CA10 – The Settlers’ Lament


Stitchers: Anne Adams, Nancy Callahan, Anne Miller (Ontario)

From the mid-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century, an estimated one million Scots emigrated to Canada. The nineteenth century ballad The Scarborough Settlers’ Lament is an expression of homesickness, nostalgia, and alienation in a country ‘three thousand miles from home.’ Scottish music crossed the Atlantic with the settlers, helped keep their spirits alive, and became an important reminder of their roots. Scottish music and language became ethnic foundations in a new and unfamiliar world. This was especially so in the Maritimes, in particular in Cape Breton Island where the music and Gaelic language still have a major role in cultural life.

CA10 Cumha an Luchd-tuineachaidh
Bho mheadhan na h-ochdamh linn deug gu meadhan na ficheadaimh linne, bha tuairmse de aon mhillean Albannach air às-imrich a Chanada. Tha am bailead The Scarborough Settlers’ Lament bhon naoidheamh linn deug a’ taisbeanadh faireachdainnean de chianalas agus gràinneachadh ann an dùthaich a bha ‘trì mìle mìle bhon dachaigh’. Chaidh ceòl na h-Alba tarsainn a’ Chuain Shiar còmhla ris an luchd-tuineachaidh, gan cuideachadh gus an spiorad a chumail beò agus na chuimhneachan cudromach air am freumhaichean. Thàinig ceòl is cànan na h-Alba gu bhith nam bunaitean cinneachail ann an saoghal ùr agus coimheach. Bha seo gu sònraichte fìor anns na Tìrean Cuantach, gu h-àraid Eilean Cheap Breatainn far a bheil prìomh àite aig ceòl is cànan na Gàidhlig fhathast anns a’ bheatha chultaraich.