LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 22, 2025 As a general rule of thumb, once the earth has been formed or shaped by people, it keeps that shape for a very, very long time. An example of this can be seen at Fort Ticonderoga (Carillon), where the trenches dug by French soldiers during the Seven Years War are … Continue reading What’s Left of the French Presence on Cape Breton Island Today?
Louisbourg
“The Worst Place There is in the World”: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Aide-de-camp in Louisbourg – part 2
Having miraculously survived an apocalyptic 66-day North Atlantic crossing, the Chevalier de Johnstone arrived in Louisbourg on the 13th of September 17501 aboard L'Iphigénie, a merchant ship owned by Louisbourg businessman Michel Rodrigue2. She limped into Louisbourg harbour a shell of her former self, dismasted and carrying a desperate assortment of tattered worn-out canvas. During … Continue reading “The Worst Place There is in the World”: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Aide-de-camp in Louisbourg – part 2
“The Worst Place There is in the World”: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Aide-de-camp in Louisbourg – part 1
The Chevalier de Johnstone was a miserable man - cynical, critical and abrasive. No doubt he was a miserable man well before the more disappointing moments of his life, but the hardships of his later years surely exacerbated a bitterness that was already malignant. He is known to have at one time escaped imminent danger … Continue reading “The Worst Place There is in the World”: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Aide-de-camp in Louisbourg – part 1
Voices Long Gone: Chéticamp’s “La Complainte de Louisbourg” – part 2
(October 7, 2022 – Since the publishing of this article, historian Éva Guillorel from the University of Rennes in France has done significant research into the origins of “La Complainte de Louisbourg.” She has uncovered evidence that this Acadian folksong is based on an older French song written about one of the sieges of Philippsburg. … Continue reading Voices Long Gone: Chéticamp’s “La Complainte de Louisbourg” – part 2
Voices Long Gone: Chéticamp’s “La Complainte de Louisbourg” – part 1
Chéticamp, Nova Scotia in the early 1900s (October 7, 2022 - Since the publishing of this article, historian Éva Guillorel from the University of Rennes in France has done significant research into the origins of "La Complainte de Louisbourg." She has uncovered evidence that this Acadian folksong is based on an older French song written … Continue reading Voices Long Gone: Chéticamp’s “La Complainte de Louisbourg” – part 1
“An Inland Scout”: John Montresor’s Trek into 18th Century Cape Breton
Fort Duquesne. Quebec. Fort Detroit. Lexington. Bunker Hill. Brooklyn. Brandywine and Germantown. In a time when people generally didn't travel more than thirty miles from their homes, John Montresor, an engineer in the British Army and later Chief Engineer in America during the American War of Independence, saw more of the North American continent than … Continue reading “An Inland Scout”: John Montresor’s Trek into 18th Century Cape Breton
The Lost World of Cape Breton Island 