[2] "His first book of poetry, The Habitant (1897), was extremely successful, establishing for him a reputation as a writer of dialect verse that has faded since his death.

[1] He trained and worked at L'Abord-à-Plouffe, now in Laval, on the Lake of Two Mountains, "a Quebec lumber town where he had his first encounters with the habitants and voyageurs who were to inspire (and even to preoccupy) the poet.

Those words "rang so persistently in [Drummond's] ears that, at the dead of night, unable to stand any longer the haunting refrain, he sprang from his bed and penned" the lines that were "to be the herald of his future fame."

The poem "was an instant success... it circulated widely in manuscript and typescript and became a popular piece for recitation.

"[1] A version appeared in the Winnipeg Siftings in September 1886; another (with word variations and music of unknown origin) was in the 1896 McGill University Song Book.

[7] "By the 1890s its setting had been adapted to other lakes and rivers in North America and the name of its creator had been so completely forgotten that various people disputed Drummond's authorship."

"[5] Although "he had preferred to compose his verse for private readings,"[5] Drummond was encouraged by his wife and brother to share his work.

[1] The Habitant and Other Poems appeared in 1897, with a New York City publisher, illustrations by Canadian landscape artist F.S.

[2] Fréchette "passed on a compliment that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had paid to Drummond, calling him 'The pathfinder of a new land of song.'"

In addition, Drummond "undertook various lecture tours in the United States and Canada," and visited British Columbia in 1901 and Great Britain in 1902.

He began spending extensive time in Cobalt, Ontario, where he and his brothers had acquired interest in silver mines.

[1] "He served for a year as the town's first doctor, was vice-president of Drummond Silver Mine, and wrote poetry of life in the north.

"[6] His funeral was held at St. George's Anglican Church (Montreal), where he had worshipped for much of his life, and he was buried in that city's Mount Royal Cemetery.