Vic Marcus, one of the original members of the Irish Rovers, retired in 2001 and
has lived in Port Perry since that time.
Photo by Jonathan van Bilsen

Above verse are the opening words to “The Unicorn”, one of Ireland’s best loved folk songs, made famous by Canada’s own Irish Rovers, one of the founders of which lives right in our own back yard.
Vic Marcus, a long-time resident of Port Perry, was born in Ballymena, in Northern Ireland. When he was eighteen he decided it was time to seek out a new life in a faraway place. His aunt and uncle were immigrating to Canada and it seemed like a great opportunity for the young Ulsterman to tag along.
Once in Toronto Vic went his own way. He was immediately hired as a farm hand near Malton, but after nine months he drifted to Toronto to work as a car upholsterer. As with many Celts a trip to the local Legion, on a Saturday night, was not an uncommon outing and one day in 1963, Vic found himself at the Legion in the Beaches enjoying a pint of Guinness.
He met two lads from his homeland; George Millar also from Ballymena, and Jimmy Ferguson of Belfast and immediately connected. The three of them began sharing stories of ‘days gone by’.
It was not long until the three, no doubt assisted by the drink, began singing folk songs from their native Ireland. They sounded quite good and through the use of typical Irish luck they were overheard by the organizer of the Legion’s upcoming variety concert, who insisted they perform as part of the show.
They had two weeks to rehearse and used the basement of George’s parents’ house in New Toronto. Vic was the only one with a car so he had to pick Jimmy up in the beaches and drive across the city. George played guitar and Jimmy and Vic sang. Their first tune was to be the old Irish ballad, ‘The Irish Rover’, the song from which they took their name.
The day of the variety concert arrived and the boys did a great job. The organizers were so taken by their talent they decided to book them again. From there the trio played several gigs, mostly in coffee houses around the Yonge/Eglinton area and, of course, Yorkville.
George’s cousin, Joe Millar, decided to also make the move from Ballymena to Toronto and joined the group with his button-key accordion. Vic was also an accomplished accordion player, but it wasn’t until Joe arrived that they decided an accordion would enhance the sound.
The venues began to improve with a two week stint at the Poor Alex and as part of a Shriner’s convention at the Inn on the Park. “Those were two of the wildest days of my life,” Vic explained, chuckling as he reminisced. “I never wanted to hear that song, ‘The Rover’ again, but it was the only song they wanted to hear. In fact, they had us parading up and down the halls singing at the top of our lungs.”
Soon after that, Wilcil McDowell, a friend of the boys came over from the homeland and joined the group. Wilcil played the piano-keyed accordion and now the group was making real music. Things began to change and Vic was becoming tired and disillusioned with the future of the group.
George’s brother Will moved to Vancouver and suggested the band join him on the west coast. Somehow, through inexperience on the part of the members, Will arranged the contracts and ended up owning 75 percent of all revenue. Shortly thereafter the group recorded ‘The Unicorn’ at the Purple Onion in San Francisco and the rest is history.
Vic’s wife Mary, had no interest moving to Vancouver, so it was an easy decision after he had a major falling out with the group, to leave the band. There has been little contact since that day in 1964.
Despite his having been one of the first three members of the Irish Rovers, history has not been kind. A quick search on internet for the Irish Rovers quickly reveals that Vic’s name has been exluded. There is no mention of him as being one of the founding members.
But life goes on!
Vic went on to work with the Toronto Port Authority’s police force and in 1982 moved to “Metro’s Finest”. In 2001 he retired from the Police Force and he and his wife made their home in Port Perry. “I often wonder how my life would have been, if I had stayed with the boys, but I have no regrets of the route that I took. I had a very rewarding career and extremely fond memories of the origin and early days of the Irish Rovers.”
By Jonathan van Bilsen
Focus on Scugog