And so, the villages are dotted with their little cemeteries, many appearing overgrown and unkempt but still being used. The sea air contributes to the weathering of humble grave stones.
Fog is almost a daily occurrence. Sometimes it dissipates early; sometimes it stays and grows like a sense-deprivation shroud.
Seafaring families are a hardy, proud folk. The town of Shelburne is but one of countless that memorializes their losses to the unforgiving sea. My Cape Breton ancestors were typical of fishing families, losing fathers, husbands, brothers, in every generation.
In the Annapolis Royal cemetery near Fort Anne, you can see many toppled stones. It seems no attempt has been made to uncover the numerous others that now lie beneath a layer of sod.
Old grave markers carved in slate now have a protective edging.
Birchtown in Shelburne harbour became the “designated” village for the considerable group of Black Loyalists who arrived with the 1783 refugees from New York City. All the markers and names in the burial ground are now unknown.
Nova Scotia 2008 photographs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 by Catherine Belle-Marie Merriman; photographs 2 and 7 by Brenda Dougall Merriman.
2 comments:
I don't suppose that you would have any more information or photos regarding the Bush Island Cemetary? My mother's mother was a Bushen by marriage and a Bush by birth. Nellie Bushen, d. 1942 or 3 if memory serves, and is buried there. I was there several times with my mother as a child, but that was more than 20 years ago, and, unfortunatly for me, now, little kids don't often take a huge interest in such things. I did, although not enough to think of recording such things in a more permanent medium than memory.
Kind regards,
~Aron Spidle
Ummm..yes...my e-mail address is aronspidle@hotmail.com
~Aron Spidle
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