“Nova Scotia” means “New Scotland”. Nowhere is this connection more evident than in Cape Breton. People still speak Gaelic. They have preserved music styles and traditions that have been lost in Scotland. People from Nova Scotia are reintroducing this music to Scotland. They do step dancing and they tell long stories that have preserved their history across generations.
Shortly after arriving at Chetticamp Campground in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Angie discovered that live fiddle music was being performed at a nearby pub. We dropped the trailer at the campsite and headed to the Doryman Pub. The doorman, upon hearing that we were from the states, asked if we were “red or blue”. Trump had just made a speech where he once again threatened Canada to make them the 51st state.
We arrived during a set break about half-way through a four-hour performance. The place was pretty full, but we saw a single fellow sitting at a table right in front. We asked to join him and he graciously accepted.
Turns out he was a Canadian Navy veteran who had grown up in Cape Breton but currently lived in Halifax. He was an expert on local fiddle music. He also had great Navy stories to tell and tips for local sites. The fiddle and piano duo were fantastic. The songs were long and structured like chapters of a story. A song would typically start out slowly, like a slow march and then accelerate into a jig and then a reel (or vice versa). It was amazing how they switched cadence in synchronization. Our new friend, Mike, told us that kids often learned this music as songs their mothers sang, before they learned to play them on instruments. Mike told us that the Scots and Irish fiddlers play very fast, but their tone lacks the richness of Nova Scotia fiddlers.
We had delicious fish and chips and seafood chowder at Doryman’s. When the duo finished their performance, we moved to another local bar where a duo was covering country and pop standards. We got to watch the England-France World Cup game for third place.
It was windy and rainy overnight and throughout the next morning. We decided to drive two hours to the Highland Village Museum, which Mike had recommended. What a fascinating afternoon we spent there! They had buildings that chronicled the history of the local Scottish people through the years all the way back to the thatch-roofed stone huts from the Western Isles of Scotland, where they lived before they emigrated.
There were people dressed in period costume in most of the buildings. The costumed guides stayed in character to answer our questions about how they lived in their time period – from the Western Isles of Scotland in the 1700s through the 19th and early 20th century in Cape Breton.
We visited a woman “living” on the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides. She told us that after the British conquered Scotland in 1746 (the battle of Culloden) the clan system broke down. Lords no longer felt a paternal connection to their tenants. They shrank the parcels their tennants lived on and raised the rents. People were no longer able to support themselves. They saved up and bought passage to the new world. They often moved into areas of Cape Breton where old neighbors and family members had settled.
Between the mid 1700’s and the late 1800’s tens of thousands of Gaelic speaking Scots came to Nova Scotia. In Cape Breton, Gaelic language and culture was handed down orally. Nova Scotia Gaels practised Ceilidh (pronounced ˈkālē) or visits to each other’s homes. Ceilidh served as informal schools where social and cultural skills could be shared amongst kin and neighborers. Gaelic storytelling and song in Nova Scotia were preserved by the Ceilidh tradition. Also, Gaelic music and step dancing have remained popular in Nova Scotia, especially on Cape Breton Island.
After visiting the museum we stopped at a pub next door, the “Frolic ‘n Folk”, where we watched the first half of the World Cup final and heard another amazing set of music. This time, the fiddle and piano were accompanied by a flutist and an acoustic guitarist. The energy of the music is infectious. People clap and whoop to encourage the performers and occasionally, a woman will get up and start step dancing.
The weather cleared on Monday and we struck off on an all day driving tour of the Cabot Trail – a 186-mile road through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It has spectacular valley and coastal views all along the way. We stopped at a restaurant in Ingonish, where Hank was surprised and pleased to find butter chicken (an Indian dish) on the menu. The waitress confirmed that the dish had been created by an Indian chef on their staff. It was fabulous! And it fulfilled a craving that Hank has been having for weeks.
