Hugh MacEachern Memorial Video
This is the memorial video that we created for my grandpa, Hugh MacEachern, who passed away on December 18th, 2012 at the age of 94 1/2.
The songs in the background are Niel Gow's Lament and The Laddie with the Pladdie, performed by Buddy MacMaster, who is a famous fiddle player from Nova Scotia and a second cousin of Hugh. The full performance can be found at
One of Hugh's famous sayings was Here's to looking up your old address!. I did one day, visiting the Moidart area of Scotland, where Hugh's ancestor's came from. Footage from the trip can be found at
The following is part of the eulogy written by my Aunt Diane MacEachern:
Ciamar a tha (Kim-en-a-how).
Anyone who knew my dad would be familiar with his Gaelic way of saying hello. It was probably one of the first phrases he ever learned, growing up in Port Hood on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a solid two days' drive from Detroit. Angus Hughie, as he was called, made sure anyone he came in contact with learned the greeting too, including the paperboy, the mailman, or some unsuspecting person just walking down the street. If you were within shouting distance of my dad, you probably heard him say kimenahow -- and he fully expected you to answer him back!
My mother used to say that both she and my father graduated from the school of hard knocks. But hardship sure didn't affect my dad's outlook on life. Even though he grew up in a house without indoor plumbing or central heating, and that didn't get electricity until four or five years after he left home, he couldn't have been more cheerful or upbeat. He never complained about having to work hard, though once he retired, he loved puttering around the house or sitting on the porch to smoke a cigar and listen to the Tigers play baseball. It doesn't get any better than this, Dad would say, and he meant it.
He walked two miles to school every morning, but that was just a long detour en route to his true destination: a hockey rink. He might have forgotten his books, but he never forgot his skates. He would tie the laces together, hang them over his shoulder, then hide his skates and a hockey stick near the pond where he and his friends would meet after school to play until it was dark.
In those days, the bay between Cape Breton Island and Port Hood Island, an expanse of water about two miles across, would freeze solidly in the winter. They called it the big ice, and Dad said there was no better place to shoot the puck.
They had no fancy gear -- sometimes they used cow dung for a hockey puck, and in place of actual protective guards, they tied copies of the Eaton's catalog, sort of like today's JC Penney catalog, around their shins with whatever twine they could find. Later, Dad became a star center for the Canadian Air Force, and rumor has it he was scouted by some professional hockey teams.
As an immigrant from Canada, Dad used to say that the U.S. was the greatest country on earth. But whenever he reminisced, he talked about Nova Scotia and Port Hood. He only lived there maybe 30 years of his almost 95, but they were in many ways the most important years of his life. As a boy, he helped his grandfather farm; as he got older, he helped his father fish, though he always got seasick. He was the first person in Port Hood to own a car, and was something of a ladies' man.
One of Dad's only regrets in life was that he never learned to read music. His mother's family had the music as the saying went, and many of his cousins on his mother's side, including Buddy MacMaster and Natalie MacMaster, are world renowned musicians. Dad's father told him he didn't have any music, and that was supposed to be the end of it. But it wasn't. Dad somehow got his hands on a fiddle and started learning tunes by ear. He loved performing, and for a long time carried his fiddle and a small amplifier in the trunk of his car in case he ran into a party -- or thought it was time to have one. He played the fiddle several times a week at home, and gave my sister Jeannie and me piano lessons so we could accompany him. It wasn't unusual for us kids to hear a knock on the door late at night, only to find one of my dad's musician friends dropping by for a spontaneous ceilidh (kay-lee), the Cape Breton tradition of story-telling and music-making.
One night on St. Patrick's Day, I called home to see what my parents were up to. Just as my mother was saying she had no idea where my dad was, on came the local tv news, the news anchors reporting live on how Detroiters were celebrating the Irish. Up came a shot of Angus Hughie playing the fiddle in the Tipperary Pub, wearing an oversized bright green bowtie to match his mustache -- dyed green in honor of St. Pat.
Dad was always good to give the toast at a party. So now, let's toast him. Here's looking up your old address, Dad. Take 'er slow.
Oct. 16, 2019 - House of Assembly Proceedings
Proceedings start: 21:17
Question Period: 1:15:09
Opposition Members’ Business: 2:05:17
Government Business: 4:05:24
Late debate: 4:06:53
Guidelines for Use:
The Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly grants permission to record and use the audio and video of the proceedings of the Assembly and its committees for educational and research purposes and as provided below.
The video may only be used with its original audio component and no other audio or video material may be added to audio or video material used.
Television and radio broadcasters may use recorded excerpts of the proceedings in their news or public affairs programs in balanced, fair and accurate reports of proceedings.
Neither the audio nor the video may be used for political party advertising, election campaigns or any other politically partisan activity except that members of the House of Assembly may, for the purpose of serving their constituents, make use of recorded excerpts of the proceedings on their websites or on social media if not presented in a misleading manner and if a link is provided to the full proceeding.
Neither the audio nor the video may be used in any edited form that could mislead or misinform an audience or viewer or that does not present a balanced portrayal of the proceedings in the House.
The audio and video may not be used in court, or before a tribunal or other body, for the purpose of questioning, commenting upon or making judgement upon the proceedings in the House.
Any other use or rebroadcast or webcast of these proceedings requires the express written approval of the Speaker.
Oct. 26, 2017 - House of Assembly Proceedings
Proceedings start: 0:21:41
Question Period: 1:14:42
Government Business: 2:05:05
Royal Assent: 6:05:30
Guidelines for Use:
The Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly grants permission to record the televised proceedings of the Legislature for use in schools and for other purposes such as private study, research, review or newspaper summary.
Television and radio broadcasters may make use of recorded excerpts of the televised proceedings in their news or public affairs programs for the purpose of fair and accurate reports of proceedings.
Program material may not be used for political party advertising, election campaigns or any other politically partisan activity.
Program material may not be edited for use in promotional material by any political party or other organization and may not be used in any edited form that could mislead or misinform an audience or viewer, or which does not present a balanced portrayal of the proceedings in the House.
Program material may not be used in court, or before a tribunal or other body, for the purpose of questioning, commenting upon or making judgment upon the proceedings in the House.
Video program material may only be used with its original audio component and no other audio material may be added to video material used.
Video and audio material must not be used in any edited form, which has the tendency to mislead or misinform an audience or viewer; for greater certainty, in any manner that separates the video and audio elements, unless audio alone is requested, or which adds music or other sounds; or in election campaigns, promotional videos or any other politically partisan activity.
Any other commercial use or rebroadcast of these proceedings requires the express written approval of the Speaker.