Newfoundland Songs

The music originated with Europeans coming to the island to fish codfish. Prominent and influential European settelers included the French, English, Irish and Scottish. Most people now claim mixed English/Irish ancestery. The Europeans brought their songs and styles, but over time new songs were written about where they were. Especially songs about fishing and the sea. The songs were sung for entertainment, to record events and to mourn. Newfoundlands first and only substantial wave of immegration came in the 19th century. Kitchen parties were central to the culture. The main instruments were the fiddle, voice and accordion. Many musical traditions developed in pockets around the island because of the isolation of different ports. The isolation is particularly evident in the strong "Newfie" accent and dialect that many Newfoundlanders speak. There is even a Dictionary of Newfoundland English: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/d7ction.html. Here is a youtube video showing a typical kitchen party.

Anita Best, writes in the introduction of  “Come and I will sing you”, a collection of Newfoundland folksongs, that growing up in Placentia Bay Newfoundland she often “heard songs at weddings, soup suppers, and similar gatherings in people’s kitchens and parish halls.” (page x) She also notes that while many of the singers whom she later recorded songs from were older, there were many young enthusiastic singers as well. The young singers however would not sing songs learned from an older person in the community if that person was present. The original singer would have to sing it, possibly with help from the younger.