“Hybridity” of the “Acadians” of Cape Sable/Southwest Nova Scotia 1858
205. Further Evidence of the “Hybridity” of the “Acadians” of Cape Sable/Southwest Nova Scotia:
This folder contains a copy of Doctor Henry Greggs Farish’s article entitled, ““Recollections of Yarmouth;” Being extracts from A Lecture Delivered Before the “Literary Society,” in 1848,” which was published posthumously on pages 01 and 02 of the July 08, 1858 edition of the Yarmouth Nova Scotia newspaper, “the Yarmouth Herald.” This article, which was first presented to the “Literary Society of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia” in 1848, is based primarily on oral tradition and the writings of Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton concerning the “Acadians” who settled in Southwest Nova Scotia/the Cape Sable region of Acadia. It’s important to note that biographical information concerning Judge Haliburton is provided in detail in “Folder #59” of “Volume 1” of this collection.
As per usual, I will provide a bit of biographical detail concerning the author before I discuss their document, who is in this case Doctor Henry Greggs Farish. According to the “MemoryNS” website’s online article entitled, “Dr. Henry Greggs Farish fonds” relating to the “Yarmouth County Museum and Archives” in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia’s collection of Doctor Farish’s writings (see https://memoryns.ca/dr-henry-greggs-farish-fonds):
“Henry Greggs Farish was born in Brooklyn, New York on 18 June 1781, the son of Henry Greggs Farish of Whiteheaven, England and his American wife. The family had immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1775 where Farish Sr. was Commissary-General. The family moved to Shelburne, Nova Scotia in 1784, but were forced, through illness, to return to the United States. Once back in the United States, they made their home in Norfolk, Virginia. Henry studied medicine with a family friend, Dr. Perry, who lived with the Farish family. Once his apprenticeship was complete, Dr. Farish secured an appointment as Surgeon Assistant on the HMS Asia and HMS Cleopatra during the Anglo-French War. In 1803 Dr. Farish established a medical practice in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in partnership with Dr. Bond, who was a friend of his mentor and teacher, Dr. Perry. During this time he also held many public offices. These included: collector of excise, registrar of deeds, land commissioner, justice of the peace, judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and Postmaster. He married Dr. Bond's daughter and three of the couple's sons, James, Joseph and Henry later became doctors, trained first by their father and then they studied at the University of Pennsylvania and London Hospital. Dr. Farish died in Yarmouth on 1 April 1856.”
Based on this article, we can easily conclude that Doctor Henry Greggs Farish was a well-respected and educated man who immigrated to Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia from New York, United States of America and lived the remainder of his life there. Therefore, despite being an immigrant to the area, Doctor Farish would have had a great deal of interaction with the local residents of the Yarmouth area and would have gathered many oral traditions of the area.
An important excerpt from ““Recollections of Yarmouth;” Being extracts from A Lecture Delivered Before the “Literary Society,” in 1848,” can be found on page 01 and is as follows:
“… The Eelbrook and Tusket colonists were offsets from the Poomlico stem, as was Clare from Port Royal. It is probable that Cap-Fourchu and Chebogue Acadians spread from the Poomlico settlement likewise, because a trackless forest of 30 or 40 miles separated them from the very nearest of their countrymen at Mateghan and Chesiboo, while to the eastward the settlements were also continuous. But this consideration may not be entitled to much weight, for these people were as expert wood rangers as the Indians themselves, and an occasional visit in their fishing shallops must have served to form and keep an intimacy with several parties of French whites along the whole coast…”
This excerpt is important, as it suggests that the “Acadians” of the Cape Sable region were considered to have been a separate category of people than the “several parties of French whites” who were “along the coast.”
This excerpt is also important because it suggests that the “Acadians” of the Cape Sable region adopted many of the survival skills of their First Nations friends and kin, as “these people were as expert wood rangers as the Indians themselves.”
A second important excerpt from ““Recollections of Yarmouth;” Being extracts from A Lecture Delivered Before the “Literary Society,” in 1848” can also be found on page 01 of the July 08, 1858 edition of the “Yarmouth Herald” newspaper and is as follows:
“… The vicinity of the haunts of the Indians had probably no effect at all in determining the position of these establishments: for the whole country at that time swarmed with the aborigines, and the only security against their hostility which the pale-faced intruders had, was to conciliate them by friendship and forbearance, and above all, by falling in with their humors, and acquiring and maintaining a similitude of manners, habits and pursuits. I had heard some of the oldest of the French settlers say that the Indian language was as familiar to them as their mother tongue. The Indian or Micmac name of Chebogue, by the bye. Signifies great marsh-Che is large; as Che-siboo, large water, from the cataract on that river. Che-bucto. large harbour. Che-goggin. large beach; Che-ben, large river, whence comes Che-ben-acadie or Shubenacadie, the large river of Nova Scotia. The central river of Clare was called Mateghan. Fully as euphonious as the corruption of Montagon, Eelbrook. Kechpouguick. and Yarmouth harbour, Mategulak. These names I had from a friend (the worthy Abbe Sigogne), who took vast pains to acquaint himself with every thing connected with the aborigines of the Province…”
So, despite being as “politically incorrect” as possible, this excerpt serves a very important purpose, which is to demonstrate that the “Acadians” of Southwest Nova Scotia in the mid-1800s, especially the elderly ones, which when Doctor Henry Greggs Farish wrote this article, told him “that the Indian language was as familiar to them as their mother tongue.” This demonstrates that the “Acadians” were familiar with the Mi’kmaw language well-into the 19th century.
This excerpt is also important because it indicates that the original “French settlers” of Acadia had adapted to their new surroundings and formed relationships with the First Nations Peoples of Acadia “by falling in with their humors, and acquiring and maintaining a similitude of manners, habits and pursuits.” This is indicative that the “Acadian culture” is a “hybrid culture” that is comprised of the “manners, habits and pursuits” of the First Nations Peoples of Acadia and those of France.
Finally, this excerpt is important because it demonstrates that Doctor Henry Greggs Farish knew Père Jean-Mandé Sigogne and considered him to have been his friend. Therefore, it is highly likely that Doctor Farish was told information concerning the “Acadians” of Southwest Nova Scotia by Père Sigogne when he was alive. Père Sigogne has become somewhat of a “staple” throughout this collection when discussing the “Sang-Mêlés” (“Mixed-Bloods”)/ “Acadian-Métis” of Southwest Nova Scotia/what was once known as Cape Sable.
In conclusion, Doctor Henry Greggs Farish’s article entitled, ““Recollections of Yarmouth;” Being extracts from A Lecture Delivered Before the “Literary Society,” in 1848,” which was published posthumously, provides a very detailed glimpse into the lives and history of the “Acadians” of Southwest Nova Scotia both pre- and post-Deportation.
