[9] (p. [35]).—Basque scaffold: a point two leagues above Tadoussac; mentioned by Champlain, and shown on a map by Lotter (n. d.), as Cape Chafaut aux Basques; Bellin (1744) names it Echafaut aux Basques; obviously a place used by the Basque fishermen for drying fish.
Margry says (Navig. Fr., pp. 113, 114): "The Basques made their way at first to the ports on the eastern shore of the island [Newfoundland]. There they invented the process of drying codfish, that they might carry a greater quantity on their ships. This was done on scaffolds, which they called pignalac; and the "shipowners of St. Jean de Luz and Siboure sent out vessels expressly for this catching and drying fish, independently of those sent for the whale fishery."
[10] (p. [37]).—St. Lawrence Island: evidently another name for the Isle of Orleans.
[11] (p. [41]).—These were the sons of Gervase (or Jervis) Kirk (see vol. [iv.], note [46]), who was born in 1566, in Derbyshire, England, the eldest son of a gentleman's family; later, he became a merchant in London. In 1596, he married Elizabeth Gondon, of Dieppe, France, by whom he had seven children. His sons David, Lewis, and Thomas, were aged respectively 32, 30 and 26 years, at the time Quebec was taken. They were all prominent members of the Merchant Adventurers to Canada. Gervase died Dec. 17, 1629. David was knighted by Charles I., in 1633, as a reward for his services in taking Quebec; but (according to H. Kirke) neither he nor his heirs ever received any pecuniary recompense for the heavy losses he incurred in that enterprise, although, in the negotiations for the restitution of Canada, the French King had agreed to pay the sum of 82,700 livres to Kirk. Brymner (Can. Archives, 1894, pp. viii.-x.) gives a document (probably 1683) detailing the claims of the Kirks to the territories of Nova Scotia and Quebec.
A colony had been established in Newfoundland, in 1621, by George, Lord Baltimore, who received from James I. a large tract of land in the southeastern part, extending westward to Placentia Bay, which he named Avalon; but he abandoned it in 1629. A grant of the whole island was made by Charles I., Nov. 13, 1637, to the Duke of Hamilton, Sir David Kirk, and others; and Kirk, who after a few years became the sole owner of Newfoundland, continued as its ruler until his death (about 1653). He did much to develop the resources of the island,—encouraging immigration, opening the fisheries to other nations as well as to the English, and protecting the industry from pirates. As the Kirk family were devoted loyalists, they suffered many losses under the Commonwealth, and Sir David's property was for some time sequestrated as that of a malignant. Finally, in 1660, his heirs were obliged to yield possession of Newfoundland to Cecil, Lord Baltimore, who claimed it under the grant made to his father.—See Henry Kirke's First English Conquest of Canada (London, 1871); Prowse's Hist. N. F., pp. 138-157; and Kingsford's Canada, vol. i., pp. 142, 143.
The name is also variously spelled Ker, Kerk, Kertk, Kirke, Kirtk, Kyrck, Quer, Querch, and Quercq.
A daughter of David Kirk became the second wife of Pierre Radisson, the Hudson Bay explorer.
[12] (p. [41]).—Laverdière gives (at end of Champlain, "Pièces justificatives," pp. 25, 26) the letters from Charles "to ye Canadian marchants and ye com̃anders under them for rendring Kebeck." The merchants claimed to have spent £60,000 in their Canadian expedition; and they were greatly incensed at the restitution of Canada to France, ignoring as it did the rights granted them by the crown. Their letter to Isaac Wake, the representative of England in the treaty of St. Germain, is also given by Laverdière (ut supra, pp. 27-31); they complain that the interests of English subjects were neglected in the treaty.
[13] (p. [41]).—The widow of Louis Hébert (see vol. [ii.], note [80]). Her name was Marie Rollet; her second husband was Guillaume Hubou, whom she married May 16, 1629; she died May 27, 1649, at Quebec.
[14] (p. [53]).—Moustache: a name applied, in olden times, to a long lock of hair hanging from one side of the head.