John Collins, Salt and Fishery (London: Godbid and Playford, 1682), p. 93.
William Shakespeare, Shakespeare: Complete Works . Ed. W.J. Craig (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 10.
My interest in the Newfoundland fish stage was sparked by a superb student essay written by Gwen Primmer Burt in 1981, describing her family stage at Barr'd Island, Fogo Island. Gwen later published a study of the leisure activities that often took place in that stage: Gwen Primmer, "Games and Storytelling at the Inshore Fishery, Fogo Island," Culture & Tradition , 7 (1983), 17-36. When researching the historical background of fisheries architecture, the staff of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the Newfoundland Museum, provided historic materials. With Gwen's essay in mind, I began fieldwork on Fogo Island, taking place in May, August, and November, 1989, on Fogo Island; these trips were funded by the Department of Folklore and the President's Award for Outstanding Research at Memorial University which I received in 1988. The Dean of Arts at Memorial University, Michael Staveley, contributed to cartographic expenses. Robert Mellin, Robert St. George and Mark Ferguson assisted in the actual field recording, and Robert Mellin graciously offered his house in Tilting as a base for this work. Fogo Island residents who patiently answered questions include Doug and Lucy Primmer, Bill Godwin, Leslie Coles, Martin Hart, Frank Waterman, Dan Greene, Morley Coles, Arthur Greene and Gary Mahoney. Finally, Shane O'Dea and Iona Bulgin read various drafts of this essay, and offered a number of perceptive comments.
A comprehensive bibliography on Newfoundland's architecture can be found in: Shane O'Dea and Gerald L. Pocius, "Newfoundland Architecture: A Bibliography," Society for Study of Architecture in Canada , 8, no. 2 (1983), 20, and a supplemental list compiled by the Centre for Material Culture Studies at Memorial University. To date, no studies dealing specifically with fisheries architecture exist.
Studies of vernacular architecture relating to the fishery in other regions is meager, and has concentrated on seasonal dwellings or storage buildings; examples include: Roger Leith, "Fishermen's Bothies and other Shelters," Vernacular Building , 14 (1990), 4-20; Arved Luts, "Provisorische Unterk nfte der Estnischen Meeresfischer," in The Fishing Culture of the World , ed. Bela Gunda (Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1984), pp. 297-314; Perry Rolfsen, Batnaust pa Jaerkysten , Stavanger Museums Skrifter 8 (Stavanger: Stavanger Museum, 1974).
Richard Whitbourne, A Discourse and Discovery of New-Found-Land (1620; rpt. New York: DaCapo, 1971), p. 63; Collins, Salt and Fishery , p. 100.
Gillian T. Cell, ed., Newfoundland Discovered: English Attempts at Colonisation, 1610-1630 , Hakluyt Society, 2d ser, vol. 160 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1982), p. 199.
Nicolas Denys' description of a stage and its construction is found in his The Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North America (Acadia) , Trans. & ed. by William F. Ganong (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1908), pp. 282-88. The original French volume was published in 1672.
F. A. O'Dea, "Old Prints of Newfoundland," Canadian Collector , 10, no. 2 (March-April, 1975), 30-31.
For examples of French fishing stages and their technology see: B.A. Balcom, The Cod Fishery of Isle Royale, 1713-58 , Studies in Archaeology, Architecture and History (Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1984), pp. 25-48, 78; Jean-Pierre Castlelain and Yves Leroy, Images de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (Paris: Le Volcan, 1990), pp. 11, 41-80; John Mannion and C. Grant Head, "The Migratory Fisheries," in Historical Atlas of Canada, vol. 1: From the Beginning to 1800 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), plate 21.
Denys, pp. 283-84.
The map is in the collection of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador. A sale advertisement describing the buildings on the property can be found in Royal Gazette , December 5, 1837.
A discussion of the entire range of buildings found on this map can be found in Gerald L. Pocius, "Architecture on Newfoundland's Southern Shore: Diversity and the Emergence of New World Forms," in Camille Wells, Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture (Annapolis: Vernacular Architecture Forum, 1982), pp. 222, 226-27.
Bay Bulls: Royal Gazette , February 11, 1813; Burin: Royal Gazette , July 16, 1812; Burin: Royal Gazette , July 28, 1829; Point George, Little Burin and Lawne: Royal Gazette , November 15, 1810; Renews: Royal Gazette , December 31, 1816.
A discussion of this transition from mercantile to family fishery can be found in: Gerald M. Sider, Culture and Class in Anthropology and History: A Newfoundland Example , Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
Bough roofs are mentioned in: J.B. Jukes, Excursions in and about Newfoundland During the Years 1839 and 1840 (1842; rpt. Toronto: Canadiana House, 1969), I, 224; turf as a covering: M. de Cassini, Voyage to Newfoundland and Sallee (London: Dilly, 1778), p. 152.
See Henry Glassie, "The Types of the Southern Mountain Cabin," in The Study of American Folklore , ed. Jan H. Brunvand (2nd ed.; New York: Norton, 1968), pp. 391-420; Henry Glassie, "Structure and Function, Folklore and the Artifact," Semiotica , 7 (1973), 313-51; Henry Glassie, Folk Housing in Middle Virginia: A Structural Analysis of Historic Artifacts (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1975).
See: Henry Glassie, "Barns Across Southern England: A Note on Transatlantic Comparison and Architectural Meanings," Pioneer America , 7, no. 1 (1975), 9-19.
The vernacular architecture of one Fogo Island--Tilting--has been throughly documented, and places the fish stage in a broader context; see: Robert Mellin, "Folk Housing in Tilting, Fogo Island, Newfoundland." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1990; Mellin deals with fisheries architecture on pp. 422-32, 442-45, 453, 455-76, 500-2, 506.
A two-tined fork used in the West Country for haymaking was referred to as a "prang"; see Charles H. Laycock, "The Old Devon Farm-House: Its Exterior Aspect and General Construction," Devonshire Association Transactions , 52 (1920), 189.
Many descriptions exist of this gutting and drying process; for example see: de Cassini, Voyage to Newfoundland , pp. 145-150; Florence Grant Barbour, Memories of Life on the Labrador and in Newfoundland (New York: Carlton, 1973), pp. 67-69.
One late nineteenth century visitor to Newfoundland reported that fish were washed in a large square wooden tub called a waterhorse; see: Thomas Talbot, Newfoundland; or a Letter Addressed to a Friend in Ireland in Relation to the Condition and Circumstances of the Island of Newfoundland (London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1882), p. 23.
The French usually used stone flakes--a layer of stones piled in large rectangular sections along the coast--on which to dry their fish; for an example see: Castlelain and Leroy, Images , pp. 55-57, 68-71.
Admiral the Earl of Dundonald, On the Mineralogy, Government and Condition of the British West India Islands and North American Maritime Colonies (London: Ridgway, 1851), p. 16.
Jukes mentions this practice; Jukes, Excursions , II, 120.
Earl of Dunraven, Canadian Nights: Being Sketches and Reminiscences of Life and Sport in the Rockies, the Prairies, and the Canadian Woods (London: Smith, Elder, 1914), p. 196.
For the reasons for the collapse of the salt fishery see: David Alexander, The Decay of Trade: An Economic History of the Newfoundland Saltfish Trade, 1935-1965 , Newfoundland Social and Economic Studies No. 19 (St. John's: Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1977).
The impact of this transition from family to community stage in one Newfoundland community is discussed in Gerald L. Pocius, A Place To Belong: Community Order and Everyday Space in Calvert, Newfoundland (Athens: University of Georgia Press; Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991), pp. 166-71.
