Photo Curtesy of www.townofpictou.com
An On a bright June morning in 1773 the
old Dutch vessel, Hector was moored in
Loch Broom, close to the small settlement
of Ullapool, taking onboard a group of
people from the Highlands. These people
were joining a few others who had already
joined the ship in the Clyde area. All
the people had one thing in common. They
wanted to find a new land where they had
freedom to speak their Gaelic language,
play their music and wear their cherished
tartan. It was only 28 years after the
Battle of Culloden and life in Scotland
was hard and repressive.
189 passengers comprising 25 single men,
33 families, a piper and their agent had
joined the ship and were willing to start
a new free life in a new land.
The dangerous voyage took three months
to complete. The ship was old and built
to carry cargo; not passengers. There
was sickness aboard and several passengers
died. Spirits were not dampened and, in
fact, raised when a healthy child was
born as they were close to the North American
coast.
They came ashore at the small but unhostile
Indian settlement of Pictou. They arrived
just as the harsh winter was setting in.
Life was hard but these people had their
freedom and survived that first winter
and proceeded to tame a small part of
that wild continent.
They never forgot their Scottish heritage
and called the new land Nova Scotia.
Today the small town of Pictou is a proud
and thriving place. The Gaelic language
still exists, tartan is proudly worn and
Highland music is sung, played and enjoyed.
About 10 years ago an ambitious plan
was launched. It was decided to rebuild
an exact replica of the Hector. Money
was raised by local and corporate effort
and amidst great enthusiasm the vessel
was rebuilt to the exact specification
of the original vessel.
On Saturday 16th September 2000 the new
Hector was launched as part of a great
celebration.
Lochbroom FM had contacted the local
Radio Station covering the Pictou area,
CKEC New Glasgow to discuss possible links
on the day. The management of CKEC was
tremendously hospitable to our request
and through their Internet service we
covered the launch of the Hector live
in our own area through Lochbroom FM's
transmitters on 102.2.
CKEC also asked one of our presenters,
Morag Anna MacLeod, to join the CKEC team
covering the event as she was already
in Pictou in her capacity as Gaelic Development
Officer.
We've both come a long way from those
hard days when that old Dutch ship slipped
out of Loch Broom so we should celebrate
on both sides of the big pond. We owe
it to these brave people to never forget
their struggle for a new life.
Reported by Andy Mitchell
