Canadians of Old

About Canadians of Old

In his mid-70s, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé took on the project of recording the culture and heritage of French Canada, especially that of the late 1700s, the world of his youth. The result, published in French in 1863, was the historical fiction "Les Anciens Canadiens (literally, “The Canadians of Old”). In this book, inspired by the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott, Aubert de Gaspé collects the customs, traditions, folk tales, superstitions, and songs of the Quebec people, weaves in memories of life in his own ancestral home, and sets all this within the momentous historical events that transformed Canada in the 18th century. Much of the book is historically accurate, based sometimes on the author’s own experiences and sometimes on memories passed on to him by eyewitnesses. For example, the account of being sent to debtor’s prison came from the author’s own experience. The fantastic ghost story of “La Corriveau” was based on the true story of a murderess whose body was on public display in iron chains (a “cage”) for weeks after her execution. That initial incident had already blossomed into material for lurid legend; Aubert de Gaspé was the first to incorporate this legend into a work of literature. The book’s storyline hinges on the British Conquest of Quebec in 1759 and the ensuing trauma caused to French Canada. Fictional characters are intertwined with historical figures such as a famous shipwreck survivor and specific military officers.

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