A few more song videos just for fun

Peter Amberly: This is an English song from New Brunswick song, with mention of a few other provinces as well. The singer does a good job introducing the song.

Lukey's Boat: This song is listed in the book, Folksongs of Canada, as being sung in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The only mention of a specific place in the song is "Labrador" (as in Newfoundland and Labrador) which might indicate it is of Newfoundland origin. However, the song is included in Songs and Ballads of Nova Scotia and Helen Creighton says that the singers she collected it from told her it is about a fisherman from Lunenburg, NS and his boat.

Conclusions

I have only scratched the surface of the huge sea of folk songs from this area. I had planned on incorporating more lesser known folk song into this blog, with the hopes of learning something new myself. While I did find a huge number of songs I had never heard sung, or heard maybe only part of before, in books and online I had a great deal of difficulty finding any background on them. I also love to hear the way the songs are sung, including the tune, the voice and sometimes musical accompaniment. I believe folk songs are so much more than just poems, and this was all I was able to get from simply reading the lyrics. Based on this, I decided to showcase a few of my favourite songs which I could find recordings of with at least one from each province. I tried to choose a song for each that was unique to the province and I felt reflected the general theme I found while reading other songs from that province. While all the songs were unique, they all seem to share similar influences and styles. The celtic and fishing influences are particularly apparent. Most of the songs I found were in some way related to the sea, fishing, or shipwrecks, even though all the showcased songs did not directly involve this. They all describe a life or event of a person: most being some kind of monumental event in the singer' s life, such as leaving home for war (Farewell to Nova Scotia), losing a long known way of life (Alec's lament), losing a loved one (Evangeline, and in the case of I's the b'y, just describing a way of life. All of the songs I included, and most that I read, include reference to specific geographic places and personal elements such as names of people. These inclusions make the songs seem very personal and help to draw in listeners that come from the same communities as the songwriters. I ended up learning a great deal, even about songs that I grew up listening to friends and family sing.

Fiddling: Nathalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac

Instrumental folk music, such as Cape Breton fiddling, is arguably just as important to Atlantic Canadian culture as the folk songs I have explored on this blog. Here is a little taste just for your interest.

More great links

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/extension&CISOBOX1=Folk+music+festivals--Newfoundland+and+Labrador&CISOSTART=1,1

http://eastcoastkitchenparty.net/

http://www.ecma.com/

Evangeline: A Song about Acadian History

Evangeline is based on the poem by Henry Wadsworth Lowfellow called, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie published in 1847. The poem was transformed into a song by an unknown author. Annie Blanchard from New Brunswick is singing in this recording.

The song lyrics tell a fictional story of Evangeline and her fiance Gabrielle. Before the couple are able to marry, the British come to their village and take Gabrielle with all the men in the village away on a ship without even letting them say goodbye. Evangeline searched for twenty years for Gabrielle throughout all of America, her love growing all the while. Eventually when she made it back to her village, there was Gabrielle. He was an old man now. She holds him and he dies in her arms while she kisses him. The name Evangeline means something to more than just the Acadians. Her story is universal and it will be remembered and bring people together in hope.

The song does exactly this. The character Evangeline has become an icon for people of Acadian origin everywhere: bringing them together. The song has become I kind of sacred hymn to the Acadians. I have seen Acadians in New Brunswick brought to tears listening to this beautiful song, which they believe personifies their history.

New Brunswick Folk Songs

New Brunswick borders Quebec to the North-West, Maine to the South-West, and creates the landbridge that links the rest of the Maritime provinces to North America in the East. Most people in New Brunswick can trace their roots to England (many British loyalists from the United States moved to New Brunswick), France (Acadian- approximately 30% cite French as a mother tongue), Ireland, Scotland or Aboriginal Canada(4%) origins. The traditional economy of the region included forestry, agriculture, fishing and mining. The province is split about 50/50 between urban and rural living. About half of the residents self identify as Roman Catholic.

Most folk songs in New Brunswick draw on these origins, with a particularly high percentage of published songs being based on the rather tumultuous history of the Acadians. The Acadian people lived in relative harmony with the native people Mik'qmak in present day New Brunswick, which was unusual for Europeans in North America. Many also intermarried forming the French-Native group known as the Matis. In 1755 Acadians were deported from their home land by the British when they would not swear their allegiance to the King. Many ended up in the Southern United States forming the Cajun population there. Many were also torn away from loved ones. Some eventually did make it back to present day New Brunswick and their stories form a very important part of New Brunswick culture.

When I asked my mother if she knew of any New Brunswick folk songs, she could not remember any names but she advised me to look for Acadian songs. She remembered some great nights sitting with friends, all of whom played a different instrument, and listening to them play and sing traditional Acadian songs. The Smithsonian Folkways collection has an interesting collection of recordings.
http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=15832

Background and Interpretation of Alec's Lament

This song was collected in Tignish Price Edward Island. Tignish was started by 8 Acadian families who were later joined by Irish immigrants. The Folk songs of Prince Edward Island says, "Tignish is settled by a mixture of Acadians and Irish. Though French is no longer spoken very much there, it lingers in the intonation of spoken English."

In the introduction to the song the author writes (page 44), "Until quite recently the laws concerning the sale and use of alcoholic beverages on Prince Edward Island have been of almost unequalled severity. It was even necessary at one time to obtain a medical certificate (price $3.00) to quench one's thirst legally. Bootleggers, whether smugglers, illegal distillers or dealers flourished in spite of all the efforts of the police." Apparently bootlegging has been very prominent on in PEI up until this decade. A 2004 article on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corperation) News website reports a crackdown on bootleggers who have been operating for decades in full view of the authorities with little repercussions, one person for over 25 years. many people claim the illegal liquor establishments are a part of their culture and are relied upon by many people. This song seems to have been made up in a period of crackdown similar to the crackdown described in 2004. The singer (Alec) is defending the bootleggers and warning them of the Howard Foley, probably the police officer, and Albert Knox, the jail keeper. Alec seems to be mourning the loss of of a way of life. He says, "it used to be a place to drink and enjoy a good night's fun." The new way of life being forced by these authority figures is completely unacceptable to Alec, and possibly the whole village: "so I'll have to leave the village and go to some foreign land".