Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1974)
A Supplementary Bibliography on Newfoundland Music
Introduction
This list is intended to supplement information contained in an earlier "Reference List on Canadian Folk Music", which was published in the first issue of The Canadian Folk Music Journal. It is compiled from a slightly larger working bibliography which I have been using in the compilation of a title and first line index of Newfoundland songs and ballads in print.1
Since the intent in this list is to focus specifically on Newfoundland, several items from this larger bibliography have been left out. In general I have omitted larger national collections such as the recent Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs, by Edith Fowke (1973), and regional collections such as Keith Bissell's Six Maritime Folk Songs (2 vols., 1970). I have also left out orchestral, vocal and choral arrangements in the form of sheet music, although these are included in a special section on "Compositions Based on Folk Songs" in the earlier "Reference List". As a general principle I have tried not to exclude important material which is not in the earlier list.
Most of the items which will be listed in this bibliography are reasonably asscessible, although a few of the older ones may be more difficult to obtain. Items which I have heard of but have never seen will be marked with an asterisk.
This is not a bibliography of "folk" music, but of music in general, traditional and non-traditional. In Newfoundland as elsewhere, musical forms influence each other and that influence can be seen in the final product. Locally produced popular music is a blend of both "traditional" and non-traditional materials; traditional will include popular songs and elements of popular styles in their performances.2 For example, at a recent community concert in an outport near St. John's I heard traditional songs accompanied by electric guitar, recent hit tunes sung in an unaccompanied traditional style, and one man who finhthed a traditional song by yodelling.
The influence of popular upon traditional culture is not a new phenomenon, and often the use of the label "traditional" as opposed to "popular" depends as much, or more, on the historical/social context as it does on the nature of the material. For instance, "The Kelligrews Soiree"
1This is being prepared as one of a series of future publications from the Folklore and Language Archives at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The following people and institutions deserve special thanks for their assistance, both in the larger indexing project and in the preparation of this bibliography: The Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archives; The Provincial Archives of Newfoundland; The Center For Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University; The Gosling Memorial Library, St. John's; Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., St. John's; Amanda Dargan, Dr. Herbert Halpert, Carole Henderson, David J. Hufford, Gerald Pocius, I. Sheldon Posen, Neil V. Rosenberg, George M. Story, Michael Taft, Richard Tailman, and John D. A. Widdowson.
2For commentary on popular music in Newfoundland see: I. Sheldon Posen and Michael Taft, "The Newfoundland Popular Music Project", Canadian Folk Music Journal, I (1973), 17-23. See also Michael Taft, "That's Two More Dollars", Jimmy Linegar's Success with Country Music in Newfoundland", Folklore Forum, 7, 2(1 974), 92-120.
and "The Trinity Cake", two songs written around the turn of the century by John Burke of St. John's, may appear now to be traditional. When Burke wrote them, however, he was deeply involved in the popular music scene in St. John's. He owned a gramophone, he produced vaudeville-type shows and revues, and he wrote his own plays and musical comedies, some of which showed a thorough awareness of the popular theatre, and by extension, music of his day.3 And he wrote songs which he would publish in broadsides or in small booklets. Some of these booklets contained local songs. Others contained imported material, but like The People's Songster, which he published in 1900, with a partner, George T. Oliver, they all contained "some of the most recent songs of the day."
This bibliography then concentrates not only on the songs collected from tradition and commentary on them, but also on the non-traditional influences which feed into tradition.
Hopefully by supplementing the larger national reference list with local and/or regional bibliographies, people in other areas will be similarly motivated, making the basic bibliography on Canadian music larger and more accessible to interested scholars.4
I. Books, Pamphlets, Articles
Anon. "Squid Jiggin' Ground", Time(Canadian Edition), 55 (January 9, 1950), 12.
Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd. Newfoundland Songs, 8th ed., St. John's: Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., [1972].5
Blondahi, Omar, comp. Newfoundlanders, Sing! A Collection ofFavouriteNewfoundland Folk Songs. St. John's: E. J. Bonnell Associates, 1964.
Buchans, Nfld. United Steelworkers of America, Local 5457. Come Hell or High Water. Buchans, [1973].
Burke, John, comp. The Allies' Patriotic War Songster. St. John's: John Burke, 1917. Burke's Ballads.[St. John's: John Burke, 1912(?)].
*Burke's Comic Songster. St. John's: (n.p., n.d.).
*Burke's Holiday Poems. St. John's: (n.p., n.d.).
Burke's Popular Songs. [St. John's]: (n.p., n.d.).
Burke's Popular Songs, December 1929.[St. John's: Long Brothers Printers, 1929].
*Burke 's Sealing Poems. St. John's: (n.p., n.d.).
Burke's Xmas Songster. [St. John's: John Burke], 1920.
The Irish Songster. St. John's: John Burke, 1922.
The Topsail Geisha. A Story of the Wash-House. St. John's: (n.p., n.d.).
Burke, John, and George T. Oliver, comp. The People's Songster, Buyers' Guide and Gems of Poetry and Prose. St. John's: Oliver and Burke, [1900].
Burke, John and James Murphy, comp. The Duke of York Songster and Christmas Advertiser. St. John's: Burke and Murphy, 1901.
Byrnes, John Maclay. The Paths to Yesterday. Memories of Old St. John 's, Newfoundland. Boston: Meador Publishing Co., [19311.
3For instance it was probably in or around 1900 that he wrote and produced The Topsail Geisha, a parody of a highly successful British musical comedy, The Geisha. The latter was first performed in 1897.
4The relevance of certain of the items in the bibliography, to folksong, may not be immediately apparent. Where necessary clarification will be made in a footnote.
5I have seen both the eighth and the fourth editions. There is little difference in either size or format between the two, and I would suggest that one edition is as good as another.
Casey, George J., Neil V. Rosenberg and Wilfred W. Wareham. "Repertoire Categorization, and Performer-Audience Relationships: Some Newfoundland Folksong Examples". Ethnomusicology, 16 (1972), 3 97-403.
Devine, J. H. "The Bard of Prescott Street", Newfoundland Stories and Ballads, I, 1(1954), 15-24.
Devine, J. H. "Newfoundland Sea Shanteys", Newfoundland Stories and Ballads, 11, 2(1965), 38-42.
Devine, P. K. "Noonan, Barnes and Winter", Christmas Chimes, 1912. St. John's: Barnes & Co. Printers, 1912.6
Doyle, Gerald S., comp. Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland. St. John's:
Gerald S. Doyle, Ltd., 1927, 1940, 1955, 1966.
Emerson, Frederick R. "Newfoundland Folk Music", In The Book of Newfoundland, ed.
J. R. Smaliwood, St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers, Ltd., 1937, Vol. I, pp.234-238.
England, George Alan. The Greatest Hunt In the World. Montreal: Tundra Books. 1969. [Originally published in 1924 as Vikings of the Ice, Being the Log of a Tenderfoot on The Great Newfoundland Seal Hunt] .7
English, L. ! F., ed. Historic Newfoundland., 3rd. ed., St. John's: Newfoundland Department of Economic Development, Tourist Development Division, [1970] .8
English, L. E. F. "Old Sea Songs", Newfoundland Stories and Ballads. 5, 2(1959), 3-7.
Greenleaf, Elisabeth Bristol and G. Y. Mansfield, eds. Ballads and Sea-Songs of Newfoundland. Cambridge; Harvard University Press, 1933; reprinted, Hatboro, Pa.: Folklore Associates, 1968.
Halliday, C. "Cod Liver Oil", Atlantic Advocate. 53, 2(1962), 33-37.
Horwood, Jean A. "Newfoundland Folk Music", Canadian Library Association Bulletin, 9 (1952), 127-129.
Johnson, Charles H. "Songs and Sagas of Newfoundland".In The Book of Newfoundland, ed. J. R. Smallwood, St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers, Ltd., 1937, Vol. II, pp. 219-273.
Karples, Maud, comp. Fifteen Folk Songs From Newfoundland. London; Oxford University Press, [ci 943].
Folk Songs From Newfoundland. 2 vols., Oxford: Oxford University Press, [1934].
Folk Songs From Newfoundland. London: Faber & Faber, 1971.
Kelland, Otto P. Anchor Watch. Newfoundland Stories in Verse. [St. John's: Dicks & Co., 1960].
Knight, Margaret Bennett. "Scottish Gaelic, English and French: Some Aspects of the Macaronic Tradition of the Codroy Valley Newfoundland", Regional Language Studies — Newfoundland, No. 4 (May 1972), pp. 25-30.
Koch, Felix J. A Little Journey to the Northern Wilds. Chicago: A. Flanagan, [ci 908] .9 Leach, MacEdward. Folk Ballads and Songs of the Lower Labrador Coast. (National
Museum of Canada/ Bull. No. 201. Anthropological Series No. 68), Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1965.
Martin, Ronald, comp. Poems of Action, Sentiment, and Reflection: Selections From Newfoundland Authors. St. John's: Privately published, 1945.
Mills, Alan, ed. Favourite Songs of Newfoundland. Toronto: BMI Canada Ltd., 1968. (Copyright assigned 1969 to Berandol Music Ltd., Scarborough, Ontario.)
6A historical essay on the 1869 confederation debates. Songs are included as historical materials.
7Much valuable information is given on songs and singing styles and events, especially in Chap. X, "An Evening With the Muses."
8This tourist information booklet contains a selection of songs from the Gerald S. Doyle collection (q.v.).
9This contains only two mentions of singing traditions in Labrador on pp. 39 and 128. I am including it not for the volume of information so much as for its inclusion of any information on Labrador folksong traditions, a rare phenomenon outside of the Leach collection (q.v.).
Murphy, James, comp. Coronation Song Book ofNewfoundland. St. John's: Published by James Murphy, 1911.
Murphy's Sealers' Song Book. St. John's: James Murphy, 1905.
Old Songs of Newfoundland. St. John's: James Murphy, 1912.
Songs and Ballads of Newfoundland. Ancient and Modern. St. John's: James Murphy, 1902.
Songs of Newfoundland by Various Authors. St. John's: James Murphy, 1917.
Songs of Our Land: "Old Home Week" Souvenir. St. John's: Telegram Print, [1904].
Songs Sung By Old-Time Sealers of Many Years Ago. St. John's: James Murphy, 1925.
Songs their Fathers Sung. For Fishermen. Old Time Ditties. St. John's: James Murphy, 1923.
Murphy, James. see also: Burke, John and James Murphy.
Murphy, Michael P. "The Balladeers of Newfoundland", Atlantic Guardian, 13, 9(1956), 17-23.
Murphy, Michael P. "The Balladeers of Newfoundland" (in three parts), Daily News, St. John's, Nfld., July 27, October 18, and November 16, 1966.
Neary, Peter. "Wabana You're a Corker: Two Ballads With some Notes Towards an Understanding of the History of Bell Island." Address Delivered to the Canadian Historical Society, Kingston Ontario, June, 1973.
Newhook, Fred J. "Newfoundland's First Rejection of Confederation", Newfoundland Quarterly, 59,4(Winter 1960) 25-28.10
Old Home Week Songster. Terra Nova's Kind Welcome to her Sons and Daughters. [St. John's] : Herald Job Print, 1904.
"Old Timer" [pseud.]. "Songs of Our Ancestors/Old Come-All-Ye's of Newfoundland". Evening Telegram, St. John's, Nfld., December 28, 1906.
Peacock, Kenneth H. "The Native Songs of Newfoundland". In Contributions to Anthropology, 1960, Part II. (National Museum of Canada, Bull. No. 190. Anthropological Series No. 60). Ottawa: Dept. of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1963.
"Nine Songs From Newfoundland", Journal of American Folklore. 67 (1954), 123-1 36.
Songs of the Newfoundland Outports. 3 vols., (National Museum of Canada, Bull. No. 197. Anthropological Series No. 60). Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1965.
"Poetry and Ballads of Newfoundland", In The Book of Newfoundlandd, ed. J. R. Smallwood. St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers, Ltd., 1937, Vol. I, pp. 453-486.
Posen, I. Sheldon and Michael Taft, "The Newfoundland Popular Music Project", Canadian Folk Music Journal, 1 (1973), 17-23.
Saunders, Robert. "The Greenspond Saga in History, Song, and Story", Newfoundland Quarterly, 57,4 (1958), 7-9, 35-40; 59, 2(1960), 15-16; 60, 1(1961), 17-20.
Scammell, Arthur R. Mirrored Moments. Montreal: Private Publication, 1945. My Newfoundland. Montreal: Harvest House, [c1966J.
Songs of a Newfoundlander. [St. Jerome, P.Q.: J. H. Labelle, 1945].
Shortis, H. F. "Sealing in the Old Days", Newfoundland Quarterl9, 1,4(1902), 9-10.
Story, George M. "The St. John's Balladeers", The English Quarterly, 6, 1(1960).
Szwed, John F. "Paul E. Hall: A Newfoundland Song Maker and His Community of Song". Folksongs and their Makers by Henry Glassie, E. D. Ives and John F. Szwed. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, [19701.
Taft, Michael. "That's Two More Dollars': Jimmy Linegar's Success with Country Music in Newfoundland". Folklore Forum, 7, 2(1974), 92-120.
Walker, Ralph. "Pop' Bands in Newfoundland". In The Book of Newfoundland, ed. Joseph R. Smallwood. St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers Ltd., 1967, vol. IV, pp. 387-391.
West, Paul. "The Unwitting Elegiac: Newfoundland Folksong", Canadian Literature, No. 7 (1961), pp. 33-44.
White, John, comp. Burke's Ballads. [St. John's: Privately published, 1960? ].
10Again songs are used as historical evidence in the description of the 1869 confederation debates.Ii. Periodicals
The following periodicals usually concentrate on local or regional interest materials. Usually this entails a sort of antiquarian interest, and it is common to find songs published in them. Although newspapers are not mentioned by name here it is worth noting that it has been a long-standing practice in Newfoundland for local poems and songs to be sent in to the editorial columns of local newspapers.
Atlantic Guardian: A Magazine ofNewfoundland. Montreal, 1945-1957.
TheNewfoundlandFisherman. St. John's, Newfoundland, 1952-1962.
The Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, Newfoundland, 1901-.
Newfoundland Stories and Ballads. St. John's, Newfoundland, 1954-.
Memorial University,
St. John 's, Newfoundland.
Résum é : Paul Mercer présen te un e b ibliographie d e la m usique de Terre-Neuve comme un supplement a la "Liste de références" plus générale "de la Musique folklorique Canadienne"dont la parution a eu lieu dans notre premiere publication. Il donne un sommaire, non seulement de la cueillette de chants traditionnels, mais aussi des influences non-traditionnelles qui aident a bdtir la tradition.
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