Track 1: John Cabot & Aspy Bay
Adapted and abridged from the Cabot Trail Companion.
The first track of Disc Two features the actor Mike Crimp, who played the great explorer in 1997, the 500th anniversary of John Cabot's voyage, when an exact replica of his tiny ship retraced the historic route from Bristol, England, to Eastern Canada.
Surprisingly little is known of John Cabot, as Giovanni Caboto was called by the English. He has no public holiday named for him — unlike Christopher Columbus, who never even set foot in North America!
Like Columbus, Cabot was an Italian who tried to find a route to Asia across the Atlantic. But when his plans were turned down by the great seafaring nations of Spain and Portugal, he ended up sailing for King Henry VII of England — at that time a minor player in the field of navigation.
To tell the truth, a first-hand account of the voyage has never been found, so despite many highly educated guesses, no-one knows for sure where Cabot first landed. Some people think Cape Breton; others, Newfoundland...
The Cabot Trail honours the voyage of 1497, but Cabot wasn't the first European to set foot in Canada: the Vikings briefly settled in Newfoundland around a thousand years ago; and Spanish and Portuguese fishermen were visiting these shores years before Cabot claimed them for the English Crown.
Of course, Cabot never did find Asia and its treasures, and sadly he was lost at sea during his second voyage to the "new-found" lands. But however little we know of him, and although it was pure accident that he happened to sail under an English flag, the very fact that he did so was pivotal to world history from that point on.
Cabot Landing Picnic Park, overlooking Aspy Bay, stands just below the distinctive conical summit of Sugarloaf. Apart from a collection of plaques, there isn't much to mark Cabot's endeavour, but the impressive beach is great for a stroll.
As far from the big cities as it may be, Aspy Bay lays claim to another first — again as the connection between the old and the new worlds. Just over a century and a half ago, this is where the first transatlantic telegraph cable was brought ashore, running under the ocean from the British Isles, via Newfoundland and Cape Breton, and on to New York...
Links
The following pages may interest those seeking more details about Cabot's life or the history of Aspy Bay. Naturally, we have no control over these external sites; if you find a dead link please tell us.
North Highlands Community Museum
http://www.northhighlandsmuseum.ca/
Early European exploration
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/early_ex.html
"The Letters Patents of King Henry the Seventh granted unto John Cabot and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Santius for the discovery of new and unknown lands"
http://amstd.spb.ru/Colonial/Cabot.htm
Evidence for Cabot's Newfoundland landfall
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/northfall.html
The Cape Breton landfall argument
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/bretonfall.html
Cabot in the context of the discovery of the Americas
http://www.explorenorth.com/library/history/bl-bjones3-15.htm
Notable Names Database biography of Cabot
http://www.nndb.com/people/679/000095394/
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=101&interval=25&&PHP...
National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, London)
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/explorers-and-leaders/j...
The definitive web page for information on Aspy Bay's transatlantic cable!
http://www.ns1763.ca/victco/cabotcablem.html
Undersea cables today
http://www.noac-national.ca/article/herbert/oceancables_byglenherbert.html
Accommodations & other businesses along the way
See also Meat Cove (DISC ONE, Track 9)
* = Featured on the Cabot Trail Companion
Bay St Lawrence C@P Site
3160 Bay St Lawrence Rd. T: (902) 383-2334;
www.baystlawrence.org
Beach View Cottage 
($$)
280 White Point Rd, South Harbour. T: (902) 383-2332;
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/lawrence.walsh/cottage.htm
Burton’s Sunset Oasis Motel ($$)
105 Money Point Rd, Bay St Lawrence. T: (902) 383-2666;
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/burtonsoasis
Capt Cox’s Whale Watching
Bay St Lawrence Hbr. TF: 1-888-346-5556;
www.whalewatching-novascotia.com
Country Crafts & Pottery Outlet
30071 Cabot Trail, South Harbour. T: (902) 383-2933;
www.courtneyscountrycrafts.com
Eagle North Canoe & Kayak
299 Shore Rd, Dingwall. T: (902) 383-2552;
www.cabottrail.com/kayaking
Hideaway Campground & Oyster Market ($)
401 Shore Rd, Dingwall. T: (902) 383-2116;
www.campingcapebreton.com
The Inlet B&B ($–$$)
473 Dingwall Rd, Dingwall Hbr. T: (902) 383-2112;
www.inletbedandbreakfast.com
Markland Coastal Resort & Octagon Arts Centre ($$–$$$)
802 Dingwall Rd, Dingwall. TF: 1-800-872-6084;
www.marklandresort.com
Oshan Whale Watch
Bay St Lawrence Wharf, Bay St Lawrence. TF: 1-877-383-2883;
www.oshan.ca
South Harbour Hideaway Cottage ($$)
227 Shore Rd, South Harbour. T: (902) 383-2116;
details from www.campingcapebreton.com
Tartans & Treasures (gifts)
29961 Cabot Trail, South Harbour. TF: 1-877-481-2526;
www.tartanandtreasures.com
If you would like your business to be added to this list, please contact us...
