''Glooscap'' was a full-rigged sailing ship built in 1891 at Spencer's Island,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in the

Minas Basin The Minas Basin () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides. Geography The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits ...

of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

. The ship was named after

Glooscap Glooscap (variant forms and spellings ''Gluskabe'', ''Glooskap'', ''Gluskabi'', ''Kluscap'', ''Kloskomba'', or ''Gluskab'') is a legendary figure of the Wabanaki peoples, native peoples located in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Atlantic Ca ...

, the spiritual hero figure of the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

people. ''Glooscap'' was the culmination of several decades of large-scale ship building in the small village of Spencers Island. She was the last square rigger built along the Parrsboro Shore and the largest ship ever built in

Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Cumberland was named in 1755 in honour of the Duke of Cumberland to replace Beausejour. The historic county was founded in 1759 when the English system of administration was ...

.Stanley Spicer ''Sails of Fundy: The Schooners and Square-riggers of the Parrsboro Shore'' (Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1984), p. 15 She circled the world in her first year of operation, carrying freight to

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, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She made frequent subsequent voyages to the Pacific. Although built in the twilight period of the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...

, ''Glooscap'' earned good profits for her owners shipping freight around the world for two decades under the command of two noted captains, the brothers George T. Spicer and Dewis Spicer of Spencers Island. ''Glooscap'' was converted to a

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

in 1914. The ship is featured in exhibits at the lighthouse museum in Spencer's Island and at the Age of Sail Heritage Centre in Port Greville.

References

*''Sailing Ships of the Maritime'' Charles Armour and Thomas Lackey (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1975)

External links

Photograph of Glooscap awaiting launch at Spencers Island in 1891Virtual Collection of photographs and documents about the ship Glooscap at the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glooscap Maritime history of Canada Transport in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Tall ships of Canada Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Nova Scotia Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada Sailing ships of Canada 1891 ships Full-rigged ships