Track 8: Gaelic College
Adapted and abridged from the Cabot Trail Companion.
Our next stop is unique in North America: the St Ann's Gaelic College, which preserves the heritage of Cape Breton's Scottish settlers — including the Gaelic language which, less than a century and a half ago, was spoken by as many as 100,000 people here.
When you get to the college, park near the archway entrance — where in July and August you'll likely find a magnificently kilted duty bagpiper, like Maury McCrillis, who features on the front cover of the Cabot Trail Companion. Maury plays Scotland the Brave on for Track 8, and he goes on to explain how he was able to practise the pipes as a beginner without disturbing too many neighbours!
As well as a superb gift shop overflowing with kilts and other Highland treats, the college has a museum devoted to the history of Celtic Cape Breton. The Scots who found their way to Cape Breton during the 18th and 19th centuries were often the poorest of the poor — ousted from their properties by greedy landlords, or starved out of tiny crofts by potato famine. Hector MacNeil, Director of Gaelic Studies at the college, tells us more on the Cabot Trail Companion about why so many Scottish Highlanders migrated to Canada, and Cape Breton in particular.
St Ann's is the Gaelic community's spiritual home. The village was founded in the 1800s by Norman MacLeod, a fire-and-brimstone preacher of whom you'll hear many a tale from locals. The Gaelic College itself was started off in 1938 in a one-room log cabin, by another Scottish preacher, Angus William Rugg MacKenzie, who made it his life's work to preserve the Highland traditions. At first, the curriculum centred on Gaelic language and literature, but grew to include the bagpipes, drumming, dancing — and of course the Celtic fiddle. The college is a great place for tracing one's Scottish roots, and its appeal extends way beyond Atlantic Canada. Hector tells of students coming from all around the world to study here.
If you visit during high season you might catch events such as pipe-band, drumming, fiddle, and dance competitions. Every Wednesday evening the college instructors host a good old-fashioned ceilidh — and all in a good cause, as the proceeds go towards student scholarships.
But maybe the best-known shindig is the Celtic Colours International Festival, beginning with the October long weekend and timed, as the name suggests, to show off Cape Breton's fall colours at their breathtaking best. During this week-long extravaganza you'll find dozens of concerts at venues large and small, all across the island, but the College is at the centre of it all.
Links
If you'd like more information on this section of the tour, the following links may be of interest. Because we have no control over external sites, if you find a dead link please let us know!
Celtic Colours
http://www.celtic-colours.com/
A brief history of St Ann's
http://fortress.uccb.ns.ca/historic/gaelic3.html
Canadian Press feature on the Gaelic College
http://gaeliccollege.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&It...
St Ann's twin town in New Zealand (also founded by Norman MacLeod)
www.waipumuseum.com
More about Norman MacLeod
http://www.lochinver.bordernet.co.uk/history/macleod.html
http://gaeliccollege.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&It...
A history of piping
http://acpba.ca/pipestories/gaeliccollegepipeband.html
The story of Gaelic culture
www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Ceilidh/index_splash_en.html
Potato famine in Scotland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Potato_Famine
The Highland Clearances
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Clearances
The story of Tartan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan
Accommodations & other businesses along the way
* = Featured on the Cabot Trail Companion
An Seanne Mhanse B&B 
($)
4515 Hwy 105, South Haven. TF: 1-877-815-8675
Chanterelle Inn ($$–$$$)
48678 Cabot Trail, St Ann’s Harbour. TF: 1-866-277-0577;
www.chanterelleinn.com
*Gaelic College & Interpretive Centre ($–$$$)
51779 Cabot Trail, St Ann’s. T: (902) 295-3411;
www.gaeliccollege.edu
Luckenbooth B&B ($$)
50671 Cabot Trail, St Ann’s Bay. TF: 1-877-654-2357;
www.bbcanada.com/3624.html
Ski-Tuonela Nordic ski & lodge ($–$$)
Goose Cove, St Ann’s. T: (902) 295-7694/929-2144;
www.skituonela.com
St Ann’s C@P Site
Gaelic College, 51779 Cabot Trail, St Ann’s. T: (902) 295-1347;
www.stanns.ca
St Ann’s Motel ($$–$$$)
51947 Cabot Trail, South Haven. T: (902) 295-2876;
www.baddeck.com/stannsmotel
Walking the Wild Side (guided hiking)
4296 Hwy 105, South Haven. T: (902) 295-1749;
www.naturewalks.ca
If you would like your business to be added to this list, please contact us...
