John and George Maxwell

John and George Maxwell or the Maxwell Twins (born June 18, 1864) were Gaelic-speaking fishermen and musicians, known for inspiring a character in Rudyard Kipling's story Captains Courageous.

The Maxwells were African Canadians who were born in 1864 to George and Mary Jane Maxwell who were originally from Judique.^[1] They were two of six children.^[2] The Gaelic-speaking family lived in Marble Mountain, Nova Scotia, the only Black family in the area at the time.^[3] The twins were both singers and composers of Gaelic songs.^[4] John played the fiddle and knew many traditional Scottish songs.^[4]

Both brothers fished, worked in the local quarry, and farmed locally. They married—John to Jessie Pringle in 1897, George to Katie Fowler in 1903—and settled in the area.^[1] After Jessie Maxwell died in 1910, John married Minnie Borden Desmond in 1914 and the couple moved to Truro.

Kipling became aware of the twins while researching a story. Captains Courageous was published in 1896 and 1897 in McClure's Magazine.^[5] His character of the cook, who mostly spoke Gaelic but also knew English, was based on John and George Maxwell. At the time readers of the story expressed disbelief that a black man could speak Gaelic.^[6] The cook, who is not named in the book, is also seen on a fishing boat "riding the jib-boom and shouting Gaelic to a friend as black as himself."^[7]

The author Clara Dennis wrote about the twins in her book Cape Breton Over and Don Pillar wrote about them in his book Out of the Limelight.^[1]

The brothers became the subject of a five-minute documentary, Na Gàidheal Dubha, which made the shortlist for Scotland's FilmG Gaelic short film awards.^[6][8]