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John C. Taylor

also known to Inuit as Irngutaq

Taylor was the last Scottish whaler to visit Cumberland Sound. He was born in Dundee in 1892. When he was still a child, his parents and sister died in an accident, and his aunt sent him to Baldoven orphanage. The whaler Robert Kinnes befriended him, and Taylor went to Cumberland Sound on one of his company's ships. Inuit called Taylor Irngutaq, meaning grandson, because they thought the captain was his grandfather.

Irngutaq, Captain John Taylor 177 Ko Irngutaq, Captain John Taylor
Irngutaq, Captain John Taylor, fourth from left 71 Ko Irngutaq, Captain John Taylor, fourth from left
Captain John Taylor,Irngutaq, playing cards 111 Ko Captain John Taylor,Irngutaq, playing cards

In the early 1900s, Irngutaq returned to the Arctic year after year on ships like the Morning and the Active. When he grew up, he became one of the last Arctic whaling captains. Since most of the bowhead whales were gone, he also traded for other kinds of blubber and for caribou, bear, wolf, walrus, fox and seal skins.

Taylor was a handsome and generous man. He was not that tall, but he was strong, with black hair and an imposing presence. One of his grandchildren, John McGuinn, remembered him as a gentle but firm man with a voice [that] could quell the gods. In Cumberland Sound, Taylor became involved with an Inuk woman, Arnaqoq. Daisy Dialla, another grandchild of Taylor's, recounted how women like Arnaqoq would put seal oil in their hair and make themselves as beautiful as they could to attract men they desired. Many men asked for Arnaqoq's hand, but Taylor was the first and only man her father ever approved of. The couple had a child together, Joanasie. Taylor brought many gifts from Scotland for his son, including a gramophone, clothing, food and candy. Joanasie didn't like the candy because he was not used to sweets.

John McGuinn and his Pangnirtung cousin, Andrew Dialla 94 Ko John McGuinn and his Pangnirtung cousin, Andrew Dialla
John McGuinn, grandson of Captain John Taylor 114 Ko John McGuinn, grandson of Captain John Taylor
John McGuinn, grandson of Captain John Taylor beside the gravestone of Joanasie Dialla 236 Ko John McGuinn, grandson of Captain John Taylor beside the gravestone of Joanasie Dialla

Taylor was also close to Angmarlik and Aasivak, the couple who ran the Inuit whaling operations at Kekerten. He brought Aasivak all sorts of presents, porcelain figures, dresses, a gramophone, enough to fill a small room at the back of her qammaq. Only very good hunters and wealthy people had more than one room in those days. Aasivak kept everything in perfect condition until one day the room caught fire and burned.

The Scottish whaler Easonian at anchor 72 Ko The Scottish whaler Easonian at anchor
The Scottish whaler Easonian ablaze at Kekerten Island 63 Ko The Scottish whaler Easonian ablaze at Kekerten Island
The Scottish whaler Easonian crew 79 Ko The Scottish whaler Easonian crew

From 1914-1918, the whaling stations in Cumberland Sound were completely cut off from Scotland because of the First World War. Taylor stopped coming. He served in World War I by commanding a ship called Cortez. In 1919, he married the British woman Agnes Millar Scott, with whom he would have three daughters. Inuit in Cumberland Sound missed Taylor and his trade goods, especially the ammunition. A former resident of one the whaling stations, the late Nowyook, recalled how during the war, Inuit retrieved the bullets from the animals they killed. They made new bullets out of tin cans, the tips of matches and cannon gunpowder. Some Inuit far from the whaling stations began hunting with bows and arrows again.

John McGuinn and his second cousin Andrew Dialla in Pangnirtung 178 Ko John McGuinn and his second cousin Andrew Dialla in Pangnirtung

Taylor returned to Cumberland Sound in 1920. He came again the following year and found that the people at Umanaqjuaq had caught a whale. Everyone celebrated with a feast of country food, and they played music for hours on the ship's gramophone. Taylor traded ammunition, food, tobacco, whaling gear and other provisions in exchange for the blubber and baleen.

Taylor made his last trip in 1922, on the steamship Easonian. It was continually breaking down. Taylor decided to beach the unreliable ship at Kekerten, where he planned to remove the propeller and navigate home by sail. As the Easonian lay on the rocks, a faulty generator, which had already caused one fire the previous year, caught fire in the engine room. The crew could not break through the hull to put out the flames. The fuel tanks exploded, and within six hours the Easonian had burned to the ground. Inuit as far away as Idlungajung saw the flames. The fire had consumed Taylor's supply of trade goods, including all the ammunition. The Inuit must have been anxious about the coming winter, but they immediately welcomed Taylor and his crew of nine men (most of whom had lost their possessions) into their homes. Taylor and several Inuit whalers travelled by whaleboat to the other side of Cumberland Sound looking for the Albert, another Scottish trading vessel. They found the ship within 48 hours, and the captain picked up the entire crew and took them home. The wreck of the Easonian can still be seen at low tide at Kekerten.

Inuit group aboard the Scottish whaler Easonian 77 Ko Inuit group aboard the Scottish whaler Easonian

The Easonian was the last ship to travel to Cumberland Sound from Dundee. It was never replaced, and Taylor never returned to Cumberland Sound. He went on to have an illustrious career, eventually becoming the nautical advisor to the Ministry of Transport in England. He received the title of Commander of the British Empire and was twice invited to dinners at Buckingham Palace. In the 1950s, Taylor retired early after suffering several heart attacks. He and Agnes moved back to Scotland. He died suddenly in 1965 but not before teaching his grandson John McGuinn how to hunt, fish and build small rafts to float in a nearby river.

Shipwrecked Crew of the Scottish Whaler Easonian 78 Ko Shipwrecked Crew of the Scottish Whaler Easonian

Taylor's Inuit companion, Arnaqoq, died soon after the captain left for the last time, leaving their young boy, Joanasie, an orphan like his father. Joanasie was adopted into his uncle's family and grew up mostly at Illutalik. He married and had children of his own. Many of Taylor's descendents the Dialla family live in Pangnirtung today. After decades of searching, one of Captain Taylor's Inuit grandsons, Andrew Dialla, tracked down the Scottish relatives. Taylor's grandson, John McGuinn, visited his new extended family in Pangnirtung in 2007. Two of Taylor's Qallunaat daughters are still living: one in Australia and the other in England with John.

This article was co-written by Karen Routledge and Andrew Dialla

NOTES :

John McGuinn, personal communication with Andrew Dialla.

Daisy Dialla, interview with Andrew Dialla and Karen Routledge, September 15, 2008. Daisy also told the story about Aasivak below; Aasivak had told it to her.