Oatmeal and the Catechism:  Scottish Gaelic Settlers  in Quebec
Published by John Donald Publishers an imprint of Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh and McGill-Queen's University, Canada
ISBN 978-0-85976-574-1; £ 14.99; OCTOBER 2003

This book  records the oral history, folklore and folklife of a group of emigrants from the Outer Hebrides who settled in Quebec during the 19th century.  Most were crofting families from the Isle of Lewis who had suffered the severe effects of the potato famine of 1846—51.  As a solution to the increasing pressures on landlords and government relief bodies, they were offered free passage to ‘Lower Canada’ (Quebec) and given land grants in the Eastern Townships by the British American Land Company.  To this day, the map of Quebec shows place names such as Stornoway, Tolsta, Ness and Dell testifying to the link to the homeland...

Award winner of the Clio awards for Quebec of the Canadian Historical Association/Société historique du Canada, 1999.
Oatmeal and the Catechism: Scottish Gaelic Settlers in Quebec . Published by John Donald, Edinburgh and McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal.