Fiddling Giants - A line of MacLeans from Nova Scotia to PEI

Scottish carved relief  1500s

Ask the question if there is a difference between an Irish fiddler and a Scottish fiddler - ye better duck!! 

Our tale begins at Lake Ainslie - a freshwater lake located on the west side of Cape Breton with small communities settled around the lake.  It was settled by Scottish immigrants around 1820 and in the early days, the Catholic families were on the west while Protestants settled on the east side.  

This lake, the area, the home, must have had been special as some descendants were given the name 'Ainslie'.

The man who caught my attention was Big Angus MacLean, the son of Scotsman Laughlin MacLean and Catherine MacKay born in 1826 at Lake Ainslie, Nova Scotia. 

It appears the MacLean family were a bit nomadic at first - could be Laughlin was chasin' fish or decidin' where to put his hat.  
 
The story told by others is that the family were in Cape Breton, landed in Pictou for a time and then off to Prince Edward Island.  

While the clan were in Pictou, Big Angus fell for our Jennie Arbuckle, the daughter of Ole Willie Arbuckle & Mary Vincent.  The pair were married abt 1852 and had 4 children together: Cassie, William, Mary & Laughlin. Sadly, Jennie died a mere 10 years into the marriage at age 28.  


A couple of years later, Big Angus was ready to remarry and plans were made. 

As the story goes, he showed up the day of the marriage only to be standin' alone!  Well, 'whit's fur ye'll no go past ye', so he asked a girl named Mary McKay who happened to be standin' there - off they went and had 9 children!  

It wasn't until after their daughter Joanna was born in 1883 when the whole kit and caboodle moved to PEI for good despite havin' been back and forth the past couple of decades.

Big Angus was exactly that - big.  It is reported that he stood 6ft, 6in tall and weighed in at 300lbs and given that he was a farmer turned stonemason - strong to boot! I have trouble imaginin' this big man nimble enough to play a fiddle!  

The fiddle and/or pipes goes back to Laughlin and their kin before and was lovingly passed down to many MacLeans of this line - especially in Angus's youngest son with Jennie, Laughlin.

Angus Leslie MacLean, 1984

Laughlin Jr had a son Angus Leslie who played the fiddle and so did Angus' sons - Danny, Jimmy, Clarence and Charlie.  

"The music, you know, was in all the MacLeans. My grandfather and my father and all the way back. My grandfather made [my first violin] for me. He made violins and bagpipes and everything, and fixed them all up himself. Big Angus MacLean, they used to call him. Big Angus - I'm called after him."

"Belfast People" - Angus Leslie MacLean, pg 204

Gentle giants given to creatin' quite a ruckus at any ceilidh!