During the initial settlement of Tignish and its surrounding areas the Acadians, along with the Irish who arrived shortly after, were obligated to pay land rents wherever they settled. These rents were paid to absentee landowners, most of whom lived in England. They had local collectors appointed to settle their accounts. Rent was often paid using a system of bartering. The Tignish Museum was given several receipts of rent payment dated 1848 by Clothilde Arsenault, a long time local teacher who spent some thirty-eight years in that profession. The receipts bear the name of her grandfather, Romain Arsenault, one of the first settlers of Ascension-Tignish. He paid his land rent with farm produce such as oats, barley, wheat, etc. It was only officially possible to purchase ones land on Prince Edward Island in 1873 when an act was passed abolishing absentee ownership. A few people had purchased their lands before this with the agreement of the owners. Acadians, as has already been noted, sought out areas where land rents were low. Initially, land had even been granted to them. There are many instances of conflicts between unyielding landowners and tenants in the mid-nineteenth century. This fact is well illustrated in Tignish history when it was reported by Gilbert Buote, co-founder of Tignishs French newspaper, that there had been a riot in 1844 over exorbitant rent in the Tignish area. The riot in question is termed La Révolte des Constables - The Revolt of the Constables. According to the report, some sixteen constables (policemen) arrived in eight sleighs in February of that year to collect land rents which the local Acadians had refused to pay. Two men housed in a dwelling stood guard day and night awaiting their arrival and alerted the population. As a result some 300 Acadians - men, women and children - armed themselves at La Violonière with clubs, iron pitchforks and axes. The outcome obviously resulted in the constables taking rapid flight. I should like at this point to end the first chapter of Tignish history with reference to our Acadian founders by writing about the origin of Acadian family names found in this region. During one of my several visits to France I was given a guided tour of regions there where our Acadian ancestors took root. My genial guide was Guy Blanchard, a local historian and museum volunteer. He told me that at one point in French history the King commanded that henceforth priests were to give family names to the newborn at baptism. This resulted, for example, in Arsenaults being named from an individual who looked after the Kings arsenal. Bernard, although the most common family name in France, is of dubious origin. The Blanchard family name supposedly originates from blanc meaning white. Their origin is wide-spread in France because every village had a stone cutter, their dwellings being made of stone and wood being scarce. The stone cutter was covered with white stone dust. Buote no doubt comes from butte which means hill. Did the original Buotes live on a hill? The Chiassons were perhaps hunters, from chasse the French word for hunt. The DesRoches may have lived on rocky ground, from roche meaning rock. Doucet, or the feminine spelling Doucette would come from the feminine adjective douce which means little sweet one. The spelling Gaudette is feminine. It seems to have originated in the St. Louis area and may have been used to stress that there was a t at the end, since the t is not sounded in Gaudet. Incidentally, I know of no other place in the entire world other than on Prince Edward Island where this name is pronounced as Goodie. I discovered six origins of the name Gaudet while in France. It was also known as Godet which is French for goblet or cup. They were perhaps noted for their vineyards. Gallants were originally known as Haché-Gallant. Were they brave woodsmen from Haché meaning axe and Gallant meaning brave? Leclercs, now LeClairs, may come from clerc which means either a person in religious life or an employee of the court. The name Leclerc changes to LeClair for the first time at the baptism of Thomas LeClair in 1858 by Reverend F. Aubry in Tignish Parish Records which began in 1831. He was the sixth of eight children born of André Leclerc and Ursule Poirier. The family name Martin is both English and French. Would it come from the animal world such as purple martin or the fur bearing animal named marten? Maillet may originate from Maillé, a town in France. Poirier seems logically to come from poiré, meaning pear. Were they noted for their orchards of pears? The family name of Pitre is said to have originated from the southern part of Belgium which is French. The people who live there are called Walloons. Now all of this may seem very speculative and indeed far-fetched on my part, but I do believe it to be of interest and it may serve to arouse some further research on the subject. Over the years local Acadian family names have changed in spelling or have become anglicized. Aucoin has become Wedge, Chiasson is the correct spelling of that name. LeBlanc has become White. Maillet for some has changed to Myers. Pitre has become Peters. Poirier has become Perry. Historians wanting to remain objective have proffered various reasons for this, such as employment under the English would be better secured, the priest baptized them as such, or a gradual disinterest in Acadian roots gradually evolved. It must also be understood that many of our Acadian ancestors were unable to read or write. The census takers were English and wrote family names phonetically or the way they sounded. We find Chasong, Goday, Godit, Gallong, etc. in some Island censuses.
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 16:00:25 +0000
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