41 Halifax Citadel

Canada
Québec & New Brunswick
Nova Scotia & Newfoundland
Québec & Ontario
Manitoba to the Pacific

32 Off to Nova Scotia
33 Whales, Digby Neck
34 Yarmouth and beyond
35 Through to Lunenburg
36 Lunenburg
37 To Halifax
38 Halifax
39 Halifax and Bluenose II
40 Halifax
41 Halifax Citadel
42 Fixing Morty
43 Greenwich & Stanhope
44 Charlottetown
45 Canadian Confederation
46 Whisky and Ceilidh
47 On to Broad Cove
48 Glace Bay and Marconi
49 Arriving in Newfndlnd
50 To St John's
51 St John's
52 St John's
53 Avalon Peninsula
54 To Twillingate
55 Rain to Rocky Harbour
56 Gros Morne
57 Vikings up north
58 Wind and ferries
59 Labrador

Canada

Halifax to Pictou, Nova Scotia

Tuesday 13 September 2005 (day 114)

78th Highlanders

This morning we decided to go to see the Halifax Citadel before leaving and moving on, still with lots more than we could see and do in Halifax, The Citadel is at the top of a hill overlooking the city giving great views down and across the harbour. The view now is slightly marred as here are a fair few high rise blocks in the way. It is a large site, first established in 1749 and has been home to four separate forts. Each was built at a time when the city was under threat of attack and then fell into decline one the threat had passed. The current Citadel took twenty eight years to build and was finished in 1856. It was designed to deter an overland attack on the city in the event of war with the US.

The garrison was home to the 78th Highlanders and the guides all wear the uniforms of the regiment as at 1869, stressing several times that they are not real soldiers. The tartan is that of the McKenzie clan who founded the regiment. The soldiers wear red tunics, the pipers and drummers wear green. The kilts have a box pleat rather than the normal knife pleat which apparently makes them more durable. Their sporrans are very decorative and their hats are made of ostrich and vulture (the white parts) feathers.

The tartan patterned socks you see above their spats only go down as far as their ankles, normal hard wearing grey socks were actually worn on the feet. Boots come in one size only, size 9, and there is no difference between left and right. This makes re-supplies easy to manage but must have pretty uncomfortable especially if you had big feet. The soldiers would alternate their boots between their left and right foot every couple of weeks to ensure that they wore out evenly. The underwear of the day consisted simply of a long tunic, there was no equivalent of today's underpants or boxer shorts, hence the reason why Scotsmen wear "nothing" under their kilts.

Firing the noon gun

The Citadel site is a national historic monument run by Parks Canada. They had an extensive exhibit documenting the history of the Citadel and the important role it has played in Canada's military defences. The Army Museum focused primarily on Canada's role in World War I but also had information on their involvement in other wars. Bunkers and gun placements had been mocked up as part of the display.

For most of the time we were there we joined a tour run by Kevin, one of the senior guides who is employed there full time and not just fro the May to October season. He can get his full military kit on in about five minutes, pretty good going considering the complexity of it. He explained all about what life was like for the soldiers. Having their one gallon of beer a day seemed to ensure that if they were not drunk they were hung over. He explained how the two masts on one corner of the site were used for communication. The tallest displayed the colours of ships entering he harbour so that people in town knew what was coming. The smaller mast was used for communication by the military.

At noon, time in Halifax for the last one hundred and fifty years has been marked by the firing of the noon gun. We watched as two "soldiers" loaded the cannon, rolled it into position and then fired it as twelve sharp. Even though I knew it was coming it still made me jump. The same was true of the rifle firing demonstration later in the day.

The Citadel has never needed to defend itself but it would be a formidable stronghold. It is in the shape of an eight pointed star. All around it is a moat shaped ditch about nine metres wide and a couple of metres deep. If anyone had managed to get to the top of the hill alive they would surely have been hit by gunfire trying to cross the ditch. There are big cisterns below the ground to catch rainwater, and a natural spring on the site, which ensure that the Citadel could withstand a siege situation where its supplies were cut off for a while. Pipes and drums were playing throughout our visit. We left after a couple of hours, still with lots left to see.

We stopped to do some shopping before leaving Halifax. Stef got his trousers, I got a replacement battery for my watch. Stef's watch has also stopped, not because his battery is dead but because his watch is all mouldy inside! Our route them took us out to the other side of Nova Scotia to Pictou from where we hope tomorrow to get a ferry across to Prince Edward Island (PEI). The campground is run by a Canadian Scot who gave us one of the seasonal plots normally used by big trailers. It came with decking and a patio looking out over the estuary. It is also the first campsite we have come across with free high speed wireless internet access so we were able to catch up on mails sitting inside Morty and supping a little glass of vino - luxury!

Prev | Up | Next

Top

Visitors:
Home \| Info \| Blog \| Travel \| Pictures \| Site map \| Search \| Guestbook	Copyright © 2001-2007 Stefan and Vanessa Aalten-Voogd