Nicolas Denys is one of the best-known historical figures from Acadian history, but how much do we truly know about his life in 17th-century Acadia and Cape Breton Island? In the first part of our tenth episode, we follow Denys as he travels to Acadia with the 1632 Razilly expedition and gets dragged into the rivalry between Charles de La Tour and Charles de Menou d’Aulnay, a period later known as the “Acadian Civil War.”

Why does his name survive while so many of his contemporaries have been forgotten? With Professors Ken Holyoke (University of Lethbridge) and Gabriel Hrynick (University of New Brunswick), hosts of the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast, we also explore the Indigenous peoples of the region – the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy – and the early contact period.

MUSICAL CREDITS:

Archetype Trad is a Canadian fiddle duo—Kate Bevan‑Baker and Émilie Brûlé—known for exploring traditional music from Québec, Atlantic Canada, Scotland, and Ireland, and nominated for Instrumental Group of the Year at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards. For more information about Archetype Trad: https://www.archetypetrad.com/

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TRANSCRIPT

1. Chedabucto Bay, Acadia, 1667 – Governor Nicolas Denys peers through a crevice in the wall of his makeshift fort. Barrels filled with earth and the butt ends of old rotten logs impede his line of sight, but what he can see confirms his biggest fears – on the gravel beach in front of the fort, the enemy is gathering for an attack.

2. For the past 3 days, Denys and 12 of his employees have been besieged by a gang of a hundred men who are determined to dislodge them from the fort and the entire region. But this is not a standoff between British and French soldiers, which so often occurred in the Maritimes during the 18th century. This isn’t even a standoff between people of two different nations; in fact everyone in the fort and on the beach is French. The people trying to smoke Denys and his men out of their fort are working for one of his economic rivals in the Acadian fur trade and cod fishery. Denys is nearly 70 years old. He’s been illegally evicted from his land four times already, and now 12 men are all that stand between him and the fifth.

3. This is The Lost World of Cape Breton Island. Through primary sources like journals, memoirs and correspondence, we will explore Cape Breton’s history with the help of those who witnessed it firsthand. These primary sources tell the stories of a long lost landscape – each one a thread in the tapestries of Cape Breton’s vivid and engrossing history.

4. Today, the name ‘Nicolas Denys’ calls to us from across a centuries-wide divide. From the community of Nicholas-Denys, New Brunswick, to the Nicolas Denys Museum in St. Peters, Nova Scotia and the Société Historique Nicolas-Denys, his name has attained mythical proportions in Canada’s Maritime provinces, like an Acadian Johnny Appleseed. He has been described as “the most endearing historical figure of Acadia”, “one of the principals in [Acadia] during its infancy” and a “visionary”. On the other hand, Historian Bernard Pothier writes – “At best Nicolas Denys was a colourful personality whose misadventures shed a good deal of light on seventeenth-century French enterprise overseas.” Despite the differing opinions about Nicolas Denys, why does his legacy live on while many of his 17th century contemporaries’ have fallen into oblivion? To answer this question, we have to go back to the beginning of the 17th century, well before the British conquest of Acadia, the expulsion of the Acadians, and the Acadian Renaissance.

5. According to tradition, Nicolas Denys was born in Tours, France in 1598. He was the son of Jacques Denys de la Thibaudiere and Marie Cosnier. Little is known about his youth, except that, in his own words, he came from a family of engineers, and although he had limited formal schooling, he made a quick study – he was a sailor, navigator, administrator, explorer, entrepreneur, and the list could go on. Between 1653 and the mid-1680s, Denys served as governor of all the land between today’s Cape Canso, Nova Scotia and Cap Desrosiers, Québec, including all of Cape Breton Island. During his time in Acadia, his enemies unlawfully kicked him off his property no fewer than five times, imprisoned him in a dungeon, and had his home burnt down, meanwhile when their children were in need, Denys took them in and granted them his protection. William Ganong, an early scholar of Denys once wrote: “all evidence we possess combines to show that he was an honest man, a little too prejudiced, it may be, against those who had caused him loss, a little too prone, perhaps, to magnify the virtues of his friends, but ever steadfast, upright, and sincere.”

6. In 1672, after nearly 40 years of personal disasters, Denys published a book called “The Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North America”, an account of Acadia between the years 1632 and 1670, from its political disputes, its plant and animal life to a commentary on the customs of the Mi’kmaq people. This episode’s opening is taken directly from Denys’ version of the account as described in his book. Today, it remains an invaluable “primary source” from the earliest days of French Acadia. We will quote from Ganong’s 1908 Champlain Society English translation of Denys’ work throughout this episode.

7. It’s impossible to tell the story of Nicolas Denys without also telling three others at the same time: the political situation of 17th-century Acadia, the Indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, and the land itself. A word of caution, though. This episode is not an exhaustive retelling of everything that happened in Acadia during these years. We’ve included only the events that directly affect Denys’s story. We’ve deliberately left out figures such as Poutrincourt and Membertou, events such as the Battle of Fort St. Louis, and parts of people’s lives that don’t move our subject forward, however interesting and historically important they may be. We’ll begin chronologically with the region’s geography – the reason Europeans first came to this coast, and the reason they would later fight over it

8. The coastal region that today encompasses parts of modern-day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the State of Maine began taking shape some 200 million years ago, when the earth’s supercontinent, Pangaea, started to tear apart. Along the whole eastern edge of what would become North America, the crust began to split into a series of tears, one becoming the Bay of Fundy and a much larger one, the Atlantic Ocean. As those tectonic plates shifted and what would one day become North America drifted north, the tear that would become the Bay of Fundy slowly filled with sediments like red sandstone and shale. Over time, those rocks broke down into the thin, acidic soils of the Maritime region. Deciduous stands of maple, birch, ash and oak began growing up alongside conifers like red spruce, fir, hemlock, and white pine. Rivers of deep dark brown and bright red came to cut through these woodlands on their way to Fundy, rivers known today as the Annapolis, Shubenacadie, Petitcodiac, St. John, and St. Croix.

9. The ancient rifting left the Bay of Fundy shaped like a funnel — wide at its mouth, and narrowing toward its head. It just so happens that the bay’s natural rhythm of sloshing back and forth – called ‘resonance’ – takes almost exactly twelve hours, which lines up almost perfectly with the ocean’s own tidal cycle. Each incoming tide arrives in step with the bay’s natural resonance. At the Minas Basin near the head of the bay, that resonance can drive the difference between low and high tide to sixteen or seventeen metres, the largest tidal range on earth. At low tide, its bright red mudflats stretch out for miles, stained by the iron oxide of its red sandstone shores. Salt marsh grasses fringe the flats, and sheer, jagged cliffs of basalt and sandstone rise behind them. It’s these tides that make the shores so fertile — for thousands of years, incoming water has laid down fresh layers of nutrient-rich silt across the marsh, building up some of the richest soil in the entire region, metres deep in places.

10. Other unique conditions collide in the waters offshore. Running south from the Labrador Sea, the cold, nutrient-laden Labrador Current meets the warm, salty Gulf Stream coming up from the tropics. Farther south, powerful tides churn the water over shallow banks like Georges Bank and the Scotian Shelf, stirring nutrients up from the ocean floor. Sunlight does the rest. Phytoplankton bloom in the spring, then zooplankton, then the herring, mackerel, and capelin that feed on them, followed by the fish that would change the history of the region: cod. Early accounts claim that they gathered on the banks in numbers so thick that they slowed the passage of ships.

11. This rich land and bountiful sea is the homeland of Indigenous peoples like the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, the Passamaquoddy. Starting in the 17th century, it also became the new home of French settlers in search of plentiful cod, valuable furs, and fertile land.

12. In this episode, we’ll be joined by Dr Ken Holyoke, Assistant Professor of Archaeology from the University of Lethbridge, Alberta and Dr. Gabriel Hrynick, Associate Professor of Anthropology from the University of New Brunswick who will help us unpack this era of Indigenous and European interaction known as the ‘contact period’.

13. [Ken Holyoke]

14. In 1604, Pierre Dugua de Mons and about 100 French settlers, including Samuel de Champlain, the famous explorer and future founder of Québec City, made landfall in Acadia. They sailed up the St Croix River, today’s dividing line between the Province of New Brunswick and the American State of Maine and planted a colony on an island in the middle of the river. They would have called this entire region “La Cadie”. This expedition was France’s first serious attempt at a lasting colony in Acadia, although for a while it was touch-and-go.

15. [Ken Holyoke]

16. [Gabriel Hrynick]

17. In the coming year, the group chose to move to a new location: Port Royal, on the southern side of the Bay of Fundy. The Port Royal Basin was the perfect haven for 17th century sailors. It had one entrance protected on either side by a formidable mountain range and an anchorage so large that, in one mariner’s opinion, it could hold several hundred ships. They built a settlement they called the “habitation”, a series of buildings laid out in the shape of a square. This settlement has since been reconstructed by the federal government and is known as the Port Royal National Historic Site, the Canadian government’s first large-scale historical reconstruction project.

18. [Ken Holyoke]

19. In 1613, an English expedition from Virginia raided Port Royal during peacetime and burned it to the ground. The French settlers fled and lived among the Mi’kmaq. In the years to follow, these settlers would move on to places like Cape Sable and across the Bay of Fundy to the Wolastoq, or Saint John River.

20. Back in France, things were not going very well, either. For one thing, the Protestant-born Henri IV, King of France, was assassinated by a Catholic zealot in 1610. For many years to follow, the state of the crown in France was fragile. When Louis XIII ascended the throne and asserted Catholic dominance over France, French Protestants known as ‘Huguenots’ turned to open rebellion. In 1627, this rebellion escalated into a showdown at the Huguenot port of La Rochelle, where Royal troops besieged the city. Then Protestant England, now at war with France, sent a fleet to relieve the besieged port. During these tumultuous years, Acadia simply fell through the cracks.

21. While France focused on putting out fires at home, a second nation quietly tried its luck at colonizing Acadia – Scotland. At that time, Scotland shared the same monarch as England, Charles I. But it wouldn’t be until 1707, however, that both nations would combine to become ‘Great Britain’. In 1629, Scotland planted two colonies in Acadia, one at Port Royal, known as Charles Fort and the other at La Baleine, now Baleine, on Cape Breton Island called Fort Rosemar. Although no one could know it at the time, this was the first iteration of a “New Scotland”, or Nova Scotia. With the surrender of Quebec to the English in the same year, Acadia and Canada – practically all of New France – came under the control of King Charles I of England.

22. But English and Scottish control of New France didn’t last long. In March of 1632, Acadia and Canada were returned to France when King Charles I and Louis XIII signed the Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye, and France wasted no time re-asserting its sovereignty in the region. This initiative was spearheaded by the famous Cardinal Richelieu, Catholic prelate and Chief Minister of France from 1624 to 1642. In 1627, Richelieu had sponsored the creation of the Company of One Hundred Associates, which would direct the affairs of New France. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the company had three goals: 1. To populate [New France] with native-born Frenchmen 2. Develop American trade, and 3. Lead the Indigenous people to the Christian religion and a “civilized” way of life. The Company of 100 Associates was, in effect, a colonial government, much like the British East India Company or the Hudson’s Bay Company would one day be. It held the monopoly over all trade going on in New France, except for the cod and whaling fisheries.

23. About a month after the treaty was signed, Cardinal Richelieu appointed Isaac de Razilly, a naval commander, governor in Acadia and gave him orders to take possession of Port Royal. In September of 1632, Razilly landed at the mouth of the LaHave River on the South Shore of modern-day Nova Scotia. With him were 12 to 15 families who came to clear land and set down roots – the forebears of the Acadian people. By mid-December of 1632, Razilly had taken possession of Port Royal from the Scottish garrison, and Acadia was once again in the hands of the French.

24. Three men whose names would be forever linked to the history of Acadia now enter our narrative: Charles de Menou d’Aulnay, Charles de Saint-Etienne de La Tour, and an agent for the Company of One Hundred Associates named Nicolas Denys.

25. Both D’Aulnay and Denys were part of Razilly’s expedition. Unlike Denys, D’Aulnay came from an ancient noble family and was actually a cousin to Governor Razilly. He also served as Razilly’s lieutenant, or one of his lieutenants, in Acadia.

26. La Tour, on the other hand, had been living in Acadia for some twenty years before Razilly and his party had landed, in fact he was one of the French settlers who went to live with the Mi’kmaq after the destruction of Port Royal in 1613. Afterwards, he set up trading posts at Cape Sable and the Saint John River, where furs were most abundant. In 1631, La Tour was appointed governor and lieutenant-general of the King in Acadia – essentially the exact same position Razilly was appointed to in 1632.

27. Had Louis XIII and the Company of One Hundred Associates forgotten that Acadia already had a governor when they gave Razilly his commission? Regardless, the Company of One Hundred Associates had given La Tour and Razilly overlapping and unclear appointments, and now Acadia had two official governors with no clear mandate on who would do what. After some clarification from the Company, it was determined that Razilly would control LaHave, Port Royal and Sainte-Croix and La Tour Cape Sable and the Saint John River. Surprisingly, this arrangement between Razilly and La Tour worked fairly well and did not negatively impact the growth of the colony.

28. Denys’ association with Acadia began back in July of 1631, when he was responsible for finding volunteers and fitting out what would become the Razilly expedition in La Rochelle, France. Through another commercial agreement, he was also charged with founding a settlement that would serve the cod fishery and other profitable endeavours. In the spring of 1633, only 6 or so months after the expedition had landed at LaHave, he followed through on his obligations.

29. He chose a location to the south of LaHave known as Port Rossignol, today’s Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He jumped into the sedentary fishery and then Canada’s first ever timber industry. Before long, he was exporting cod and preparing his lumber for sale. Nicolas Denys was in his prime.

30. Denys and these early French settlers continued to interact with the Mi’kmaq, exchanging both goods, knowledge and developing their relations. He would one day commit his experiences with the Mi’kmaq to writing.

31. [Ken Holyoke]

32. [Ken Holyoke]

33. A very special moment from this time is captured by Denys in his “Description & Natural History of the Coasts of North America”. Guided by the Mi’kmaq, Denys and Governor Razilly head out on a tour of the area to inspect the progress of the colony. Denys says:

34. “[Razilly] said a thousand good things about the excellence of the land, [and] about the great numbers of people who suffer in France but could live in comfort in this country. He said much more about it when I had him enter a hall which I had built, covered with branches, where he found a table very well furnished, with pigeon soup, with Wild Geese and Brant; with these all his retinue enjoyed themselves as well as he, for they all had good appetites. To this course there followed another, of Brant and of Teal, and to that a third of large and small Snipe, and Plover in pyramids. It was a delight to all the men to see so much game at once, but all of it did not cost more than two days’ work of my hunters. Raspberries and Strawberries in abundance served for dessert, these having been brought for me by the children of the Indians whom I had employed in order not to divert my men from their work. White wine and claret were not wanting at this little feast, so that Monsieur de Razilly and all his retinue were very well pleased, as indeed were my own men, who hoped that Monsieur de Razilly would come often to see them.”

35. If there ever was an “Acadian Golden Age”, this moment captured by Denys was probably it. Unfortunately, it did not last long. Soon after this celebration, Governor Razilly suddenly died at the age of about 48.

36. Speaking about the impact of Razilly’s death, Historian George MacBeath wrote – “While Isaac de Razilly lived little more than three years in Acadia, his contribution to its development had lasting importance. He was one of the first Europeans to be more interested in settling the country than exploiting its other resources. It was under his direction that a good number of the original Acadian people, whose descendants today comprise some 300,000 of the population of the Atlantic provinces, were established on the land. … What is more, he ruled the territory under his direction with vigour, intelligence, and foresight.”

37. In the months that followed, the Company of One Hundred Associates did not appoint d’Aulnay as Razilly’s replacement. Instead, D’Aulnay ran the Razilly holdings at the request of Razilly’s brother, who remained in France and would never set foot in Acadia. Meanwhile, Charles de La Tour continued to hold that 1631 commission as governor. Once again, the limits of their power were unclear, and they would soon come to blows because of it. The period that would come to be known as “The Acadian Civil War” had begun.

38. George MacBeath continues: “The story of Acadia for the next decade is largely a record of [La Tour and d’Aulnay’s] strife, which worsened to armed conflict and paralysed colonization. This deplorable clash … had the result of obscuring the period’s history to a surprising degree. What is more, the smoke-screen of prejudice, both contemporary and modern, has made it difficult to determine the facts that should be the basis of unprejudiced judgement by the historian.”

39. For whatever reason, after Razilly’s death D’Aulnay targeted Denys’ timber business in Port Rossignol. Denys wrote: “So long as D’Aunay lived, his custom was always to maltreat those whom he believed capable of bringing about the peopling of the country through their example. Thus I was forced to abandon the country and more than twenty thousand livres worth of timber all manufactured. This makes it very plain that howsoever good a land may be, there is no man who can derive any benefit from it if he is persecuted in his undertakings.” With no recourse, Nicolas Denys left Acadia and returned to France. It would be more than ten years before he would permanently return.

40. In the second part of this episode, we’ll track the development of the Acadian people during this chaotic period, discover what led up to Denys being besieged at Chedabucto and explore Cape Breton Island as it existed in the 1600s.

41. We’d like to thank Ken Holyoke and Gabriel Hrynick for lending their expertise to this episode. Ken and Gabe are the hosts of the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast, and you can listen to them wherever you stream your podcasts. We’d also like to thank the group Archetype Trad who graciously allowed us to use two songs from their 2022 album entitled ‘Explorer’, firstly ‘Terre-Neuve et Terre Ancienne’, which you’re now listening to, and ‘Cradled on the Waves’.

42. Until next time, this has been The Lost World of Cape Breton Island.

END