Is this based on a true Canadian story? Certainly!

But, while many of the characters and incidents that occur are real, there is necessarily a certain amount of amalgamation – of characters, of time-lines, and of course some fictional characters are added to represent a ‘group’ of others… For instance, McLaughlin and his Perth-Andover,  New Brunswick  friends are fictional;    he represents the Scottish settlers in Canada (as well as the Scottish ties of the Buchans), Guimont represents the French settlers, and  Gookum Perley Bear - a Wolastoq(Maliseet) of the Tobique Nation represents the native peoples of Canada. Governor General John Buchan (1935-1940) was very keen to acknowledge all of Canada’s individual groups and wished to integrate them as well as keep their individual traditions and cultures alive. He spoke and wrote of this desire extensively. His other passion during his term was trying to save Canada’s vast tracts of forest and protect the wildlife and our wilderness. Environmentalist Grey Owl (a Brit masquerading as an indigenous Canadian) had met with J.B. on several occasions as did many chiefs of various tribes to try and solve various ecological issues.

 

Pete and his family and neighbours represent the small-town and wilderness pioneers of the early 20th century, and these are the plain folk to whom Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir (Mr. and Mrs. Buchan) strove to bring ‘magic and imagination and education’ with their setting up of rural libraries and literacy programs, one of their greatest legacies to this nation. John Buchan was an internationally-known figure, although he was the first ‘commoner’ to become a Governor General of a Commonwealth country. (He was made a baron only after accepting the position). “Through his prolific writing and by his many and varied contributions to public life, he was a highly influential figure, particularly during the inter-war period. His final role as Governor General of Canada, and the popularity of film adaptations of his novel “The Thirty Nine Steps”, (notably, a version by Hitchcock) have also helped to give him a reputation which continues to this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a novelist, historian, journalist, politician, soldier and public servant, his influence can be seen in numerous areas of the first half of the twentieth century, ” * and as he died in Canada in early 1940, this musical examines his last months, and thus ‘smooshes’ several important events together into the final six months of his tenure here. A 4-prt. doc. by BBC begins here: 

https://youtu.be/eLjFoKi_sMU     His wife Susie was indeed an aspiring play-wright and later published several books. During their time in Ottawa, she was an active member of the Ottawa Little Theatre (then called the Ottawa Drama League) and helped establish its playwright competitions and workshops which are still held to this day.  It was also she, with the help of Ruth Redfern, who established the Prairie Library Scheme, attaining and distributing books to rural libraries in remote areas. New Brunswick especially asked for this program after seeing the success it was having out west.  *taken from the Peebles, Scotland John Buchan Museum notes

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Try clicking this link to be directed to a great Ottawa Citizen article and short Youtube video on J.B.:

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/the-capital-builders-lord-tweedsmuir-and-the-search-for-identity

 

 While J.B.’s beloved sister Anna is no longer a character in the latest draft of the musical, she was a famous author in her own right, using the pen name O.Douglas and penning many ‘cozies’ about family life and light romance in the hillsides of Scotland. Her last words to her sister-in-law Susie were indeed “but oh! what fun we’ve had, haven’t we?” Even though they lived through both world wars and saw much destruction of human lives and the planet at large! (The song “April 9, 1917” -now no longer part of the latest draft of the musical -  is all based on fact :Anna and John lost their brother Alastair, John lost his best friend and business partner, and Anna lost her fiance ALL on Easter Monday, 1917- in a battle in France. and this is still referred to in dialogue)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

                      

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two ‘secretaries’ are LOOSELY based on the real Rideau Hall staff the Governor General of Canada had at the time, although I’ve changed their ages and some circumstances to give variety and to develop plot-lines within the restrictions of the 1939 setting. Redfern was married to Ruth and they did have a son “O’Donnell” (Donnie), but he was not a child at this time. Mrs. Killick was with John Buchan as his literary secretary for 30 years right up until his death; however, according to the Buchans’ grandchildren she was a lovely-tempered woman and ‘almost NEVER’ complained about J.B.’s scrawly hand-writing, never mind anything else in life! Pereira did act with Susan Buchan in some of the ODL plays, one of which was based on J.B.’s short stories.  

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

               

 

 ( for more on how some of the characters/scenes might look, see the Mock-Ups page at the top)

 Genevieve Lipsett was a real person – a lawyer, journalist and suffragette, she deserves more mention in Canadian history than she gets. She WAS the first female journalist to be allowed access as an official reporter to the House of Parliament,  but this was just before Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir’s time. However, with the plot line involving the ambitious reporters, I felt Genevieve deserved to be moved up into the 1939 setting to help keep her name alive (although sadly she had already passed away in 1935 age 50). Rideau Hall had many more servants and “Aides de Camps” as they were called due to the military backgrounds of most Governors General, and I have simply made a small representation of them within the script, with a nod to Nanny as a hard-working child-care worker caught as so many were between her place with the servants and with the family.

 

Matilda Winslow (Tilly, from Woodstock, NB where

our music  arranger Cameron Slipp was also born)

was an amazing real-life woman, the first black female

to graduate UNB, and who then went on to  teach in

Halifax and then to head up a private girls school

in Alabama! Through her daugher Margaret, we hear a bit

about Tilly and her achievements in the first scene of R.N.

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Buchan, Tilly Winslow, Genevieve Lipsett and Gookum Perley Bear were the 4 historical women chosen to make Rough Notes part of the international 365 Women A Year Playwrighting Project (#365WAY ) . While "Gookum" was real, she was actually later, in the 1970s (read more about her and the other extraordinary  Wolastoq (Maliseet) women from Tobique First Nation near Perth, NB who changed Canadian laws forever in the book Enough Is Enough by Janet Silman. They marched on Ottawa, and one of their group even became a senator, while another has been a most famous Canadian artist and others went on to teach at university, college and to lead their own band locally). Our Gookum is an amalgamation of the original 1970s one, mixed with her own grandmother and the grandmother/maternal figures of several other of these "Tobique Women Marchers". This is 'our' Gookum Perley Bear:

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final scene is completely from my own imagination. UPDATE: there is now a choice of  2 endings!

J.B. did have to endure being the witness to Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s declaration of war, despite his prayers for world peace after the horrors of WW1. While J.B.’s health was always a struggle, and his mother, sister and wife DID insist he stay on a bland diet due to ulcers (one of the reasons rich foods and salty hams, etc. are frequently mentioned in his novels!) no one was aware in the last few weeks of his life (as is intimated in the show) that he would suddenly have a brain haemorrhage, fall and hit his head on the bath-tub and die 5 days later, despite several surgeries. The musical’s story ends just weeks before this sad occurrence, if the original ending is chosen (however the 2nd choice are two funeral scenes and a library dedication, all done in less than 4 minutes!) but many say that with his desperate hope that another world war would NOT have transpired, it may be just as well that he would not know the ravages it generated. Certainly with his passion for preserving the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands and the Canada he had traversed well, it is fortunate that he did not live on to see how those stunning mountains and valleys, lakes and rivers, have been torn and twisted, contaminated and corrupted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​