From Arran to Canada

Jim Henderson

There are few people in today’s Scotland who could cope with the conditions endured by the group from Sannox in a Canadian winter at the end of the nineteenth century. Autumn was well advanced by the time they had been allocated land, and there was barely time to start clearing the forest and building log cabins before winter set in. Every man and woman had to work brutally hard. The terrain was rough, with no established roads, and in the first years the settlers had no horses or oxen. Everything had to be hauled and carried by hand. Their strength and determination to succeed and provide provisions for their families showed a physical prowess that would probably be impossible for our current generation to achieve.

Their settlement, called Inverness, was about 20 miles from Quebec, through rough scrubland and forest. The return journey of some 36-40 miles often took over a week but the need for basic supplies and trade meant it was essential, even in the depth of winter. In addition to provisions such as maple sugar, butter, and cheese, they needed crockery, clothes, slates and learning books for the children, calico, hardware, seedlings for the gardens and medicines. When they started to get some farming established, they took pork, home made flour, hides, poultry etc., to trade in the market – and it all had to be carried by hand. Often on the journey the only sustenance was boiled potato.

Even more local journeys were daunting by today’s standards, and the women often completed tasks that most people would find challenging. One of them carried a bushel of wheat to Lambie’s Mill 11 miles away, waited until it was ground and returned with the flour on the same day having completed a walk of 22 miles. A bushel is a cubic measure of 8 gallons.

John Sillars who emigrated on the ‘Newfoundland’ carried a quintal of flour (112 lbs) from Quebec via St Nicholas to the settlement at Lac Joseph. Mr & Mrs William McKenzie, who emigrated on the ‘Foundling’ in 1831, walked to collect a quintal of flour from the town of Leeds – a journey which meant fording a river called the Thames, which had no bridge. On their return the river had flooded and they were up to their chests in water as they forded it, each of them carrying 56 lbs of flour on their heads to keep it dry.

Altogether, the early months at Lac Joseph were extremely hard and not unnaturally, some of the Arran settlers did not survive the conditions, dying from catching fevers or the extreme cold. Their one advantage was that their background of sheep rearing meant they had brought with them good woollen clothing, which helped to ward off the extreme cold. Once they were able to begin raising sheep in Megantic County, the women with their spinning wheels were able to provide new clothing for the community.

Despite the desperate conditions in which they lived – or perhaps, because of them – religion was important. From the earliest days, the little community worked together to construct a church building approximately 8 metres square with a lean-to at the rear to accommodate the minister. The first minister was the Rev. Donald Hendry, who emigrated in 1831. His sermons were preached in the Gaelic and lasted for about 3-4 hours every Sunday afternoon with a short service on Thursday evenings. Having no horses or oxen in those early days, the congregation, who were regular attendees, walked to the church. Some covered a distance of 7 miles each way. Often the younger generation, dressed in their Sunday best, would walk barefoot, only putting their socks and shoes on when approaching the church. This was done to reduce wear on the shoes.

The Arran settlers were strong, hardy and practical – but they might not have survived without the help of the Abenaki Indians. There will be more about the Abenaki in next month’s Voice.