Some aspects of the Scottish Gaelic traditions of the Codroy Valley, Newfoundland

• Main Author: Bennett, Margaret
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1975
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/1319/; https://research.library.mun.ca/1319/1/Bennett_Margaret.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/1319/3/Bennett_Margaret.pdf

In the mid-nineteenth century, a group of Highland Scots emigrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia with the hopes of claiming some land, just as those who had gone out before them had done. After over a decade of hard work and disappointment, and still no prospect of land-ownership, where the landlord situation seemed no better than what they had left in Scotland, they migrated to the fertile Codroy Valley on the west coast of Newfoundland. The land they met with was heavily wooded, without any of the marks of civilization such as churches, schools, roads, or railways, as up until that time it had been the home of Micmac Indians and a few English settlers, with French fishermen visiting in the summer to take advantage of the excellent fishing off the coastal waters. In spite of the hard work they saw before them, the Scottish settlers were relieved at last to find that they could indeed own segments of the land. -- As the Codroy Valley became the permanent home of the French and some Irish, as well as the Micmac, English, and Scots, the various ethnic groups at first kept apart from one another, speaking their own language, and carrying on the customs of their forebears. Towards the turn of the century, when they began to build roads, railways, churches, and schools, they became more integrated, although they continued to speak their separate languages for many years. Several of the Highland Scottish families were Gaelic-speaking until the 1960’s when finally the entire population of the Codroy Valley adopted English as the common language, and modified their separate cultures to fit a new way of life. -- One of the last families to retain the Gaelic as the language of the home was that of Allan and Mary MacArthur of Upper Ferry. Allan himself was for many years looked upon as one of the last strongholds of the Gaelic history, culture, and traditions in the Codroy Valley. Well into his eighties when I first met him, he came to look upon my interest in recording his traditions as a last hope for preserving what the ...