Folk Songs of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. It is in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and is separated from New Brunswick by the Northumberland Strait. The nearly 13km long confederation bridge opened in 1997 connecting the two provinces. While the population density of the island is fairly high compared to the rest of the country, it is the most rural province in the country, with only 45% of the population classified as urban. One of the islands defining features is it's deep red soil. Shirts can even be be purchased which have been died with PEI dirt. The two most important resources on the island are it's rich farm land, and fisheries. Prince Edward Island is Canada's largest producer of potatoes and the value of this crop has ranged between $201 and $235 million in the past five years. In the 1800's shipbuilding was also an important industry, and today turism provides many jobs. The people on the island are mostly of British origin, with about 9% being of French or Acadian origin.

The book, Folk Songs of Prince Edward Island edited by Reshard Gool, explains the bounty of folk culture on the island well: "It has been an open secret for some time that Prince Edward Island, the tiny garden province of Canada, is a treasure-house of folk-lore, owing to its early settlement and isolated position.... Here we can partake of the life and traditions of the sturdy fishermen and farmers, who came from various stocks, but whose proudest boast is that they are from THE Island".