A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs | Page 3

of 1759-60.--Malcolm Fraser
on Murray's defeat in April, 1760.--The return of Canadian seigneurs to
France.--General Murray buys Canadian seigniories.--Nairne and
Fraser at Malbaie.--Their grants from Murray. 22
CHAPTER III
JOHN NAIRNE, SEIGNEUR OF MURRAY BAY
Colonel Nairne's portrait.--His letters.--The first Scottish settlers at
Malbaie.--Nairne's finance.--His tasks.--The curé's work.--The Scottish
settlers and their French wives.--The Church and Education.--Nairne's
efforts to make Malbaie Protestant.--His war on idleness.--The
character of the habitant.--Fishing at Malbaie.--Trade at
Malbaie.--Farming at Malbaie.--Nairne's marriage,--Career and death
in India of Robert Nairne.--The Quebec Act and its consequences for
the habitant. 40
CHAPTER IV
JOHN NAIRNE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Nairne's work among the French Canadians.--He becomes Major of the
Royal Highland Emigrants.--Arnold's march through the wilderness to
Quebec.--Quebec during the Siege, 1775-76.--The habitants and the
Americans.--Montgomery's plans.--The assault on December 31st,

1775.--Malcolm Fraser gives the alarm in Quebec.--Montgomery's
death.--Arnold's attack.--Nairne's heroism.--Arnold's failure.--The
American fire-ship.--The arrival of a British fleet.--The retreat of the
Americans.--Nairne's later service in the War.--Isle aux Noix and
Carleton Island.--Sir John Johnson and the desolation of New
York.--Nairne and the American prisoners at Murray Bay.--Their
escape and capture.--Nairne and the Loyalists.--The end of the
War.--Nairne's retirement to Murray Bay. 62
CHAPTER V
THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN NAIRNE
Nairne's careful education of his children.--His son John enters the
army.--Nairne's counsels to his son.--John Nairne goes to India.--His
death.--Nairne's declining years.--His activities at Murray Bay.--His
income.--His daughter Christine and Quebec society.--The isolation of
Murray Bay in Winter.--Signals across the river.--Nairne's
reading.--His notes about current events.--The fear of a French invasion
of England.--Thoughts of flight from Scotland to Murray
Bay.--Nairne's last letter, April 20th, 1802.--His death and burial at
Quebec. 93
CHAPTER VI
THOMAS NAIRNE, SEIGNEUR OF MURRAY BAY
His education in Scotland.--His winning character.--He enters the
army.--Malcolm Fraser's counsels to a young soldier.--Thomas Nairne's
life at Gibraltar.--His desire to retire from the army.--His return to
Canada in 1810-11.--His life at Quebec.--His summer at Murray Bay,
1811.--His resolve to remain in the Army.--Beginning of the War of
1812.--Captain Nairne on Lake Ontario.--Quebec Society and the
proposed flight from danger to Murray Bay.--Anxiety at Murray
Bay.--The progress of the War.--An American attack on
Kingston.--Captain Nairne on the Niagara frontier.--Naval War on
Lake Ontario.--Nairne's description of a naval engagement.--Sense of

impending disaster at Murray Bay.--The American advance on
Montreal by the St. Lawrence.--Nairne's regiment a part of the
opposing British force.--The Battle of Crysler's Farm.--Nairne's
death.--His body taken to Quebec.--The grief of the family at Murray
Bay.--The funeral. 124
CHAPTER VII
A FRENCH CANADIAN VILLAGE
Life at Murray Bay after Captain Nairne's death.--Letters from
Europe.--Death of Malcolm Fraser.--Death of Colonel Nairne's widow
and children.--His grandson John Nairne, seigneur.--Village Life.--The
Church's Influence.--The Habitant's tenacity.--His cottage.--His
labours.--His amusements.--The Church's missionary work in the
Village.--The powers of the bishop.--His visitations.--The organization
of the Parish.--The powers of the fabrique.--Lay control of Church
finance.--The curés' tithe.--The best intellects enter the Church.--A
native Canadian clergy.--The curé's social life.--The Church and
Temperance Reform.--The diligence of the curés.--The habitant's taste
for the supernatural.--The belief in goblins.--Prayer in the family.--The
habitant as voter.--The office of Churchwarden.--The Church's
influence in elections.--The seigneur's position.--The habitant's
obligations to him.--Rent day and New Year's Day.--The seigneur's
social rank.--The growth of discontent in the villages.--The evils of
Seigniorial Tenure.--Agitation against the system.--Its abolition in
1854.--The last of the Nairnes.--The Nairne tomb in Quebec. 168
CHAPTER VIII
THE COMING OF THE PLEASURE SEEKERS
Pleasure seeking at Murray Bay.--A fisherman's experience in
1830.--New visitors.--Fishing in a mountain lake.--Camp life.--The
Upper Murray.--Canoeing.--Running the rapids.--Walks and
drives.--Golf.--A rainy day.--The habitant and his visitors. 222

AUTHORITIES 243
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A (p. 31) The Journal of Malcolm Fraser, First Seigneur of
Mount Murray, Malbaie. 249
APPENDIX B (p. 38) Title Deed of the Seigniory of Murray Bay,
granted to Captain John Nairne. 271
APPENDIX C (p. 78) The Siege of Quebec in 1775-76. Colonel
Nairne's Narrative. 273
APPENDIX D (p. 98) Memorandum of Colonel Nairne, 5th April,
1795, for his son John Nairne in regard to military duty. 277
APPENDIX E (p. 104) The "Porpoise" (Beluga or White Whale)
Fishery on the St. Lawrence. 279
APPENDIX F (p. 122) The Prayer of Colonel Nairne. 286
APPENDIX G (p. 144) The Curés of Malbaie. 287
INDEX 291

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLONEL JOHN NAIRNE Frontispiece (From the Oil Painting in the
Manor House at Murray Bay.) PAGE
CAP À L'AIGLE FROM THE WEST SHORE OF MURRAY BAY 6
(From the Water Colour by the late L.R. O'Brien, in the possession of
the Hon. Edward Blake, K.C.)
VIEW ACROSS MURRAY BAY FROM THE CAP À L'AIGLE
SHORE 21 (From an Oil Painting by E. Wyly Grier, in the possession
of the Hon. Edward Blake.)

GENERAL JAMES MURRAY 35 (From an Oil Painting preserved in
the General's Family.)
THE MANOR HOUSE AT MURRAY BAY 74 (From amateur
photographs.)
VIEW FROM POINTE AU PIC UP MURRAY BAY 102