Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?

Subject: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Marion
Date: 07 Apr 04 - 11:59 PM

Hello all. I'd like to know if anyone is aware of any songs that deal with the 1914 disaster involving the sealing ship Newfoundland.

Recap: the Newfoundland was jammed in the ice so the captain sent his crew of 132 on foot to work where another ship's crew was hunting, under the assumption they'd let them spend the night on board the other ship. However, the other captain told them to go back to their own ship. They ended up being stranded out on the ice for three days in a blizzard, with nobody knowing that they were missing. 78 sealers died of exposure.

Incidentally, another sealing ship, The Southern Cross, sank with no survivors during the same blizzard, but that was essentially a coincidence. It's the first story that I'm concerned with.

Thank you, Marion

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Amos
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 12:30 AM

Dunno about songs, sweetie, but there are various references to the factual events in this Google search. They are essentially as you state them. Maybe you're the deisignated Bard to write the defintive tune onthis one!

A

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 01:07 AM

You have the vessel's name wrong. It was the sealing vessel "Greenland," lost in the storm, 1914.
Wolfgang posted the lyrics in thread 10625: Greenland Disaster

Also see thread 32787. Greenland

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 01:14 AM

The same lyrics are found in Peacock, "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports," pp. 926-927 with music.

Music and words in Gest Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador, on line at Greenland Disaster

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Marion
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 01:17 AM

Hi Q. Thanks for looking it up - that second thread you linked does have one answer for me. But I was correct that the ship in question was the Newfoundland. It was in 1898 that the crew of the Greenland got stranded on the ice. In fact, the Newfoundland's Master Watch, George Tuff, who was in charge of the crew, was a survivor of the Greenland disaster.

Marion

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 01:23 AM

Sorry! Two songs confused. The link to GEST above finds the index for the Newfoundland Disaster as well as the Greenland Disaster. Click on Greenland Disaster in the link above and get two disasters for the price of.... Ok, I am somewhat addled tonight.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Jeri
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 06:58 AM

Bill Gallaher wrote "Newfoundland Sealers." I do it, and it's one hell of a powerful song.
Chorus:
We'll never go swiling again
Never again will we sail to the ice
We'll dance with the ghosts of the Greenland boys
For the Newfoundland merchant men, we've paid the price.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST,vinland
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 10:50 AM

Marion,

There is a contemporary song about the 'Newfoundland' disaster called "Death on the Ice", based on the book of the same name by Cassie Brown. The song was written, performed and recorded, by her daughter I believe, in the 1980s. I'll try to find out more from the Memorial University Folklore Dept next time I'm in St. John's or you can email them at [e-mail]

vinland

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GEST
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 12:19 PM

1914 was not a good year for sealers. :-(

Try Death On The Ice by Everett Adams, © 1996.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 12:48 PM

There are three entries about the Newfoundland disaster to be found in HAULIN' ROPE AND GAFF Songs and Poetry In The History Of The Newfoundland Seal Fishery by Shannon Ryan And Larry Small,1978, Breakwater Books, ISBN 0-919948-53-7.There is a six verse song with tune attributed to Joshua Osborne dating from 1960 called The Newfoundland Disaster, a six line poem of the same name by George Humby printed in 1914 and seventeen verse poem called The Sinking of the Newfoundland by (I think) Soloman Samson from a book printed in 1963.HAULIN' ROPE AND GAFF is a pretty comprehensive source for anyone wanting songs about Newfoundland sealing.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: mg
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 01:13 PM

Is the Southern Cross (definitively sung by Anita Best) about that or another disaster..we got up steam in early March and shortly did embark..to try our fortune on the __ in charge of Captain Clark..

nmg

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 01:55 PM

See thread on Southern Cross, 44083: Southern Cross
Malcolm provided a midi of the original Jack Dalton tune, but was not sure of its correctness. Sheet music of the Dalton tune is given in "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports," vol. 3, p. 973-974.

Gest, Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador, gives two versions of the story, both with sheet music. Songs Index

Gest also provides the story; the ship was lost with 170-173 lives in the spring of 1914, in the same storm that took the crew of the Newfoundland.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 02:02 PM

1898, at the end of the season the SS Greenland Captain Arch Davis ordered 150 men out onto the ice even with the alarming drop in the barometer. The day was mild & balmy & most of the men went out shirtsleeves. The wind suddenly shifted & gusted out of the north west. By afternoon the temp droped to -20C & the ship became trapped in the ice. 29 sealers died frozen & 23 were never recovered.


Fast forward 16 yrs.


By 1914 the eleven wooden of the fleet were sunk & were replaced by steel ships. That had to venture futher out for the diminishing seal herd. Captain Abraham Kean was the Commodore of the fleet & commanded the Stephano, his son Joe commanded the Florizel & the younger, inexperenced & unqualified son, Wes commanded the largest of the wooden vessels, the Newfoundland which was the only vessel not equipped with a barometer or a wireless, they were removed to be placed on a new steel ship. The Newfoundland became trapped in ice from the start. On March 29 Captain Billy Winsor of the Beothic was returning with 25,000 Pelts, the Stephano had 18,000 & stayed in the hopes of bringing in more than the Beothic. The Florizel & the other vessels had between 10,000 & 15,000 pelts Wes had none. On March 23 Captain Winsor set 50+ men on the ice fearing Captain A. Kean might make off with part of his catch. A strong wind came up closing the channel. They were picked up the next morning. They informed the Captain that they had observed a large horned beast snickering at them through the dense snow, a sure sign of an upcoming disater. Billy informed the other ships of the rescue of his crew & the strange sights they saw, believing it was an evil omen, from there on he wouldn't let his men venture 1-2 miles from the ship. Meanwhile, on the night of the 29th, Wes thought he saw his father's ship about 6 miles away, which turned out to be a mirage. That morning of the 30th Wes set 176 sealers out on the ice to find the Stephano who would take them to the seals. The day was mild & reminded some of the Geenland disater 16 yrs ago almost to the day. Again the sealers set out in shirtsleeves. About 3 hrs out the men came upon a small herd of about 100 seals they slaughtered them & moved on. Suddenly a breeze came out of the south east. 50 men refused to go on. Master of the watch, George Tuff, one of the few survivors of the Greenland tragedy threatened to to dock their pay if they didn't keep going, they still refused & returned to the Newfoundland. 126 men finally reached the Stephano 6 hrs later wwhile the wind kept picking up & heavy snow started to fall. The men were treated to bowls of hot tea. The Stephano started up her engines & the men figured that they were picking up the rest of the Stephano's crew, 1/2 hr later they were all ordered back out on the ice. They thought that they were to work a small patch of seals or gather pelts left behind, until the Stephano turned & disappered into the snow. George Tuff told the men the orders were to work a large herd then return to their own ship. They were afraid to disobey orders & kept on, never finding that herd. The storm had only just begun, it turned out to be the worst storm in memory. The wooden fleet was also surprised by the storm & sought shelter in the deep bays along the southern shores of Newfoundland except for the Southern Cross who decided to ride out the storm to try to be the 1st ship to arrive back to St John's fully loaded. She was last seen passing Cape Race's Marconi station taking 176 men with her to the bottom. On the Newfoundland Wes was sure that the 126 men he had sent out were safe on the Stephano just as sure Abraham was that they were safely on the newfoundland. George Tuff, that evening after losing 5 men who passed through the ice called a halt to going any futher & the men built a shelter of ice blocks. By morning the wind came in from the east & the snow turned to rain & the wind was at gale force turning the men's clothing into shells of ice. Some of the men laid down on the ice to die others ran off into the water. About noon the next day the snow started to let up & 2 hrs later George saw the Bellaventure less than 2 mile off. The men ran towards her but she never saw them & turned direction less than a 1 mile from them. Again they saw, late that afternoon after the wind had died down, the Newfoundland headed towards the Stephano, George took a few men & went after her. The next morning Wes spotted the men now realizing what had happened & pulled George & 3 others. That same morning on April 1, Captain Randell of the Belladventure spotted 20+ men & stent out a rescue party bringing back 45 men most crippled for life & 62 corpses, 15 were never found. On April 2 Billy Winsor ordered his men onto the ice, they refused & the Beothic headed home. This mutiny spread through the fleet. The crew of the Bloodhound siezed the captain & forced him to head home. On the Nascope the men just simply refused to show up on deck. Similar acts of insubordination occured on the Florizel, the Adventure, the Diana, the Kite & the Terra Nova, only the Stephano remained her officers armed. Several days later his efforts failing he tried to negotiate with the crew, all for nought within a few more days the Stephano finially headed home. With the dwindling of the herds, the oil market shifting towards petroleum products, the war & the heavy loss of life put an end to the Newfoundland seal industry.

Sorry it's so long


The above was lifted in part from the book "The Living Ice" by Pol Chantraine


Barry

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 03:54 PM

Sorry, the above guest was me. The Living Ice ('The Story of The Seals & The Men Who Hunted In The Gulf Of St. Lawrence') was printed in 1980 McClelland & Stewart & translated by David Lobdell. It's an excellent read on the local history of the industry & the life & formation of the 'living ice' & the 'shore ice', the art & traditions of Sealing, the decline of wooden vessels within the trade & the emergence of steel.

Barry

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GEST
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 04:07 PM

Thanks to Jeri, who put us in touch with Bill Gallaher, the full lyrics to Bill's song about the 1914 Newfoundland sealing disaster, Newfoundland Sealers, © SOCAN, 1987, is now available at GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador. :-)

Subject: ADD: The Newfoundland Sealing Disaster
From: Marion
Date: 15 Apr 04 - 12:48 AM

Thank you for all the interesting responses. I especially like Bill Gallaher's lyrics. Barry, are you the same as "GUEST, Bedridden Barry" who posted your lyrics a few years ago (in thread linked by Q)?

And since you insist, here are my lyrics. It's to an original tune; I got all my info from the "Death on the Ice" book by Cassie Brown.

The Newfoundland Sealing Disaster
(Marion Parsons 2004)

In nineteen hundred and fourteen, with winter soon to melt
On icy floes the hunt was on for oil and snow-white pelts
From outposts on the northern shore, to firms on Water Street
They bought their gear and claimed their berths to join the sealing fleet.

The oldest was a wooden wall they called the Newfoundland
Her captain green and all too young, the son of a great man
She cleared the Narrows in good time, but stalled up in the ice
They worked like dogs to break the pans that held her like a vice.

All patience gone, the captain cried to Master Watch George Tuff
"We've been three weeks without a seal, and b'y, I've had enough!
My father's ship is in the fat, tis just three miles or four
So take the men and join her there, and pass the night on board."

Five miles they trekked across the ice, beneath a brooding sky
And Captain Kean he gave them tea, then put them overside
"I'll set you on a patch of seals, then back where you belong"
And with no more of thought or care, the iron ship was gone.

Just as Our Saviour lay in hell for three days and two nights
For so long were the sealing men forsaken on the ice
In blinding snow and driving rain that raged from the southwest
To freeze the blood of any man who dared to sleep or rest.

"Abide With Me", the sealers sang, and then "Lead Kindly Light"
They burned the handles and the rope to hold away the night
And Jesse Collins of Hare Bay, he stepped up to take charge
And roused the weary to their feet to dance or box or march.

A brother urged his brother on, and forced the weak to rise
And neighbour bit the blinding ice from off his neighbour's eyes
While friend would chew the hardtack up to ease the mouth of friend
And father took son in his arms to hide him from the wind.

When Nickolas Morey bowed his head to make his earthly peace
He found the strength to bless himself and died upon his knees
While others prayed for mercy from the North Atlantic cold
That knows no more of mercy than the enemy of our souls.

Some fell back or slipped away to meet their fate alone
Some went on till heart gave out and fell without a moan
Some went foolish, cursed and ran, or stepped into the brine
Until the sea gives up her dead, no mortal eye shall find.

And when at last the third day rose, the midday sun revealed
The Bellaventure's dumbstruck crew, who took the men for seals
They brought the living back on board, to feed and tend and warm
And gathered up the mute and still who perished in the storm.

They headed half-mast to St. John's and there aboard the "Belle"
Were four and fifty broken men with awful tale to tell
And laid in rows along her decks were threescore souls and ten
While eight remained beneath the waves to not return again.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Apr 04 - 06:58 AM

That'd be the same Barry. I believe he was having a liver replaced when he posted on the other thread/

Check out GEST's site - there's a wonderful collection of songs there. Bill Gallaher sent him a few others.

Marion, thanks for posting your lyrics - I'd like to hear it sometime.    Barry said once he was writing a song about the Newfoundland disaster, but I don't know that he ever finished it.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GEST
Date: 15 Apr 04 - 07:32 AM

Great job, Marion. With your permission, I'll make it the 1086th song at GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador. :-)

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Marion
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 12:00 AM

That's fine, GEST - but would you mind just correcting my error in the first verse? It should say outports, not outposts.

BTW, I'm not from Newfoundland, despite the last name...

Cheers, Marion

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GEST
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 10:08 AM

Done, Marion. ~thumbsup~

BTW, I'm not from Newfoundland either. ~grin~

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 16 Apr 04 - 05:39 PM

Hi Marion

Excellent song Marion. Very nicely done with the story well covered though not overly covered or needlessly to long. Though to give the story any justice you still had to cover quite a bit. I thought you handled the balance in great taste.


I never did past writting an outline, never mind getting down a rough draft. I think that one of the few ways it could been covered would have been to write it in an old ballad style long enough tyo rival Tam Lin but not many people these days will stomach such a long ballad & even less if it's recently been written


Yes I'm the same Quest bedridden barry. Like Jeri mention, back then, I was in the hospital for a few months trying to surivive on a diet of liver & onions. Couldn't do it so they finally gave me a liver of my own. Like Jeri, I'd like to hear it someday. I wrote a few songs there while lounging on my backside, some I finished & some I didn't. Just a long enough time to get a few good things mixed in with the garbage heap.

Barry

Subject: ADD: I Will Bring You Home (Marion Parsons)
From: Marion
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 01:14 AM

Hello gang. I've done a new song about the same disaster - this time from an individual perspective rather than a voice-of-God telling of the whole story.

Backstory: Reuben Crewe swore off sealing after surviving the wreck of another ship, until his oldest son was old enough to hunt and was determined to go. So Reuben decided to go sealing one more year to look out for him. They were found frozen to death in each other's arms, with the father's sweater around the son, and their bodies were transported back to land that way. You can see an article about the Crewes here.

I Will Bring You Home
Lyrics and music © 2004 Marion Parsons

I've had enough of swiling ships, the squalour and the gore
The Harlaw sank beneath me and I said I'd hunt no more
But Albert John was just sixteen and bound to try his hand
Along I went for one more run aboard the Newfoundland.

"Stay right by me, follow to my lead
They'll work you twice what you can take, and pay you half your need
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."


The ship was jinked right from the pier, our dreams were dark and strange
The shifting floes they jammed her in, the whitecoats out of range
The glass showed dirty weather on a dawn as red as fire
For half the day we crossed on foot in search of Kean's desire.

"Stay right by me, follow to my lead
To heed a captain's folly and to serve an owner's greed
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."


A chilling wind caught up the snow to drift and hide the trail
A whisper rose, "The'll be no man alive to tell the tale"
With songs and thoughts of home we faced a night out in the cold
But of that long night's miseries, the half cannot be told.

"Stay right by me, follow to my lead
What hope we have is to be men, and stay upon our feet
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."


The daylight rose and crossed the sky, again was falling low
We reached the end of faith and strength, and sank into the snow
How little can a poor man do to keep a son from harm
I wrapped him in my guernsey and I locked him in my arms

"Stay right by me, follow to my lead
And if your hour is come, me b'y, then let it come for me
Your ma and me, we couldn't see to send you out alone
I brought you to this frozen waste, and I will bring you home."

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: karen k
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 03:55 AM

Both your songs sound great Marion. I would like to hear them as well.

karen

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Marion
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 07:29 AM

Hi Karen. You can hear them if you want - Newfoundland Sealing Disaster is on the demo tape I'm offering to send to Mudcatters (see this thread, or reviews here). And I can add I Will Bring You Home to the tape on request.

Cheers, Marion

PS The offer extends to anyone, not just Karen.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 05 Jan 05 - 10:40 AM

THE TAPE IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON CD FOR THOSE WHO WOULD PREFER THAT FORMAT.

Just send me a PM and I will get it to you.

Marion has given permission for this so it is "legal", in case anyone is wondering.

whb

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: Marion
Date: 12 Jan 05 - 02:17 PM

Yes, Wilbyhillbilly has been kind enough to convert my tape to CD, and you can request a CD copy from him as well. Thanks again for repeating that off, whb.

Small correction: since I posted last I've changed the line "To heed a captain's folly and to serve an owner's greed" to "To chase a captain's folly...". The internal rhyme just didn't work on that syllable. Would some clonie be so kind as to correct that? Thanks.

Cheers, Marion

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 12 Jan 05 - 10:06 PM

It is grand to see you good people carrying on the tradition of making these type songs. It is what our music ought to be about more often than not.

Quite inspiring----! This was a day I needed to be shown and to realize that the proverbial glass is, indeed, just about close to half full---not half empty.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 05:16 AM

I am working on a study of Canadian disaster songs and would be pleased to hear from anyone who knows anything about such songs including the title, name of the artist, where we can find the words, what it is about etc. At the moment we have close to 100 songs some more complete than others. The complete list is pasted to this message. We have just started this work so I am sure the list contains errors -- corections are welcome.
Our goal is to see whether these songs accurately reflect the incidents they sing about. [Other studies show this is not true for movies and fiction -- but our initial research suggests it may be true for folk songs.]
Joe Scanlon,
Professor Emeritus and Director,
Emergency Communcations Research Unit,
Carleton University
[e-mail] If my mailbox jams use [e-mail]
Suggestions as to who we might usefully contact would also be welcome

Songs

"(The) Ballad of the Frank Slide" Robert Gard [Rocks from Turtle Mountain came crashing down on Frank, Alberta – April 29, 1902]

"(The) Ballad of Springhill" Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl THIS SONG WAS RECORDED BY MORE THAN ONE GROUP [Presumably the third Springhill, Nova Scotia mine disaster – October 23, 1958]

"(The) Ballad of Springhill" Peter, Paul and Mary THIS SONG WAS RECORDED BY MORE THAN ONE GROUP [Presumably the third Springhill, Nova Scotia mine disaster – October 23, 1958]

"(And the) Bridge Came Tumblin' Down" Stompin' Tom Connors [Second Narrows Bridge Collapse in Vancouver – June 17, 1958]

"Cape Royal Disaster" Stan McDonald

"Captain Torres" James Keelaghan [The ship sunk in 1989 and was romanticized by Silver Don Cameron is his book Wind, Whales and Whisky – 39 dead, 23 from Captain Torres]

"La catastrophe de l'Empress of Ireland" Cyrice Dufour [This song has been issued by Radio Canada and is on the CD "Chants et complaintes maritimes de
Terres francaises d'Amerique" presumably another source of songs]

"Crashing Down" Tanglefoot [Another song about the Frank slide] The singers say they tell a tangential story that is in fact fiction.

"Disaster at Glace Bay" Bill Smith, Bill and Country Emotions

"(The) Empress of Ireland" Brian Morton's [This is in his CD "A Lonely Cairn of Stones"]

"Empress of Ireland" Susan Lawrence [This has been non-commercially recorded by
Sweet Tyme].

"Fire in the Mine" Stompin' Tom Connors [Not sure what incident this is}

"'(The) Flemmings of Torbay' Unknown CLEARLY FROM NEWFOUNDLAND

"(The) Foundering of the Asia" Unknown THIS IS ALSO AN INCIDENT ON THE GREAT LAKES

"Frank Slide" (The) Travellers

"(The) Greenland Disaster" Jim Rice WE HAVE THE WORDS 1898 INCIDENT

"The Halifax Explosion" Unknown [The December 6, 1917 explosion in Halifax harbour, Canada's only catastrophe]

"Hillcrest Mine" James Keelaghan [There were a series of gas explosions in the Hillcrest mine in Hillcrest, Alberta, 189 miners killed – June 9, 1914]

"Hinton Train Disaster" Wiz Bryant [This is in the album Spirit of the North - LP 1986]

"How the Mountain Came Down" Stompin' Tom Connors [Presumably this is about the Frank Slide] The album is called Tragedy Trail

"Huntsville Fire" Gordon, James (with Tamarack) [A Major fire in 1904]

"Into the fire" Bruce Springsteen [The song is about the firefighters' response to the attack on the World Trade Center in 9/11]

"I will bring you home" Marion Parsons A song about the Newfoundland sealing disaster

"(The) Jennie C" Stan Rogers THIS IS AN INCIDENT NOT IN OUR LIST, PRESUMABLY NOT A MASS DEATH INCIDENT

"La Complainte de Springhill" Unknown" [Presumably the third Springhill, Nova Scotia mine disaster – October 23, 1958]

Lady Franklin's Lament" Unknown THIS IS ABOUT THE LOSS OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC IN 1845

"Lanark Fire" Mac Beattie [This is in the album This Ottawa Valley of Mine]

"(The) Last Goodbye" Bruce Moss [On the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger – February

"Let's Roll" Neil Young [This is about the passengers on the hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11]

"(The) Loss of the Jewel" Unknown THIS ALSO INVOLVED A RESCUE?

"(The) Loss of the Maggie Hunter" Unknown THIS IS ABOUT AN INCIDENT ON THE GREAT LAKES

"(The) Loss of the Ocean Ranger" Cal Cavendish THIS MIGHT BE THE SAME SONG AS THE ONE RECORDED BY MARY GARBEY [The sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger off the coast of Newfoundland 15 Feb 1982]

"The) Loss of the Regalus'" Unknown Ship lost off Cape Race

"(The) Loss of the schooner Antelope" Unknown ANOTHER INCIDENT ON THE GREAT LAKES

"Mack Wilson" James Gordon [Canadian crew on the S.S. Friar Rock Torpedoed in
WW2]

"(The) Mary Ellen Carter" Men of the Deeps

"Mary Ellen Carter" Stan Rogers

"Miracle of Colliery Two" Jack Kingston [This is about the survival of miners in the third Springhill Mine Disaster]

"(The) Miramichi Fire" Unknown Words by John Jardine [This is about a fire which swept through the Miramichi region of New Brunswick in 1825]

"My Brother's Fate New Waterford's Fatal Day" Unknown July 25, 1917 Explosion in Dominion Mine at New Waterford

"Newfoundland Sealers" Gallaher, Bill

"New Waterford's Fateful Day" Unknown" July 25, 1917 Explosion in Dominion Mine at New Waterford

"No. 12 New Waterford" Unknown July 25, 1917 Explosion in Dominion Mine at New Waterford

"No. 26 Mine Disaster" Men of the Deep DON'T KNOW WHAT INCIDENT THIS IS

"Noronic Disaster" Jack Kingston

"(The) Ocean Ranger" Mary Garbey [On the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger – February 14, 1982]

"Ocean Ranger" Wiz Bryant

"(The) Omen" Unknown THIS IS ALSO ABOUT NEW WATERFORD

"(The) Ottawa Fire" Morris Manley THIS IS ANOTHER INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION. THERE WERE SEVERAL MAJOR FIRES IN OTTAWA BUT THIS ONE PREDATES 1900

"(The) Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" Unknown [This dates somewhere in the 19th Century]

"Remember Me" Dan McKinnon Recorded in 1997 [A song based on survivor's accounts from the 1917 Halifax explosion]

"Seven Bells Waltzes" Dulder, F. [THIS IS APPARENTLY INSTRUMENTS ONLY – BUT IT IS ABOUT THE MIRAMICHI FIRE WHICH STARTED OCTOBER 5TH 1825]

"(The) Southern Cross" Unknown [There is an article about this event]

"Springhill Mine Disaster" Joe King [In his 1993 album Sings Songs of the Maritimes]

"(The) Springhill Mine Disaster Song" Val MacDonald [MacDonald is the daughter of one the survivors of the third Springhill mine disaster and the song was written by her father, Maurice Ruddick, and recorded 50 years later.]

"Springhill Mine Explosion" Jack Kingston [This is about the second Springhill mine disaster]

"The 24th in 26" Unknown Another song about the incident in Glace Bay in 1979

"Train Wreck at Almonte" Mac Beattie and the Ottawa Valley Melodiers [A troop train crashed into a standing passenger train at Almonte, Ontario – December 27, 1942]

"Train Wreck at Almonte" Barry Luft and Tim Rogers [Songs of the Iron Rail – 1983]

"Westray" Sarah Harmer IT IS NOT CLEAR IF SHE SANG THIS AS A SINGLE WHILE WITH WEEPING TILE OR THE GROUP DID IT [Mine disaster at the Westray mine – May 9, 1992]

"Westray" Weeping Tile [Mine disaster at the Westray mine – May 9, 1992]

"When that Great Ship went Down" Vesey and William Smith [This is the one about Titanic which sank in the Atlantic in 1912]

"(The) Wreck of the Athens Queen" Stan Rogers

"Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Gordon Lightfoot [The ship sank in Lake Superior on November 1, 1975]

"Wreck of the John Harvey" Stompin' Tom Connors

"Wreck of the John Harvey" The Dorymen [On the LP 20 Great Hits of Newfoundland]

"(The) Wreck of the Julie Plante" Unknown THIS SUPPOSED TOOK PLACE ON LAC ST. PIERRE AND WAS SUNG BY LUMBERJACKS.

"(The) Wreck of the Steamship Ethie'" WORDS BY MAUDE ROBERTS SIMMONS THIS ONE APPARENTLY INVOLVES A RESCUE,

"Wreck of the Tammy Anne" Stompin' Tom Connors

"Young, Young Man" Modabo [This is on the Newfoundland Sealing Disaster].

"'Your Last Goodbye" Ted Rowe THIS COULD BE THE SAME SONG THAT WAS RECORDED BY BRUCE MOSS [On the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger – February 14, 1982]

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST,joanne
Date: 02 Sep 11 - 02:17 PM

My aunt and uncle have a song recorded called "The Newfoundland Disaster" it is on her album Jean Pardy. My uncle Atwood Branton wrote the song. I only have it on an album.

Subject: RE: Songs about 1914 Newf. sealing disaster?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Mar 24 - 09:54 PM

I am a university voice student in Canada and I am currently learning the piece "The Ottawa Fire" From the research I have done, Morris Manley only wrote the lyrics, the piece itself was arranged by Charles E. Andrew. The lyrics describe the Ottawa-Hull fire that occurred on April 26, 1900 and also reflect the outpouring of support from around the world during the Second Boer War.