Piper

by Jacqueline Halsey

It's 1773 and twelve-year-old Dougal Cameron and his whole family are set to sail away from their Scotland home forever. When tragedy strikes, the family must decide whether or not to make the trip without Dougal's father. Once the ship departs, Dougal is drawn to the haunting sounds of the lone piper on board. (The instrument, while still illegal in their homeland at the time, was brought aboard to keep spirits up.) When a violent storm knocks the Hector two weeks off course, Dougal's dream of becoming a piper has to take a back seat to keeping his three little sisters alive.

Author Jacqueline Halsey spares no detail in this inspiring story of the brigantine that brought the first Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia, focusing on its difficult journey, and the strong-willed and determined individuals who risked it all to call Nova Scotia home.

162 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

For Jacqueline Halsey, growing up in post-war London meant walking to school past numerous bombsites and listening to her mother's stories about food rationing and air raids. Consequently, she always admired the courage of women and children coping with the tasks of everyday life in wartime situations. This courage inspired Peggy's Letters, Jacqueline's first book.

After High School she went to art college in Worthing, Sussex and then much later obtained a BA degree at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, which she attended as a mature student.

Jacqueline loves traveling and has visited many countries, including South Africa where she lived in a sugar mill village for four years.

She currently works in the Alderney Gate library in Halifax. Her days are filled with books, rhymes, puppets and lots of children to share them with. Jacqueline lives with her husband Ray, her granddaughter Ashlee, two cats and a very old goldfish in a house by a lake in Nova Scotia - a very different place from Peggy's war torn neighborhood.

Reviews

[Deborah Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone born and brought up in Nova Scotia, of Scottish heritage on my Father’s side, and having been exposed to some Scottish traditions and music since a teenager, I wanted to read this book about the Ship Hector that brought the largest earliest contingent of Scottish people to “The New World” and in particular to Nova Scotia (New Scotland) in 1773.

I loved the approach that the author, Jacqueline Halsey, took to the telling of this story. This “fictional” family, as many others in Scotland, were suffering terribly under the British rule after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Conditions for those families, including having to pay increasing rent and very poor growing conditions to try to feed themselves, led many to be desperate to escape the oppression. Starvation and disease were very real threats and growing for them.

The author tells the story quite well through the family of 12 year old Dougal Cameron, his parents and three sisters. They decide to sell everything there and take the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean for the promise of their own farm and a chance to improve their lives and future. Tragedy in the family strikes before they leave, but too late to change their minds, and they decide continue on without Dougal’s father. Dougal now has responsibility as leader of the family (with his mother). A big responsibility for someone his age.

The description of the condition of the boat, and the realities of travel of any distance by sea at that time were very well done. Many ships who tried to take settlers to “The New World” never made it. There was no guarantee that a person would survive that estimated journey of about 5 weeks either… and there were a number of people onboard who didn’t survive this journey. There was very cramped quarters for all onboard, along with shortages of food, potential serious diseases that passengers may have brought onboard, potential storms that could throw them off course with no way to predict them, and most importantly, potential shortages of water. These were challenges any person trying to immigrate to the “New World” had to be willing to risk.
These risks on their journey became quite concerning and grew, when it took quite a bit longer than 5 weeks to get to their destination.

Their one bright spot was that a real Piper was onboard. The music of the pipes helped keep morale going. Dougal was anxious to learn from this young piper as this part of the Scottish Heritage was under serious threat by the British at home. How could you have a New Scotland without the important part of their History and Culture, Pipers? Dougal felt it was part of his responsibility to learn to play this very challenging instrument, to help maintain and grow this important part of their heritage in New Scotland. He also loved the sound and how it felt to play the pipes.

The author told this historical fiction through the lens and language of middle school age quite well. Many of that age group will be able to relate the the changes that had to be overcome by Dougal in struggling to keep his family together and alive. I feel it also imparts very important historical information to teach this age group in particular , but also many others older than this age group, such an important part of Nova Scotia history.
I highly recommend this book for all ages.

I would also recommend that people visit the Town of Pictou in Nova Scotia. This is the are where the actual Ship Hector landed in 1773 with Scottish settlers. There is a replica built to the exact specifications of the actual Dutch drawings used to build the original Ship Hector. (Even the fact those drawings from the 1700s were still available is amazing to me). It was a major project over a number of years. The whole town has great information about its founding, and the lives of the New Settlers. A number of people there and nearby are descendants of these first settlers.

I had the privilege of being in Pictou In July, 2025, to watch the relaunch of this replica. Once you see how small this ship really was, you will likely be amazed that it made it here.

[Vivien Gorham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piper is a thoroughly engaging, well-written story. You'll find yourself cheering for brave Dougal and his family as they make the harrowing and inspiring journey across the ocean toward a new life in Nova Scotia. And you'll learn a lot about living on a ship back then too. Five stars!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Piper by Jacqueline Halsey is a wonderful book that is a real learning experience. The book is about Piper and his experience on what it would have been like for the Scottish to come to New Scotland on the Hector in 1773. The book is very realistic.

[Sue Slade · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son & I loved reading Piper. I found the book not only entertaining, but factual. A real learning experience on what it must have been like for the Scottish to come to New Scotland on the Hector in 1773. I suspect that "Piper" will be on the required reading list for Nova Scotia middle grades before long.

[Marguerita Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to put the book down a couple of times as I could feel the boat moving and smell the putrid odors from below ship.
This book gave me more information about my heritage.

[Digitally Lit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jorja's Review:

I love the New Scotland Tartan. Piper
By: Jacqueline Halsey
Dougal Cameron lives in Scotland with his Mam, Da and three sisters, Maggie, Flora and Wee Mary. Many people have fallen onto hard times as the English keeps raising the rent which is sending people into poverty. One day Dougal’s Da gets news that a travel agent is selling tickets to New Scotland (Nova Scotia) and was giving away free farmland to anyone who was willing to go. The Cameron’s decided this was the chance they needed to free themselves from poverty. Days before the family was to leave Da was trampled by a horse and died. Mam decided that their future still lied in New Scotland so off to the dock to board the Hector they went. Everyone was shocked at the state of the boat when they arrived. The Hector was an old and rickety looking boat which didn’t look like it could sail across the harbour let alone survive a 5 week journey across the Atlantic.
The ship was packed full of families and Dougal quickly found many faces he recognized. One particular person was Johnny Piper. Johnny had brought his bagpipes. The English forbid anyone playing the pipes so Dougal was excited that Johnny agreed to teach him how to play. Johnny started teaching Dougal right away but soon after lessons were put on pause as many of the families became ill with small pox. To make matters worse a massive storm threw the ship two weeks off course. Dougal is now the head of the family can he keep everyone safe and alive until they reach the shores of NEW SCOTLAND!
I really enjoyed this book. It showed how difficult and unfair life was and even harder for those who lost a parent while they were young. Most children were forced to grow up very quickly. I found the author did a really good job describing everything in detail from the Atlantic crossing to the small pox outbreak. I give this book 5 stars.

[Wunderdrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title is nominated for the 2020 Hackmatack award in the English fiction category. The main character is Douglas Cameron, a twelve year old boy who is travelling aboard the ship Hector with his mother and three young sisters to leave their heartache behind in Scotland to start a new life in Nova Scotia. Young Douglas makes friends with Johnny Piper, who has been secretly carrying on the tradition of playing the bagpipes following the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Culloden and the ensuing English ban on ancient Highland traditions. While the book is fiction, Halsey explains in an afterword to the book that the Hector was a real ship that actually undertook this voyage in 1793. The people on that voyage were some of the original settlers in what became the town of Pictou, Nova Scotia.
I thought the author did an excellent job at bringing the story to life, with her descriptions of the life they were leaving behind in Scotland, and the conditions below deck. By the time we reached the end of the eleven week voyage I was feeling rather hungry and weary myself! I actually cried at the ending (which I won't spoil for you now!), which is an indication of how much I became attached to the characters while I was reading their story, and just how much I was rooting for everyone. I would definitely recommend this to kids who enjoy learning about history.

[Story Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piper is a wonderful realistic fiction book for upper elementary students to complement their studies in 18th-century North American (or Post-Jacobean Scottish) history.

Nearly the entire narrative takes place on the Hector, which from the very start sets a tone for anxiety and dread. The boat is half-rotted, tiny, and the captain squeezes as many people as he can into the hold of the ship (5 people to one bunk). Add to that smallpox, the doldrums, and a hurricane, and you have a recipe for an exciting-yet harrowing-tale that will keep the attention of any child and explain to them the horrors of travel before there were airplanes to cart the same amount of people in a matter of hours the same distance.

The book also makes for a great comprehensive lesson plan that can include vocabulary words; social studies topics; science by way of physics, meteorology, and epidemiology; and, obviously, history. I highly recommend it and hope for a hard copy version for publication to purchase for my local library.

[Jorja Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It showed how difficult and unfair life was and even harder for those who lost a parent while they were young. Most children were forced to grow up very quickly. I found the author did a really good job describing everything in detail from the Atlantic crossing to the small pox outbreak. I give this book 5 stars.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of a family emigrating from Scotland to Nova Scotia in 1773. This would be especially interesting and informative for upper elementary students, but it's a quick engaging read for any age.

[Marcia Barss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My granddaughters, 1o yrs and 12 yrs, said it was their favorite book!

[Unknown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! It was well-researched and beautifully written, with historical information woven throughout by means of dialogue, description, and plot points leading to the climax. The characters’ traits are well-established from the beginning, and we watch Dougal’s growth to maturity as he deals with each obstacle the author puts in his way. Details in the first chapter, such as Mam being an experienced herbalist, are expanded upon in the rest of the novel. The metaphors, including personification (“The occasional wave splashed up the side to see what was going on, then fell back into the sea.”) and similes, are appropriate to the characters who are expressing their thoughts and reactions to what is happening around them (for example, Dougal’s feeling “like a thistledown spinning into the sky, not knowing where it was going or what was going to happen to it.” There are many reminders of Scotland and references to Dougal’s Da in the story, too, which are skillfully handled, and by the end of the book, the author has circled around to the beginning, making it a satisfying ending.