Notes
27] Cartier: Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), French navigator who first explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River in 1534-36 and 1541-42 and who is often credited for discovering Canada.
28] Champlain: Samuel de Champlain (ca. 1570-1635), who explored up the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers and about the lower Great Lakes as well as along the coasts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England. He drew up maps of all these regions and in 1633 was made Governor of Canada, a colony centred in Quebec City, which he founded.
29] Montcalm and Wolfe: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm (1712-1759), Marquis de Montcalm, commander of the French forces defeated by the English, commanded by General James Wolfe (1728-59), on the Plains of Abraham above the St. Lawrence River before Quebec City. Both men died in a battle that was to shift sovereignty in Canada from the French to the British.
34] Queenston: the Battle of Queenston Heights, on October 13, 1812, in which US forces crossed the Niagara River and were victorious over Upper Canada forces, led by Isaac Brock (who died in the battle) until reinforcements arrived from Fort George, commanded by Major-General Roger Hale Sheaffe, who attacked the Americans from the rear, down from Queenston Heights, and defeated them with very few losses.
Lundy's Lane: the most hard-fought battle in the War of 1812, took place between American and Upper Canada forces on July 25, 1814, near Niagara Falls; won by the Canadians, barely, and at great cost to both sides.
39] Chrysler's Farm: the Battle of Crysler's Farm, fought November 11, 1813, near Morrisburg, Ontario, was decisively won by British troops over much larger American forces.
Chateauguay: the Battle of Châteauguay was fought on October 26, 1813, along the Châteauguay River some 50 kilometers south of Montreal. Canadian forces made the Americans retreat.
43] Acadia: the first lasting French colony in North America and still a dominant cultural and political region within Canada's maritime provinces.
48] Some Canadians served in the army of Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) when Khartoum was overrun by the forces of El Mahdi in 1885.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Selected Poems of Sir Charles G. D. Roberts (Toronto: Ryerson, 1936): 125-26. PS 8485 O22A17 Robarts Library.
First publication date:
4
January
1886
Publication date note: Toronto Globe (January 4, 1886).
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2002/4/3
Composition date:
1885
Rhyme: abab