This Is Peggy's Cove - Nova Scotia, Canada

By William E. Degarthe

A history of one of the most picturesque and remote villages in Canada. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447481300

Book preview

Studio

MANY HAVE PASSED . . .

(Ode to Peggy’s Cove)

Many have trod the granite rocks and grassy plots,

But few have watched the morning sun

touch the steeple cross.

Many have listened to the seagulls cry,

so few, have heard the song of geese

in nor’ward flight.

Many have seen the Cove in sunlit noon,

So few have gazed in graying haze . . .

shifting scenes in rolling mist.

Many have passed the lonely Pitcher Plant

upon the grassy marsh

But few have seen the stately heron,

the reflecting pool.

Many have looked at boats, at mooring lie,

So few have seen the ocean harvest

of fish with silver scales.

Many have walked the winding paths

But few have touched the morning dew

with feet so bare.

Many have talked of storms — and storms . . .

So few have heard the roar of pounding surf

on windswept shore.

Many have felt the breeze on sundrenched cheeks,

So few have gazed at setting sun,

painted on golden sea.

Man may change the Cove at will

With dwellings, houses, stores — and still

The age-old rocks . . . . . of eons born

Will stand, and man may pass, forever go . . .

Many have missed the starry nights,

the crescent moon - the friendly lights.

Many have seen. . . . but blind to the heartbeats

inside the open doors.

Many have come, and stayed to know

the warmth of our welcoming hearth.

Many have left, not knowing . . . HE is dwelling here

In untold beauty. . . . PEACE.

HOW WELL we can picture, on a calm summer morning, a canoe slowly gliding along the shores of St. Margaret’s Bay, to what today is called Peggy’s Cove.

What name the Micmac’s gave this little harbour by the Atlantic, is long forgotten in their unwritten tribal history. Perhaps, after a long winter in the woods and the approach of spring, they must have said; Let’s travel and wigwam this summer, at the wooded Cove By-the-great-waters. How they must have enjoyed the singular beauty and peacefulness of this, ‘Pearl of the Atlantic’, its wooded slopes, calm waters, the abundance of fish and game, and the shelter from the fury of the elements.

Today, the picture is changed, the forests and trees are gone, where once thick soil was, is now