Memoirs of a Hayseed Physicist by Peter Martel

Part 3:
In The Beginning:
I was, of course born before 1957. My baptismal name was Pierre Martel. In the birth registry in Halifax my name became Peter Martell (“Martell” being the name of a famous English cognac). In accordance with Acadian tradition, that was fine with us, because we had always sought not to rock the boat after the great deportation described by Longfellow in the poem ”Evangeline”. In the introduction to his book, Cape Breton Ships and Men, J.P. Parker notes two things. First, many of the French survivors after the fall of Louisbourg, “were indentured servants”, which was a polite term for slavery.

With permission of the author.

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