John and George Maxwell or the Maxwell Twins (born June 18, 1864) were Gaelic-speaking fishermen and musicians, known for inspiring a character in Rudyard Kipling's story Captains Courageous.
John and George Maxwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 18, 1864 Marble Mountain, Cape Breton |
| Other names | Maxwell Twins |
The Maxwells were African Canadians who were born in 1864 to George and Mary Jane Maxwell who were originally from Judique.[1] They were two of six children.[2] The Gaelic-speaking family lived in Marble Mountain, Nova Scotia, the only Black family in the area at the time.[3] The twins were both singers and composers of Gaelic songs.[4] John played the fiddle and knew many traditional Scottish songs.[4]
Both brothers fished, worked in the local quarry, and farmed locally. They married—John to Jessie Pringle in 1897, George to Katie Fowler in 1903—and settled in the area.[1] After Jessie Maxwell died in 1910, John married Minnie Borden Desmond in 1914 and the couple moved to Truro.
Media portrayals
editKipling became aware of the twins while researching a story. Captains Courageous was published in 1896 and 1897 in McClure's Magazine.[5] His character of the cook, who mostly spoke Gaelic but also knew English, was based on John and George Maxwell. At the time readers of the story expressed disbelief that a black man could speak Gaelic.[6] The cook, who is not named in the book, is also seen on a fishing boat "riding the jib-boom and shouting Gaelic to a friend as black as himself."[7]
The author Clara Dennis wrote about the twins in her book Cape Breton Over and Don Pillar wrote about them in his book Out of the Limelight.[1]
The brothers became the subject of a five-minute documentary, Na Gàidheal Dubha, which made the shortlist for Scotland's FilmG Gaelic short film awards.[6][8]
References
edit- ^ a b c Caplan, Ronald (June 1, 1981). "George Maxwell Family Stories". Cape Breton's Magazine (28): 17–23. Archived from the original on 2014-09-22. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^ Museum, Highland Village (March 6, 2015). "The Maxwell Twins (1997)". YouTube. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^ Archives, Nova Scotia (2017-06-27). "Highland Village, Iona". Nova Scotia Archives. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ a b "The Maxwell Twins". Cabar Féidh. 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ McKenzie, Steven (2024-02-04). "Film tells of inspirational 19th Century black Gaelic-speaking twins". BBC Home. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ a b "Na Gàidheal Dubha". FilmG (in Scottish Gaelic). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ Kipling, Rudyard (2024-02-01). ""Captains Courageous": A Story of the Grand Banks". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ "Geàrr-liostaichean 18+". FilmG (in Scottish Gaelic). 2023-01-12. Retrieved 2024-02-04.