To my Uncle Bill, my favorite and most loveable uncle, who cheered me on, chapter after chapter, and openly shared his own memories and emotions, patiently answering his niece’s countless questions.
Much love to Emma and Nora, my precious daughters, who for months put up with a book-obsessed and stressed Mommy and created my “writing family,” a collection of stuffed animals, butterflies, hearts, angels, and a small, plastic smiling monkey to keep me company while I wrote.
To my husband, Eric Conrad, who loved and comforted me even when I was supremely cranky and not “loveable.” He bolstered and reassured me every step of the way on this nine-year book-writing journey. I could not find a more empathetic, generous, and giving husband.
To my parents, Patricia and Ronald Walsh, who have always stood by my side with an abundance of love and faith. I am proud to be their daughter and blessed to have been raised in a home where family always came first.
And lastly to my Nana, Patricia O’Connell Walsh: thanks for teaching me pig Latin, penny poker, and how to knit. I still miss and love you, and will forever admire your strength and kindness.
GLOSSARY OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND NAUTICAL TERMS
August gales – hurricanes that roar up the North Atlantic and carry severe winds and waves. In the 1800s and early 1900s, hundreds of fishermen died off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia’s coast during the month of August when the gales struck without warning.
banker or banking schooner – a schooner that fishes offshore banks. In the North American waters, these vessels typically stacked dories on their decks, which were then lowered over the schooner’s side, allowing the dorymen to fish from trawl lines.
banks – an undersea elevation of land where fish feed and may be caught. The Grand Banks off Newfoundland’s coast were among the most popular fishing grounds from the sixteenth century through the early 1900s.
banshee – ghost or spirit.
batten down the hatches – to make a vessel watertight. To prepare for gales, storms, or foul weather, fishermen secure their vessel’s hatch covers with wooden battens so as to prevent water from entering the ship or boat belowdecks.
beam-ends – The sides of a ship. “On her beam-ends” means the vessel or schooner is on her side, listing forty-five degrees or more and about to capsize.
b’y – term for boy, man. Eh b’y is to agree with what someone is saying. B’ys would mean boys or men.
ceili – a dance accompanied by guitar, fiddle music, singing, and storytelling. The traditional dance originated in Ireland and Scotland and is common in countries where the Irish and Scots immigrated.
codfish – bottom-feeding fish found in the cold North Atlantic waters. The cod family includes many species; the North Atlantic Gadus morhua are typically forty-eight inches in length and twenty-six pounds. But much larger codfish have been caught. Cod has historically been considered “king” to Newfoundland and its economy. In 1497 during his discovery of Newfoundland, British explorer John Cabot noted the cod were so plentiful that they could be plucked from the sea with a basket weighted down with stone. In the early sixteenth century, fishermen from England, France, Spain, and Portugal began hunting for cod off Newfoundland’s shores.
comber – a large ocean wave.
crosstrees – horizontal bars at the top of the mast that support the rigging.
dory – a flat-bottomed boat with flared sides. Dories were rowed and could also be sailed. The boats generally measured fifteen feet on the bottom but could be as short as eight feet and as long as twenty. The dories were used to fish close to the shore and on the Banks fisheries in Newfoundland.
doryman – a man who fished from a dory. Traditionally, two men or dorymates fished from a dory in the Banks fishery.
fathom – six feet in length.
fish flake – an elevated platform created with long poles and topped with tree boughs used for drying salted codfish. In the 1800s and early 1900s, fish flakes lined the shores of Newfoundland’s harbors.
fish store – fisherman used this small wooden shed to store their gear, repair their hooks and trawl lines. The fish store was typically built near the shore or on the fisherman’s wharf, and it was also a good place for a friend to drop in for a drink of rum.
forecastle – partial deck, above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the sailors’ living quarters. Pronounced “fo’c’sle.”
founder – to fill with water and sink.
gaff – a large hook attached to a pole used to toss fish from a dory to a schooner deck.
glass or weatherglass – a barometer that foretells the weather.
gunwale or gunnel – where the sides of ship and the deck meet.
greenhorn – an unseasoned or inexperienced fisherman.
grub – food.
gurry butt – a barrel used to hold the fish offal or waste.
hardtack – a hard and long-lasting dry biscuit, used as food on long journeys. Dorymen who found themselves separated from their schooners often ate the hardtack to survive.
mast – a vertical spar on a ship which supports sails or rigging.
mug up – small lunch break.
oilskins – clothing that protects fishermen from the elements. In the 1800s and early 1900s, oilskins were often homemade garments made of unbleached cotton treated with linseed oil.
outport – a Newfoundland coastal village.
port – the left side of a ship when facing the bow.
puncheon – a large wooden barrel used in the fishing trade.
quintal – a hundredweight of 110 or 112 pounds. Salted codfish was typically weighed by the quintal.
rigging – all the ropes, lines, and wires that support and control the masts, spars, and sails on sailing vessels and ships.
schooner – a fore and aft-rigged sailing vessel with at least two masts that traditionally carried stacked dories.
shoal water – shallow water that is a threat to navigation, schooners, and ships.
sou’wester – an oiled, waterproof hat with a broad brim and elongated back to keep a fisherman’s head and neck dry in foul weather.
spar – a general term for all wooden masts, yards, gaffs, and booms on a sailing ship.
starboard – the right side of a ship when facing forward.
sunker – rocks or reefs that lie just below the sea’s surface and pose a threat to sailors.
tholepin – a small round wooden peg inserted in the gunwale to hold the oars in place while rowing.
token – an omen, vision, or premonition of death.
trawl – the buoyed fishing lines used by dorymen. Baited hooks were set at three-foot intervals on the thick, tarred cotton line. The dorymen typically would set 7,200 feet (a mile and a half) of gear on the ocean bottom.
Sources: Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador and Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.
THE WALSH TRAGEDY SONG
BY JOSEPH MURRAY
In nineteen hundred thirty-five on August twenty-one
Two fishing boats went out to sea from the port of Marystown
Headed for the Grand Banks, Cape St. Mary’s fishing grounds
Among the fourteen men who sailed were a father and three sons
The skies and sea were calm and clear til August twenty-fifth
When a big nor’easter came ashore setting wharves and boats adrift
Uprooting trees and houses along the coast of Newfoundland
While out at sea two fishing boats were filling up with sand
Chorus
As the wind screamed thru the rigging and the waves rose mountains high
Those brave men fought the hurricane and prayed to God on high
The ocean is a graveyard when those storms are at their height
Fourteen people lost at sea on that dark and stormy night
Narrative
Paddy Walsh was skipper of the Annie Anita while eldest son Jimmy skippered the Mary Bernice
Other members o
f that ill-fated crew were
John Brinton, Edward Clarke, Dominic Walsh, George Mitchell,
Richard and Charles Hanrahan,
Dennis Long, Michael Farrell, Tom and Billy Reid
Also on board were Paddy Walsh’s 12 and 14-year sons Francis and Jerome
As the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed across the banks of Newfoundland
As waves crashed down upon the heads of that gallant little band
A baby girl named Jamie was born that night to Jimmy Walsh’s wife
As her father fought the raging storm that finally took his life
When the dawn broke clear and bright next day across the fishing grounds
No sign of the two small boats could anywhere be found
’Til a wreck washed up on St. Shotts’ beach, half filled up with sand
The only sign of human life was a small boy’s little hand
Chorus
Church bells rang out in Marystown as the news spread far and wide
Prayers and masses for the dead for the fourteen souls who died
Mothers wept and widows grieved while children tried to understand
How God in all his mercy had forsaken these brave men
The memory of that awful night back in thirty-five
Still haunts the hearts and minds of those who are still alive
When the August Gales each summer cross the banks of Newfoundland
They kneel and pray to God above, safeguard our fishermen
Chorus
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara Walsh is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and magazine columnist who has chased many stories during her career; her work has changed laws, lives, and affected the 1988 presidential election. She is the author of Sammy in the Sky, a children’s book illustrated by painter Jamie Wyeth and published in August 2011. Barbara lives in Maine with her two daughters, husband, and a Tennessee coonhound.
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