This is the first fully documented account, produced in modern times, of the migration of Scots to Lower Canada. Scots were in the forefront of the early influx of British settlers, which began in the late eighteenth century. John Nairne and Malcolm Fraser were two of the first Highlanders to make their mark on the province, arriving at La Malbaie soon after the Treaty of Paris in 1763. By the early 1800s many Scottish settlements had been formed along the north side of the Ottawa River, in the Chateauguay Valley to the southwest of Montreal, and in the Gaspe region. Then, as economic conditions in the Highlands and Islands deteriorated by the late 1820s, large numbers of Hebridean crofters settled in the Eastern Townships. The first group came from Arran and the later arrivals from Lewis. Les Ecossais were proud of their Scottish traditions and customs, those living reminders of the old country which had been left behind. In the end they became assimilated into Quebec’s French-speaking society, but along the way they had a huge impact on the province’s early development. How were les Ecossais regarded by their French neighbours? Were they successful pioneers? In her book, Lucille H. Campey assesses their impact as she unravels their story. Drawing from a wide range of fascinating sources, she considers the process of settlement and the harsh realities of life in the New World. She explains how Quebec province came to acquire its distinctive Scottish communities and offers new insights on their experiences and achievements.

Three essays discuss the history, folkways and mechanisms of social change among the descendants of nineteenth century immigrants from the Outer Hebridean Islands of Harris and Lewis now living in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Widely regarded as the authentic voice of English-speaking farmers in Quebec, Robert Sellar, editor of the Huntingdon Gleaner, was the most-quoted rural newspaperman in Canada. Voice of the Vanishing Minority recounts Sellar's crusade against the tide of Frenchification that would displace English-speaking people from the townships they had pioneered. As a result of his outspokenness Sellar endured character assassination, physical violence, legal harassment, arson, clerical condemnation, disappointment, and the apathy of the dwindling communities he was defending. His provocative beliefs about Quebec's first "English exodus" - shared by the grass roots but dismissed by politically correct politicians, journalists, and academics as Anglo-Protestant bigotry - cut to the core of the unity crisis already developing in Canada. Book jacket.