A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs: The Story of a Hundred Years, 1761-1861Wrong, George McKinnon
History
A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs: The Story of a Hundred Years, 1761-1861
Wrong, George McKinnon
La Malbaie (Québec); Nairne family; Nairne, John, -1802
woman, of genial temper, with a fine faculty for friendship; so intimate
was she with Malcolm Fraser's daughter that she wrote "I do believe, nay
am sure, she has not a thought with which I am not made acquainted." She
never lost her sympathy with young people and her delight in their
"innocent gaiety."
As in 1762, so now again in 1839, a John Nairne ruled at Murray Bay. The
young seigneur soon took a wife. In 1841 he married Miss Catherine
Leslie, of a well known Canadian family, a bride of only seventeen, and
then settled down at Murray Bay to live the life of a country gentleman.
He became Colonel in the militia, took some part in politics on the
Conservative side, and studied agriculture. He was resolved to keep up
the dignity of his position and set about rebuilding the manor house.
The work was begun in 1845 and completed by the autumn of 1847; the new
structure with little change is the present Manor. It is of stone
covered with wood, a capacious dwelling with some fine rooms, and
admirably suited to its purpose. To John Nairne an heir was born in 1842
and named John Leslie Nairne and the prospect seemed excellent for the
final establishment of a Nairne dynasty in the seigniory. But, alas,
this was not to be. The child died in his third year and the last of the
Nairnes ruled at Murray Bay knowing that with himself the family should
become extinct.
We must turn now to study the type of community of which he was the
chief. A singular type it is, French in speech, Roman Catholic in faith,
half feudal in organization, in a land British in allegiance, if not in
origin. Long the determined rival of the Briton in America the French
Canadian, though worsted in the struggle, remains still unconquered in
his determination to live his own separate life and pursue his own
separate ideals. When the British took Canada they fondly imagined that
in a few years a little pressure would bring the French Canadians into
the Protestant fold.[26] Immediately after the conquest preparations
for this gradual absorption were made. The Roman Catholics were to be
undisturbed but, as soon as a majority in any parish was Protestant, a
clergyman of that faith would be appointed and the parish church would
be given over to the Protestant worship. The minority would, it was
hoped, acquiesce, and, in time, adopt the creed of the majority. The
most illuminating comment upon these expectations is the fact that,
during the half century after the conquest, Protestantism made probably
not more than half a dozen converts among the Canadians, while of
Protestants coming to the country during that time hundreds went over to
the Church of Rome. In other ways too the type in French Canada has
proved curiously persistent. A Lowland Scot of twenty-five married an
Irish woman of twenty-three and went to live in a French Canadian
parish. Hitherto they had spoken only English but after twenty-five
years they could not even understand it when heard. They explained that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account