Archibald McKillop
Archibald McKillop, better known as the “Blind Bard of Megantic” was born in Loch Ranza, on the Isle of Arran in Scotland, on July 4th, 1824. His father, Archibald McKillop, was a tax collector for the Duke of Hamilton. In April of 1829, Archibald was only five years old when a group of Scots under the leadership of his father set out on the Atlantic Ocean towards Canada aboard the Caledonia. The group settled in Inverness in the fall of 1829.
Young Archibald grew up on his father’s farm. Early on, he showed promise of great literary talent. His father, having himself studied at the University of Edinburgh, regarded education as a priceless asset. Archibald studied in Lachine, Quebec, and later at the University of Toronto. One year, during Christmas vacation spent on the family farm, he is kicked in the head by an ox which leaves him completely blind in the space of a few years.
For a long time he was regarded as an eloquent orator on the subject of temperance and he gave talks throughout Canada. He was also an extremely rigorous polemist on religious and political subjects. This fair and honest man valued above all else nature and wide open spaces. That love can be felt in his poems as well as in the great loyalty he showed toward his Scottish ancestors. He was a regular guest of honor in Canadian Scottish societies who recognized him as their own Celtic poet and bard.
The Celtic poet of Megantic died in September of 1905 in Kingston Ontario. He was buried next to his father, in the Congregational Chapel Cemetery of Inverness, in what was formerly known as the Scottish camp. He left behind poems on subjects he cherished particularly such as temperance, Scotland, nature and landscapes, religion, royalty, Canada and of course his town of adoption, Inverness.
THOUGHTS ON MEGANTIC, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Where mountains are green and rise in grandeur
'Mid bowers of azure and blue,
I roamed with delight, I loved to wander,
The charms of nature to view.
By river and lakes enclosed in wildwood,
Like mirrors that shone in the day,
The evening hours, how oft in childhood
We spent in innocent play.
As years went by the people were scattered
Away from that beautiful shore;
And youthful joys and hopes were shattered
By troubles and trials they bore.
How many are gone! How few are living!
May solemnly, truly, be said.
But there is a precious hope worth having
When youthful pleasures are fled.
Tho' few there are now who meet or gather
To talk of their happiest days,
'Tis blessed to know that our heavenly Father
Is lovingly guiding our ways.
In sunshine and shade, on hills, in valleys,
Memorial tokens are seen;
Where monuments rise and mansions tell us
How great the changes have been.
The county still claims her sylvan beauties,
The lakes are as bright in the sun
As they were in the days when their settling duties
By the old pioneers were done.
Megantic survives the vilest slanders
That ever appeared in the Mail;
Tho' thousands believe and share that blunder,
Their falsehood and folly must fail.
In loyalty true and peace-promoting,
The Liberals ever contend
For freedom of thought, the right of voting,
And victory comes in the end.
"Three cheers" did we sing for Old Megantic,
Again "Three Cheers" do we say;
Tho' some may be sad and others are frantic,
Great Laurier triumphs to-day.
His promise so true, so freely given,
Is plebiscite voting by all,
When union is strength, approved by Heaven,
The castle of Bacchus must fall.
Take courage, then, all ye temperance people,
The dawn may be near at hand,
Let gladness resound from steeple to steeple
When Laurier takes the command.
(This poem was read during the Temperance Society picnic at Inverness,
Megantic County, on July 1st 1896)
