Memories of My Home

by Austin Ennis

There’s a place that is so dear to me out in Placentia Bay
A little isle called Merasheen where I was born and raised
We had a two-room schoolhouse where we learned our ABC’s
And a little church upon the hill that overlooked the sea

Fishing was a way of life in our community
Our fathers fished from dawn to dusk upon the open sea
The work was hard the hours were long for far too little pay
But I still think that way of life was better than today.

We had no indoor plumbing and we had no electric lights
Our source of heat was a Waterloo stove to keep us warm at night
As the night wore on the fire went out and it could sure get cold
But Dad was up at the crack of dawn stoking up the Waterloo stove.

We were forced to leave our island in that relocation scheme
We left our friends and neighbors there in Little Merasheen
It wasn’t so very long after that everybody moved away
And left the homeland that we loved deserted in the Bay.

Now the people they all settled all across this country
But I’m sure that they are wishing they still lived down by the sea
Wherever they are I’m sure that they will all agree with me
That the best days of their lives were spent at home in Merasheen.

In memory I go back there to my childhood days once more
And gaze upon the scenery as I walk along the shore
The salt fish drying on the flakes the boats moored to the pier
Now in my old and aging years this memory I hold dear.

I’m living in the city now so I’ll go to sea no more
I’ll never again watch the capelin as they wash upon the shore
Those days I knew so long ago so peaceful and serene
Live only in my memory now and so does Merasheen