The Mystery of Malignant Cove

By Patrick J. Leonard

Malignant Cove. What visions this name inspires. For more than twenty-five years my family and I have made yearly visits to Nova Scotia. On our very first vacation there as we were approaching Antigonish, my son noticed “Malignant Cove” on our road map and the name so fascinated us that we deviated from out Cap Breton destination and drove directly to it.

The ominous name suggested treacherous rocky shores, a threatening gray sky, pirates scowling from under colorful bandannas and a black ship flying the Jolly Roger moored off shore. Instead we found one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, blue water, green fields, cloudless skies, and smiling faces. Instead of the black pirate craft offshore, there was a white lobster boat.

We were told many stories over the years of how the pleasant village got its inappropriate name. For the most part we were informed that in the late 18th Century, when England was at war with the Colonies and France, a British man-of-war, the Malignant, was wrecked on the shore and this led to the hamlet’s name.

However, there were no hard and fast facts to substantiate this story or the variations. One account was that the Malignant was a pirate ship carrying an immense amount of treasure, which went aground in a storm and broke up on the shore, all aboard perishing. Another version was that, only one pirate reached shore and safety that night. The next morning, by Herculean efforts, he succeeded in swimming out to the wreck, securing the treasure chest, constructing a makeshift raft and ferrying it to the beach. There, above the high-water mark, he dug a deep hole beside a huge pyramid-shaped rock, buried the treasure and left, intending to return. However, he never did get back to Nova Scotia, dying in jail many years later in America with his jailers refusing to believe his tale of the buried wealth.

The treasure is supposedly still there, buried under the pyramid shaped rock which is partially obscured by brush and earth.

I was told that Captain William Kidd himself had renamed the captured ship the Malignant and intended to prey on shipping in the Northumberland Strait but came to grief in a storm barely escaping with his life and leaving gold, silver and jewels still in the iron-bound strongbox of the Malignant, concealed for all time in the drifting offshore sands.

Another account was that the Malignant was a slave ship whose cut-throat captain returned to his childhood religion after marrying a saintly woman, gave up his sinful life, and sailed for a new existence far from his inhumane crimes, intending to settle as a peaceful farmer on Prince Edward Island. The inevitable storm wrecked the ship and also, as usual, there were no survivors.

In the summer of 1980 my wife and I made additional inquiries. One elderly gentleman, a retired school master, advised us that the story was that the Malignant was indeed a British man-of-war; that she was on her way to Pictou when she noticed a much larger and more heavily armed French warship approaching, and, in attempting to maneuver to do battle, ran aground on a shoal and was destroyed. This narrator claimed that, over the years after severe storms when the beaches were temporarily washed out, the bones of the Malignant still could be seen at low tides. He had a piece of board which he had secured near this wreckage at one very low tide and believed it was part of the ill-fated Malignant. But he had nothing to verify his story.

Later, we visited the McCulloch House library in Pictou, and, assisted by the librarian on duty attempted to obtain something factual about Malignant Cove. We found only one reference, a brief passage in the volume, “The History Of The County Of Pictou”, written in 1877 by Rev. George Patterson.

In discussing other events of the late 1770’s, Patterson wrote: “Another incident which excited some attention in Pictou at this time was the wreck of the Malignant, which took place near the close of the war. She was a man-of-war bound to Quebec and was wrecked late in the fall at a place ever since known as Malignant Cove. The crew came to Pictou and were provided for through the winter by the efforts of Squire Patterson, as far as circumstances would permit.”

Various other sources, including a friend who perused records in Halifax and the American author – historian, Edward Rowe Snow, who has written nearly a hundred books about the ocean, ships, shipwrecks, treasures, storms, lighthouses, and the like, were consulted. Mr. Snow’s extensive library had no mention of any ship named Malignant.

On September 18, 1980, I wrote the British Admiralty. In November, A.J. Francis replied as follows: “Thank you for your letter of September 18 concerning Malignant Cove, Nova Scotia, reputedly named after a British warship wrecked there in the fall of 1779. There is no record of any ship of the Royal Navy named Malignant.”

Did a ship named the Malignant perish at Malignant Cove?

Speculation is that when the weary survivors of the North walked into Pictou on a cold December day in 1779, one of them may have cursed “the malignant cove” where the North and her commander, Jeremiah Smith, met their deaths.

But surely such a picturesque name for that section of the coastline would have remained in the memories of the inhabitants; would have been passed down to their descendants, while folklore would do the rest.


	The Mystery of Malignant Cove By Patrick J. Leonard Malignant Cove. What visions this name inspires. For more than twenty-five years my family and I have made yearly visits to Nova Scotia. On our very first vacation there as we were approaching Antigonish, my son noticed “Malignant Cove” on our road map and the name so fascinated us that we deviated from out Cap Breton destination and drove directly to it. The ominous name suggested treacherous rocky shores, a threatening gray sky, pirates scowling from under colorful bandannas and a black ship flying the Jolly Roger moored off shore. Instead we found one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, blue water, green fields, cloudless skies, and smiling faces. Instead of the black pirate craft offshore, there was a white lobster boat. We were told many stories over the years of how the pleasant village got its inappropriate name. For the most part we were informed that in the late 18th Century, when England was at war with the Colonies and France, a British man-of-war, the Malignant, was wrecked on the shore and this led to the hamlet’s name. However, there were no hard and fast facts to substantiate this story or the variations. One account was that the Malignant was a pirate ship carrying an immense amount of treasure, which went aground in a storm and broke up on the shore, all aboard perishing. Another version was that, only one pirate reached shore and safety that night. The next morning, by Herculean efforts, he succeeded in swimming out to the wreck, securing the treasure chest, constructing a makeshift raft and ferrying it to the beach. There, above the high-water mark, he dug a deep hole beside a huge pyramid-shaped rock, buried the treasure and left, intending to return. However, he never did get back to Nova Scotia, dying in jail many years later in America with his jailers refusing to believe his tale of the buried wealth. The treasure is supposedly still there, buried under the pyramid shaped rock which is partially obscured by brush and earth. I was told that Captain William Kidd himself had renamed the captured ship the Malignant and intended to prey on shipping in the Northumberland Strait but came to grief in a storm barely escaping with his life and leaving gold, silver and jewels still in the iron-bound strongbox of the Malignant, concealed for all time in the drifting offshore sands. Another account was that the Malignant was a slave ship whose cut-throat captain returned to his childhood religion after marrying a saintly woman, gave up his sinful life, and sailed for a new existence far from his inhumane crimes, intending to settle as a peaceful farmer on Prince Edward Island. The inevitable storm wrecked the ship and also, as usual, there were no survivors. In the summer of 1980 my wife and I made additional inquiries. One elderly gentleman, a retired school master, advised us that the story was that the Malignant was indeed a British man-of-war; that she was on her way to Pictou when she noticed a much larger and more heavily armed French warship approaching, and, in attempting to maneuver to do battle, ran aground on a shoal and was destroyed. This narrator claimed that, over the years after severe storms when the beaches were temporarily washed out, the bones of the Malignant still could be seen at low tides. He had a piece of board which he had secured near this wreckage at one very low tide and believed it was part of the ill-fated Malignant. But he had nothing to verify his story. Later, we visited the McCulloch House library in Pictou, and, assisted by the librarian on duty attempted to obtain something factual about Malignant Cove. We found only one reference, a brief passage in the volume, “The History Of The County Of Pictou”, written in 1877 by Rev. George Patterson. In discussing other events of the late 1770’s, Patterson wrote: “Another incident which excited some attention in Pictou at this time was the wreck of the Malignant, which took place near the close of the war. She was a man-of-war bound to Quebec and was wrecked late in the fall at a place ever since known as Malignant Cove. The crew came to Pictou and were provided for through the winter by the efforts of Squire Patterson, as far as circumstances would permit.” Various other sources, including a friend who perused records in Halifax and the American author – historian, Edward Rowe Snow, who has written nearly a hundred books about the ocean, ships, shipwrecks, treasures, storms, lighthouses, and the like, were consulted. Mr. Snow’s extensive library had no mention of any ship named Malignant. On September 18, 1980, I wrote the British Admiralty. In November, A.J. Francis replied as follows: “Thank you for your letter of September 18 concerning Malignant Cove, Nova Scotia, reputedly named after a British warship wrecked there in the fall of 1779. There is no record of any ship of the Royal Navy named Malignant.” Did a ship named the Malignant perish at Malignant Cove? Speculation is that when the weary survivors of the North walked into Pictou on a cold December day in 1779, one of them may have cursed “the malignant cove” where the North and her commander, Jeremiah Smith, met their deaths. But surely such a picturesque name for that section of the coastline would have remained in the memories of the inhabitants; would have been passed down to their descendants, while folklore would do the rest.

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