Scottish heritage to be discussed at McCulloch museum

Pictou County, which figures prominently in the Scottish history of Nova Scotia, will be host to a history lesson that relates to its Old World heritage, courtesy of Selkirk Stories, an independent publishing house based in P.E.I.

“Scottish Heritage, Fact and Fiction” will be presented on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the McCulloch House Museum in Pictou. The presentation will focus on historical literacy chronicling the life of Scots in Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

“We picked Pictou because there is so much shared history in the 19th century, between P.E.I. and Pictou — specifically the settlement around Belfast, P.E.I.,” said John Westlie, co-owner of Selkirk Stories, and husband of the author of a book one of the presentations is based on.

The presentation will entail information from Harold S. MacLeod’s 2017 revised edition of “The MacLeods of Prince Edward Island,” and Margaret A. (MacLeod) Westlie’s Scottish Pioneer novels — both books written by chroniclers of the Scottish immigrants to the Maritimes.

The “Scottish Pioneer” novels are based on family stories and, according to Selkirk Stories, will “help show how fiction brings the Scottish heritage of the Maritime provinces to life.” Margaret A. Westlie, the author who took up what MacLeod started with his writing, also happens to be his niece.

MacLeod’s book was first published as a lengthy genealogical text, featuring local history relating to the Selkirk area, in 1986. A media release from Selkirk Stories said the publishing house used computer files that were updated by MacLeod through 2005, to publish a revised edition of the book in 2017.

“MacLeod would write about pioneering Presbyterian preacher Donald MacLeod, and there is a selection from (the preacher’s) journal as well,” said Westlie. “We’re going to be talking about the arrival of settlers on P.E.I., and the reasons they went there… the community life, and what life was like.”

Westlie said there were many connections between Nova Scotia and P.E.I. in the history of the MacLeods who immigrated to Canada. “I know there are a lot of Scots, and quite a few MacLeods in Pictou who have a P.E.I. connection,” said Westlie.