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WHILE THE ACADIANS were dispersed all along the Eastern seaboard that fateful winter of 1755-56, the group taken from Annapolis to Baltimore Town (its name at the time) did not set up residence in the abandoned Edward Fottrell house until January of 1756. Various names have been given the priest who came to the chapel to provide the mass and sacraments to not only the Acadians but the few local Catholics in the area as well. It is even possible more than one ministered to the Acadians in the time they were here, so Father Bergier is a fictitious character. Also, little is known of the time the Acadians spent at the Fottrell House, so while a pencil drawing of the house exists, the interior rooms, including the chapel, are from my own imagination. Later, the Acadians moved to what would become French Town in Baltimore, and still others moved to Louisiana in the mid-1760s.
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SEASONING WAS THE TERM applied to a period of adjustment needed by African slaves and European immigrants new to the British colonies. In reality, it was one of three kinds of malaria. Death rates differed greatly between various regions. Slaves that survived would command a higher price than those that had not.
I was unable to determine if the Acadians themselves seasoned, but reasoning that Maryland was warm and humid, with longer heated seasons than Nova Scotia, and considering the fact the mosquitos which bore the disease were likely different, it was not unreasonable to assume that they did season once they arrived. The few available records about the Acadians do attest to their illness here upon their arrival.
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THE CHARACTER OF CHARLOTTE Swain appears harsh without a good reason, but court records throughout the colonies speak of Acadians being treated this way simply because they were Acadians. The Acadians did fare better in Maryland than in the other colonies, but their lot was still harsh and unforgiving. Americans, despite what school history books tell us, have not traditionally welcomed people to her shores. The Acadians were no different in this respect than others and, as a matter of fact, they were discriminated against and treated cruelly on two fronts, for they were both French and Catholic.
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MARYLAND WAS FOUNDED as a Catholic colony, but by the time the Acadians were exiled to the colonies, she was no longer such. In fact, the very religion she had been founded upon was no longer legal. Mass could be said in private homes but not in public. Priests were oftentimes harassed, and the legislature did everything it could, including a double taxation on Catholics the spring of 1756, to see they did not help the Acadian refugees. For more information on religious freedom in American, see the article on my blog titled: Religious Freedom? Not So Much found at: https://www.donnahechlerporterbooks.com/single-post/2014/11/17/Religious-Freedom-Not-so-Much-
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THE FIRST EPISIOTOMY was performed in 1742 (according to written available records) by Sir Fielding Ould, an Irish doctor and medical writer. He studied in Paris, had a large obstetrical practice, and was master of a lying-in hospital. The first record of its being performed in the states is 110 years later in 1852, so I have stretched facts to suit the story. However, since Elizabeth’s father was a surgeon and was trained in Europe, and since events oftentimes occur before they are recorded, it is not inconceivable that her father could have been aware of such a procedure, and Elizabeth herself, in helping her father, would have seen him perform such on at least a few occasions.
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BRADDOCK’S DEFEAT OCCURRED the spring of 1755, the year before The Rood begins. At Great Meadows, the troops were ambushed by Indians. Six hundred British soldiers and militiamen were massacred. The bodies lay atop one another as they had died, a mile long and a hundred yards wide. A year later, the bones lay bleaching in the sun where they had fallen, and it was not until General Forbes led his successful expedition to take back Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) in 1759, four years later, that the bones were afforded a Christian burial.
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DUGAL MCQUEEN, MY SEVENTH great-grandfather, in his will dated 1746, left his fear nothing coat to his son William. This coat remains a mystery for there seems to be little to nothing relatable in historical records as to its origins. Large plaids were used by the Highlanders, and Dugal had been exiled to the colonies after the Uprising of ‘15. These large plaids could be wrapped around a person several times and were usually belted. They were warm and moisture repellant. Highlanders could wear them without fear of becoming cold or wet while herding their sheep and cattle. It is possible this fear nothing coat was such a plaid that Dugal had brought with him from Scotland.
However, fearnought was also, at the time, a heavy, woolen cloth generally used by sailors and seaman as it was warm and water repellant. In 1768, Robert Beverley ordered 60 ready-made fearnought waistcoats for his slaves, so there is some evidence that the lower classes made use of the fabric. Dugal, however, was not a sailor, and if the cloth was used for slaves, it would not typically have been of high enough quality to pass to the next generation. Still, it must be considered that Dugal could be simply referring to a coat here that is made of that fabric.
I, of course, chose the former possibility for this novel and combined the idea of a plaid with a family history and a term that was specific to the family.
And, as a last note, I must also point out that Highland plaids were not used to denote clan kinship until the early 19th century and long after Dugal’s banishment to the American colonies. In his time, plaids were used based on availability and need, thus there is no reference to a specific color or plaid belonging to the McQueen family in this book.