The early migratory fishery involved the construction of fish stages and flakes that rarely lasted more than one season. This may not be because of any basic impermanence in the kind of building technology used, but rather because of the actions of fishermen: stages were often pulled down at the end of a fishing season so as not to be usable by another ship the following summer. These structures were also dismantled for firewood by fishermen who might overwinter. Early writers like Richard Whitbourne lamented the fact that stages had to be rebuilt every year, usually taking twenty days at a time--an argument used to bolster official sanctioning of year-round residents. The annual repair and rebuilding of these fisheries buildings led to a rapid destruction of the forested areas along the coasts, creating the barren Newfoundland landscape that today is often wrongly explained by climatic harshness. One naval officer, writing in 1622 from Ferryland--a large fishing outport south of St. John's--complained: "The Coast and Harbours which we sailed by, are so bold and good, as I assure my selfe there can bee no better in the world: but the Woods along the Coasts, are so spoyled by the Fishermen, that it is great pitty to behold them, and without redresse, undoubtedly will be the ruine of this good Land: For they wastfully barke, fell, and leave more Wood behinde them to rot, then they use about their Stages, although they imploy a world of Wood upon them: and by these their abuses doe so cumber the Woods every where neere the shore, that it is not possible for any man to go a mile in a long houre."
The determinants of building form during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are difficult to assess as there are few accounts that describe adequately what the early stage actually looked like. Two sources provide perhaps the richest details of these structures. One is the illustration from Nicholas de Fer's map of North America, published in Paris in 1705, the other is Nicolas Denys' description, published in 1672, of stages in Acadia--obviously similar to Newfoundland forms.
(figure1)
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| (figure1) Nicholas de Fer's view of the North American cod fishery,
first published in Paris in 1705. |
Both sources are likely describing French traditions, and one researcher has speculated that de Fer may have been merely illustrating Denys' account. But Newfoundland harbours certainly had their share of French fishing stations in the seventeenth century, often shared with ships from other countries, and later stage forms indicate that what was described by Denys and de Fer certainly is the stage-type later used by British fishermen. Indeed, one of the key issues still in need of investigation is the borrowings of both building form and technologies between the Newfoundland stage and the French chauffaud throughout Atlantic Canada.
Denys outlines and illustrates the construction process of the typical stage, a stage much like that illustrated in the de Fer print. He writes that the stage "may be forty, fifty or sixty paces long, according to the size of the vessels, to which we assume always that the number of men is in proportion. Its breadth is nearly a third of its length, and its end which is not covered (Denys is referring here to the platform extending into the ocean) is also about a quarter of its length; it ends sometimes in a point and sometimes square, and extends into the sea, so that boats can come alongside."
Denys' account continues by describing how this stage head was constructed.
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| (figure 2a )Steps in the construction of a stage,
after Nicolas Denys' description, 1672. |
First, three upright posts were positioned: one in the water and two on the shore. These would form the main timber supports for the platform that extended out over the water from the front of the actual stage building. A series of upright timbers;
was then added in between these three principal posts, forming a triangle of supports for the platform.
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| (figure 2b ) |
Horizontal poles were then placed along the fronts of this triangle, creating a kind of ladder that was used to moor boats and to climb up onto the stage head. Joists would link one side of the top surface of the triangle with another, providing supports for the flooring.
After the stage head was constructed, the main portion of the stage (which was built on land) was fashioned. A line of upright posts extended back in parallel rows from the breadth of the triangle to the desired length of the actual stage building; the posts became progressively shorter if the stage was built on sloping land. A sill was placed over these posts, and floor joists linked each outside row. A series of tall upright posts, lodged on the ground, was then placed at the middle of these cross floor joists; these uprights--a kind of king post--would support the ridge of the roof. After these posts were fastened to the joists, a roof ridge pole was placed on top.
Another series of upright poles (2f) was placed at two foot intervals along the exterior walls of the structure, extending about four feet above the floor line. On top of this row, a wall plate was fastened. Poles could then be laid as rafters (2g), extending from the ridge to the wallplate. Upright posts for wall framingwere inserted into the gable ends of the structure. Finally, exterior walls (2h) were filled in with woven wattles and the roof covered with sails, with the seams of the sails running parallel to the rafters.
Denys' remarkable description points out a number of factors that are important in understanding the stage form: only a minor portion of the structure extended out into the harbour, while the bulk of its length extended back over the land. It was obviously desirable to have as small a portion of the building as possible exposed to the sea, limiting damage by wave action. The building would thus be constructed 90 degrees to the shore, rather than parallel to it. Related to this is the practice of extending the stage as far back from the shore as needed; the more work space that was necessary, the longer the stage could be. In fact, over time it will become evident that this expansive dimension running perpendicular to the shore became larger or smaller depending on the economic organization and success of the fishery.
