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Index Of Some Of The Songs Collected By James Murphy [1868-1931]
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(Titles in parentheses are alternate titles from other sources.)

After The Fire Of '46 ~ Anonymous
Around Green Island Shore ~ Traditional
Betsey Mealey's Escape ~ Johnny Quill
Bravery Of Pouch Cove Fishermen (Water Witch) ~ Anonymous (V)
Chorus Of Welcome ~ A.J.W. McNeilly
A Copper Colored Native ~ Anonymous
The Dead Stranger ~ Maurice A. Devine
Dear, Old South Side Hill ~ Archbishop Michael F. Howley
Died On The Ice Floe ~ P.J. Dyer
Elections Of 1848 - Job Defeated Brooking ~ Anonymous
Fanny's Harbor Bawn ~ Mark Walker
Farewell To Colonel Law ~ Anonymous
A Father's Sacrifice ~ P.J. Dyer
The Fisherman ~ C.E Hunt
The Fisherman's Son To The Ice Is Gone ~ Possibly Johnny Burke
The Flag Of Newfoundland ~ Archbishop Michael F. Howley (V)
The Flem(m)ings Of Torbay ~ Johnny Burke
Foundered At Sea (Loss Of The Brig Jura) ~ Anonymous
The Girl I Left Behind Me ~ Traditional
Hawco The Hero ~ Maurice A. Devine
Huntingdon Shore ~ Anonymous
The Land Of Fish And Seals ~ Margaret Sharp Peace
Loss Of The Brig Jura (Foundered At Sea) ~ Anonymous
Loss Of The Maggie And 13 Souls In St. John's Harbor ~ Anonymous
Loss Of The Water Witch ~ Traditional
The Loss Of The Tolesby ~ Traditional
The Maid Of Newfoundland ~ Traditional
My Love In Newfoundland ~ Traditional
Newfoundland (Ode To Newfoundland) ~ Sir Cavendish Boyle (V)
The Newfoundland Exile (The Emigrant's Farewell) ~ J.T. Kinsella
A Newfoundland Hero ~ Traditional
The Nimrod's Song ~ Traditional
Off To The Ice Fields (Old Time Sealers' Song) ~ George Webber
Old Time Sealers' Song (Off To The Ice Fields) ~ George Webber
Our Ships Are In The Fat ~ James Murphy
The Outharbour Planter ~ Maurice A. Devine
The Petty Harbour Bait Skiff ~ John Grace
The Ryans And The Pittmans ~ Henry W. Le Messurier
Sammy Ain't You Glad You Joined The Navy ~ Johnny Burke
Seal Hunting Song ~ Traditional
The Sealers Strike Of 1902 ~ Johnny Burke
The Sealing Trip Of The S.S. Greenland, 1891 ~ Traditional
Ships That Sailed To-Day, The ~ James Murphy
Song Of The John Martin ~ Stephen Reardon
The Spring Maurice Crotty Fought The Old Dog Hood ~ Johnny Burke
St. John's Bait Skiff ~ John Grace
Star Of Logy Bay ~ Traditional (Vx4)
Terra Nova's Boys In Blue ~ Robert Gear MacDonald, Esq.
Wadham's Song ~ R.N. Wadham (V)
Water Witch (Bravery Of Pouch Cove Fishermen) ~ Anonymous (V)
We Will Not Go To White Bay With Casey Any More ~ Traditional
Where Speckled Beauties Lie ~ Maurice A. Devine
A Winter's Drive To Topsail ~ Richard Raftus
A Worthy Son Of Scotia ~ Michael Power
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James Murphy, the sealers' poet, was a Carbonear native who moved to St. John's and worked as a cabinet maker. He contributed numerous articles and poems to the local papers, many under the pen name Scaliger, and published several pamphlets and booklets on various aspects of Newfoundland history. Songs and Ballads of Newfoundland, Ancient and Modern (1902) was the first of his songsters edited between 1902 and 1925. The others were: Songs and Ballads of Terra Nova (1903) Songs of Our Land (1904); Murphy's Sealers' Song Book (1905); Coronation Song Book of Newfoundland (1911); Old Songs Of Newfoundland (1912); Songs of Newfoundland by Various Authors (1917); Songs Their Fathers Sung For Fishermen: Old Time Ditties (1923); and Songs Sung by Old-Time Sealers of Many Years Ago (1925).

GEST notes: In Vol. XIV, No. 9, Sept., 1957, the Atlantic Guardian reported that James Murphy had a collection of Newfoundland poetry for publication that never did get into print. However, Memorial University of Newfoundland Libraries has a paper text copy held in the Centre For Newfoundland Studies of the Old Colony Song Book, Newfoundland, dated August, 1904, which has been digitized by the Centre. The book contains an assortment of Newfoundland songs, including two portraits and advertisements. Some of those songs are archived here along with Murphy's other published works.






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GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador



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