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Birthplace
Overview
T.C. Haliburton’s
NS c1800
Overview
NS 1st Historian
Windsor
King’s College
Hurley
on Long Pond
TCH’s
Long Pond
Clifton
Grove
Waterways
Windsor Gypsum
Bluenose
Why He Wrote
Wise Saws
Bibliography
Works Online
Sam
Slick’s Words
Related
Pages
Acadians
Rhode
Island to NS
MacMechan
Hist/Stat
Chittick
Hist/Stat
TCH
Explains Hist/Stat
Alexander
Meets TCH
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A Century of Haliburton’s Nova Scotia
by
Archibald MacMechan
Pub 1930
NSARM – Nova Scotia Archives & Records
Management
V/F v105 #27
Pg 1 – 3
…"An Historical and Statistical
Account of Nova-Scotia." In two volumes. Illustrated by a map of the province,
and several engravings. By Thomas C. Haliburton, Esq. Barrister at Law and Member
of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia"…[Haliburton] labor[ed] for seven
years at his history of this province…
…[Haliburton] was practicing law
in the picturesque town of Annapolis Royal. Beautiful as it was for situation,
it had no libraries, public or private. Nor was there in the whole province any
collection of books on which a student of local history could draw…
…Young
and untrained as he was, Haliburton had distinctly modern ideas of research. Whenever
possible, he went to the original sources for his information. He had also to
write to London and Boston for works of reference, or have transcripts made from
them…
…[In the year] 1823…in Halifax [,there was] published a pamphlet
entitled "A General Description of Nova Scotia"…
…Haliburton
himself supplies the reason why it was written, – to clear the province of misrepresentation.
A banquet was given in his honor in 1839. When his health was proposed, reference
was made to his "History", and what he said in reply applies also to
the "General Description [of Nova Scotia, published in 1823]"…the
precursor of the Historical and Statistical Account [which was published in 1829.
Haliburton was 33].
"You have been so good, sir as to refer in terms
of approbation to an humble effort of mine – the History of Nova Scotia. On that
subject permit me to say that early in life I twice visited Great Britain , and
was strangely, and I may say painfully, impressed with a conviction that has forced
itself upon the mind of every man who has gone to Europe from this country – namely
that this valuable and important Colony [of Nova Scotia] was not merely wholly
unknown, but misunderstood and misrepresented. Every book of Geography, every
Gazetteer and elementary work that mentioned it, spoke of it in terms of contempt
and condemnation. It was said to possess good harbours, if you could find them
for the fog, and fisheries that would be valuable if you only had sun enough to
cure the fish – while the interior was described as a land of rock and barren,
and doomed to unrelenting sterility. Where facts were wanting, recourse was had
to imagination; and one author stated that these woods were infested with wolves.
Not content with the introduction of these savage animals, he represents them
as being endowed by Providence with the remarkable power of ascending trees in
pursuit of their prey…In short…[Nova Scotia] had become a bye word* and a
proverbial term of reproach. It’s name was a name of terror, in the nurseries,
and the threat of sending a refactory child to Nova Scotia was equivalent to sending
him to the devil."
*Note: Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th edition pub
1963
byword, a person, place, etc. taken as type of some (usu. bad) quality
refactory, to be stubborn, unmanageable, rebellious
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