2 Scottish spirit and early gatherings in

Prince Edward Island

0 little Isle down by the blue,

Where glad seas wander in between

Your balmy hills of pleasant green;

Kind to the lonely folk were you,

The dour, lone folk from Inverie;—

They laid aside the targe and glaive,

They left the mountain and the glen

To climb the ever-mounting wave —

And show the world that Scots were men. Author Unknown‘

By the early 18005, the Scots emigrants had spread across the Island. Their major settlements were marked by historical geographer, Andrew Hill Clark, in Three Centuries and the Island, his study of the location patterns and economies of the peoples of this province:

...they [the Scots] settled, ultimately, in almost every township, but their greatest concentrations were along the north shore from Malpeque Bay to East Point and through Kings County and eastern Queens. Marked foci were the “MacDonald” settlements of Lots 35 and 36 south of Tracadie Harbour and the “Selkirk” region of Lots 57 and 58, south and east of Orwell Bay. The Catholic strength was concentrated to the north and east of the major Scottish region; the Presbyterian to the south.2

Obviously, the problem of isolation and communication so evident at this time on the Island prevented the entire Scottish population from gathering together in celebration of their major festivals and holidays. In their own communities, however, the inhabitants met on the particular occasions to rejoice in the day and their memories of Scotland. To commemorate the I-Iogmanay or Choolican on New Year’s Day, all the young people, armed with sticks, would go from house to house beating on a dry hide or on house walls to drum out the new year and “Sing at the doors for Hogmanay.”’ They might also have sung a ditty like the following:

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