Friday 14 September 2012, Judique, Nova Scotia
We got our whale watch in at 7.30 this morning in Cheticamp - saw a few pilot whales but mainly it was just nice to be out on the water early in the morning.
Lunch was at the Celtic Music Centre in Judique, an area that has produced more than it's fair share of fiddlers as well as singers and other musicians. It was a nice way to round off a musical tour for me: I'd seen Gordon Belsher & Richard Wood in Charlottetown, Sylvia LeLievere in Cheticamp and Kinnon Beaton here for the second time. I'm just fascinated by the way he holds the fiddle upside down and back to front.
We'd also spent a couple of days on the French Shore in New Brunswick, where,as the name suggests, the locals speak French. There are also French speaking communities in Nova Scotia (Cheticamp is one) but most are in New Brunswick. They are Acadians, descendants of the original French settlers in North America. The Acadians were forcibly removed from Nova Scotia by the British in 1755 during one of the many conflicts with France. Some ended up in Louisiana (a French colony at the time) and became known as Cajuns. Others either took to the woods in Nova Scotia or escaped across the Bay of Fundy or to Prince Edward Island.
Most just wanted to return to their homes in Nova Scotia. When the war between Britain & France ended, they were allowed back but most of their lands had been given to English speakers, mainly from New England, so they either ended up in small pockets dotted around Nova Scotia or they moved to what is now New Brunswick (followed by many Loyalists who had fled the New England Colonies during the War of Independence).
Officially, around 37% of New Brunswickers speak French but they have to work to keep the language and culture alive, though in common with many minority cultures and languages, there has been a reclaiming and resurgence of pride in their culture and identity.
The bottom photo is of a dory at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.
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| Kinnon Beaton |
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| Acadian Gentleman, New Brunswick |
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| Peggy's Cove: I'll Go To Sea No More |
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