BILL POMROY:

Bill Pomroy was a lively fellow on a time and often times in later years, Theresa would have to leave Bill behind with the young fellows and go home herself at two or three o'clock in the morning. His favourite song was "The Crockery Ware".  Bill married Theresa Murphy from Petite Forte and raised a family of eleven children in Big Merasheen.

Bill and his brother Austin had the first engine in Merasheen, and indeed one of the first in Placentia Bay. Nobody had any of the hand-me-down knowledge of engines then and Bill and Austin had to go to St John's to have the engine installed. This being done they started home but broke down just outside St. John's harbour. They rowed, skulled, and sailed back for repairs, only to find that the wire was off the battery.

Once when Bill was a young fellow at a party a few days before Christmas, he along with Pad Houlihan and George Hepditch decided at two o'clock in the morning they were going to St Pierre for some Christmas liquor. They left immediately, arrived safely at St. Pierre, but ran into bad weather on the way back. It was a sad Christmas in Merasheen for most people feared for the lives of the three men when they did not return for Christmas and for days after and there was no ship-to-shore communication in those days. After several prayers and masses for their safe return, they were presumed lost, but on Old Christmas Day they sailed in through the harbour none the worse for their ordeal, and only one story to tell. On the way down the bay they were forced to go to Petite Forte for a harbour, but while they were ashore, somebody stole their rum.

Bill fished in Merasheen from the age of fourteen until the age of seventy-six.  He left Merasheen under the resettlement program in 1968. Like most of the older generation. Bill never understood why they had to resettle from Merasheen, nor did he ever fully adjust to the move in the last years of his life.

JIM POMROY:

Jim was born and died in Merasheen, after a long hard life. He spent most of his time fishing, both on his own and in the boat with his brothers, Bill and Austin.

Jim had his share of misfortunes, but two in particular, appear to be a little comical, as we look back. The first was in the late twenties when Merasheen was in the midst of a great windstorm, and the roof blew off Jim’s house. It didn’t bother Jim too much, but he had to get his aging mother down to his brother Bill's out of the wind. She was wearing one of those heavy pleated wide tailed petticoats at the time which hooked up on the fence on the top of the height; Jim tore and dragged and was almost down to the store where Bill lived when the petticoat had finally run its course and gave way.

In later years, Jim was over to Bill’s one day and as he looked out the window, he said “it's pretty thick today, Therese, you can’t see my place". It turned out his place was on fire and the smoke completely hid the view of his house, about 100 yards away.

Jim raised two daughters, Les (Mrs. Stan Ennis), and Mrs. Bridie Price who is residing in the States.

Crockery Ware

This young man came in the dark,
Looking for his own sweetheart,
He hooked his toe all in the chair,
And he fell back in the crockery ware.

The old woman ran downstairs in fright,
Calling for a candle light,
She said “Young man, what brought you here,
Smashing up my crockery ware?"

I said “Old woman don’t speak so cross,
Lost my way, I’m to the loss,
Here‘s two pounds ten for your broken chair,
And ten pounds more for your crockery ware.

Come all you rakes and rambling sports,
Don‘t ever go courting in the dark,
But if you do you better beware,
You don’t fall back in the crockery ware.

To me wee whack fall diddle l ge oh,
I said wee whack fall diddle l ge oh.