The prison ships leave La Baie Française while people watch from Le Cap Enragé

:: On this day, October 8, 1755, the brutal deportation of the Acadien people, "Le Grand Dèrangement" was well under way for the 2nd day...

Le Cap Enragé  aka Cape Enrage, was the dramatic observation point for Le Grand Dèrangement where they watched the ships leave La Baie Française.. now called the Bay of Fundy. That historical point marked the beginning of the exile that scattered the refugees & forced many down to Louisiana.
  
After ten years of writing and performing primarily in English, following the first Acadian World Congress of 1994, *Acadie(a)n-Cajun artist-activist Zachary Richard began to write again in French in earnest. One day while walking with his friend Denis Richard, Zachary discovered Le Cap Enragé in what is now New Brunswick, Canada, formerly l'Acadie. Returning to the hotel, no doubt overcome with emotion, envisioning what happened so many years ago, they composed the song that evening. 

Highly evocative Richard taps into it, deeply touching the collective Acadien-Cajun heart & soul with this beautiful song!

:: We post this here today in remembrance of our families and fellow Acadiens who were either imprisoned or forced to board the ships and leave l'Acadie, their American homeland. This was one of the first examples of state sponsored ethnic cleansing in North America. We honor our ancestors today and for the entire, sacred month of October. Vive l'Acadie! Vive Le Grand Réveil !!

~ E. Aucoin Gaudet





• Acadien with an 'en' is the French spelling of Acadian. As with many of our names, 'Acadian' with the 'an' ending, is the anglicized version of the original French. We prefer the French spelling! Nous préférons l'orthographe d'origine française! Bien sûr!

Cap Enragé Lyrics


(En français)
 
Cap Enragé

Le vent m’arrache la peau,
Il fouette les flancs et glace l’âme de mon bateau,
Amarré à la barre, j’entends ta voix, j’entends tes mots,
Chaque fois que le tonnerre me frappe de son echo.

Au large du Cap Enragé,
Au large de tous ce que j’ai perdu, tout ce que j’ai sauvé
Peut-être que je suis allé beaucoup trop loin pour empêcher,
Mon pauvre bateau de prendre l’eau et de couler.

Refrain:
Montre moi l’étoile pour me guider,
Prend le vent dans tes bras pour le calmer.
Je t’ai aimé, je t’ai aimé,
Jamais autant aimer, qu’au large du Cap Enragé.

Sur le Cap Enragé,
Elle guette avec les yeux abandonnés,
Envoyer une prière avec une voile déséspérée.
Si seulement je pouvais te faire comprendre la vérité.

(In english)
 
Cape Enrage

The wind tears my skin,
It whips the flanks and freezes the soul of my ship.
Tied to the tiller, I hear your voice, I hear your words
Each time that the thunder strikes me with its echo.

Offshore at Cape Enrage
Offshore from all that I have lost, all that I have saved.
Maybe I went too far to stop
My poor boat from taking water and sinking.

Chorus :
Show me the star to guide me,
Take the wind in your arms to calm it.
I have loved you, I have loved you,
But never loved you as much as offshore at Cape Enrage.

On Cape Enrage,
She watches with abandoned eyes.
Sending a prayer on desperate sails,
If only I could make you understand the truth.

  ~ Zachary Richard, Denis Richard

October 7th and 8th mark the beginning of the Acadian Deportation from their homeland

 October 7th and 8th mark the loading of Acadians on the first  2 ships and the beginning of "Le Grand Derangement". It was on the 7th and 8th, Oct 1755 that the British troops received the orders to load the ships leaving the Acadian's goods and belongings on the shores of l'Acadie. Many of these belongings were shockingly found 6 years later by the English Settlers of Nova Scotia sitting where the Acadians had left them while being dragged onto the ships.


It has been determined that members of my family from Grand-Pre were on either the "Elizabeth" or the "Leonard". Jean Dominigue Melanson, age 74 and his son Alexandre Miquoin Melanson along with Marie Osite Hebert Melanson and their children. In 1763 Alexandre and family were found in the French Neutrals section of Snow Hill Maryland: Alexandre Melanson, Osite Melanson, His wife and Jean Melanson, Melanson Magdelaine, Jacque Melanson, Joseph Melanson, Etienne Melanson, Paul Melanson ..................... 8. When the family arrived in the 1st Acadian Coast, St. Jacques de Cabanocey (St. James Parish - Convent, Louisiana) in 1766 Osite Hebert was listed as "widow of Alexandre Melanson" so Alexandre either died in Maryland or during the voyage to Louisiana, or quite possibly, right after arriving in Louisiana.


From "The Lion and the Lily" - Peter Landry -


"The Elizabeth and the Leynord were cleared and made ready to receive the first families from Grand Pré. Notices had gone out to the selected families to bring themselves and what of their personal possessions they could carry to the embarkation point. They were to meet on the 7th, but rainy weather delayed the embarkation of these first two vessels to the 8th.


In the meantime the news that it was now to really happen, that they were to be put on vessels and sent away from their lands, swarmed from family to family. The men, too, were to get the news from the family members who came aboard the prison ships as they had been allowed to do right along. A certain group of young men, about 24 of them, in the confusion of a rain storm, on the 7th, managed to make good an escape. According to an account given by Winslow, they had gotten away from two of the "prison ships" by disguising themselves as women. (It was a regular daily event for Acadian women to go back and forth to the vessels with baskets of food for their menfolk.) They got ashore and were on the loose for a number of days. Winslow was to launch an immediate investigation: he wanted to know how these men got loose. He was to determine that the escape took place mainly through the instigation of one Francis Hebert, "either the contriver or a better." Hebert, I believe, was one of the prisoners aboard the Leynord, presumably, one of the two vessels from which the young men had made their escape. Winslow was to pull Francis Hebert off the vessel together with "his effects shipt." Winslow then ordered that he should be brought to his (Hebert's) house, there, at Grand Pré. Herbert was then ordered to put all of his goods inside of his house. He then was made to stand there in front of his house, together, presumably, with a gathered crowd so that they might all witness the next event. The house was torched by the English together with all of Hebert's "effects." Then Winslow made pronouncement for all the spectators to hear, if "these men did not surrender themselves in two days, I should serve all their friends in the same manner."

So, it was, that the loading of the Acadian families started on October 8th, 1755. The Elizabeth and the Leynord were the first to be loaded and were to receive 80 families from the Grand Pré region. The Acadians embarked, as Winslow was to describe in his journal, "very sullenly and unwillingly, the women in great distress carrying off their children in their arms. Others carrying their decrepit parents in their carts and all their goods. Moving in great confusion and it appears as a scene of woe and distress."


"The Lion and the Lily" - Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Part6/Ch12.htm

Evangéline

Beautiful Video and song about Evangeline. From Youtube on this video:


One of the most beautiful songs ever written.

This particular version performed by Marie-Jo Thério, Evangéline is a French-Canadian song that celebrates the legendary woman of the same name and her incredible story. Whether or not you have Acadian blood, I hope this song inspires you.