Several years ago the Kings Historical Society considered hosting a historical essay contest an anonymous sponsor offered to finance with substantial cash prizes. If I recall correctly, there would have been six to eight historical categories, among them science, communications and agriculture.

This was an excellent idea since it would have resulted in some good papers on various aspects of local history. Unfortunately, the contest never happened. Shortly after, another historical group announced an essay contest, with the topic to be the history of Canning. Since the announcement, however, I haven’t seen a single word on the contest; I assume there were no essay entrants and the idea was quietly dropped.

This was too bad in a way. Canning has a long, interesting history and a better story to tell than, say, nearby Kentville or Berwick. It was at one time a major port and a major shipbuilding centre and even had its own newspaper. In its heyday, Canning dwarfed other county villages and towns.

Getting back to the essay contest, there probably wasn’t any need to hold it. An excellent mini-history of Canning has already been written.

Around 1918 the Wolfville Acadian published a history of the early settlers of the Minas Basin as a serial. The history was later bound in a paperback book and about 500 copies were printed. The author/compiler was provincial archivist W. C. Milner.

Since Milner had access to the historical papers stored in provincial archives, the book is a goldmine of information. Milner wrote about shipbuilding, the Acadians, old times in various towns and villages of the area; he profiled leading families, such as the Eatons and DeWolfes, and included excerpts from other historical works.

Included in Milner’s book is the short history of Canning I referred to above. Milner borrowed from the work of Dr. Benjamin Rand for the Canning profile. Rand, a Harvard University professor and historical writer, was also quoted extensively by Eaton in his Kings County history. There are hints that Rand wrote much more on Canning than is quoted by Milner and Eaton; it may be worthwhile for the village of Canning to obtain a copy of his papers, which probably can be found at Harvard University.

As mentioned, Canning in its glory days boasted a newspaper. This was the Kings County gazette, published by H. A. Borden from 1864 to 1865 and by Major Theakston from 1865 to 1866. The great fire that practically destroyed Canning in 1866 may have been responsible for the village losing its newspaper. Eaton’s history lists the county newspapers and indicates that there was no publication in Canning after the 1866 fire. Theakston moved on to Wolfville where he started another newspaper, The Acadian, in 1866.

Milner’s book says that the fame of Canning rested on two foundations – “shipbuilding and ‘taters.” On the shipbuilding there’s one interesting tale of a Mr. Reid of Halifax who had a vessel built in Canning. Reid became “financially embarrassed” and died before he could repay his debt. “One of his creditors, indignant at Mr. Reid’s perverseness in dying, issued a writ of Respondendum and seized the body.”

It’s the summer of 1762 and Nova Scotia is in a turmoil. In the seven years since the expulsion, Acadians have been filtering back into the province and their numbers are increasing at an alarming rate; rumours abound that they are exhorting the Mi’kmaq to attack the Planter settlements. Nova Scotia’s Governor Belcher informs the British that the Acadians are “incessant in their endeavours” to break up the Indian peace treaties.

Aggravating the situation was the number of “French prisoners” remaining in the province. These Acadians had been used as a work force since the expulsion and many were roaming the province without supervision. Worried settlers petition the government to prevent the Acadians in the province “from carrying guns or going at large about the country.”

When the government was considering the petition, word came that the French had attacked Newfoundland and captured the capital city of St. Johns. This made it easy for the government to make a decision. There was no other recourse but to round up the Acadians remaining in the province and start a second expulsion.

Since it brought major social changes and was an unprecedented event in Canadian history, much has been written about the 1755 expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. But what’s generally unknown is that a second expulsion was attempted some seven years after the first; historians have been relatively quiet about this event which was prompted by the long-running war between the British and French.

The events leading to the second round up of Acadians is examined closely by James Martell in his paper on Planter settlements on the Minas Basin. Martell presents a detailed overview of the situation in the province seven years after the original expulsion and the Acadians appear to be a threat. In Kings County alone, for example, there were almost 200 Acadian men who had been retained as a labour force; men who at first had been treated like prisoners of war but later had been allowed to move about freely.

“In Kings County the numbers and attitude of the Acadians must have exceptionally menacing,” Martell writes. “It was reported… that in one of the townships there, 150 settlers had left and others were leaving through fear of the French.” When it was discovered that Acadians in Kings County had been collecting ammunition, the provincial authorities felt justified in ordering the removal of all Acadians remaining in the province.

A province-wide roundup of the Acadians began in the summer of 1762. “In the middle of August… transports loaded with exiled Acadians again left the shores of Nova Scotia,” Martell writes. “This time the destination was Boston. By the end of the month five vessels filled with Acadian prisoners were lying in that continental harbour.”

The second round up of Acadians probably should be called the expulsion that failed. To put it simply, the authorities in Boston refused to accept the Acadians. “The second expulsion of the Acadians was a dismal failure,” Martell writes. “Before a month had passed, they were back in Halifax.”

After the Uprising of 1745, the playing of the pipes was forbidden in Scotland.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard and read this about the pipes. In fact, it’s one of the most prevalent legends about bagpipes – or bagpipe, which some say is more correct. A lot of mighty impressive scholars and historians have given credence to this legend and its a commonly accepted truth; even the Scots take it as gospel.

However, with St. Patrick’s Day upon us, I point out that the bagpipes were never, repeat never, banned in Scotland. Not after the uprising of 1745, not before the uprising and in fact, not ever. This is one of the myths about Scotland that has been perpetuated for centuries and it isn’t true in the least.

Now if you said the pipes were once banned in Ireland, you’d be speaking the truth; of which fact I’ve been reminded since we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this month. But first, let’s look at the myth that pipes were banned in Scotland.

Although the Disarming Act of 1746 clearly bans “arms and warlike weapons” as well as any clan plaid, the bagpipe is never specifically mentioned. The Nova Scotian historian, John G. Gibson, makes this clear in his book on the history of piping, Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping, 1745-1945. Gibson gives the entire text of the Disarming Act and supports his claim with well-documented evidence. From his documentation, Gibson also proves that piping and dancing continued in Scottish culture throughout the 18th century and beyond.

The Irish, on the other hand, can claim with some justification that the bagpipe was banned in their country by the British. For centuries the bagpipe was used as an instrument of war in Ireland. Aware of the pipe’s ability to rouse men, the British banned its use in 1366 by the Statues of Kilkenny.

In the piping manual of the Royal Irish Rangers, the introduction reads that the Kilkenny Statues made it a “penal offence to have, play or entertain pipers in Ireland on the plea that they acted as ‘Irish agents or spies on the English, whereby great evils have often resulted’.” Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I found the entire text of the Statues of Kilkenny and as well as banning the playing of pipes, it also bans “story-tellers, bablers, rimers (and) mowers.

It seems fitting to quote here another line from the Royal Irish Rangers piping manual: “The bagpipe is usually associated with Scotland, but in fact the instrument came originally from Ireland.”

True or not – how can it ever be proven? – the pipes are thought of today as being Scottish and not Irish. It was the hardy Highlanders who rebelled against the English who carried the bagpipe to the far reaches of the earth.

But again being reminded of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, I must point out that while the Scots popularised the bagpipe and claim it as their own, many of the traditional pipe tunes are Irish in origin. Countless pipe tunes thought to be of Scottish origin can found in old collections of Irish music.

Josh Hazel passed away some 45 years ago but he’s still remembered.

Hazel was a treasure hunter; he spent much of his life following up the legends about pirate gold on the Bay of Fundy, and it appears he may have been one of only two or three people who actually found any.

Last week’s regional magazine carried my story on the treasure hunter who lived most of his life at Black Hole on the Bay of Fundy. In the article, I noted that Mr. Hazel made at least two finds of gold coins; while they weren’t big finds, Hazel apparently discovered enough coins to finance more searching and to purchase several motor vehicles.

While Mr. Hazel was secretive about his finds, people noticed his sudden wealth and started to talk. Hazel was soon part of local folklore as the man who found buried treasure. Even today, nearly half a century after he died, people still talk about Hazel and his find of pirate gold.

While researching the Hazel story, I was given the name of another man said to have found treasure on the North Mountain. Like Hazel, this man suddenly was wealthy. He moved off the North Mountain after his find and purchased a large farm. I’m still looking into this; to date, I’ve been unable to find anyone acquainted with this successful treasure hunter.

In the Hazel article, I mentioned that Josh concentrated his search for a time around Black Hole. There was a good reason for this.

One of the persistent rumours on the Bay of Fundy is that pirates of Norwegian origin used Black Hole as a base and an area to bury their loot. This seems unlikely since Black Hole is a long way from the shipping lanes. But oddly enough, the coins Josh Hazel found were of Norwegian origin; this was confirmed by his son, Lewis Hazel, whom I interviewed for the story. Lewis Hazel examined the coins his father found and was able to give me the dates on them.

One item I didn’t mention in my article is the treasure story on the Mysteries of Canada website. This story, “The Treasure of Black Hole Harbour, is rather far-fetched but in essence, it says that Norwegian pirates used the area as a bank to hide their gold. The story describes various unusual markings on stones and a strange mound near tidewater.

The story was written by a man who apparently visited Black Hole. However, natives of the area scoff at his description of Black Hole and say that some of the geographical features he describes simply don’t exist.

True or not, I’ve been told that the website story has attracted the interest of a Japanese firm that makes television documentaries on mysteries. The word I have is that the firm will be visiting Black Hole this summer to investigate the treasure story and make a documentary.

Getting back to Lewis Hazel, he’s hoping to produce a book on his father’s life of treasuring hunting. Mr. Hazel tells me his father was investigating other possible treasure hoards in this area of the Valley. Josh Hazel had read and researched intensively, Lewis says, and found clues pointing to other possible treasure sites.