Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( Scottish Gaelic : Gàidhlig Chanada , A' Ghàidhlig Chanadach or Gàidhlig Cheap Bhreatainn ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic , is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada .
97-533: New Victoria (2001 pop.: 1,093) is a community in Nova Scotia 's Cape Breton Regional Municipality . New Victoria is located west of New Waterford and east of Victoria Mines . It is approximately 10 kilometres north of Sydney . It is a small, close-knit community which has a small church (St. Joseph's Church- Roman Catholic ) and a lighthouse named the Low Point Lighthouse . New Victoria
194-402: A bullock for the winter consumption; the farm or estate supplies them with abundance of butter , cheese, etc., etc. Their houses are small but comfortable, having a ground floor and garret, with regular chimney and glass windows. The appearance of the people is at all times respectable, but I was delighted at seeing them at church on a Sunday; the men clothed in good English cloth, and many of
291-579: A colony at the forks of the Red River , in what would become Manitoba . With the help of his employee and friend, Archibald McDonald , Selkirk sent over 70 Scottish settlers, many of whom spoke only Gaelic, and had them establish a small farming colony there. The settlement soon attracted local First Nations groups, resulting in an unprecedented interaction of Scottish ( Lowland , Highland , and Orcadian ), English , Cree , French , Ojibwe , Saulteaux , and Métis traditions all in close contact. In
388-614: A Gaelic-speaking Presbyterian minister from Orwell , Queen's County , Prince Edward Island , published a small, vanity press booklet titled, An Cuimhneachain: Òrain Céilidh Gàidheal Cheap Breatuinn agus Eilean-an-Phrionnsa ("The Remembrance: Céilidh Songs of the Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island Gaels") in Quincy, Massachusetts . Due to Rev. Lamont's pamphlet, the most complete versions survive of
485-697: A balmy overnight low of 23.3 °C (73.9 °F) The province includes regions of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki ( mi'gama'gi ), the territory of which extends across the Maritimes, parts of Maine , Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula . The Mi'kmaq people are part of the large Algonquian-language family and inhabited Nova Scotia at the time the first European colonists arrived. Research published in 1871 as well as S. T. Rand's work from 1894 showed that some Mi’kmaq believed they had emigrated from
582-540: A direct translation of "New Scotland", while most other languages use direct transliterations of the Latin/English name. The province was first named in the 1621 Royal Charter granting to Sir William Alexander the right to settle lands as a Scottish colony, including modern Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island , Prince Edward Island , New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula . Nova Scotia is Canada's second-smallest province in area, after Prince Edward Island . It
679-641: A homesteader in Cape Breton and in Antigonish County . The most prolific emigre poet was John MacLean of Caolas , Tiree , the former Chief Bard to the 15th Chief of Clan MacLean of Coll , who emigrated with his family to Nova Scotia in 1819. MacLean, whom Robert Dunbar once dubbed, "perhaps the most important of all the poets who emigrated during the main period of Gaelic overseas emigration", composed one of his most famous song-poems, Òran do dh' Aimearaga ("A Song to America"), which
776-523: A lesser extent silica , peat and barite , is also a significant sector. Since 1991, offshore oil and gas has become an important part of the economy, although production and revenue are now declining. However, agriculture remains an important sector in the province, particularly in the Annapolis Valley . Nova Scotia's defence and aerospace sector generates approximately $ 500 million in revenues and contributes about $ 1.5 billion to
873-781: A poem describing his first winter there survives. Anna NicGillìosa emigrated from Morar to Glengarry County, Ontario in 1786 and a Gaelic poem in praise of her new home also survives. Lord Selkirk 's settler Calum Bàn MacMhannain , alias Malcolm Buchanan, left behind the song-poem Òran an Imrich ("The Song of Emigration"), which describes his 1803 voyage from the Isle of Skye to Belfast , Prince Edward Island and his impressions of his new home as Eilean an Àigh ("The Island of Prosperity"). Ailean a' Ridse MacDhòmhnaill (Allan The Ridge MacDonald) emigrated with his family from Ach nan Comhaichean, Glen Spean , Lochaber to Mabou , Nova Scotia in 1816 and composed many works of Gaelic poetry as
970-539: A population of 969,383. Of the 958,990 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue , the most commonly reported languages were: Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses. Nova Scotia is home to the largest Scottish Gaelic -speaking community outside of Scotland, with a small number of native speakers in Pictou County , Antigonish County , and Cape Breton Island , and
1067-466: A rapidly developing Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector which consists of over 500 companies, and employs roughly 15,000 people. In 2006, the manufacturing sector brought in over $ 2.6 billion in chained GDP, the largest output of any industrial sector in Nova Scotia. Michelin remains by far the largest single employer in this sector, operating three production plants in
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#17327808148761164-667: A series of six wars took place between the English and the French , with Nova Scotia being a consistent theatre of conflict between the two powers. Hostilities between England and France in North America resumed from 1702 to 1713, known as Queen Anne's War . The siege of Port Royal took place in 1710, ending French rule in peninsular Acadia. The subsequent signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formally recognized British rule in
1261-478: A tha thu, seann leannan?" Gun do shìn mi mo làmh dhi, 's thug mi dha dhe na crathadh. ... Fhreagair ise gu nàimhdeil: "You're a Scotchman I reckon. I don't know your Gaelic, Perhaps you are from Cape Breton." I welcomed her with affection: "How are you old sweetheart?" I held out my hand, But she ignored it. ... She answered haughtily: "You're a Scotchman I reckon. I don't know your Gaelic, Perhaps you are from Cape Breton." With
1358-690: A weekly, but reduced its frequency to biweekly over time. Later, during the 1920s, several new Scottish Gaelic-language newspapers launched, including the Teachdaire nan Gàidheal ( lit. ' The Messenger of the Gaels ' ), which included Gaelic-language lessons; the United Church -affiliated An Solus Iùil ( lit. ' The Guiding Light ' ); and MacKinnon's later endeavor, Fear na Cèilidh ( lit. ' The Entertainer ' ). In 1917, Rev. Murdoch Lamont (1865–1927),
1455-700: Is Scottish (30.0%), followed by English (28.9%), Irish (21.6%), French (16.5%), German (10.7%), First Nations (5.4%), Dutch (3.5%), Métis (2.9%), and Acadian (2.6%). 42.6% of respondents identified their ethnicity as " Canadian ". As of the 2021 Canadian Census , the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (951,945 or 99.59%), French (99,300 or 10.39%), Arabic (11,745 or 1.23%), Hindi (10,115 or 1.06%), Spanish (8,675 or 0.91%), Mandarin (8,525 or 0.89%), Punjabi (6,730 or 0.7%), German (6,665 or 0.7%), Miꞌkmaq (5,650 or 0.59%), and Tagalog (5,595 or 0.59%). The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The 2021 Canadian census showed
1552-560: Is a province of Canada , located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and most populous province in Atlantic Canada , with an estimated population of over 1 million as of 2024; it is also the second-most densely populated province in Canada, and second-smallest province by area. The province comprises the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island , as well as 3,800 other coastal islands. The province
1649-516: Is also known as A Choille Ghruamach ("The Gloomy Forest"), after emigrating from Scotland to Canada. The poem has since been collected and recorded from seanchaithe in both Scotland and the New World. According to Michael Newton, however, A' Choille Ghruamach , which is, "an expression of disappointment and regret", ended upon becoming, "so well established in the emigrant repertoire that it easily eclipses his later songs taking delight in
1746-461: Is also the site of Fort Petrie, a 20th-century fortification and observation post which functioned during both world wars. The fort is now a museum. 46°15′10.6″N 60°7′46.6″W / 46.252944°N 60.129611°W / 46.252944; -60.129611 This Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nova Scotia Recognized Regional Languages: Nova Scotia
1843-689: Is believed to have been spoken by more than 200,000 British North Americans at that time. A large population who spoke the related Irish immigrated to Scots Gaelic communities and to Irish settlements in Newfoundland . In Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton and Glengarry there were large areas of Gaelic unilingualism, and communities of Gaelic-speakers had established themselves in northeastern Nova Scotia (around Pictou and Antigonish ); in Glengarry, Stormont, Grey, and Bruce Counties in Ontario; in
1940-556: Is closely related to modern Irish . The Canadian branch is a close cousin of the Irish language in Newfoundland . At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were as many as 200,000 speakers of Scottish Gaelic and Newfoundland Irish together, making it the third-most-spoken European language in Canada after English and French . In Atlantic Canada today, there are approximately 2,000 speakers, mainly in Nova Scotia. In terms of
2037-548: Is connected to the rest of Canada by the Isthmus of Chignecto , on which the province's land border with New Brunswick is located. Nova Scotia's capital and largest municipality is Halifax , which is home to over 45% of the province's population as of the 2021 census . Halifax is the twelfth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada , and Canada's second-largest coastal municipality after Vancouver . The land that makes up what
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#17327808148762134-558: Is midway between the Equator and the North Pole . The province contains 5,400 lakes. Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone and, although the province is almost surrounded by water, the climate is closer to continental climate rather than maritime . The winter and summer temperature extremes of the continental climate are moderated by the ocean. However, winters are cold enough to be classified as continental—still being nearer
2231-452: Is now Nova Scotia was inhabited by the Miꞌkmaq people at the time of European colonization. In 1605, Acadia —France's first New France colony—was founded with the creation of Acadia's capital, Port Royal . The Scots, English, then British, fought France for the territory on numerous occasions for over a century afterwards, having gained it from them in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht , which ended
2328-570: Is surrounded by four major bodies of water: the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north, the Bay of Fundy to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The province's mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula and includes numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km (42 mi) from the ocean. Cape Breton Island , a large island to
2425-539: Is traditionally sung after scoring a touchdown in football matches. The university's team is nicknamed the Golden Gaels . The Gaelic character of Nova Scotia has influenced that province's industry and traditions. Glen Breton Rare , produced in Cape Breton, is one of the very few single malt whiskies to be made outside Scotland. Gaelic settlers in Nova Scotia adapted the popular Highland winter sport of shinty ( Scottish Gaelic : camanachd, iomain ), which
2522-532: The maide-crochaidh ('hanging stick') if caught speaking Gaelic. Job opportunities for unilingual Gaels were few and restricted to the dwindling Gaelic-communities, compelling most into the mines or the fishery . Many saw English fluency as the key to success, and for the first time in Canadian history Gaelic-speaking parents were teaching their children to speak English en masse. The sudden stop of Gaelic language acquisition , caused by shame and prejudice,
2619-836: The American Civil War (1861–1865), primarily on behalf of the North . The British Empire (including Nova Scotia) declared itself neutral in the conflict. As a result, Britain (and Nova Scotia) continued to trade with both the South and the North. Nova Scotia's economy boomed during the Civil War. Soon after the American Civil War, Pro-Canadian Confederation premier Charles Tupper led Nova Scotia into Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, along with New Brunswick and
2716-511: The Bank of Nova Scotia , Cunard Line , Alexander Keith's Brewery, Morse's Tea Company (first tea company in Canada), among others. Nova Scotia became a world leader in both building and owning wooden sailing ships in the second half of the 19th century. Nova Scotia produced internationally recognized shipbuilders Donald McKay and William Dawson Lawrence . The fame Nova Scotia achieved from sailors
2813-699: The Battle of Fort Cumberland (1776) and at the Siege of Saint John (1777) . Throughout the war, American privateers devastated the maritime economy by capturing ships and looting almost every community outside of Halifax. These American raids alienated many sympathetic or neutral Nova Scotians into supporting the British. By the end of the war, Nova Scotia had outfitted numerous privateers to attack American shipping. British military forces based at Halifax succeeded in preventing an American occupation of Nova Scotia, though
2910-484: The Bay of Fundy 's shores, has yielded an abundance of Carboniferous -age fossils. Wasson's Bluff, near the town of Parrsboro , has yielded both Triassic - and Jurassic -age fossils. The highest point is White Hill at 533 m (1,749 ft) above sea level, situated amongst the Cape Breton Highlands in the far north of the province. Nova Scotia is located along the 45th parallel north , so it
3007-765: The Codroy Valley of Newfoundland; in Winnipeg, Manitoba ; and Eastern Quebec . In 1890, Thomas Robert McInnes , an independent Senator from British Columbia (born Lake Ainslie , Cape Breton Island) tabled a bill entitled "An Act to Provide for the Use of Gaelic in Official Proceedings." He cited the ten Scottish and eight Irish senators who spoke Gaelic, and 32 members of the House of Commons of Canada who spoke either Scottish Gaelic or Irish. The bill
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3104-615: The Eastern Townships of Quebec , Atlantic Canada is the only area in North America where Scottish Gaelic continues to be spoken as a community language, especially in Cape Breton. Even there the use of the language is precarious and its survival is being fought for. Even so, the Canadian Gàidhealtachd communities have contributed many great figures to the history of Scottish Gaelic literature , including Ailean a' Ridse MacDhòmhnaill and John MacLean during
3201-579: The Eastern Townships of Quebec . Following an 1814 visit from Scotland to the settlement in Glengarry County, Ontario , Dr. D. MacPherson wrote, "You might travel over the whole of the County and by far the greater part of Stormont , without hearing anything spoken except the good Gaelic. Every family, even of the lowest order, has a landed property of 200 acres... However poor the family (but indeed there are none that can be called so) they kill
3298-553: The Halifax Explosion . In April 2004, the Nova Scotia legislature adopted a resolution explicitly inviting the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands to explore the possibility of joining Canada as part of that Province . In April 2020, a killing spree occurred across the province and became the deadliest rampage in Canada's history. According to the 2016 Canadian census the largest ethnic group in Nova Scotia
3395-528: The Hudson's Bay Company was given exclusive trading rights to all North American lands draining into Hudson Bay – about 3.9 million km (1.5 million sq mi – an area larger than India). Many of the traders who came in the later 18th and 19th centuries were Gaelic speakers from the Scottish Highlands who brought their language to the interior. Those who intermarried with
3492-819: The Naval battle off Cape Breton (1781). After the Americans and their French allies won at the siege of Yorktown in 1781, approximately 33,000 Loyalists (the King's Loyal Americans, allowed to place " United Empire Loyalist " after their names) settled in Nova Scotia (14,000 of them in what became New Brunswick) on lands granted by the Crown as some compensation for their losses. (The British administration divided Nova Scotia and hived off Cape Breton and New Brunswick in 1784). The Loyalist exodus created new communities across Nova Scotia, including Shelburne , which briefly became one of
3589-751: The Nova Scotia Gaelic College at St Ann's in 1939. St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish has a Celtic Studies department with Gaelic-speaking faculty members, and is the only such university department outside Scotland to offer four full years of Scottish Gaelic instruction. Eòin Boidhdeach of Antigonish published the monthly Gaelic magazine An Cuairtear Òg Gaelach ( lit. ' The Gaelic Tourist ' ) around 1851. The world's longest-running Gaelic periodical, Mac-Talla ( lit. ' The Echo ' ),
3686-501: The Port of Halifax received 261,000 passengers and Sydney 69,000. This industry contributes approximately $ 1.3 billion annually to the economy. A 2008 Nova Scotia tourism campaign included advertising a fictional mobile phone called Pomegranate and establishing website, which after reading about "new phone" redirected to tourism info about region. Canadian Gaelic Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scotia from 1773, with
3783-527: The Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec ), forming the Dominion of Canada. "Nova Scotia" is Latin for "New Scotland " and is the recognized Canadian English name for the province. In both Canadian French and Canadian Gaelic , the province is directly translated as "New Scotland" (French: Nouvelle-Écosse . Canadian Gaelic: Alba Nuadh ). In general, Latin and Slavic languages use
3880-623: The Province of Canada . The Anti-Confederation Party was led by Joseph Howe . Almost three months later, in the election of 18 September 1867, the Anti-Confederation Party won 18 out of 19 federal seats, and 36 out of 38 seats in the provincial legislature. Throughout the 19th century, numerous businesses developed in Nova Scotia became of pan-Canadian and international importance: the Starr Manufacturing Company (first ice skate manufacturer in Canada),
3977-485: The Royal Navy failed to establish naval supremacy in the region. While the British captured many American privateers in battles such as the Naval battle off Halifax (1782), many more continued attacks on shipping and settlements until the final months of the war. The Royal Navy struggled to maintain British supply lines, defending British convoys from American and French attacks as in the fiercely fought convoy battle,
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4074-781: The War of the Spanish Succession . In subsequent years, the British began settling " foreign Protestants " in the region and deported the French-speaking Acadians en masse . During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), thousands of Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia. In 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony to achieve responsible government . In July 1867, Nova Scotia joined in Confederation with New Brunswick and
4171-784: The oral poetry composed in Gaelic upon Prince Edward Island . Despite the long history of Gaels and their language and culture in Canada, the Gaelic speech population started to decline after 1850. This drop was a result of prejudice (both from outside, and from within the Gaelic community itself), aggressive dissuasion in school and government, and the perceived prestige of English. Gaelic has faced widespread prejudice in Great Britain for generations, and those feelings were easily transposed to British North America . The fact that Gaelic had not received official status in its homeland made it easier for Canadian legislators to disregard
4268-559: The 1840s, Toronto Anglican priest John Black was sent to preach to the settlement, but "his lack of the Gaelic was at first a grievous disappointment" to parishioners. With continuing immigration the population of Scots colonists grew to more than 300, but by the 1860s the French–Métis outnumbered the Scots, and tensions between the two groups would prove a major factor in the ensuing Red River Rebellion . The continuing association between
4365-427: The 18th century, and to a much lesser extent the provinces of New Brunswick , Newfoundland and Labrador (especially the Codroy Valley ), Manitoba and Alberta . Gaelic-speaking poets in communities across Canada have produced a large and significant branch of Scottish Gaelic literature comparable to that of Scotland itself. In 1621, King James VI of Scotland allowed privateer William Alexander to establish
4462-520: The 2011 census, the largest denominations by number of adherents were Christians with 78.2%. About 21.18% were non-religious and 1% were Muslims . Jews , Hindus , and Sikhs constitute around 0.20%. In 1871, the largest religious denominations were Presbyterian with 103,500 (27%); Roman Catholic with 102,000 (26%); Baptist with 73,295 (19%); Anglican with 55,124 (14%); Methodist with 40,748 (10%), Lutheran with 4,958 (1.3%); and Congregationalist with 2,538 (0.65%). Nova Scotia's per capita GDP in 2016
4559-572: The British deported the Acadians and recruited New England Planters to resettle the colony. The 75-year period of war ended with the Halifax Treaties between the British and the Mi'kmaq (1761). After the war, some Acadians were allowed to return. In 1763, most of Acadia (Cape Breton Island, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island), and New Brunswick) became part of Nova Scotia. In 1765,
4656-579: The Gaelic communities in Nova Scotia and their prosperity." In the Highlands and Islands , MacLean is commonly known as "The Poet to the Laird of Coll" ( Bàrd Thighearna Chola ) or as "John, son of Allan" ( Iain mac Ailein ). In Nova Scotia, he is known colloquially today as, "The Bard MacLean" ( Am Bàrd MacGilleain ) or as "The Barney's River Poet" ( Bàrd Abhainn Bhàrnaidh ), after MacLean's original family homestead in Pictou County, Nova Scotia . With
4753-460: The Maine settlement the following year and, in 1605, established a settlement at Port Royal , which grew into modern-day Annapolis Royal . This would be the first permanent European settlement in what would later become Canada. The settlement was in the Mi'kmaw district of Kespukwitk and was the founding settlement of what would become Acadia . For the next 150 years, Mi'kmaq and Acadians would form
4850-592: The Selkirk colonists and surrounding First Nations groups evolved into a unique contact language . Used primarily by the Anglo– and Scots–Métis traders, the " Red River Dialect " or Bungi was a mixture of Gaelic and English with many terms borrowed from the local native languages. Whether the dialect was a trade pidgin or a fully developed mixed language is unknown. Today the Scots–Métis have largely been absorbed by
4947-522: The arrival of the ship Hector and continuing until the 1850s. Gaelic has been spoken since then in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island and on the northeastern mainland of the province. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages and the Canadian dialects have their origins in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland . The parent language developed out of Middle Irish and
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#17327808148765044-723: The brutality of the evictions was later submitted anonymously to Pàdraig MacNeacail, the editor of the column in Canadian Gaelic in which the poem was later published in the Nova Scotia newspaper The Casket . The poem, which is believed to draw upon eyewitness accounts, is believed to be the only Gaelic-language source relating to the evictions in Glencalvie. By 1850, Gaelic was the third most-common mother tongue in British North America after English and French (when excluding Indigenous languages), and
5141-623: The capture of Port Royal in 1710, Francis Nicholson announced it would be renamed Annapolis Royal in honour of Queen Anne . As a result of Father Rale's War (1722–1725), the Mi'kmaq signed a series of treaties with the British in 1725. The Mi'kmaq signed a treaty of submission to the British crown. However, conflict between the Acadians, Mi'kmaq, French and the British persisted in the following decades with King George's War (1744–1748). Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on 21 June 1749. A General Court, made up of
5238-529: The concerns of domestic speakers. Legislators questioned why "privileges should be asked for Highland Scotchmen in [the Canadian Parliament] that are not asked for in their own country". Politicians who themselves spoke the language held opinions that would today be considered misinformed; Lunenburg Senator Henry Kaulback , in response to Thomas Robert McInnes 's Gaelic bill, described the language as only "well suited to poetry and fairy tales". The belief that certain languages had inherent strengths and weaknesses
5335-408: The county of Sunbury was created. This included the territory of present-day New Brunswick and eastern Maine as far as the Penobscot River . In 1769, St. John's Island became a separate colony. The American Revolution (1775–1783) had a significant impact on shaping Nova Scotia, with the colony initially displaying ambivalence over whether the colony should join the revolution; Rebellion flared at
5432-572: The days of early settlement and Lewis MacKinnon, whose Canadian Gaelic poetry was awarded the Bardic Crown ( Scottish Gaelic : Crùn na Bàrdachd ) by An Comunn Gàidhealach at the 2011 Royal National Mòd at Stornoway , Isle of Lewis . The Gaelic cultural identity community is a part of Nova Scotia's diverse peoples and communities. Thousands of Nova Scotians attend Gaelic-related activities and events annually including: language workshops and immersions, milling frolics, square dances, fiddle and piping sessions, concerts and festivals. Up until about
5529-464: The efforts of Joseph Howe . Nova Scotia had established representative government in 1758, an achievement later commemorated by the erection of Dingle Tower in 1908. Nova Scotians fought in the Crimean War of 1853–1856. The 1860 Welsford-Parker Monument in Halifax is the second-oldest war monument in Canada and the only Crimean War monument in North America. It commemorates the 1854–55 Siege of Sevastopol . Thousands of Nova Scotians fought in
5626-407: The end of the American War of Independence , immigrants newly arrived from Scotland were joined in Canada by so-called " United Empire Loyalist " refugees fleeing persecution and the seizure of their land claims by American Patriots . These settlers arrived on a mass scale at the arable lands of British North America , with large numbers settling in Glengarry County in present-day Ontario, and in
5723-415: The first Scottish colony overseas . The group of Highlanders – all of whom were Gaelic-speaking – were settled at what is presently known as Port Royal , on the western shore of Nova Scotia. Within a year the colony had failed. Subsequent attempts to relaunch it were cancelled when in 1631 the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye returned Nova Scotia to French rule. Almost a half-century later, in 1670,
5820-556: The first Gaelic-language books printed in Canada, all of which were Presbyterian religious books, were published at Pictou, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island in 1832. The first Gaelic language books published in Toronto and Montreal, which were also Presbyterian religious books, appeared between 1835 and 1836. The first Catholic religious books published in the Gaelic-language were printed at Pictou in 1836. In 1812, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk obtained 300,000 square kilometres (120,000 sq mi) to build
5917-470: The freezing point than inland areas to the west. The Nova Scotian climate is in many ways similar to the central Baltic Sea coast in Northern Europe, only wetter and snowier. This is true although Nova Scotia is some fifteen parallels further south. Areas not on the Atlantic coast experience warmer summers more typical of inland areas, and winter lows are a little colder. On 12 August 2020, the community of Grand Étang, famous for its Les Suêtes winds, recorded
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#17327808148766014-401: The governor and the council, was the highest court in the colony at the time. Jonathan Belcher was sworn in as chief justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on 21 October 1754. The first legislative assembly in Halifax, under the Governorship of Charles Lawrence , met on 2 October 1758. During the French and Indian War of 1754–1763 (the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War ),
6111-495: The increasingly Anglicized Scottish nobility began to evict Gaelic-speaking tenants en masse from their ancestral lands in order to replace them with private deer-stalking estates and herds of sheep. The first ship loaded with Hebridean colonists arrived at Île-St.-Jean (Prince Edward Island) in 1770, with later ships following in 1772, and 1774. In September 1773 a ship named The Hector landed in Pictou , Nova Scotia, with 189 settlers who departed from Loch Broom . In 1784
6208-423: The language here I find that they already have the blas , the sound of the Gaelic even in their English. It's part of who they are, you can't just throw that away. It's in you." While performing in 2000 at the annual Cèilidh at Christmas Island , Cape Breton , Barra native and legendary Gaelic singer Flora MacNeil spread her arms wide and cried, "You are my people!" The hundreds of Canadian-born Gaels in
6305-400: The language is taught in a number of secondary schools throughout the province. In 2018 the government launched a new Gaelic vehicle licence plate to raise awareness of the language and help fund Gaelic language and culture initiatives. They estimated that there were 2,000 Gaelic speakers in the province. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Nova Scotia included: According to
6402-477: The language, including the 1997 hit Hòro Ghoid thu Nighean ('Jenny Dang the Weaver'). Cape Breton fiddling is a unique tradition of Gaelic and Acadian styles, known in fiddling circles worldwide. Several Canadian schools use the "Gael" as a mascot, the most prominent being Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario . The school cheer of Queen's University is "Oilthigh na Bànrighinn a' Bhànrighinn gu bràth!" ('The Queen's College and Queen forever!'), and
6499-472: The larger British settlements in North America, and infused Nova Scotia with additional capital and skills. The migration caused political tensions between Loyalist leaders and the leaders of the existing New England Planters settlement. The Loyalist influx also pushed Nova Scotia's 2000 Mi'kmaq People to the margins as Loyalist land grants encroached on ill-defined native lands. As part of the Loyalist migration, about 3,000 Black Loyalists arrived; they founded
6596-461: The largest free Black settlement in North America at Birchtown , near Shelburne. There are several Black Loyalists buried in unmarked graves in the Old Burying Ground in Halifax. Many Nova Scotian communities were settled by British regiments that fought in the war . During the War of 1812 , Nova Scotia's contribution to the British war effort involved communities either purchasing or building various privateer ships to attack U.S. vessels. Perhaps
6693-475: The last barrier to Scottish settlement – a law restricting land-ownership on Cape Breton Island – was repealed, and soon both PEI and Nova Scotia were predominantly Gaelic-speaking. Between 1815 and 1870, it is estimated that more than 50,000 Gaelic settlers immigrated to Nova Scotia alone. Many of them left behind poetry and other works of Scottish Gaelic literature . The poet Mìcheal Mór MacDhòmhnaill emigrated from South Uist to Cape Breton around 1775 and
6790-412: The local First Nations people passed on their language, with the effect that by the mid-18th century there existed a sizeable population of Métis traders with Scottish and aboriginal ancestry, and command of spoken Gaelic. Cape Breton remained the property of France until 1758 (although mainland Nova Scotia had belonged to Britain since 1713) when Fortress Louisbourg fell to the British, followed by
6887-585: The majority of the population of the region. Warfare was a common in Nova Scotia during the 17th and 18th centuries. During the first 80 years the French and Acadians lived in Nova Scotia, nine significant military clashes took place as the English, Dutch, French and Mi'kmaq fought for possession of the area. These encounters happened at Port Royal, Saint John , Cap de Sable (present-day Pubnico to Port La Tour, Nova Scotia ), Jemseg (1674 and 1758) and Baleine (1629). The Acadian Civil War took place from 1640 to 1645. Beginning with King William's War in 1688,
6984-660: The monthly An Cuairtear Òg Gaelach ( lit. ' The Gaelic Tourist ' ) in Antigonish, Nova Scotia , which lasted a year before being replaced by the English-language Antigonish Casket , which initially occasional Gaelic-language material. On Cape Breton, several Gaelic-language newspapers were published in Sydney . The longest-lasting was Mac-Talla ( lit. ' The Echo ' ), published by Jonathon G. MacKinnon [ gd ] from 1892 to 1904. Mac-Talla began as
7081-676: The more dominant French–Métis culture, and the Bungi dialect is most likely extinct . James Gillanders of Highfield Cottage near Dingwall , was the Factor for the estate of Major Charles Robertson of Kincardine and, as his employer was then serving with the British Army in Australia , Gillanders was the person most responsible for the mass evictions staged at Glencalvie, Ross-shire in 1845. A Gaelic-language poem denouncing Gillanders for
7178-543: The most dramatic moment in the war for Nova Scotia occurred when HMS Shannon escorted the captured American frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour in 1813. Many of the U.S. prisoners were kept at Deadman's Island . Nova Scotia became the first colony in British North America and in the British Empire to achieve responsible government in January–February 1848 and become self-governing through
7275-430: The northeast of the Nova Scotia mainland, is also part of the province, as is Sable Island , a small island notorious for being the site of offshore shipwrecks, approximately 175 km (110 mi) from the province's southern coast. Nova Scotia has many ancient fossil-bearing rock formations. These formations are particularly rich on the Bay of Fundy 's shores. Blue Beach near Hantsport , Joggins Fossil Cliffs , on
7372-602: The only black speakers of Goidelic languages in Canada, were born in Cape Breton and in adulthood became friends with Rudyard Kipling , who in 1896 wrote Captains Courageous , which featured an isolated Gaelic-speaking African-Canadian cook from Cape Breton . Many English-speaking writers and artists of Scottish-Canadian ancestry have featured Canadian Gaelic in their works, among them Alistair MacLeod ( No Great Mischief ), Ann-Marie MacDonald ( Fall on Your Knees ), and D.R. MacDonald ( Cape Breton Road ). Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond has released several albums in
7469-497: The outbreak of World War II , the Canadian government attempted to prevent the use of Gaelic on public telecommunications systems. The government believed Gaelic was used by subversives affiliated with Ireland, a neutral country perceived to be tolerant of the Nazis . In Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton where the Gaelic language was strongest, it was actively discouraged in schools with corporal punishment . Children were beaten with
7566-420: The population dropped from a peak of 200,000 in 1850, to 80,000 in 1900, to 30,000 in 1930 and 500–1,000 today. There are no longer entire communities of Canadian Gaelic-speakers, although traces of the language and pockets of speakers are relatively commonplace on Cape Breton, and especially in traditional strongholds like Christmas Island , The North Shore , and Baddeck . A. W. R. MacKenzie founded
7663-508: The province were also hit hard, particularly during the last two decades: coal mining in Cape Breton and northern mainland Nova Scotia has virtually ceased, and a large steel mill in Sydney closed during the 1990s. More recently, the high value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar has hurt the forestry industry, leading to the shutdown of a long-running pulp and paper mill near Liverpool . Mining, especially of gypsum and salt and to
7760-404: The province. Michelin is also the province's largest private-sector employer. In July 2024, the provincial government committed CAD$ 18.6 million to build 27 new telecommunication towers to upgrade cellular service province-wide. The Nova Scotia tourism industry includes more than 6,500 direct businesses, supporting nearly 40,000 jobs. Cruise ships pay regular visits to the province. In 2010,
7857-497: The provincial economy each year. To date, 40% of Canada's military assets reside in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia has the fourth-largest film industry in Canada hosting over 100 productions yearly, more than half of which are the products of international film and television producers. In 2015, the government of Nova Scotia eliminated tax credits to film production in the province, jeopardizing the industry given most other jurisdictions continue to offer such credits. The province also has
7954-399: The region, while returning Cape Breton Island ( Île Royale ) and Prince Edward Island ( Île Saint-Jean ) to the French. Despite the British conquest of Acadia in 1710, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq, who confined British forces to Annapolis and to Canso. Present-day New Brunswick formed a part of the French colony of Acadia. Immediately after
8051-657: The rest of New France in the ensuing Battle at the Plaines d'Abraham . As a result of the conflict Highland regiments who fought for the British secured a reputation for tenacity and combat prowess. In turn the countryside itself secured a reputation among the Highlanders for its size, beauty, and wealth of natural resources. They would remember Canada when the earliest of the Highland Clearances by
8148-746: The total number of speakers in the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of "Gaelic languages" in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. The 2016 Canadian census also reported that 240 residents of Nova Scotia and 15 on Prince Edward Island considered Scottish Gaelic to be their "mother tongue". The 2021 Canadian census reported 2,170 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Canada (including 425 as an L1), 635 of them living in Nova Scotia (including 65 native speakers). While there have been many distinctive Canadian dialects of Scottish Gaelic that have been spoken in other Gàidhealtachd communities, particularly in Glengarry County, Ontario and
8245-487: The turn of the 20th century, Gaelic was widely spoken on eastern Prince Edward Island (PEI). In the 2011 Canadian Census, 10 individuals in PEI cited that their mother tongue was a Gaelic language, with over 90 claiming to speak a Gaelic language. Gaels , and their language and culture, have influenced the heritage of Glengarry County and other regions in present-day Ontario , where many Highland Scots settled commencing in
8342-587: The west, and then lived alongside the Kwēdĕchk, the original inhabitants. The two tribes engaged in a war that lasted "many years", and involved the "slaughter of men, women, and children, and torture of captives", and the eventual displacement of the Kwēdĕchk by the victorious Mi’kmaq. The first Europeans to settle the area were the French, who sailed into the Annapolis Basin in 1604, but chose to settle at Saint Croix Island in Maine instead. They abandoned
8439-721: The women wore the Highland plaid ." Unlike in the Gaelic-speaking settlements along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina , there was no Gaelic printing press in Canada. For this reason, in 1819, Rev. Seumas MacGriogar , the first Gaelic-speaking Presbyterian minister appointed to Nova Scotia , had to publish his collection of Christian poetry in Glasgow . Printing presses soon followed, though, and
8536-445: The world. Nevertheless, the province's imports far exceed its exports. While these numbers were roughly equal from 1992 until 2004, since that time the trade deficit has ballooned. In 2012, exports from Nova Scotia were 12.1% of provincial GDP, while imports were 22.6%. Nova Scotia's traditionally resource-based economy has diversified in recent decades. The rise of Nova Scotia as a viable jurisdiction in North America, historically,
8633-594: Was CA$ 44,924 , significantly lower than the national average per capita GDP of CA$ 57,574 . GDP growth has lagged behind the rest of the country for at least the past decade. As of 2017, the median family income in Nova Scotia was $ 85,970, below the national average of $ 92,990; in Halifax the figure rises to $ 98,870. The province is the world's largest exporter of Christmas trees , lobster , gypsum , and wild berries . Its export value of fish exceeds $ 1 billion, and fish products are received by 90 countries around
8730-470: Was agreed to conduct the whole proceedings in the Gaelic language." From the mid-19th century to the early 1930s, several Gaelic-language newspapers were published in Canada, although the greatest concentration of such papers was in Cape Breton. From 1840 to 1841, Cuairtear nan Coillte ( lit. ' Woodland Walk ' ) was published in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1851, Eòin Boidhdeach launched
8827-549: Was assured in 1895 when Joshua Slocum became the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. International attention continued into the following century with the many racing victories of the Bluenose schooner. Nova Scotia was also the birthplace and home of Samuel Cunard , a British shipping magnate (born at Halifax , Nova Scotia) who founded the Cunard Line. In December 1917, about 2,000 people were killed in
8924-423: Was defeated 42–7. Despite the widespread disregard by government on Gaelic issues, records exist of at least one criminal trial conducted entirely in Gaelic. It was conducted "in the provincial judicial system sometime during the term (1881–1904) of Chief Justice James MacDonald of Bridgeville, Pictou County." This was only possible as all people involved happened to know the language, and thus "by common consent it
9021-517: Was driven by the ready availability of natural resources, especially the fish stocks off the Scotian Shelf . The fishery was a pillar of the economy since its development as part of New France in the 17th century; however, the fishery suffered a sharp decline due to overfishing in the late 20th century. The collapse of the cod stocks and the closure of this sector resulted in a loss of approximately 20,000 jobs in 1992. Other sectors in
9118-547: Was printed by Jonathon G. MacKinnon for 11 years between 1892 and 1904, in Sydney . However, MacKinnon's mockery of complaints over Mac-Talla' s regular misprints and his tendency to financially guilt trip his subscribers, ultimately led local Gaelic poet Alasdair a' Ridse MacDhòmhnaill to lampoon Mac-Talla and its editor in two separate works of satirical poetry : Òran Càinidh do Mhac-Talla ('A Song of Revile to Mac-Talla ') and Aoir Mhic-Talla ('The Satire of Mac-Talla '). Eòin and Seòras MacShuail, believed to be
9215-491: Was the immediate cause of the drastic decline in Gaelic fluency in the 20th century. According to Antigonish County Gaelic poet and politician Lewis MacKinnon, "We are just like the native peoples here, our culture is indigenous to this region. We too have suffered injustices, we too have been excluded, we too have been forgotten and ridiculed for something that is simply part of who and what we are. It's part of our human expression and that story needs to be told." Ultimately
9312-483: Was traditionally played by the Gaels upon St. Andrew's Day , Christmas Day , New Year's Day , Handsel Monday , and Candlemas , to the much colder Canadian winter climate by playing on frozen lakes while wearing ice skates . This led to the creation of the modern sport known as ice hockey . According to Margie Beaton, who emigrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia to teach the Gaelic language there in 1976, "In teaching
9409-429: Was typical in the 19th century, but has been rejected by modern linguistics . Around 1880, Am Bàrd Mac Dhiarmaid from The North Shore , wrote " An Té a Chaill a' Ghàidhlig " ( lit. ' The Woman who Lost the Gaelic ' , also known in English as "The Yankee Girl"), a humorous song recounting the growing phenomenon of Gaels shunning their mother-tongue . Chuir mi fàilte oirr' gu càirdeil: "Dé mar
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