John and George Maxwell

Last updated
John and George Maxwell
BornJune 18, 1864
Marble Mountain, Cape Breton
Other namesMaxwell Twins

John and George Maxwell or the Maxwell Twins (born June 18, 1864) were Gaelic-speaking fishermen and musicians, known for inspiring a character in Rudyard Kipling's story Captains Courageous.

The Maxwells were African Canadians who were born in 1864 to George and Mary Jane Maxwell who were originally from Judique. [1] They were two of six children. [2] The Gaelic-speaking family lived in Marble Mountain, Nova Scotia, the only Black family in the area at the time. [3] The twins were both singers and composers of Gaelic songs. [4] John played the fiddle and knew many traditional Scottish songs. [4]

Both brothers fished, worked in the local quarry, and farmed locally. They married—John to Jessie Pringle in 1897, George to Katie Fowler in 1903—and settled in the area. [1] After Jessie Maxwell died in 1910, John married Minnie Borden Desmond in 1914 and the couple moved to Truro.

Media portrayals

Kipling became aware of the twins while researching a story. Captains Courageous was published in 1896 and 1897 in McClure's Magazine. [5] His character of the cook, who mostly spoke Gaelic but also knew English, was based on John and George Maxwell. At the time readers of the story expressed disbelief that a black man could speak Gaelic. [6] The cook, who is not named in the book, is also seen on a fishing boat "riding the jib-boom and shouting Gaelic to a friend as black as himself." [7]

The author Clara Dennis wrote about the twins in her book Cape Breton Over and Don Pillar wrote about them in his book Out of the Limelight. [1]

The brothers became the subject of a five-minute documentary, Na Gàidheal Dubha, which made the shortlist for Scotland's FilmG Gaelic short film awards. [6] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Breton Island</span> Island in Nova Scotia

Cape Breton Island is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nova Scotia</span> Province of Canada

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Gaelic</span> Goidelic Celtic language of Scotland

Scottish Gaelic, also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Goidelic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx, developed out of Old Irish. It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into the 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names.

<i>Gàidhealtachd</i> Gaelic speaking part of Scotland

The Gàidhealtachd usually refers to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and especially the Scottish Gaelic-speaking culture of the area. The similar Irish language word Gaeltacht refers, however, solely to Irish-speaking areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gaelic College</span>

The Gaelic College, formally The Royal Cape Breton Gaelic College, is a non-profit educational institution located in the community of St. Ann's, on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, along the Cabot Trail. Founded in 1938, its focus has been on the perpetuation of Highland Scottish Gaelic culture.

Catherine-Ann MacPhee is a Scottish Gaelic singer from Barra in the Hebrides, now resident in Canada. She has worked in the theatre and broadcasting as well as giving musical performances in Scotland, England, Canada and elsewhere. After a period living in Ottawa she moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Breton fiddling</span> Violin style from Nova Scotia, Canada

Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. The more predominant style in Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music has been better preserved in Cape Breton. While there is a similar tradition from the Irish-style fiddling, that style is largely overlooked as a result of the strong Scottish presence in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Gaelic</span> Scottish Gaelic dialects of eastern Canada

Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic, often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman McLeod (minister)</span>

Norman McLeod, a Presbyterian minister from Scotland, led significant settlements of Highlanders in Nova Scotia and ultimately in Waipu in New Zealand.

Mabou is an unincorporated settlement in the Municipality of the County of Inverness on the west coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The population in 2011 was 1,207 residents. It is the site of The Red Shoe pub, Beinn Mhàbu, the An Drochaid Museum, and Glenora Distillers

<i>Captains Courageous</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Victor Fleming

Captains Courageous is a 1937 American adventure drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore and Melvyn Douglas. Based on the 1897 novel of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, the film had its world premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. It was produced by Louis D. Lighton and made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Filmed in black and white, Captains Courageous was advertised by MGM as a coming-of-age classic with exciting action sequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish</span> Latin Catholic diocese in Canada

The Diocese of Antigonish is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its current diocesan ordinary is Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick.

Dr John Lorne Campbell FRSE LLD OBE was a Scottish historian, farmer, environmentalist and folklorist, and recognized scholar of both Celtic studies and Scottish Gaelic literature.

<i>Hector</i> (ship) Museum ship in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Hector was a ship famous for having been part of the first significant migration of Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia in 1773. The replica of the original ship is located at the Hector Heritage Quay, a heritage centre run by local volunteers, in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Canadians</span> Canadians of Scottish descent or heritage

Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times. According to the 2016 Census of Canada, the number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent is 4,799,010, or 13.93% of the nation's total population. Prince Edward Island has the highest population of Scottish descendants at 41%.

British Canadians primarily refers to Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the British Isles, which includes the nations of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities throughout the global Scottish diaspora where the language has been and is still spoken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Village Museum/An Clachan Gàidhealach</span> Outdoor museum in Nova Scotia, Canada

The Highland Village Museum / Baile nan Gàidheal / An Clachan Gàidhealaich is an outdoor living history museum dedicated to Nova Scotia’s Gaelic folk-life, culture, and language. Highland Village is located in Iona, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 43 acres of natural landscape overlooking the Bras d'Or Lake in Central Cape Breton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Drummond MacGregor</span> Canadian Presbyterian minister and abolitionist (1759–1830)

Rev. James Drummond MacGregor was an author of Christian poetry in both Scottish and Canadian Gaelic, an abolitionist and Presbyterian minister in Nova Scotia, Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Caplan, Ronald (June 1, 1981). "George Maxwell Family Stories". Cape Breton's Magazine (28): 17–23. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Museum, Highland Village (March 6, 2015). "The Maxwell Twins (1997)" . Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Archives, Nova Scotia (2017-06-27). "Highland Village, Iona". Nova Scotia Archives. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  4. 1 2 "The Maxwell Twins". Cabar Féidh. 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  5. ↑ McKenzie, Steven (2024-02-04). "Film tells of inspirational 19th Century black Gaelic-speaking twins". BBC Home. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  6. 1 2 "Na Gàidheal Dubha". FilmG (in Scottish Gaelic). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  7. ↑ Kipling, Rudyard (2024-02-01). ""Captains Courageous": A Story of the Grand Banks". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  8. ↑ "Geàrr-liostaichean 18+". FilmG (in Scottish Gaelic). 2023-01-12. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.