Clan MacKenzie Society Commissioner Tim Mackenzie plays role in film to educate youth on importance of historic ship in Pictou (The Hector)

“We have been doing a lot of tours on the ship with a lot of Americans and we realized that every American child knows the Mayflower and its importance for settlement in North America,” Meir said. “I don’t know how many children know about the Hector, but it is as important, not only for Nova Scotia, but for the settlement of North America.”

He said after the Hector arrived in Pictou in 1773, it unleashed a massive wave of immigration from Scotland and Ireland that basically settled most of North America in 40 to 50 years.The local musician, playwright and actor successful applied for funding through a Forward 150 provincial grant that will go toward making the film, Highland Dreams, which starts production on Wednesday. In-kind donations are also being accepted from people in the musical and theatre world involved in the making of the film.Meir wrote Highland Dreams about 20 years ago to tell the true story of Hector settlers Alexander Cameron and Alex Fraser. The one-person play is now being transformed into an educational video that he hopes will be used as a teaching aid in schools.The Hector Quay Society, in partnership with Simple Films, will co-produce the film that will feature Pictou County’s own John Sypder MacDonald as Alex Fraser and Craig Gunn of Dartmouth as Alexander Cameron.Meir’s story focuses on Fraser and Cameron, who m46et at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Both were 16 years old and too young to fight, but they watched the battle along with hundreds of others.   Twenty-seven years later, they met on the Hector and settled within a mile and half of each other, where they lived long lives farming the land.

Meir said the video will include recreated images of the Battle of Culloden and footage of the Ship Hector, as well as filming at Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton.The story will be told as Cameron reads from his diary. Since there are no speaking parts in the film, the size of the production crew can be smaller, which cuts down on costs, and local musicians are also expected to perform. Meir is hoping production can wrap up in less than a week and the final product will be available by the end of August. He said the goal is to have it in Nova Scotia schools by the first of September.

People who visit the Hector Heritage Quay are moved by the story of the Hector passengers, so he knows it’s a story that needs a larger audience. “People sometimes come up from below deck and they have tears in their eyes,” he said. “Somehow we have to get across that importance.”