One cannot imagine what he must have thought as he pushed off from shore in 1492 and headed out to sea. Christopher Columbus was going in a new direction.
Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506), Italian-born Spanish explorer, credited as being the first European to reach the Americas; Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, to sponsor an expedition to sail across the Atlantic in search of Asia. In 1492 he set sail with three small ships (the Niña, the Pinta, the Santa Maria) and discovered the New World (in fact, various Caribbean islands). He made three further voyages between 1493 and 1504, landing on the South American mainland in 1498 but never making contact with North America.
Though conceivably with a degree of trepidation, it would be risible to suggest the voyages were without adventure. Our friends Alana and Jay are about to embark upon their own New World expedition; and, noticeably they too have similar sentiments. This morning over breakfast at the golf club we ruminated upon the upcoming voyage. The subject of lighthouses bubbled from within our discussion. Seemingly both Alana and I are strongly attracted to lighthouses. The connection is not without its serendipity as the proposed landing point of their adventure is Mahone Bay near Chester overlooking nearby Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse.
What further inspires me particularly about this impending launch from the Upper Canada mainland to the Nova Scotia shore is that Alana, Jay, Denis and I made our first acquaintance in a place whence none of us initially came; viz., Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. There, through the ambassadorship of their French bulldog Max, we first unwittingly met on the beach of the North Atlantic Ocean. That was about fifteen years ago; and since then we have repeatedly fanned the glowing embers of our maritime interest (which is to say predominantly seafood luncheons together) . We have all returned to Hilton Head Island for visits; but the plan they now have to move to Nova Scotia and build a new home on the North Atlantic Ocean is unprecedented by comparison. Jay, in addition to being an exceedingly accomplished design & build contractor of high repute, makes an estimable hobby of art not the least of which is his latest rather grand rendition of enormous ocean waves hung on the wall of their current home on Fourth Line Road, North Gower.
Though Alana and Jay come most recently from Kenora, Ontario adjacent Lake of the Woods, and we now live in Almonte, Ontario on the Mississippi River, we’re all nonetheless Upper Canadians and at best lake or riparian dwellers. Dipping one’s toes into the North Atlantic Ocean is by far a difference. And, again, one which both Alana and I agreed over breakfast this morning was a critical distinction. Small wonder we entertained commensurately the lighthouse theme, what we both unquestionably view as the pinnacle of maritime beauty. From this flows all the other pertinent topics like the Ship’s Bell, sailing yachts and of course the crashing sea itself. And let’s not overlook Moby Dick. Which reminds me I touched upon the historic bind between Boston (Nantucket), USA and Halifax, NS. It’s an affiliation which was early recognized not only because Harvard Law School, Boston is the oldest law school in the United States of America and Dalhousie Law School, Halifax is the oldest law school in the British Empire; but perhaps more abruptly because of the erstwhile rum-running business conducted along the North Atlantic Ocean coastline. It is a topic about which I overheard many apocryphal tales while attending Dalhousie Law School.
Rum-running, or bootlegging, is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. The term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land. It is believed that the term bootlegging originated during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, when soldiers would sneak liquor into army camps by concealing pint bottles within their boots or beneath their trouser legs. The Oxford English Dictionary records the word-form “bootlegger” as in use from 1889 onwards.
The seal to be put upon this monologue is that my father (and literally centuries of his ancestors) were from the maritime provinces of both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; having as well what I speculate to be United Empire Loyalist connections to Massachusetts, USA (which is no stretch from either Boston or Nantucket).
Thomas CHAPMAN
Suffix Major
Born Abt 1756 Hawnby, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, England
Died 5 Nov 1837 Fort Lawrence, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada
Buried Point de Bute, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
Family Abigail CAIN, b. Abt 1754, Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States d. 5 Apr 1836, Fort Lawrence, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada (Age ~ 82 years) Married 4 Nov 1779 Fort Lawrence, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada
Father Arthur CAIN, d. Date Unknown, , , New England, United States
Mother Lydia TOWNSEND, d. Date Unknown
Married 13 Dec 1749 Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
Father William CHAPMAN, c. 12 Oct 1729, Hawnby, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, England d. Bef 1805 …. (Age ~ 75 years)
Mother Mary IBBITSON, b. 26 Jun 1732, Helmsley, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, England d. Bef 1788, Point de Bute, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada (Age < 55 years)
Married 21 Jan 1755 Hawnby, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, England
James CHAPMAN
Born 3 Apr 1785 Fort Lawrence, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada
Robert Dickie CHAPMAN
Born Abt 1812 Coverdale, Albert, New Brunswick, Canada
George CHAPMAN
Born 13 Mar 1841 Coverdale, Albert, New Brunswick, Canada
William F. CHAPMAN
Born 28 Sep 1869 Salisbury, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
George William CHAPMAN
Born 30 Jul 1895 Salisbury, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
Cecil George William CHAPMAN
Born 17 Aug, 1918 Hillsborough, Albert, New Brunswick, Canada
Lawrence George William CHAPMAN
Born 11 Dec 1948 Montréal, Quebec, Canada