These footnotes to the song are published in Allister MacGillivray's
"The Nova Scotia Song Collection".
There is a folksinger in Halifax named Clary Croft who has done tons of research on Creighton's collections, much of it obtained from Creighton herself.
It is too bad that he dosen't seem to follow this forum. Maybe George can put a bug in his ear to drop in on us sometime.
                Sandy


THE STORY OF "THE NOVA SCOTIA SONG"

DR. HELEN CREIGHTON, AUGUST/89: "Iusually travelled alone but, when Miss Doreen Senior was with me, she could write the music down immediate­ly. We often took picnics with us but this day in 1933 it was pouring rain and I believe we had our picnic in the car. Still we managed to get wet anyway, especially our feet, walking through the muddy road to the house. Of course the roads were not paved then; they were all mud. I hadn't heard of Mrs. Den­nis Greenough before, but she had heard of me because I had been down that way before (i.e., the Petpeswick-Chezzetcook district). People are so hospitable, you know. Mrs. Greenough said, 'Why didn't you bring your picnic in the house and have it here?' Now, I don't remember whether Miss Senior did or not, but Iput my feet in the oven to get them warm and dry. While I was sitting there, Mrs. Greenough sang 'The Nova Scotia Song'for us. We liked it right away but at that time we weren't overly enthused; we didn't know then that the song was as special as it has now become. The song was very popular in that area. I was told that a singing-master taught it in the schools around Chezzetcook and Petpeswick. They all knew it—all the old people knew it because they would have gone to school at the turn of the century. So, I made a compilation—something I'd never done with any other song. You see, I'd get a verse here and a verse there. I'd write these verses down and put them in order. They all had pretty much the same tune. I published it in Traditional Songs From Nova Scotia."




(note: according to the research and writings of Linda C. Craig and Marjory Whitelaw, "The Nova Scotia Song" began as a poem called "The Soldier's Adieu" by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), a famous weaver-poet from the Scottish town of Paisley. When Scottish immigrants arrived in Canada, they probably brought along the song which was eventually adapted to become a sailor's song with a Nova Scotia setting.

"The Nova Scotia Song" was recorded in 1957 by Diane Oxner and then in the 1960's by Catherine McKinnon of CBC-TV's Singalong Jubilee. Miss McKinnon Is given credit for focusing national and world attention on the song.)