Scots in Annapolis County: King of the big idea, James the 6th of Scotland, 1621
James the 6th was a big idea man. When he became King James the 1st of England, he commissioned a thorough rewriting of the English Bible, still known today The King James Version.
Inspired by the creations of New France and New England in newly-European discovered North America, King James sought a New Scotland there, too.
In one of his very last big picture moves, he claimed over 70,000 square miles of a continent he’d never seen, called it New Scotland, then give Sir Alexander of Stirling the Royal Charter to colonize all of it. Oh, the Divine Right of Kings!
“The Royal Province of Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, comprehends all British North America now lying south of the river St. Lawrence, viz. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Gaspe, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, etc.” *
Coat of Arms of Nova Scotia, granted in 1625 by Charles 1st. **
His proposal to colonize New Scotland, twice the size of Scotland itself, finally took root in 1629—four years after his death—when Sir William Alexander established Charles Fort in is what is today Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
Just three years later, the new King, Charles the 1st, in a peace treaty, bargained away Charles Fort.
It was renamed Port Royal, as the French reclaimed Acadie (Nova Scotia.)
An original copy of the Charter, written on sheepskin, may be seen at Parks Canada’s Fort Anne National Historic Site, in Annapolis Royal.
For more Annapolis County history, go here.
*Source: The Nova Scotia Question, In Connection With the Relief of Highland & Other Destitution, by the Systematic Plantation of New Brunswick, Glasgow, 1847
** Nova Scotia’s coat of arms, granted by King Charles I in 1625, is the oldest of any province or territory. The shield features the Cross of St. Andrew. To differentiate between Scotland and Nova Scotia, the colours of the cross are reversed: blue on white. At the centre of the Nova Scotia shield is the shield of the Royal Arms of Scotland, containing a royal lion within a double red border on a field of yellow or gold.
The crest above the shield features two hands, one armed and the other bare, supporting a laurel and a thistle. One interpretation of this has the armed hand and the thistle representing the vow of the King of the Scots to protect his subjects, and the bare hand and the laurel sprig representing the conquest of hardships to be met in Nova Scotia. The laurel sprig is a symbol of peace, triumph and conquest.
The shield is supported by a crowned unicorn, part of Scotland’s royal coat of arms, and an Aboriginal man, representing the province’s native Indian population. A royal helmet — facing forward — rests on the shield.
