7 May 2022

Six Ways To Fundy

7 May 2022

May

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Saturday 7 May 2022--Saint John--the word "Saint" is always spelled out-- is best known today as an English Loyalist city, built largely by refugees from the American Revolution. There is, however, considerable French history before that, starting with Samuel de Champlain, who arrived at the mouth of the river on June 24, the feast day of St John, in 1604, and so named it. On my walk into town this morning, I pass by Place Fort La Tour, a historic site that evokes a long story, which I will try to make short.

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour (1593-1666) and Charles de Menou d'Aulnay (1604-1650) each had a claim to the governorship of Acadie, thanks in part to some bungling back in the old country. The result was a series of skirmishes sometimes referred to as the Acadian Civil War. D'Aulnay, based in Port-Royal, convinced the authorities back in France that La Tour was a treasonous scoundrel who needed arresting. He attacked Fort La Tour in 1645, while La Tour was away. For three days, Madame La Tour valiantly led the defense; but it was clear that the fort would be overwhelmed eventually, and when D'Aulnay offered terms, promising the garrison life and liberty, she was obliged to accept. After the capitulation, he reneged, hanging every member of the garrison, forcing Madame La Tour to watch with a rope around her neck. She died a few weeks later--it's not clear how. D'Aulnay now had full control of Acadie, and, to be perfectly fair, oversaw many improvements that led to the prosperity of the colony. But in 1650, he drowned in a canoeing accident. La Tour successfully petitioned France for rehabilitation and was made governor of Acadie. The fraught local politics were settled when he married d'Aulnay's widow. So there. The couple added five children to d'Aulnay's eight.

(The entry for La Tour at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography tells his story in much greater detail--it's long, convoluted, and entertaining. There is more detail on the battle for Fort La Tour in the entry for Madame La Tour. She is widely revered as an Acadian heroine.)

I did not originally plan to stay in Saint John--I'd meant to spend a night in Lubec, Maine, where I spent the last night of my 2012 Maritime trip, and to catch the afternoon ferry from Saint John to Digby for a night there. At some point I discovered that there was no afternoon ferry this early in the season, and further, that none of the pubs in Lubec would be open until the end of the month. How do those people live? The remedy was two nights here, but the consequence is that I don't really have much in mind to do today. No big deal, then, that I've gotten out quite late. I pass by Loyalist House, former residence of the Merrick family and claimed to be the oldest structurally unaltered building in town, and pop into Dave Shoots Bookseller*. Used bookstores are good places to look into local history, and I have a chat about Loyalists with the nice woman there, Dave's daughter. After all that, I end up buying The Beauport Road (Tales of Old Quebec), by J E LeRossignol (1928). I think maybe it's a translation from French, but there's nothing saying so. Have lunch at the public market, hang out for a bit in King's Square, and have coffee at Tim's. Then I stumble onto Picaroon's General Store. Picaroon's is one of New Brunswick's most venerable craft breweries--I visited their original brewpub in Fredericton (long since closed) ages ago, maybe thirty years. Here is a handsome taproom with a Camelot-style round table at the center, and lots of friendly pooches--it seems to be the one dog-friendly place in town. The IPA, like many in the Maritimes, is too heavy and sweet for my taste, but it's miles better than what was available in this area on my trips in the '80s.

Head back along the waterfront trail, and have dinner and a couple of pints in the Pub Down Under. There's a duo playing pop tunes, and they're pretty good, if you like that kind of thing. I retire early, as I have to be up in the morning to catch the ferry.

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*Sadly, Dave Shoots Bookseller was obliged to close its brick-and-mortar shop in December 2023. Story from CTV News. Wendy Matheson, Dave's daughter, now manages online sales from her home in Saint John West.

Around Saint John