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The Banks Of Newfoundland, Mabel Worcester

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"The Banks of Newfoundland" is the title of at least six different songs. These are not variations on a single tune, but entirely different songs with different airs and lyrics. All share a common theme - the dangers of fishing or sailing off the coast of Newfoundland - but none are very similar.

Young Charlotte (Or Fair Charlotte), Ernest Lord

Maine Song and Story Sampler

Young Charlotte is an old ballad native to North America. It has been a popular ballad all over North America from Newfoundland to South Dakota, and widely studied. It was so popular, in fact, that it inspired a doll called Frozen Charlotte.

The Blackwater Side, Bill Cramp

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"The Blackwater Side" is one of many songs that came to Maine from the British Tradition. It is, as Bill Cramp called it, a "long love song." This ballad is one in a series of songs that consist of true lovers' discussions, but none are any more good humored than "The Blackwater Side."

The Depot Camp, Bill Cramp

Maine Song and Story Sampler

The song, written by James O’Hara, a woodsman from Maine, described the lumbering operation owned and operated by James McNulty of Bangor, Maine.

Cod Liver Oil, Omer Mckenna

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Cod Liver Oil" was a popular song from Newfoundland, so popular in fact that many have claimed it as a Newfoundland song. It's origins, however, are not so clearly traced.

The Teamster In Jack Macdonald’S Crew, Joseph Walsh

Maine Song and Story Sampler

When Walsh sang "The Teamster in Jack MacDonald's Crew" for Sandy Ives, it was a song he had never heard before and did not hear from anyone after, despite his best efforts to find it. Walsh either learned the song while working near Katahdin Iron Works around 1911 or from a friend back on PEI, he was not entirely sure.

Wild Colonial Boy, Thomas Cleghorn

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Wild Colonial Boy" is one of a few songs that came to Maine from Australia by way of Britain. This particular version was collected in Canada, but the singer learned it in the Maine woods, a point that underscores the close connections of Maine and the Maritimes economically and culturally.

John Roberts, Clarence Berry

Maine Song and Story Sampler

“John Roberts” is one of many woods songs that tells the sad tale of a river driver who died on the job.

Blueberries & Leathery Ice, Lindsey Smallidge

Maine Song and Story Sampler

A pair of tall tales from Mount Desert Island.

The Good Old State Of Maine, James Brown

Maine Song and Story Sampler

People have likely been singing, whistling, and humming while working for as long as music and work have existed. This relationship has developed twofold, both as a way to make work go faster (either by passing the time or establishing a rhythm for work) and as a means of expressing discontent with work or working conditions.

Canaday-I-O, Robert French

Maine Song and Story Sampler

The major recurring theme in these folksongs from Maine and Maritime Canada is the flow of cultural products and people within the area of New Hampshire, Maine, and eastern Canada. But while this cultural and demographic exchange helped define the region, it did not mean there was no rivalry or animosity between states, provinces, or nations.

Old Horse Or The Sailor’S Grace, Robert French

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Old Horse" is an old sea song (dating at least back to the 1830s, and probably long before that) that expresses sailors' dissatisfaction with the quality of their food.

Guy Reed, Philip Walsh

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"Guy Reed" is one of several songs by one of the great woods songmakers in Maine and the Maritimes, Joe Scott. Guy Reed, son of Joseph and Remember Mitchell Reed, was born in 1874 in the Byron, Maine area, and died in a logging accident just a few miles above Livermore Falls, Maine, on September 9, 1897.

The Cambric Shirt, Jennie Gray

Maine Song and Story Sampler

"The Cambric Shirt" is one of the many British ballads chronicled by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century. The song is titled "The Elfin Knight" in Child's collection, and "The Cambric Shirt" is one of many names of the many variations on the song.

Northeast Folklore Volume 3 Numbers 1-4, Edward D. Ives

Northeast Folklore Monographs

The third issue of Northeast Folklore was published in the spring of 1959 under the editorship of Edward D. Ives (known as Sandy) and Bacil F. Kirtley through the Department of English at the University of Maine. The four editions that year were later bound into a single volume.

Table of Contents:

Number 1 (Spring):

The Legend of Molly Ockett by Joseph A. Perham

A Penobscot Indian Story of Colonial Maine by Nicholas N. Smith

The Maid of Tide Head

Notes and Queries

Book Review
Bluenose Ghosts (Creighton) by Horace P. Beck

Number 2 (Summer):

Bibliography of New England-Maritimes Folklore …

Northeast Folklore Volume 2 Numbers 1-4, Edward D. Ives, Bacil F. Kirtley, E. G. Huntington, James F. Flynn, Charles A. Huguenin, Frank A. Hoffmann, Evelyn K. Wells, Horace P. Beck, Helen Creighton

Northeast Folklore Monographs

Description

The second issue of Northeast Folklore was published in the spring of 1959 under the editorship of Edward D. Ives (known as Sandy) and Bacil F. Kirtley through the Department of English at the University of Maine. The four editions that year were later bound into a single volume.

Table of Contents

Number 1 (Spring):

Two Songs from Martha's Vineyard by E.G. Huntington

The Deer Isle Hoax by James J. Flynn and Charles A. Huguenin

Folklore from Aroostook County, Maine, and Neighboring Canada edited by Bacil F. Kirtley

Notes and Queries

Number 2 (Summer):

Bibliography of New England-Maritimes Folklore …

The Man Who Plucked The Gorbey, Charles Sibley

Maine Song and Story Sampler

Of all the stories told in lumbercamps, few have captured the attention of Maine’s folklorists like the story of “The Man Who Plucked the Gorbey.“ The gorbey, one of many names for the Canada Jay (also known as a moosebird, meat bird, gray jay, or Whiskey Jack), is a native of the northern coniferous forests of North America.