Newfoundland

S02E04: Newfoundland Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we return to the north of North America and explore Newfoundland, a Canadian island in the North Atlantic. At over 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 sq mi), Newfoundland is the world’s 16th-largest island, and Cape Spear, just south of the capital, St John’s, is the easternmost point of North America, excluding Greenland. Newfoundland has long been a sparsely populated and harsh land, with residents traditionally relying heavily on fishing to survive. The area has a significant Gaelic heritage, with strong connections to Ireland and Britain. Modern-day Newfoundland has a population of just under half a million, and is the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle). Our guest contributor this week is Dr Philip Hiscock (Department of Folklore, Memorial University, Newfoundland)

Table of Contents:
[01:16] Intro
[01:57] Early history – indigenous peoples and pushy Catholics
[09:00] Eric the Red – bad egg/ass
[13:00] Soil update – no codding you
[20:10] As usual the British turn up
[25:40] 80 Days Guest Dr Philip Hiscock – with some local knowledge
[30:00] The French arrive and shrug disinterestedly
[41:54] Beothuk people try to avoid conflict… uh oh
[47:40] Census, politics and telegraphy
[54:11] World wars, & reluctant Canadification
[1:09:06] I’m here from the government and I’m here to help (resettlement, cod & seals)
[1:20:24] 9/11 “We’re diverting you to Newfoundland. All of you.”

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

Controversy about size of the membership of Newfoundland native band (The Globe and Mail, 2014)
Explorer Helge Ingstad (read his obituary in the New York Times) and his wife Anne Stine discovered the Viking site at L’Ainse aux Meadows (UNESCO citation), giving credence to the sagas of Lief Ericsson. The Born Yesterday podcast also deals with this topic
A review of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (New York Times)
An account of explorer John Cabot and his ‘discovery’ of “New Found Land” in the name of the English King in 1497
Article on early trade with Newfoundland and its fisheries, particularly the triangular trade with Europe. George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore is mentioned.
A huge amount of useful information and articles are available on the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website; such as desciptions of explorations inland in the 18th and 19th centuries, or Newfoundland customs (the latter article by our guest Dr Philip Hiscock)
Here’s Dr Hiscock talking about Newfoundland language and folklore on the Living Heritage podcast
UpAlong.org also has some helpful information
“Tracing the Irish: a geographical guide” by John Mannion describes the Irish settlement patterns in Newfoundland
An account of the last full-blooded Beothuk woman Shawnadithit
Vanished in the Mists – a documetary about Newfoundland
Website dealing with Newfoundland’s regiment entering World War 1
Don’t Tell the Newfoundlanders by Greg Malone; book dealing with the contentious period of Newfoundland being somewhat coerced into joining Canada
The 1981 Radharc documentary “The Forgotten Irish in Newfoundland” can be watched on RTÉ’s Archive website
The Brothers Byrne – a documentary about two brothers affected by the controversial 1960s Canadian government resettlement program, with nice music and interviews
NBC Documentary on “Operation Yellow Ribbon” and Gander Airport during 9/11 is well worth a watch – it’s a fascinating story
The really useful discussion we had on Reddit with locals, where they pointed us in the right direction

There is a lot of music (particularly Irish-inspired folk), some examples of which we would recommend if you enjoyed what you heard in the episode:

“Heave Away“ – Fables
“I’s the Boy that builds the boat” – Great Big Sea; I also recommend their version of “Donkey Riding”
“The Old Fisherman’s Song” by Wayne Morgan (about the cod moratorium); “She Gone Boys, She’s Gone” is on a similar theme
“North Atlantic Squadron” a world war-era song performed by Stompin’ Tom Collins (a more risqué version by MacLean & MacLean also exists, NSFW)
“Feller from Fortune” Maura Volante
A list of typical Newfoundland songs by Kim Stockwood
Some further songs listed on Free Candie

Thanks this week to Dr Jenn Jones and Jeffrey Doker, who backed our Kickstarter campaign. Your t-shirts should be on their way to you already. Thanks to our sponsor Hairy Baby, who in addition to making the funniest Irish-themed t-shirts, have also produced the official 80 Days shirt for our supporters. Find it by clicking here. You can get 10% off anything on http://www.hairybaby.com by using our promo code – just listen in to the episode for exact details.