A Scottish Village is Celebrated

By Dave Johnston

New Edinburgh, a neighbourhood in Ottawa, was founded as an industrial village at the Rideau Falls in 1829. It endures to this day as a village at the heart of a large modern city.

The founder was a Scottish stonemason, Thomas McKay. Having made a small fortune and assembled a workforce on the Rideau Canal project, McKay moved on to create a tiny mill town on the banks of the Rideau River. During the next 27 years before his death in 1855, he put his stamp on the community with the development of mills and a row of stone-built shops and houses that would not have looked out of place in his Scottish hometown - in Perth.

McKay also brought a breath of Scottish moral philosophy to the town with his ideas on religion, education and politics.

A new book set to launch called The Villagers is a people’s history, focusing on the people and life of the community over time. It tells the story of McKay’s legacy in the form of multi-generational village families and buildings that have endured over time.

The book, thirteen years in the making, is the work of writer Janet Uren, who has lived in New Edinburgh for some 24 years.

The book will be launched on November 29, from 2-4 pm at Elmwood School (261 Buena Vista Drive). Books will be sold through Books on Beechwood, and the work is already available for pre-orders.