Nova Scotia lays claim to quite a few icons. For instance, there’s the Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse, the Bluenose schooner and the legendary Evangeline. Evangeline is, in fact, a fictional heroine who seems to have taken on a life of her own.
To refresh my memory on the story of Evangeline, I recently visited Grand Pré in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia. It’s a beautiful part of the world! A magnificent panorama can be enjoyed from View Park on Old Post Road.
This is also where a UNESCO plaque commemorates the June 2012 designation of “The Landscape of Grand Pré” on the World Heritage List. The plaque states “The cultural landscape of Grand Pré bears exceptional testimony to a traditional farming settlement created in the 17th century by the Acadians in a coastal zone with tides that are among the highest in the world. The polderisation used traditional techniques of dykes, aboiteaux and a drainage network, as well as a community-based management system still in use today. The resultant rich alluvial soil enabled continuous and sustainable agricultural development.
Grand Pré is the iconic place of remembrance of the Acadian diaspora, dispersed by the Grand Dérangement, in the second half of the 18th century. Its polder landscape and archaeological remains are testimony to the values of a culture of pioneers able to create their own territory, whilst living in harmony with the native Mi’kmaq people. Its memorial constructions form the center of the symbolic re-appropriation of the land of their origins by the Acadians, in the 20th century, in a spirit of peace and cultural sharing with the English-speaking community.”
The flags of Canada, Nova Scotia and Acadia fly at View Park.
I remember learning about the expulsion of the Acadians while attending junior high school in Nova Scotia. The Annapolis Heritage Society explains it this way: “As the centre of power in Acadie or Nova Scotia for 150 years, the town [Port Royal/ Annapolis Royal] had been attacked by the English, the French, their proxies in Boston and Quebec, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and even privateers!”
This map, from the Nova Scotia Archives, shows Acadia as published in 1748-1749—I added the blue arrow to point out Port Royal Annapolis.
“The desire of the generally peaceful Acadians to remain neutral and their unwillingness to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to the British Crown precipitated their final removal in 1755 … Generally regarded as the darkest moment in Nova Scotian history, the expulsion of the Acadians has been romanticized over the intervening centuries, most notably with Longfellow’s poem Evangeline. The event dramatically altered their identity as a people, and scattered them, destitute, among the Thirteen Colonies, Louisiana and France. Of the estimated 10,000 Acadians in 1755, about eight thousand were deported before the proscription against their presence in the colony was lifted in 1764. Acadian property was confiscated and homes, crops and livestock destroyed. The number who returned in later years were relegated to inferior land at the periphery of settlement, their ancestral lands being occupied by English-speaking settlers.”
Two of the memorial constructions mentioned in the UNESCO description of Grand Pré are the Memorial Church and the Evangeline Statue.
Evangeline is a fictional heroine from the epic poem, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1847. Longfellow tells the story of two young people—Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse—who are torn apart by the Grand Dérangement on their wedding day. The story continues as Evangeline searches the country for Gabriel. With romantic flair, the couple is reunited at Gabriel’s death bed sharing a final kiss as he dies.
The below work, titled Gabriel and Evangeline, is a black and white reproduction of an 1888 lithograph courtesy of the US Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
The Evangeline statue was created by Louis-Philippe and Henri Hébert, father-and-son sculptors of Acadian descent. It was unveiled on July 29, 1920. Shortly afterward in 1922, the Memorial Church was constructed. It was built as an Acadian commemorative monument by the Société Nationale de l’Assomption with the assistance of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. “The Memorial Church symbolizes the spirit of Acadian nationalism and the deep-seated desire to commemorate the tragedy of the Deportation” reports the Parks Canada website.
Longfellow’s poem, Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, begins by describing the idyllic setting:
“In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pré
Lay in the fruitful valley.
Vast meadows stretched to the eastward”
Nowadays, a visit to the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens provides a peek into the Acadian land Longfellow describes. This is the view of the Garden’s meadows and dyke land.
“Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number.
Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor incessant,
Shut out the turbulent tides; but at stated seasons the flood-gates
Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o’er the meadows.”
Here nearby dykes and marshlands provide a modern-day perspective.
“West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and cornfields
Spreading afar and unfenced o’er the plain; and away to the northward
Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the mountains
Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic
Looked on the happy valley, but ne’er from their station descended.
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village.”
Cape Blomidon, visible in the distance, lies along the southeast shore of the Bay of Fundy. The cape’s red sandstone headland and the nearby fingerlike promontory called Cape Split are beloved by Nova Scotians to this day.
“Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock,
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries.
Thatched were the roofs”
La Maison Acadienne at the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens is a replica of a pre-deportation, 1671 time period Acadian dwelling. Interestingly, this replica, originally built in 1981-82, was re-built in 1996 to reflect more recent findings from a Nova Scotia Museum archaeological dig. The dig at a pre-deportation Acadian farm site at Belleisle Marsh found evidence of the house dimensions, clay walls, thatched roof, interior chimney and exterior bake oven.
Having deftly set the stage, Longfellow introduces Evangeline.
“Gentle Evangeline … the pride of the village. …
Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen summers.
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn by the wayside,
Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade of her tresses!
Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the meadows”
A quick aside, “kine” is Old English for “cows”, meaning Longfellow compared Evangeline’s breath to that of a cow feeding in the meadow! Not exactly a compliment we’d appreciate these days.
Next Longfellow introduces Gabriel.
“But, among all who came, young Gabriel only was welcome;
Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the blacksmith, …
He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the morning,
Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened, thought into action.”
Evangeline and Gabriel’s wedding day arrives and the festivities get underway.
“Gayly the old man sang to the vibrant sound of his fiddle …
And anon with his wooden shoes beat time to the music.”
“Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict’s daughter!
Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the blacksmith!
Then Longfellow interrupts the gaiety.
“So passed the morning away. And lo! with
a summons sonorous
Sounded the bell from its tower…
Thronged erelong was the church with men.”
“Then uprose their commander, and spake from the steps of the altar,
Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal commission.
“You are convened this day,” he said, “by his Majesty’s orders. …
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds
Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from this province
Be transported to other lands. …
Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty’s pleasure!”
Sadly, this tragic situation was based on fact. As explained by the Canadian Encyclopedia, “On Friday, September 5, 1755 Colonel John Winslow ordered that all males aged 10 years and up in the area were to gather in the Grand-Pré Church for an important message from His Excellency, Charles Lawrence, the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. The decree that was read to the assembled and stated in part: “That your Land & Tennements, Cattle of all Kinds and Livestocks of all Sorts are forfeited to the Crown with all other your effects Savings your money and Household Goods, and you yourselves to be removed from this Province.” …
Between 1755 and 1763, approximately 10,000 Acadians were deported. They were shipped to many points around the Atlantic. Large numbers were landed in the English colonies, others in France or the Caribbean. Thousands died of disease or starvation in the squalid conditions on board ship. … Many Acadians were forced, like the legendary Evangeline of Longfellow’s poem, to wander interminably in search of loved ones or a home.”
More Info
To learn more about Evangeline and Gabriel, you can read the entire poem “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow here on Archive.org.
Grand Pré and the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens are located in Nova Scotia, Canada. Check out the Experience Grand Pré website or the Parks Canada – Grand-Pré National Historic Site web page to learn more about this fantastic historic site. The
Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens website provides information about these beautiful gardens and La Maison Acadienne.
References consulted in the writing of this blog post include:
. UNESCO – Landscape of Grand Pré
. The Annapolis Heritage Society – History of Annapolis Royal
. Nova Scotia Archives – Acadian Heartland – Records of Deportation and La Grand Dérangement
. US Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division – “Gabriel and Evangeline”
. Parks Canada – Virtual Exhibit of Grand-Pré Monuments
. Nova Scotia Museum Publications InfoSheets – The Acadians Three – The Home
. Canadian Encyclopedia – Acadian Expulsion (the Great Upheaval).
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider visiting the UNESCO site of The Landscape of Grand Pré or a UNESCO site near you.
2. Investigate a travel destination’s icons.
3. Weave a fictional character, book or movie into your next travel adventure.
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