Brenda Dougall Merriman: Silent Sunday

15 March 2009

Folk Art along the Cabot Trail, July 2006. Photograph by BDM.

Hugh said...: I lived in Cape Breton some years ago and my son married an Inverness girl and has a farm in West Margaree though having to live in Montreal to afford to eventually live in CB.

McFadyen is the same name as McFadden and is derived from McPaidin (ie little Patrick). The "y" was adopted in Scotland from Irish migrations. McFadyen was a phoneticized spelling since "Paidin" is pronounced as "Padyeen in Gaelic. I was born and raised in Donegal and have a number of McFadden relatives. The migration and reverse migration between Donegal and Scotland has been taking place for 1500 years.
Hugh Curran; Tuesday, 23 June, 2009
BDM said...: Great to hear from you, Hugh! Thanks very much for your comments. I was not aware of the linguistic origins. Imagine, an Irishman living in Cape Breton for a time. I hope your son and daughter-in-law don't have to wait too long to return permanently to CB (although Montreal must be a big attraction in many ways). My daughter in Halifax ensures that I will again visit CB from time to time. Maybe you have seen my other posts about CB. My email is brendadougallmerriman@gmail.com.; Tuesday, 23 June, 2009

Brenda Dougall Merriman