Girl of the Outport

This poem is for my granddaughters, Sylvie and Caitlin. The girls will never know life in Newfoundland like their maternal grandparents and the other ancestors on their mother's side of the family. Although the history and stories of the men abound, there is little written about the women in Newfoundland. While the poem is about their great great grandmother Bessie Earle Smith of Durrell, Twillingate Island, Newfoundland, it is about any of our foremothers who grew up in outport Newfoundland. 

 

Women worked hard from an early age, learning how to survive in the harsh environment of coastal Newfoundland.

 

Their lives revolved around a fishery which was seasonal and unpredictable,

 

in support of the men who braved the rough seas of the North Atlantic, 

 

meanwhile doing everything on the home-front. 

 

We are so proud of them.

 

Girl of the Outport

There was a wee girl

Named Bessie Earle,

Who lived in a place

Where the ocean did swirl.

She could play on the beach

And watch fishing boats,

See whales and sea gulls,

Horses and goats.

Icebergs were plenty

Waves they were lapping.

Gardens were tended

And feet they were tapping.

 

People worked hard

And times they were tough.

Families struggled

To just get enough.

When Bessie did grow up 

And then met her bow,

She took along with her

The life she did know.

Now in my history

I have a great gran

Who was a proud daughter

Of outport Newfoundland.

                

                                      MPS

 

These are family photos taken on and around Twillingate.