A new life in Canada

The Gaels brought their language, their traditions and their unique culture from the Gàidhealtachd (Highlands) to Canada. Stories and songs were collected from people in the 20th century, proving that Canadian Gaels had a strong oral tradition.

Joe Neil MacNeil (Eòs Nìll Bhig) was able to tell many traditional stories. Joe was born in 1908 and brought up in Cape Breton, which had strong connections with Barra and South Uist. Stories collected from Joe were published in ‘Sgeul gu Latha’ (Tale of the Day) in 1987. Joe recounted stories about the Brahan Seer and Cù Chulainn: stories that came across the Atlantic with his ancestors.

The Gaels also took their traditional customs and work to Canada. They sang songs connected to their work, such as waulking songs, sung while ‘waulking’ cloth. 

The Gaels were particularly fond of poetry and songs and emigrants carried this tradition with them across to their new country. Some men and women who emigrated to Canada had composed songs and poetry when they lived in the Gàidhealtachd, and continued composing in their new home.

John MacLean (Iain MacIllEathain) or The Bard to the Laird of Coll / The Bard MacLean, as he was known, is one of the most famous bards. He was born in Tiree, Scotland, in 1787, and composed poetry for the Laird of Coll. John MacLean emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1819 and continued to compose Gàidhlig songs and poetry. Allan MacDonald (Ailean ‘An Ridge’ MacDhòmhnaill), who was born in Lochaber, emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1816.  

The Gaels also took their music and dances with them. In Cape Breton in particular, people are very fond of fiddle music and piping.

Winter in Canada

The weather in the Highlands and in the areas of Canada where the Gaels settled could be very different. Winter in Canada is much colder than winter in Scotland. Many Gàidhlig songs composed in Canada mention the weather!

Murdoch MacFarlane, the Mealbost Bard (Bàrd Mhealboist) from Lewis emigrated to Canada in the 1920s but returned to Lewis in 1932.

He said people needed to experience the coldness of winter in Canada before they could understand what it really felt like. He wrote that ice on lakes could be heard cracking as though it was tearing. The trees in the forest sounded as though they were cracking with the cold. Leather shoes were of no use as they wouldn’t stop your feet from freezing. Mittens had to be worn, so that your fingers kept each other warm. Feet and legs needed to be well covered.

MacFarlane composed the song ''S fhada leam an oidhche gheamhraidh’ (The Long Winters):

'The winter night seems so long to me -
long and long it seems to me,
and all I see is the empty prairies -
I can’t hear a single wave beating on the shore'

Thick winter clothing and a fire in the hearth were essential to keep warm. Another famous song, ‘O mo dhùthaich’ (Oh My Country), notes some of the differences between Scotland and Canada. Back in Scotland, people burned coal and peat; neither were available to Gaels in Canada:

The Country of Trees

The Canadian landscapes where the Gaels settled were very different from the Highlands. Some areas of Canada were covered in dense woods and forests so many immigrants had to fell trees to build houses and settlements.

In 1834, William Hendry wrote a letter home from Megantic County, Québec. Hendry was originally from the Isle of Arran. He explained that he hadn’t started felling trees yet but if his relatives were to visit he would make a start.

Hendry described how he was completely surrounded by trees and the only other thing he could see was the sky above him:

People of the First Nations

The Gaels who emigrated to Canada lived alongside the native peoples of the First Nations.

In Nova Scotia, evidence shows that the native Mi’kmaq people and the Gaels had an effect on one another. The Gaels picked up new words from the languages which surrounded them.

‘Òran nam Mogaisean’ (The Song of the Moccasins) was composed by Murchadh MacArtair, after he learned about moccasins from his Mi’kmaq neighbours in Newfoundland. Moccasins are leather shoes and the word ‘moccasin’ is a native word meaning ‘shoe’.  

There were French speakers and Nova Scotia and other people who spoke English and many other language spoken in Canada. Therefore in many of their songs, Gaels were saddened that they didn’t hear the Gàidhlig language as often as they did in the old country. Some also felt that their own Gàidhlig wasn’t as fluent as it had been when they lived in Scotland.  In the song ‘A’ Choille Ghruamach’ (the gloomy forest) the bàrd tells in the first verse “My Gaelic is not what it was, when I lived in the land across the sea”. 

The song ‘’S cian nan cian bho dh’fhàg mi Leòdhas’ (It is a time of long times since I left Lewis) is lamenting in the last verse that there are no ceilidhs where Gàidhlig songs are sung around an open peat fire to be found on the prairies of Canada. Prairie is another word which has entered the Gàidhlig language. It originates from French:  

There were new animals in Canada, some of which were very dangerous. Fow example, there were, and still are, bears in Canada. There are one or two Gaelic songs that paint a picture of their impact on communities. Allan ‘The Ridge’ MacDonald’s composed a song ‘Satire of a Bear’. A satire is a song or a poem which pokes fun at the subject.  Here is a small section of the song:

However employment opportunties arose in connection with some of the animals in Canada. There was a great demand for beaver fur in Europe which would be designed into hats and other articles of clothing.  Many Gaels earned money from hunting the beaver or from working in the beaver fur industry. 

Two companies were involved in this industry – Hudson Bay Company and North West Comapny. Alexander MacKenzie was the most famous Gael who worked in the industry. He was from the Isle of Lewis. He started working for North West Company in 1774 and one of his tasks was to navigate new trading routes throughout the country. 

MacKenzie was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean (1793) on the west side of the country, by travel overland across the country and not by sea. Alexander MacKenzie became a very rich man.

There was turmoil when Thomas Douglas Selkirk from the Hudson Bay Company gave land to Highlanders on the banks of the Red River in Manitoba from 1812. The land was right in the centre of the North West Company’s trading route. Gaels lived there alongside native americans and other nationals.

However one large company was established when the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company amalgamated in 1821. In The Desperate Journey by Kathleen Fidler, the Murray family settled at The Red River after they emigrated from Scotland. 

Photograph credits

The images used above are licensed under Creative Commons on Flickr by the following photographers: aaron.knox, LiamDC and Musée McCord Museum.