A Newfoundland Songbook
Hardcover (November 1985), usually ships
within 4-6 weeks
Amazon Review
Newfoundlanders have long and lustily sung their folksongs, and the
tradition remains strong today. Despite modern influences, the old songs
persist, mixed with new songs that are composed to record the events
of our time. This is a collection of Newfoundland folksongs compiled
and edited by native Newfoundlanders. It concentrates on songs of local
composition largely ignored by earlier collectors and presents a
significant number of songs never before published. For most of the last
decade Lehr and Best have been travelling around the island recording
the voices and favourite songs of anyone, young and old, who would
perform. Recordings took place in family kitchens, on stage heads, and
in trap stores while the singer knitted twine or repaired lobster pots,
aboard ships at anchor or en route to some small deserted harbour.
Humming engines, blowing oilstoves, or clattering supper dishes
provided accompaniment. The 120 songs collected here by Lehr and
Best have been transcribed by Pamela Morgan and illustrated by Elly
Cohen. Some recall the distant past of a long and rich seafaring
tradition; others tell of such recent tragedies as the displacement of
outport people and the sinking of the Ocean Ranger. The selection
represents the state of the folk-song in Newfoundland today; in some
part it documents what is lost and forgotten, but it also celebrates what
has survived, and thrives. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.