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. The poem/song first appeared on record in September 1829, in the ''Noctes Ambrosianae'' column of ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

''. It was described as being translated into English from

Canadian Gaelic Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic (, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada. Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scotia from 1773, with the ...

, and to have originated amongst the

Scottish-Canadian 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 cultur ...

voyageurs Voyageurs (; ) were 18th- and 19th-century French and later French Canadians and others who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

paddling the great birchbark freight canoes from the

St Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

out of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and up the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

to the height-of-land at

Grand Portage Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage. The area became on ...

in the "pays d'en haut" past

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

. Gaelic scholars have investigated and dismissed the claim, however, that the poem/song was in any way derived from Gaelic. The poem/song was said to have been sent from

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

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),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. John Galt (d. 1839),

John Gibson Lockhart John Gibson Lockhart (12 June 1794 – 25 November 1854) was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the seminal, and much-admired, seven-volume biography of his father-in-law Sir Walter Scott: ''Memoirs of the Life of Sir ...

(d. 1854),

David Macbeth Moir David Macbeth Moir (5 January 17986 July 1851) was a Scottish physician and writer. Biography Moir was born at Musselburgh on 5 January 1798, the son of Elizabeth Macbeth (1767–1842) and Robert Moir (''d''. 1842). He was educated at Mussel ...

(d. 1851),

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

(d. 1832), and Wilson. The strongest arguments point to Moir; the weakest to Scott.

References

{{reflist 1820s songs Canadian poems Canadian folk songs Songs about Canada Maritime music Scottish-Canadian culture Fur trade

See also

References