid a whole lot of downtown crap, Webb is not the only one in this city who’s started a day, ended a night, drank some Keith’s, spilt the rest and yelled at the jukebox at the Cock n’ Bull.

Opened in 1966 by Peter Barry, the bar’s business started going sour after a couple of decades, until a little lady named Ellen McCann took over in 1989. Since then, it’s been her family serving you drinks, keeping you in line and making the Cock n’ Bull the relic that it is today.

“I’ve been tending bar for 20 years in between my four children. I even broke water with my last baby here,” says the owner’s daughter, Missy McCann, sitting across from her husband and the bar’s manager, Christopher Beeker.

August 31 will mark the end of an era for this family-owned and run wonder of a bar.

On that day, the McCanns lose the place they’ve called home for the last two decades when Peter Sergakis, one of Montreal’s biggest bar owners and proprietor of such gems as the shit-hole sports bar across the street, takes over the lease.

For regulars like Webb, the bar might as well be closing.

“It’s not these four walls. It’s the people that make this place,” says Ann Meldrum, who’s been on staff for seven years.

A regular customer since 1994, Michel Masson tries to tell me the same thing. His friend who gives me his “artist name” of “BenArt” often interrupts with a slur customary of only the greatest Cock n’ Bull conversations.

“I know everybody here, I’m very respected. I’ve never had any problems. If I did, the people would be banned from the bar,” says Masson, who held his long-term boyfriend’s wake at the Cock n’ Bull. “I’ll never come back here, it won’t be the same.”

As the oldest surviving customer and the artist responsible for most of the drawings in the bar, Webb thinks the spirit will get lost. “But the memories of this place: ‘Oh My!’” he exclaims.

BEACON OF GREATNESS:
The space will remain, but regulars won’t return

Guns, girls and heart attacks

If these walls could talk, they wouldn’t have better stories than the people here.

“This was the best armed pub in the entire British Empire!” exclaims Webb, describing how guns used to hang from every wall back in the early days.

Missy McCann tells me how she once lent a guy $20 to buy a girl a drink. He came back a year later, gave her back the money and introduced her to his fiancée. “One guy even lost his ear here once, but we saved it for him. Maybe you don’t wanna print that one,” she laughs.

“I once had a heart attack on the stage. I was back here the next day,” says BenArt, who also specifies that he’s “not old, but just has a lot of experience.”

For many of these people, they’re not just losing a bar, but a community: the ultimate Cock n’ Bull story.

“It’s a huge chunk of my life working here. I always thought it would never be over. It’s one of those things that are always there, you kinda take it for granted,” says McCann.

Still, the family is looking forward, to a new story and a new bar.

“We’re trying to find our new place, we have a place in mind. As soon as we get it, we’re gonna tell everyone where we are,” says McCann, hoping the new bar will have the same luck as the Cock n’ Bull.

This weekend, they’re throwing a final farewell party to “Ye Olde Cock n’ Bull.” Masson and Webb will be at their regular spots, swapping stories. Missy will be asking you with her usual warmth: “What can I get ya?” The old busboy Tony will be limping about, winking at the ladies and picking up your dirty pitchers. Ellen McCann will be making sure everybody is comfortable and safe, just as she has for the past 20 years. I’ll be yelling in a corner, and at the end of the night, we’ll all meet at the bar.

FAREWELL TO YE OLDE COCK N’ BULL:
THE GOODBYE PARTY, FEAT. PERFORMANCE
BY THE SHAKES, DRINK
SPECIALS, 1944 STE-CATHERINE W.,
SATURDAY, AUG. 22, 7 P.M.