Canadian Boat-Song

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The Canadian Boat-Song is an anonymously written poem or song which first appeared on record in the early 19th century. The question of its authorship has generated a considerable amount of literature. [4]

The poem/song first appeared on record in September 1829, in the Noctes Ambrosianae column of Blackwood's Magazine . It was described as being translated into English from Gaelic, and to have originated amongst the Canadian-born voyageurs paddling the great birchbark freight canoes from the St Lawrence River out of Montreal and up the Ottawa to the height-of-land at Grand Portage in the "pays d'en haut" past Lake Superior. [5] [6] Gaelic scholars have dismissed the claim that the poem/song was derived from Gaelic. [4]

The poem/song was said to have been sent from Upper Canada to a certain "Christopher North", who is considered to have been John Wilson (d. 1854). The authorship of the poem/song is uncertain and several people have been proposed: William "Tiger" Dunlop (d. 1848), [7] John Galt (d. 1839), John Gibson Lockhart (d. 1854), David Macbeth Moir (d. 1851), Walter Scott (d. 1832), and Wilson. [4] [5] [6] The strongest arguments point to Moir; the weakest to Scott. [4]

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References

  1. Fowke, Edith, "Canadian Boat Song", The Canadian Encyclopedia, retrieved 5 December 2011
  2. Moore, Thomas A Canadian Boat Song London: J. Power (1805) Library and Archives Canada - Amicus #4121845
  3. The tune for A Canadian Boat Song by Thomas Moor
  4. 1 2 3 4 Dowler, Linda (1980), "The authorship of the "Canadian Boat-Song": a bibliographical note", Canadian Poetry, 6, archived from the original on 2012-12-21, retrieved 2011-12-06
  5. 1 2 Gerson, Caroline; Davies, Gwendolyn (2010), Canadian poetry from the beginnings through the First World War, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN   978-0-7710-9364-7
  6. 1 2 Bentley, D. M. R. (1980), "The "Canadian Boat-Song": a mosaic", Canadian Poetry, 6, archived from the original on 2014-10-19, retrieved 2011-12-06
  7. Draper, Gary (Spring–Summer 1980). Bentley, D.M.R. (ed.). "Tiger Dunlop and the Canadian Boat Song". Canadian Poetry. University of Western Ontario Canadian Poetry Press.