Big Jim MacLellan, 92, remembered as six-decade pillar of Men of the Deeps
Big Jim MacLellan, from Glace Bay, N.S., was a coal-miner-turned-mine manager best known for his six-decade involvement with The Men of the Deeps choir. The 92-year-old died Friday and is being remembered for the monologues he delivered about the lives of Cape Breton miners and their communities.
MacLellan retired from the group this year, but continued to play shows with them as recently as September
Richard Woodbury · CBC News
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On his first day of working in a coal mine, 17-year-old James (Big Jim) MacLellan faced an obstacle.
Given MacLellan's six-foot-five-inch frame, his supervisor made an observation.
"The first thing we have to figure out is how the hell we're going to get you in there," the supervisor said.
MacLellan, from Glace Bay, N.S., was a coal-miner-turned-mine manager best known for his six-decade involvement with The Men of the Deeps, the famed men's chorus made up of miners.
MacLellan's height made him stand out on stage, but it was the monologues he delivered talking about the lives of coal miners and their communities that people remembered.
"Everybody in the audience was either crying from laughing so hard or crying from being emotional because he had an excellent way of crafting the whole thing," said Jenn Sheppard, who is writing a book about the group's history.
MacLellan, 92, died Friday.
He was a founding member of the group, and although he officially retired from The Men of the Deeps earlier this year, he was still performing shows with them as late as September. He was the last original member to perform with the group, but is not the last surviving original member.
MacLellan, centre, is shown in a photo from his early days with The Men of the Deeps. (CBC)
"He loved it. He loved the camaraderie, spending time with the guys and interacting with the audience … it meant a lot to him," said Jim MacLellan, one of MacLellan's six children. He said he was known as Little Jim because he was only six-foot-two.
While being a member of The Men of the Deeps took MacLellan across Canada and to parts of the U.S. for shows, his son thinks the joy he derived was equally from the messages he shared about the lives of coal miners.
These included the dangers of the occupation, the teamwork needed to carry out the work, as well as the partnerships on the domestic front where the men worked underground while their spouses managed the lives of the families above ground.
"I think that was the enduring part of being part of the group, was to spread that word and to keep that alive across the country," said Jim MacLellan.
Growing up, he remembers his father rehearsing at home for shows.
MacLellan is shown giving one of his famous monologues during a 2025 show. (CBC)
"We often tormented him that, you know, he would practise singing at home on Sunday afternoon before going to the concert and all the windows were open … as kids of seven, eight years old, we were thoroughly embarrassed," he said.
"You know, your father singing, big baritone voice, belting out the window in the kitchen, right."
While MacLellan joined the group in 1966, he took about a decade off in the mid-1970s to mid-1980s because of his work as a mine manager.
When MacLellan died Friday, The Men of the Deeps was playing a show.
"The fellas were all singing at that same time that Jim passed away and it just seems a bit surreal that it went down that way, but I guess it was meant to be," said choir director Stephen Muise.
60th anniversary
The timing was made all the more remarkable by the fact The Men of the Deeps is performing Sunday in Glace Bay. Today's date marks 60 years to the day of the group's first show — and it's even at the same venue, the Savoy Theatre.
Sheppard said she spent hours interviewing MacLellan about the group's history.
"I think of all the access that he gave us to some ghosts from the past," she said. "You know, we have connections with The Men of the Deeps for years now. And a lot of those guys are gone. And Jim was our last link to a lot of them."
'As sharp as ever'
Even in his later years with the group, MacLellan still performed the monologues.
"He was as sharp as ever," said Muise. "He would tell his stories. He probably had about 100 coal mining stories in his brain and could recount them whenever you needed them."
There are many recordings of shows by The Men of the Deeps. Included on them are MacLellan's monologues, so his legacy lives on.
"Even though we don’t have Jim anymore, we've got those stories," said Muise. "We got them recorded and people can listen to Jim’s stories forever."
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Woodbury is a journalist with CBC Nova Scotia. He can be reached at richard.woodbury@cbc.ca.
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