Section II, 1921 [l03l Trans. R.S.C. 



The Ancestry of Archibald La^npman, 

 Poet 



By Rev. Ernest Voorhis, A.M., Ph.D. 



Presented by Duncan C. Scott, Litt. D., F.R.S.C. 



(Read May Meeting 1921) 

 PREFACE 



The information contained herein is taken from two larger 

 genealogical records of the Lampman and Gesner families which 

 I have prepared after several years of search and correspondence with 

 various members of both families. 



As brother-in-law of the Poet I have liad access to unpublished 

 family records. 



Ernest Voorhis. 

 Ottawa, 



15th April, 1921. 



Memories of the Poet 



In sentiment, loyalty and family tradition Archibald Lampman, 

 the poet, is to be reckoned a thorough Canadian. His patriotism 

 and love for his country was not the engrafted product of a few- years' 

 sojourn in the land but, on the contrary, the result of a consciousness 

 that his ancestors had helped to lay the foundation of Canada. 

 To him Canada was peculiarly his own land, indeed, he possessed 

 an appreciation of her natural beauty, the rocks, hills, rivers, forests, 

 and flowers, which he could share with but few. He needed no 

 companion on his solitary rambles. Without there were innumer- 

 able friends, the trees, fields and flowers, with which as real person- 

 alities he communed in silence; while within arose a sequence of 

 thoughts, echoes of nature's voice, which inspired the poet's soul. 



Lampman was happiest when exploring new scenes in the forest 

 land of the north, far distant from the sounds and sights of mankind. 

 What is to many the wilderness, to him was the garden of nature. 

 The more profound became the silence, the greater was his enjoy- 

 ment. Never conscious of loneliness nor of fear, his nature seemed 

 to expand into perfect harmony with the greatness and wildness 

 without. When on a canoeing trip he was always noted for his 



