Chapter One 19

of Nail Pond. After years, even generations, of persecution, both Irish and Acadians wanted to be left alone to follow their own way of life. Also for the women at least, there was a language barrier. Likely the most regular contact between the two groups would have been at church.

Why did the trickle of settlers from Ireland stop just before conditions at home were about to culminate in the Potato Famine of the 18405? The blight that killed the potatoes in Ireland originated in North America and may have been partly responsible for the crop failures of the late 1840s on Prince Edward Island. Nevertheless the trickle of settlers stopped before either famine declared itself. Could another reason have been the more persistent return of the rent collectors to Tignish? At any rate, immigration stopped, and only a few families arrived later in the century.

Little more is known about the first thirty to forty years of Tignish, except for ecclesiastical matters which do not concern us here. The scant information which exists pertains mainly to the Acadians. Farming had developed to the point where some families were producing first-class wheat. Sometime early in the 18205, rent collectors found their way to the settlement, but were told there was no money available for them. This may well have been true; most trade having been carried out by barter.

In 1826, Governor John Ready visited Tignish as part of his tour of the Island. Unfortunately no record of what he did, said, or thought remains. This was the first, and for many years the only visit of its kind. The lack of roads was not the only reason; few officials were interested in travelling to such a remote spot. Even the rent collectors seem not to have returned for many years. Only in the thirties did they make an attempt again.