Traditional singers and their songs

Eric West is a musician and a teacher of guitar. Born in Gander and brought up in Ladle Cove, on the northeast coast, Eric now makes his home in St. John's. Published in Decks Awash magazine, vol. 09, no. 01 (February 1980) page 62.  [Used with permission.]

Among the people I have met, there's probably no one that enjoys singing or dancing as much as Mrs. Bride Rose. She was born in Red Island, a place known for its many fine singers. Most of Red Island residents are descended from Irish immigrants who were forced to leave their island during the potato famine. Mrs. Rose's husband, Harold, is from Merasheen, a nearby island, where they both lived after they were married.

Mrs. Rose remembers singing for the mummers, at the many concerts they used to 'put off on Merasheen and every night at home. Unlike many traditional singers, she doesn't need to wait for a special occasion such as Christmas, she sings all the time, just for the sheer joy of it.

During the twenty-five-year period when she was almost totally paralysed, a condition that started in 1952, she was still able to keep her spirits high by singing to herself and the other patients in the hospitals in which she stayed.

Although many people regret leaving their original homes, centralization came as a blessing for Bride Rose. It enabled her to be close to the hospital which she had to visit every two weeks. Shortly after she left Merasheen in 1968, she was miraculously cured of her paralysis. Today she is a very active individual.

Mrs. Rose has a large repertoire of songs in many different styles and from many different sources. She learned many of her songs from her father who was also a fine singer as well as from friends, magazines and radio. She claims that she can memorize a song after hearing it-only two or three times. This is quite remarkable when you consider that most of the songs have eight verses or more.

One of Mrs. Rose's favorite songs is "The Merasheen Song", which was written in 1968 about resettlement. The composer, Ernest Wilson, is from Merasheen, but was living in Nova Scotia at the time the island was resettled. His sister used to write him about what was happening. This inspired him to write the song about how the people viewed the disruption.

Every time I have heard Mrs. Rose sing this song I cannot help feeling that something has been lost in the desire to urbanize Newfoundland. Perhaps there is something to be said for a place where we have the time for a "sing-song in the evening, around a keg of beer."