Endeavour

251st Anniversary of the Landing of the Hector at Pictou, Nova Scotia

On September 15th, 1773, the immigrant ship The Hector sailed into Pictou Harbour. Down below she was carrying one of the first groups of Scottish Highlanders to settle in Canada. Most of the group came from the area around Loch Broom, the lands of Clan MacDonnell and Clan Mackenzie. This was 10 years after the beginning of the Highland Clearances and thousands more were to follow them to the New World. Of the two hundred or so that left Scotland, eighteen died on the 11 week journey plagued by dysentery and storms off Newfoundland. They finally arrived at their destination and landed at Brown’s Point, just west of the town of Pictou. Nearly all of them spoke the ancestral language of Scottish Gaelic. Among the few who spoke English was William Mackenzie, their Schoolteacher. When they arrived at Pictou, their year’s supply of free provisions promised to them failed to materialize, and they had to quickly prepare for winter on their own. They eventually proved successful, and news of their success prompted many other Highland Scots to venture across the ocean to “New Scotland” and several other spots in Canada over the following decades. The patience and perseverance of all the Highland Scots has left an indelible mark on the people and heritage of Canada.