John Smith bio photo

John Smith

John was born in Fort Williams, and however tired Hugh was after a gruelling day digging, hearing his little boy’s ringing laughter completely reinvigorated him. Martha was delighted that after the initial disappointment of not having a son, he had taken Kitty to his heart, and she could not imagine him loving a boy more.

Image credit: Public domain, “Mac Nab”. A plate illustrated by R. R. McIan, from James Logan’s The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published in 1845


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Book 1

Chapter 13: Strathnaver

(Scottish Highlands, 1800s)

One night Mam surprised everybody by telling the young pair that if they stopped fighting, she would tell them a story. Hugh did not remember her telling him...

Chapter 15: Dunrobin

(Dunrobin, Scotland, Early 1812)

On that cold spring afternoon, with scattered snow still covering the tops of ridges, Sir John Sinclair sat in his coach dressed in his finest, feeling that ...

Chapter 17: Clearance

(Highlands, 1800s)

What happened next was something nobody was prepared for. A few weeks later, Hugh had gone to Golspie and was drowning his sorrow in a tankard of ale at the ...

Book 2

Book 2 Chapter 9: Atlantic

(Crossing to Canada, 1800s)

They had all told her that for an unmarried mother, life in the Highlands was going to be unbearable, and urged her to go to Canada with John Robert.

Book 2 Chapter 10: Oxenham On (1)

(Oxenham, Rice Lake, Canada, 1800s)

John, having miraculously escaped death when he missed the Moonglow at Cromarty, was advised that there was the possibility of catching another ship at Green...

Book 2 Chapter 11: Oxenham On (2)

(Oxenham, Rice Lake, Canada, 1800s)

Mark was a fund of knowledge of Ojibwa traditions and religions. He knew where the secret scrolls were buried. He was an expert carver and made sculptures in...