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| Alan Melanson (top right) tells tales in the Garrison Graveyard, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. |
We have been told by fellow travelers not to miss the night time graveyard tour of Annapolis that is given by a local historian. We meet at the Fort at dusk greeted by Mssr. Alan Melanson. He hands us a lantern lit by a candle and asks us where we are from.
"California.... San Francisco."
"California? Why are you traveling here?", he wonders.
"My ancestors came from this town", I tell him.
"British or Acadians?" he queries.
I reply with a list of family names, "Hebert, Cormier, Michaud, LeBlancs" .
"Welcome, fellow Acadian, he beams. "Did you know that there are 3 million of us scattered around the world? "
People drift in as the sky darkens. A group of about 20 people assembles around Mr. Melanson who is dressed in a black mourning coat and top hat. He has the face of a character actor, the French accent of an Acadian, and the assurance of someone who has given this tour many times. We we follow him across the grassy hills into the dim, graveyard around the fort. We climb stairs. He cautions us not to trip on the small foot stones (these are paired with head stones.) Good God!, it is dark in this graveyard.
As we go Alan tells a series of stories of the people now underground. Buried in the Garrison Graveyard are many, but only a few have markers. He tells us stories of English soldiers, Scots traders, Micmac first people, African free people, and of the Acadian French colonists. He gives us the recipe for Moose Nose Soup. He describes us how the widows of soldiers in the fort where thrown onto the street unless they married another soldier within the week. We learn to say SHAM plan (Champlain) and Ah ca DEE (Acadia) He tells us the story Acadian deportation in 1755 when his and every French Acadian was banished from their homeland. He tells us a little about his own history and how some of his deported relatives mutinied, stole the transport boat from their captors and sailed for Quebec.
Mr. Melanson is an accomplished historian and a charismatic story teller. By the end of the tour I am feeling proud to be an Acadian. Strange what an evening stumbling around a graveyard in the dark can accomplish.
As we go Alan tells a series of stories of the people now underground. Buried in the Garrison Graveyard are many, but only a few have markers. He tells us stories of English soldiers, Scots traders, Micmac first people, African free people, and of the Acadian French colonists. He gives us the recipe for Moose Nose Soup. He describes us how the widows of soldiers in the fort where thrown onto the street unless they married another soldier within the week. We learn to say SHAM plan (Champlain) and Ah ca DEE (Acadia) He tells us the story Acadian deportation in 1755 when his and every French Acadian was banished from their homeland. He tells us a little about his own history and how some of his deported relatives mutinied, stole the transport boat from their captors and sailed for Quebec.
Mr. Melanson is an accomplished historian and a charismatic story teller. By the end of the tour I am feeling proud to be an Acadian. Strange what an evening stumbling around a graveyard in the dark can accomplish.
Another account of the graveyard walk:
https://www.mainewriter.com/articles/Graveyard-Tour.htm
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