Scatarie Island is an island in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, located off the coast of
Baleine,
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
.
History
During the
Anglo-French War (1627–29), under
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, by 1629 the
Kirkes took
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
, Sir James Stewart of Killeith,
Lord Ochiltree
Lord Ochiltree (or Ochiltrie) of Lord Stuart of Ochiltree was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1542 Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale (see the Earl Castle Stewart for earlier history of the family) exchanged the lordship of Avondale with Si ...
planted a colony on
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
at Baleine, and Alexander’s son,
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long Isl ...
established the first incarnation of
“New Scotland” at
Port Royal, Nova Scotia. This set of British triumphs which left only Cape Sable (present-day
Port La Tour, Nova Scotia
Port La Tour is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Barrington of Shelburne County.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada asserts that Fort Saint Louis is located at Por ...
and area) as the only major French holding in North America was not destined to last. Charles I’s haste to make peace with France on the terms most beneficial to him meant that the new North American gains would be bargained away in the
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1632)
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on March 29, 1632. It returned New France (Quebec, Acadia and Cape Breton Island) to French control after the English had seized it in 1629,[Brownist
The Brownists were a group of English Dissenters or early Separatists from the Church of England. They were named after Robert Browne, who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England, in the 1550s. A majority of the Separatists aboard the ' ...]
s and built Fort Rosemar. It was a military colony, one that owed its origins to the exigencies of war, not a permanent agricultural settlement. Ochiltree's primary objective was to erect a military post to assert Charles 1 claims, and by extension the rights of the
Merchant Adventures to Canada
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
, in a crucial theatre that linked the St. Lawrence with Nova Scotia. Ochiltree's party carried a hefty supply of guns, ammunition, and heavy artillery. One of the first acts was to attack and capture a sixty-ton Portuguese barque that they found at anchor near the site of their proposed settlement. The ship was dismantled and stripped of its cannon, which were then used as additional artillery to guard Fort Rosemar. Ochiltree proceeded to capture French fishing vessels off the shores of Cape Breton.
During this time when Nova Scotia briefly became a Scottish colony, there were three battles between the Scots and the French: one at
Saint John; another at
Cape Sable Island
Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canadian island at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. It is sometimes confused with Sable Island. Historically, the Argyle, Nova Scotia region was known as Cape S ...
; and the other at Baleine.
Siege of Baleine
Charles Daniel arrived with 53 men and numerous friendly natives. He captured two shallops manned by fishermen from Rosemar, and imprisoned them. On September 10, he approached the fort and assured the British he was coming in peace. The French then attacked by bombarding the fort with cannon fire from the ships, and Daniel conducting a land assault. Daniel was a harsh captor. He ordered Ochiltree and his company to demolish their fort and forced the prisoners to Grand Cibou (present-day
Englishtown, Nova Scotia
Englishtown is an unincorporated area in the Municipality of the County of Victoria, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the site of the Englishtown Ferry cable ferry that carries Nova Scotia Route 312 across St. Anns Harbour.
The area was known as Mohaga ...
). There Daniel had Ochiltree and his men construct a new fort
Fort Sainte Anne (Nova Scotia)
Fort Ste. Anne is a former French military fort located at present-day Englishtown, Nova Scotia, on the Island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The fort was built by Captain Charles Daniel (1629) after he raided Baleine. The fort was occu ...
. Then he sailed the prisoners to France, where Ochiltree was thrown in jail for a month.
Naval blockade
During the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
, in the buildup to the
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal operation of the Seven Years' War (known in the United States as the French and Indian War) in 1758 that ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led to the subsequent British campaign to capt ...
, the British ran a naval blockade of Louisbourg off the coast of Baleine and Scatarie Island. Similarly the French were capturing British ships. Between August 1756 and October 1757, the French captured 39 British ships. The British pursued two French ships off of Scatarie Island: the ''Arc-en-Ciel'' (52 guns) and the frigate ''Concorde''. The two ships had crossed the Atlantic together but got separated at the Grand Banks during a storm. The most significant single prize the British captured in 1756 was the ''Arc-en-Ciel''. The ship was captured on 12 June off Scatarie after a long chase and a five-hour gun battle. The warship had on board sixty thousand livres in specie and as many as 200 recruits. The British kept the ''Arc-en-Ciel'' in Atlantic waters for the next few years, sailing out of Halifax. It would form part of the fleet the British put together to attack Louisbourg in 1758.
At the same time, the ''Concorde'' initially eluded the Royal Navy on two occasions. The ship had 50 passengers made up of troops and stonemasons and 30 thousand livres in coin. On June 10 the ''Concorde'' slipped into the protected bay on Scatarie Island. When it sailed out, the pursuit began anew. The ''Concorde'' headed for Port Dauphin (Englishtown) but eventually unloaded everyone and the money on board to a schooner who could safely make it to Louisbourg.
Recent events
On September 20, 2011, the 222 m
Great Lakes freighter
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships.
Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...
MV ''Miner'' ran aground on the shoals on the north side of the island. As of October 12, the majority of the fluids on the ship have been drained, but the wreck has developed a large hole and it is unlikely the ship will be able to be re-floated. Costs of the potential salvage job to remove the wreck have been quoted at approximately $24 million.
Environment
The island is now an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
and a
Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
.
References
Links
Charles Daniel - Canadian Biography
Texts
* Nicholls, Andrew. Showdown at Fort Rosemar: in 1629, sixty Scots landed on Cape Breton to begin the island's first Scottish settlement. The French were not amused. ''The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History''. June 1, 2004
* Nicholls, Andrew. A Fleeting Empire: Early Stuart Britain and the Merchant Adventures to Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2010.
*A.J.B. Johnston. Endgame 1758. University of Cape Breton. 2007.
Endnotes
External links
Scatarie Island Wilderness Area
{{Authority control
Communities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality
General Service Areas in Nova Scotia
Conflicts in Nova Scotia
Important Bird Areas of Nova Scotia