Kōterana by Iain Fraser

The McLeod Story in Summary
Norman McLeod was disaffected by the Church in Scotland and left, sailing from Ullapool to Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1817. After 3 years, he moved to St Ann’s and built a large congregation over a period of 30 years. By many reports, he was a man who was both respected and feared and some commentators draw a comparison with a typical clan chief of the time. He grew increasingly disappointed by what he saw as liberal tendencies moving into the area and, having received word from one of his sons that the prospects in Australia or New Zealand might be more suitable for his congregation, he suggested to them that they should move to a new land en masse. Ships were built and they set sail from St Ann’s in 1851, arriving in Adelaide after spending 164 days at sea. Unfortunately, their arrival in Australia coincided with the gold rush and they were forced to live in tents in an area of Melbourne known as Canvas Town due to the sudden dramatic increase in the city’s population. After a period of 2 years in crowded Australia, they eventually obtained land in New Zealand and settled in Waipu in 1854.
Gaelic continued to be spoken in the town as a mother tongue until the late 1950’s and obvious cultural connections with Cape Breton and Scotland are still celebrated there; whether it’s the annual Highland Games held on New Year’s Day, the welcoming ‘Ceud Mile Failte’ signs as you drive into the town or the local museum where many artefacts are displayed, brought with the settlers both from Canada and Scotland.
For further information, a good place to start is www.waipumuseum.com

Iain Fraser is fascinated by the fiddle’s rhythmic and emotional capabilities and draws his material from 18th Century Scottish tunes to new self-penned compositions and from the multiple regional music styles of the British Isles to those of North America and Europe.

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