Nova Scotia Strong

Herbie MacLeod
3 RCMP Pipes and Drums
Ottawa, 2012

The Drums Do Beat

Sitting here I think of my old Nova Scotia home. Watching the news, hearing their names and of their lives…not known to me, but now known to Canada. With a deep sigh I close my eyes and breathe…voices I once knew, their faces, their towns, familiar in my contemplation.

As I watch fiddler, Emily Tuck, Herbie MacLeod is brought from her bow. It reminds me of a time when friends once met overseas…a fiddle played at a ridge called Vimy. Home – the sound heard on a distant ridge and now too from Portapique.

For all whose spirit is with Nova Scotia, for all family, friends, maritimers, and Canadians I cannot say farewell but hello once again…for Nova Scotia I will wish.

For all time we can remember them
Natalie MacMaster Fiddle Tribute


About The Author

pferguson
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France. Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was captivated by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Over time Paul became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography, narration and soundtracks. At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was inspired when he learned Weir visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. "Gallipoli", the film, led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii, Gallipoli, North Macedonia and Salonika. When Paul first watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests was a natural progression. Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, Paul believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.” While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.

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