“Trapper Boy” new song for Men of the Deeps
So, this is cool: We just learned from Hugh R. MacDonald that his song “Trapper Boy” is being added to the repertoire of the world-famous coal miners’ chorus, The Men of the Deeps. The song was written and scored years before publication of MacDonald’s YA novel of the same name, published by CBU Press (2012).
In a recent exchange with chorus director John C. (Jack) O’Donnell, Hugh learned that, all things being well, the song will be performed at the “Deeps” next concert at Chedabucto Place Theatre in Guysborough, May 25, at 2 p.m.
Set in a 1920s coal-mining town, Trapper Boy is the story of 13-year-old JW Donaldson, whose father works in the mine. There is a lot of talk around town about the mines and his father’s hours at the mine have been reduced and the family faces difficult decisions to try to make ends meet.
There is a video recording of Hugh performing his song available from the book’s website (link here) as well as a series of interviews.
The Men of the Deeps is a choir of working and retired coal miners from the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada. Organized in 1966 as part of Cape Breton’s contribution to Canada’s Centennial Year (1967), the group’s inception was an effort by the people of Cape Breton to preserve in song some of the rich folklore of that island’s coal mining communities. Since 1967 the group has been singing of the work and lifestyle of the Cape Breton coal miner to audiences throughout most of Canada and the United States.
