; .. Memories and Stories of Outer Cove as told to Martin Boland by Willie Croke
Willie Croke (big Willie) was the son of Tom Croke and Jane Roach. He was born in Outer Cove
on July 14, 1912 and moved to Detroit in 1955 after the death of his mother. The following is
taken from written correspondence I received from Willie during the final year before his death in
Detroit on February 24, 1999. Most of it is in response to questions I asked concerning family
members, the Regatta and the early history of the community. The capitals and punctuation are
Willie's - he frequently used them to make a point and to emphasize the way words were
pronounced.
The Early Days
People from the Carbonear area had been fishing out of Outer Cove for years but no one had
settled there. The story was told that at the end of one fishing season they had stored their gear,
nets, barrels, puncheons, etc. on the hill where the road is now. When they came back the
following season, it was gone and in its place were a bunch of beach rocks and kelp. Upon
investigation, the gear was found down by the river up beyond the first turn about 114 mile from
the beach. Apparently a tidal wave or major storm had washed the gear back and down over the
hill. This is given as the reason why the first settlers had settled on high ground away from the
beach.
The way I always heard the story was: David Roach, his wife Helen, and their adopted daughter
Peg Stack were the first settlers to spend a winter in Outer Cove and I think they spent more than
one winter alone. They arrived in 1815 and settled up on the Hill off the present Barnes Road.
They came from County Kerry and were accompanied by an orphan girl named Peg Stack. She
had stayed with them in Ireland but they wanted her to stay behind and said they would send for
her later after they got settled. Unknown to them, she hid on the boat as a stowaway. After they
had been at sea for 2 days and 2 nights, she came out for a cup of tea. She wasn't hungry but
was very thirsty She must not have been able to sneak much water on board, possibly for the
want of containers. So she stayed with them from then on.
The first immigrant there (David Roach) had two sons, Martin and Richard. Both had tragic
endings. Wild guessing tells me he had at least three daughters. Elimination tells me one married
Hickey, another married Stack and another married CARROll. In the 1870s Richard lived over
by Dan Roach/Stacks. Richard and Martin used to haul wood from Torbay in the winter. A
Northeaster came up and Richard went to see if Martin got home OK. He left alone and didn't
come back. The following morning they found his body in Lance Cove (about half way out on the
south side of Middle Cove). Martin (the father of Paddy, John, Davy, Jim) met his end while trap
fishing behind Torbay Point with Dan Cahill and Jim Coady. They had fish in the fish bag and
tried to roll the bag in. The boat swamped and he and Dan Cahill drowned. The SS Portia was
passing nearby and saw the capsized boat with Jim Coady clinging to it. It came alongside and
rescued Coady. Coady lived on O'Rourke's Lane.
The next to settle were John Stack and his brother Tom. John was known as the biggest man
who ever lived in Outer Cove and Tom was known as the smallest. They lived high up on the hill
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to the right of the beach. The big house built by Tom Hickey is about midway between their
house and the beach. Stack's house was in a big field - a three cornered meadow above
ODonnell's. They were followed by William Dunn who lived where Din Hickey is now, John
Slater (Slater's Hill), Dan Griffin and John O'Grady, all of whom were from County Kerry.
Our immigrants didn't care much for land. But the ocean was their Kingdom come. That is why
they got as near to the ocean as they could. The reason a lot of them weren't nearer is because
there was someone else already there. The reason their houses were so far above the beach is
because of the tidal wave that 'HOVE' in there some forty years before the first settlers. That tidal
wave is well recorded there. Its very worst was at Renews and F ermeuse. A wild guess is that
TSUNAMI-EAGRE hit there about the early 1770s (J 775). And they were fishing there in
summer, long before that.
Now using their love of the ocean as a yardstick, the rest of them would be close to this: Doran,
Wm Cooney, Din Conaway, McCarthy, O'Rourke, John Cramp, James Ervine, Mike Hanlon, Dan
Murphy, John Hand, Paddy Mylet, Jimmy Howlett, Mike Butler, ODonnell, Fox, Boland, Carroll,
Cahill and Coady. That was about it in the 1830s. Power, Pine and O'Neil were late comers.
Kinsella was definitely the last of the early settlers to hang up his hat there. The Historians of
Logy Bay AND Ann Bishop say that the first settlers in Outer Cove were Kinsellas, Roachs and
Hickeys. Owl Jillings would say: "Well now JAYSES". Who edits their stuff'? It looks like
Robin Short. HA HA . (This is a reference to the June 1998 article in the Downhomer - Willie felt
much of it was inaccurate.)
The first trail out of Outer Cove started on Ship Cove Point. It made a Bee Line for where the
Church is now. It started at the Immigrant's (Dave Roach) front door. The next house was Cahill.
The next was O'Rourke, next Jimmie Irving, under Kelly Park, then O'Neil, Howlett and Mike
Butler. Butler staked and cleared all what is Church property now. He went in to Wheeler'S place
and Wheeler FACED on the Torbay Road. After the trail left Butler's Gate, it made for Lambert's
Cross in Logy Bay and came out near where the first Crokes were. After it crossed the river, all
that land over to Crokes was owned by Colonel Hutton Haley. The seed of Bally Haley.
O'Donnell and Fox came over from Ireland together. Fox had been a landlord in Ireland and took
in all the land from Doran's Lane to Burke's Scrape. (John Mannion of Memorial University thinks
Fox is related to the Foxes from Harbour Grace who came from Nine Mile House in County
Tipperary, bordering on Kilkenny). Fox came over with ODonnell, a lawyer (probably from
Carrick-on-Suir according to Mannion).
Whelan and O'Brien came over to get the free land. They probably didn't exactly get what they
bargained for because all they got on the Rocky Hills was rocks. Whelan had been a tailor in
Dublin.
The Kinsellas were the last of the early settlers to settle in Outer Cove. They settled on the upper
comer of Slaters Hill and Barnes Road. They had 5 sons, three of whom later settled in Logy
Bay. One daughter married a Captain Turner and another married a Burke.
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Lawrence Boland came to Outer Cove as a newly married man from County Kerry. His wife was
Elizabeth (Betty) Noonan. The first Boland on the Rocky Hills of Outer Cove nested where Will
Boland's bam was later located. All the land between there and the beach was already taken. The
house was there a long time. That is where Billie and Lar grew up. When LAR married Johanna
CON A WAY, they lived in it until their oldest boys went to the States and came back for a visit.
Lawrence and Betty's children were Billy, who married Bridget Fitzgerald of Bell Island,
Catherine, Richard, Lawrence who married Johanna Conway and Mary who married James
O'Brien.
Billy and Bridget had Lar, Martin, Elizabeth, Richard Patrick, Anne, Will, Mary, Jim and Bridget.
Will (Big Will) was known as the 'Island bull' after the PEl bulls because he was so strong. He
would carry huge loads of wood on his back from up on Red Cliff and the longers dragging
behind him would raise clouds of dust. I have heard it said that Billy had a son John before he
married Bridget and that he was sent off to the USA when he was old enough to work. Most
everyone knew that Martin Boland had a brother John that went to the States. That was all we
knew. One thing I can tell you about Billy Boland's family is, with the exception of Larry and Will
who weren't married, all the rest, boys and girls had one red head in their family. My father said
Jim Boland beat them all. He started off with two red heads in his family. John and Francis were:
"House Afire!"
You said that Jim Boland's son Billy was considered gifted because he was the seventh son of the
seventh son. Your cousin Billy Boland was a twin. Was your Dad sure that Billy wasn't the eighth
son. HA. They had to be consecutive sons, but that's only half of it. Then he had to have seven
more. It's the seventh son of the seventh son. Is it any wonder that he cured all ills. Who could
find him? O'Brien on the Rocky Hills was the only one that had seven consecutive sons. He
started off with two girls. Then came Paddy, Will, Jim, Mike, Jack, Din and Davy. Davy was
often called "the Doctor". I went to school with all of them. After "the Doctor" came a girl,
Perpetua, and another boy Maurice. Don't forget for a minute now, there were no Baby Bonus
then.
That strange Boland (Samuel) you saw mentioned might have been from Quidi Vidi village "cos"
some of them were from T AR-BA Y road. The LIMIES had it TAR BAY. T AR BAY. I might
tell you a little about that some time. There are still some BOLANOS left in KITTY VITTY.
The last place I worked here in Michigan, my partner was GIOVANNI ARMENT!. I got a SIN
JON'S newspaper right off the ROCK. Somewhere in it in bold type were the words QUIDI
VIOl. I took it to work. One day in a LULL I said: "Now GIOVANNI, if you were back home
in the old country, what would you call this? What would all your neighbors call it?" He took it
in his hand. He squared his shoulders. He blinked his eyes twice. He studied it for a while. He
said: "If I were home, everyone for miles around would call that KIDDY VlDDY. It means A
SMALL PORT."
Daniel Houston came after Lawrence Boland and I'll wager a large bet that the first Houston
married the last Murphy. Dan Houston married Dan Murphy's daughter Mary, and got an estate
with her. Another sister had married an Eagan; in Houston's place, there was a spot known as
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Eagan's gap. 'DAN'L HOOSEN' was of my grandfather Croke's age. Daniel Houston later
mamed Catherine Cooney and he had sons Will, John, Dave that I heard of
Denis Conway moved to Outer Cove from Harbour Main around 1820. I think he was originally
from Waterford. Conway had three daughters: Johanna married Lar Boland, Kate mamed Will
Croke and Mary mamed John Fitzgerald. Croke moved to Logy Bay from Marysvale, Brigus
where he had lived across the road from Jim Hedderson, around 1870. He settled where Gussie
Power lives now. Hedderson bought the land in Logy Bay from Croke when Croke moved to
Outer Cove. When Mickey Brien married Bride Roche, Hedderson loaded his muzzle loader to
salute the newly married couple. Apparently, it already had a load in it and when it discharged, it
exploded and blew his head off
Croke was a seaman, sailing back and forth to Europe all his life. He and Kate Conway had the
following children: Kate, who married Jimmy 'Croke' Hickey, Tom who married Jane Roach,
Mary, Ann, Din, who mamed Minnie Carey, and Bridget. Tom and Jane were the parents of Kitty
and Willie. In later years old Will had gotten home from a trip on the sailing ship "Blanche' and a
young guy from Outer Cove told him he, too, was a sailor and was bragging to him about his
exploits at sea from two trips on board a steamship. Old Will looked at him a couple of times and
said: "YEAAAA!! I sailed that North Atlantic for forty years. I turned more capes than you
turned comers and I wrung more water out of my two mitts than you ever sailed over." With
that, he left him in the room and went on up to bed.
John Fitzgerald was from Bell Island. He married MARY CONAWAY in Outer Cove and got a
spread of land along with her. He was a butcher by trade and a skilled Seal Skinner. Did you
ever see Fitzgerald's Rock on the Outer Cove Road? It was there when I left and you were going
to school. I heard that Mike Hickey bought that place and built a house near that big ROCK. The
land goes right down to the river and past the mouth of ROOOK'S Lane on the road side, and
back toward the city to adjoin with what Jimmy Boland lived on. The northwest side of that rock
was plumb, there was a large square piece missing from it. It made a neat seat to sit on. In his
latter days, FITZ used to hobble up there with a cane and sit on that rock and chat with the
women coming home from town. Some that were carrying rum gave him a 'big splash'. He had
a brother Peter Fitzgerald that was married and living in Logy Bay, and another brother Jimmy
that was never mamed and looked the youngest. Women measures everyone and everything by
what it looks like. I always deem that they were brothers of Billy Boland's wife, but maybe not?
Anyway, John and Mary had four fine girls, one was Cyril Pine's mother, another was Mike and
Johnny Dyer's mother, another married Frank Alyward on the Middle Battery. The youngest one
mamed John O'Brien from Black Head 'n das in NU FEN LEN me by. He mamed one of Davy
Law Hickey's sisters. They had one boy 'TOM'. She didn't live very long. Then John married
MAG Fitzgerald and got a "spread" ofland with her. Was that the luck of the Irish? That estate
was across the road from where I lived. It wasn't very deep but it was long. It reached from John
Fox's lower gate right down to Nix POOR'S gap. And that was a GUNSHOT from Fitzgerald's
Rock. A gunshot was 80 yards then. How many feet would that be now in 'New Mati'.
John and Mag's youngest was Dinny O'Brien in Logy Bay when I left there. Maybe you
sometimes gave him a ride on the Logy Bay Road. When Mag died her sister Mary 'whipped'
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Dinny out of Outer Cove real fast. With the help of her daughter NELL and three boys they
reared Dinny on the Middle Battery of SIN JON's. One of the boys was Laurence A1yward. The
Battery Boys always called him aNNIE ELL WORD. He was always aNNIE-aNNIE wherever he
went. Nell was a blazing redhead and built like a lumbeIjack with no lard on hiin.' If it wasn't for
her hair, she would make a twin for your mom (at teenage). Nell used to bring Dinny to Outer
Cove when he was real young. NOW LEMME JELL fA . Nell handled Dinny as ifhe were a wax
doll. Ifhe only whimpered, Nell came flying. She would say: "Don't BUZZ now, Don't BUZZ."
The Merchants of Outer Cove were Hickey, Roach, Doran and Walsh. They all had traps.
David Hickey was not one of the very first settlers. I don't know what the requirements were to
be considered an early settler in Outer Cove, but Hickey wasn't one of them. He came a little
later and settled down by the beach. He married Margaret Roach (possibly Peg Stack, or another
daughter of the first settler David Roach) in 1832. Their children were James (known as big Jim)
who married Bridget Lakeman, Mary, Ellen, Davy who married Mary Barron, Anastasia,
Catherine who married John Fennessy and Paddy who married Maria Bolger of Torbay. I think
her father was Mic Bolger. (David's will, dated 1853, indicates that four children survived,
namely, James, Davy, Catherine and Paddy.)
In his early days in the community, Father Dan O'Callaghan would stay at Paddy's. When Fr. Dan
got his first new car, he was showing it off to them. He lifted the bonnet and told her to bend
over and look inside. When she did, he reached inside and blew the hom. She got such a fright
she screamed: "Jesus Christ, I'm et!" Everyone had a good laugh.
David "Derm" Hickey was born at sea off Cape St. Mary's while his mother, Mrs. David Hickey
was en route to St. John's from Halifax on a fine summer morning on the vessel Derm under
Captain Doyle. There was a priest on the boat named Corporal and the baby was christened David
Derm Corporal Doyle Hickey. I remember a little of Davy Derm. A wild guess is that he was
about ten years older than my father who was born in 1871. Derm's father was David Hickey,
there is no doubt about that. Wouldn't that AFORESAID Dave Hickey match up for a brother of
BIG JIM Hickey? Derm was married twice. The last time it was to Elizabeth O'Donnell of Outer
Cove. That was in my time. It looks to me, and it always did, that the AFORESAID Davy was
married in Nova Scotia. That's why young Derm appeared on deck off Cape St. Mary's. I would
bet they broke out some good liquor after the ritual that morning. HA.
Mannion gave mention to Derm's daughter. I have a strong feeling that he had two of them. The
one I often saw was known as Liz Hickey. She lived in 'SIN JON'S' and married Nolan late in
life. I don't know how long Derm was a widower, but, in my time he married Elizabeth 0'
Donnell around 1917-1918. They had a little boy, but he didn't live very long. Would it be much
trouble to find who Derm's first was?
Some Stories
Mr. David Derm Corporal Doyle Hickey to all fishermen was just plain DERM. To the women he
was Mr. Davy Derm. Derm and his Dorymate used to go to the Salmon nets every morning.
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They were getting nothing. Dorymate said: "I wish we would get something, even a sea duck.
Anything would be better than nothing. Something would do." Derm said: "This is one morning
that nothing is better than something." His mate said: "Why?" Derm said: "Tum around and
you'll see." There was a big tree, ROOTS and all, into their net.
Shortly before I left home, I sat by the roadside with Jimmy Carroll one fine summer day. He told
me that when he was young, he signed on as a deckhand on that ill-fated SS Beverley. He said: "I
was living on top of the world that day and so excited I couldn't sleep that night. When I told the
old fishermen the next day how lucky I was, they soon took the wind out of me sails. They said
she was built a pleasure boat for away up the St. Larwence River. (Montreal) DAS TURRIBLE!
They spell that ST. LA WRENCE, don't they. Every Carroll in Outer Cove, including their
mother, always called your cousin LARNESS Boland. 'There was no one there GERL, but
LARness Boland' 'n das the !rut by. Well to get back to sea again. The fishermen said the
Beverley wasn't fit for the Roaring North Atlantic and, carrying a heavy load of salt fish, they
doubt she would ever reach the other side. That was wartime and the Atlantic was half full of
German V-boats. Carroll said: "That put the 'GIMP' on it for me." I wasn't on top of the world
any more. Now, either four or six years before that, Carroll's oldest brother, who was Watty,
went to the seal fishery. The ship, and none of the crew, ever came back and they found no
wreckage. Now here is what keeps Carroll's saga still fresh in my memory. He said after all the
discouragement that day, he didn't sleep any better that night. Coming on morning, he dreamt
that his long-lost brother came into the bedroom dressed in his oil skins. There was water running
out of him and allover the floor. He said I still remember all that water on the floor. When he
got up, he hightailed it for Sin Jon's and signed OFF that S.S. Beverley. Two of the fellows that
went were Tommy Cadigan and Andy Devereux, both of Logy Bay. I don't know if they were
talking to Carroll or not, he didn't say. But I have a strong feeling that they were BECA USE
when they got over to Harbour Grace they tried to sign off. They said: "To Hell's Flames with
Mr. Dawe and his load of fish, we are not going", and then they left. But they wouldn't let them
go. The company sent the flatfooted coppers after them. The cops brought them back (by the
ear) and forced them on board. Now I don't have to tell you that the Newfies didn't like that. It
makes me think that they were talking to Carroll before they left. Devereaux's brother told me
that he was talking to them on Rawlin's Cross about four o'clock that evening. He said they were
about half SHOT then, and the train was leaving at five o'clock. After a few splashes of OWL
screech, I'm thinking they told Mr. Dawe where he could stick his load of salt fish. It was four
years before this that Watty Carroll and his neighbour Watty O'Rourke failed to return from the
seal fishery.
Your clippings say the deck of the Beverley was taken off in sections and reassembled just off
Molloy's Lane. It is nigh on 50 years ago since I was in there. I say one side of it was on Road
de Lux but you couldn't get into it from that side, the road bank was too high. Here's one for
your computer. A cousin of yours (Martin Boland) and myself used to walk from Outer Cove to
Road de Lux, do a day's work, and then walk home again. When I got home, I couldn't lie down,
I would have work to do until it was too dark to see the work. Why, oh why, did I get off that
Big Rock and head for the land of plenty?
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Maybe you heard of when Paddy Mylet and Johnny Slater were coming from the city one
Saturday night. Mylet had a flask in his back pocket for Sunday. Somewhere on the road his two
feet went from under him and he sat down very hard. When he got up and started off again, he
thought he felt something oozing down his leg behind. When he put his hand around there, he
found his pants was wet. He said: "Oh my God! I hope that's blood!"
Your former co-worker ROACHE from Topsail told me one time that you asked him about a
Margaret Roche. (I had been asking about the Margaret Roach who married David Hickey in
1832.) Outer Cove had one. Logy Bay STILL have one. Middle Cove's Margaret Roach is my
first cousin. She now lives in that pro-J at the s.E. comer of MacDonald Drive and TAR BAY
Road, (me by). Outer Cove's Margaret is married in New Mexico, USA. I thought if you were
looking for a Margaret Roche, it wasn't any of them three old GOA rs. (I had been asking about
the Margaret Roach who married David Hickey in 1832.)
Here might, might be one for your records, if you are interested. There were few, if any, knew it
fifty years ago. SO! How many know it now? Way, way back, many banking schooners used to
put into Torbay for the first squid of the season, round about the first week in August.
Sometimes they would be there a week before the squid came. They used to be mostly Nova
Scotians, but once in a while there would be one all the way from Gloucester, MASS. One
evening, two Nova Scotians took a "DODGE" over the shore and ended up in Outer Cove. They
met two girls over there who were Kate and Mary Ann Pine. Then they were over every evening
until their ship sailed. One of the men was Martin Dooley, a Nova Scotian fisherman. NOW
Dooley didn't get back to TAR BAY again for 21 years. The squid hadn't come yet, so with a lot
of time on the clock, he set out for Outer Cove. He climbed Kelly's Hill saying that prayer that I
suppose you never heard said in your life. That prayer was: "Lord, you pick 'em up, and I'll lay
'em down. You pick 'em up, and I'll lay 'em down." W AAL, he found Kate and she was out in
the meadow making hay. She wasn't Kate Pine anymore and she didn't live up by Cramp's tum.
She was Kate Coady and she lived near the mouth of ROOK's Lane and that is where she was
making her hay, while the sun shines. They had one great big bear hug. You could hear the joints
cracking. When he got his wind back, he asked about Mary Ann. Kate said: "Young Dooley, I
think you came back at the right time now. Mary Ann buried her husband a few weeks ago. She
is living over there on the hill all alone, they never had any children. (She had quite a few children
but they all died.) She stuck the pitchfork in the ground and said: "Let's take a shoot over there
and see how's she doin'. So away they went. Kate stayed until she had to go home and make up
the hay. I don't know how long Martin stayed, or how many times he went back. I would guess
it was every night, because when they got their supply of squid, they hung the whole damn wash
out and down the bay did go.
They went out to the Banks, they got a load of fish and they loaded it in Nova Scotia. Dooley put
his money in his pocket and headed back to NFLD. The wedding plans were already laid, so they
had the knot tied without delay. They had a new house built, and that is the one your mom grew
up in. Up to the time I left there, it was the only one in Outer Cove that had a fireplace in the
Living Room. Your grandfather Boland used to have Dooley for a boatmate. I never heard who
the other fellow was, there was always three, and there was no dories there then. I would expect
he had to be Houston or Coady. On second thought now, the third man was Martin's brother,
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Larry, who was the elder of the two. Dooley hung 'ER down there for about 20 years. Then he
and Mary Ann packed it all in and headed for the shores of Boston. A home for all. That 's what
they used to say: "the shores of Boston are home for all."
Them alien names you see. FOR_IN WITH Outer Cove were senior Mount Cashel boys who
lived with the bachelors and merchants of Outer Cove for their room and board. If there was a
few week's work on the road, they sent their roomer and the old fellows stayed home and mended
fences. HA! There was always 10 day's work on the Beach Road every spring. All of the
gangways would be washed out and some of the hill would be after sliding down on the road,
making it impassible for a horse and cart.
The fellow that my Grandmother called Grady, Mannion spells GREADY. I often heard him
called O'Grady. What was his name? One day when Grady was blasting ANOTHER boulder out
of Conaway's place, he lit the fuse and they ran. Mary Conaway ran back and threw Grady's coat
on top of it. The rock soon went Boom! The coat landed in a big tree that had no branches near
the bottom. Grady had to go home and get a ladder. When he got his coat, he told Mary that as
soon as her father came from town, he was going to tell him what she did. She told him to "go
right ahead and don't forget a word of it because when you are finished, I am going to tell him all
the evil things you did around here." Grady chickened out. He wouldn't take her on.
Maybe if I wasn't pushed I would have told you that John Hand was the first School Teacher in
Outer Cove. When I left there Hookeys were living on John Hand's estate. Your Grandmother
Boland was born and reared in John Hand's house. The aforesaid estate reached from near
Croke's gate to almost near McDonald's tum, and was abutted on the west by what is now Kelly
Park. Mike Butler staked and cleared all that land that the Church and School is now on. His
house is where the GRAY NUNS are now. The Church got it from the Nugents, Jack and Paddy.
How the Nugents got there, I never knew. Butler left no one behind but his farm hand who was
only known as CUCKOO. Paddy Mylet was the only one to ever live on Mylet's Road, first at
Mylet's tum and later he was way up near the other end of it. O'Neils never lived on that road. I
told that OMNIPOTENT Town Council (oj baymen) that. If I had to tell them, that family was
only known as Kate NAIL, Jimmy NAIL, John NAIL, Ellen NAIL and Pat NAIL, would they have
called it NAIL'S ROAD? The way Pat had his name on his cart was PAT /fAIL.
When Mickey Brien married Bride Roche, Jim Hedderson in Logy Bay loaded his muzzle loader
to salute the newly married couple. Apparently, it already had a load in it and when it discharged,
it exploded and blew his head off
Landmarks
I told Willie about the water breaking over the Rock, a couple of hundred yards off the point,
when my wife and I were down to the Point during a heavy undertow in the Fall of 1998. I'll
never forget the sound when the water broke - it was like a clap of thunder; and the sunlight
shining through the spray created a rainbow each time. Peg and I were really impressed. Willie
said that Middle Ledge was about a half mile out from the Rock, and that Tantum was about a
half mile out from the Middle Ledge. The three are an underwater extension of the Point.
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According to Willie, Middle Ledge will break when it is rougher again, and that Tantum will
break only when it is very rough. I don't think I would want to be out there then.
Codner's Hole is open towards Flatrock. There is no sign of it from Ship Cove Point, you would
never know it is there at all. If the ocean was frozen over, you could drive a Greyhound bus so
far in there that the rain and snow wouldn't fall on it. If you were a parking lot attendant, you
could put a few trucks in there along with her. There is a beach in there, but the cave keeps on
going and getting smaller all the way. There is scarcely enough of light way in there to catch
capelin unless they were on top of the water. I don't remember ever getting any capelin in there
and it wasn't for the want of going in there. Were you ever in any of them caves under Ship Cove
Point? The roof fell into the cave down at Lower Codner's Hole and "Mudder nature' is working
on it ever since. I suppose she has it almost filled up by now. I'm thinking that when you were
down there, you had no one to show you John Stack's Clock or the King and Queen up at
Halfway Rock. If you are ever looking for it. It is down in K1ondyke. There was lots of
arguments about what time it was. I never could decide which was the hour hand.
The old trail followed fairly close to the cliff Codner's Hole was two trap berths past half way
rock. At low water at half way rock, you could see the king and queen. There was also
K1ondyke, John Stack's clock and the Red Rocks. Them Red Rocks are head high when you are
back 20-30 feet from the landing. They are straight ahead when you land, and on the back wall.
It's not very showy in sunlight, but after a heavy rain shower, they are like the side of a MacIntosh
apple.
That flattest part across codfish point, the landing point and the steps was Derm's MASH. There
were no marshes there up until the time I left. Do you know where Dooley 's Mash is on the
Rocky Hills? Do you know anything about Martin Dooley? Roche the Blacksmith got Derm's
Mash. I hear some city millionaire bought it not long ago. I half believe this fellow was once the
Premier ofNF.
The Indian Meal Line meets the Torbay road at Grace's Bridge. At the time it was built, it was
known as Injun Male Road, so named because the men who worked on it, did so for Indian meal -
a mixture of crushed corn and com meal. The Government had no money left to finish the road.
Ends and Odds
Here is a topic for you when you are bending elbows with your Big Brass. They say all fresh
water Eels are spawned in, or around, Bermuda. They swim up to NFLD. New York is 1,000
miles from 'SIN JON'S'. Bermuda is off the coast of Florida. Add that on to their swim. In
August the Outer Cove River is teeming - teeming - with eels that are the size of lead pencils. In
the deep holes they are large as rattle snakes. The Fisheries claim they all leave NFLD before
winter? They are slow swimmers. I never saw one swim fast as the average human and I don't
think they can swim any faster.
I read one time that the US Navy had it out with a FIN whale one fine summer morning when
they were off Cape Bonavista. They were doing 16 knots when the whale came up alongside and
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stayed there. When they slowed to a crawl, he stayed in the same place. They couldn't shake him
off. When he decided to go on ahead, he made the Navy look like they were anchored. They
turned the radar on him. The whale was doing 26 knots and he wasn't pushing it.
That's what the story said Marty.
Torn Croke: The most delicate years of a man's life are between 60 and 65, and if a man lives
beyond 65 there was a 90% chance ofliving beyond 80.
My mother (Mary Boland) quoted her father (Michael Hickey) as saying that Torn Croke made
the nicest fish he ever saw and that he always got the top price over anyone else in Outer Cove.
Jane Croke: A good story is none the worse for being retold.
Willie Croke: If you understood women, you wouldn't believe it anyhow.
His uncle in Middle Cove used to complain that John Mannion used to visit on a number of
occasions looking for information about the old days but never brought a drop ofliquor, not even
a flask.
Connors House on Water St near the Court House had a big bronze horse in front of it.
Singer's store had a doll in the window that looked just like Cal Hickey (Cyril Lynch's wife).
Kill a spider and you will get rain. Kill a bee and you will get 21 years bad luck.
Willie told the story of a young man going through a field when he carne across a man raking
rocks. He asked the man where the rocks carne from. The man said the glacier brought them.
The young man asked where the glacier was. The old man said it was gone back for more rocks.
Pat Hickey of Gander was the last man Willie saw in Newfoundland when he left the island in
1955.
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Willie reca11ed a poem he enjoyed which had been published in the Evening Telegram in 1949. It
was an acrostic in which the first letter of each line combines to convey a message entirely
different from the words of the poem. The poem, and some background on it, can be found in
The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador under the heading 'Acrostic, Celebrated'.
According to the Enclyclopedia, "Sir Gordon MacDonald, the last Governor of Newfoundland,
was disliked by some Newfoundlanders. He was an ardent advocate of temperance, allowing no
alcoholic beverages at Government House receptions. He sometimes accepted invitations to
preach in churches in SI. John's, where he once referred to the 'wine-bibbers of the East End and
the beer-guzzlers of the West End.' He was also suspected by anti-Confederates of trying to push
Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada. He continued in office as Governor of
Newfoundland until 1949 and two days after he left the Island for the last time this acrostic
appeared in the Evening Telegram (Mar. 8, 1949), signed E.A.":
A Farewell!
The prayers of countless thousands sent
Heavenwards to speed thy safe return,
Enobled as thou art with duty well performed,
Bringing peace, security and joy
Among the peoples of this New Found Land.
So saddened and depressed until your presence
Taught us to discern and help decide what's best for
All on whom fortune had not smiled.
Remembering if you will the kindness and the love
Devotion and the rest that we the people have for thee - Fare-well!
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Regatta Stories
The Early Years
First, Larry Boland and Paddy Hickey were two buddies. They were the first people from Outer
Cove to row in the Regatta at Quidi Vidi. Some years they had crew members from outside
Outer Cove and entered the All Comers race. Larry Boland and Paddy Hickey rowed in the boat
that won the championship in 1873, '74, '75, '76, '78 and '79. In 1877 Placentia built a boat out
there. The crew carried her all the way to Kiddy Viddy on their shoulders. Yea on their back.
They won the championship in real good time. They brought their boat back to Placentia again.
How, I do not know.
The 1901 Regatta
I don't expect you ever heard very much of the races of 1901. What I heard from the horse's
mouth many times was this: That crew that made the new record that day said they didn't give one
damn what No. 1 and No.2 Torbay crews did, they were going after Outer Cove's No. 1 crew
with three Kinsellas on one side of her and three Roaches on the other and a Kinsella to steer
them. The rivalry in Outer Cove in 1901 was because the Kinsellas and Roches were getting a
berth to the seal fishery every Spring just for rowing in the Fishemen's Race, but they weren't
winning. Outer Cove hadn't won there for six years. Now that won't do, will it. The other
fishermen got teed off They 'scrabbled' a pick-up crew together that had vengeance in their
heart, and didn't they show it.
In the Fishermen's Race Torbay cracker jacks had Stake 1 Buoy 1, Outer Cove Roches and
Kinsellas had Stake 2 Buoy 2, Torbay No. 2 crew had Stake 3 Buoy 3 and Outer Cove make-up
crew had Stake 4 Buoy 4. The Outer Cove make-up crew consisted of: Walter Power, Cox., John
Whelan, Stroke, Dan McCarthy, Denis McCarthy, Denis Croke, John Nugent and Martin Boland.
The Blue Peter was the first down to the Booies. 'Twas like a bird to wing, me boys, they turned
that buoy around and with three strokes on the Starboard side, 'twas Homeward they were bound.
They were around the Booie and straightened up for home when Torbay's No. 2 crew came right
across their bow to tum No.3 . That was what put the real devil into them. It's against all rules
of navigation, and 'horse sense' to cross anyone's bow when they are moving. The Peter had to
stop dead in the water or else cut them right in two. Dan McCarthy on No. 5 oar hauled his oar
across her. He spit on his two hands. He smacked them together with a loud BANG. Then he
hollered: "Let's go get 'em boys". 'Owl Watt' shouted: "Go ahead"! They had to start offfrom a
dead stop and go through No. 3's wake. By the time they got her well under way again, Torbay
and Outer Cove were going home. Dan was bending his oar and throwing shovelfuls of water out
behind them. His brother, behind him on oar No. 4 hollered: "Don't break that oar!" They said he
could have and probably would. When they got to where the river runs in there, her nose was as
far ahead as Jim Kinsella's rudder. 'Owl Watt' hollered: "Give me ten hard ones! All you got!"
He counted them out 1-2-3 ... 'Twas there and then that 'Captain Bill Ryan left Terry behind, to
paddle his own canoe'. (A reference to an old song about an incident at the Seal Hunt in 1867.)
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They were going on Neddy Gosse until they ran out of water. If that pond had to be a little bit
longer, they would have licked him too.
The next part of this, 'old cuffer', is the part I like best. When they got back to the Boat House
and got dressed for a day at the Races, 'Owl Watt' said "We will stay together today. We are
going to row again this evening." But Dan McCarthy wasn't there. Someone should tell Dan that
they were going to row again, but he couldn't be found. All day long they couldn't find anyone
that saw him at all that day. Some said that he must have been so disgusted with that race that he
went home again. The broad minded ones said: "He is probably gone on a binge. You are likely
to find him and a half dozen of them up in the Cemetery sitting around a few bottles of rum" .
That evening when it was time to go again, Watt had only five men standing on the Dock, when
Dan McCarthy came strolling out of the Boat House with his two hands swinging, all stripped
down to row. There was a silence you 'most could hear. The crew said you would hear a pin
drop on a woolen blanket. Old Watt broke the silence. He said: "Any man that had a drink of
liquor today don't get into this boat!" McCarthy didn't wait to hear any more. He jumped down
in the boat and spit on his two hands. He smacked them together with a loud Bang, and looked
up at the crew and said: "Come on boys, let's go get 'em good this time!" Rumor had it that when
they pushed away from the dock, McCarthy looked old Watt straight in the eye and said: "If we
don't come back first this time, you are going to have to swim ashore." Poor owl Watt couldn't
swim across a backyard swimming pool. I often heard him say that if he ever went overboard, he
would go down like a crow bar. At that time a crow bar wasn't something you could carry in
your hand. In his latter days when anyone asked: "How are ya gettin' on, Watt?" , his answer was:
"Well, I'm still keepin' me head over water. "
That race in 190 I didn't end a bit like that song said it did. Our Heroes didn't win by half a length.
They gave Tarbay a hell of a /ickin '. The year before that, in 1900, Torbay made 9:29. They
were a smashing crew. My theory is: they weren't any better than that in 190 I, with Outer Cove
running away from them right from the start TWICE that day. The song says that "Our heroes
won by half a length, when they made the 9: 13". Old fellows that were there that evening told me
that it was a hell of a lot more than that. Your records (The write-up on the Races given in the
Daily News the following day) say that Neddy got back in 9:22.6. NOW that was a HELL of a
Iickin! Them boats go a long way in 8 or 9 seconds.
Another bit of truth that is possibly not on the Internet is the 'P ElER' could have taken a good bit
off that 9: 13 . Because she turned No. 4 Booie, she hit - made - the North Shore about the
Airplane Hanger. She skimmed the North Shore to about Ross' Lane, and then headed for NO. 4
Stake. That is a fact. I always heard more about that than any other part of the race. The next
day they asked 'OWL WA IT why he came over there. He said: "I wanted to show everyone on
that Goddamn Bank what they were up against." She crossed that pond twice and got back in
9: 13.8. I say they were better than they ever got credit for and no crew today could do it in such
a boat as the Blue Peter.
If you are curious about McCarthy's antics that day, and I would be, Dan was koortin ' a lassie in
Logy Bay by the name of Liz Malone at that time. He had an appointment to meet her after the
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Fishennen's Race which was in the morning. They figured he dressed fast, and went out the side
window. Anyway, Dan and Lassio spent all that day in Summers' meadow and it was right by the
side of the boat house. Who would look there for him? Dan later married Liz and after a few
short years of hauling dead fish around Tar Bay Pint, they both set out for the shores of Boston -
a home for all. One day when them old cod haulers were discussing the spats that they were
having with their wives, Dan said: "I always, and ever, have the last word with my wife. I'll tell
you that here and now!" A smart Alec said: "And what is that, Dan?" He said: "It's always 'Yes
Dear!' he he he".
When my sister and me asked our uncle who held the NO. 5 oar while that picture of the 9: 13
crew was being taken in 1922, he said: "that is the fellow that took us out there and brought us
back again. His name is ARCHIBALD BISHOP." Why I remember so well is we always referred
to him as ARCH BISHOP and sometimes as 'The Archbishop'. (This anecdote by Willie Croke
complemented what my parents (pat and Mary Boland) said many times. They said they didn't
know his first name, but his last name was Bishop. The reason they remembered the name is
because Fr Dan O'Callaghan often said that ifhe had known they were getting their picture taken
that day "it wouldn't be a Bishop in the boat, it would be a priest".) That fellow that thought that
McCarthy should take a month off work and go back to NFLD to have his picture taken (for
someone else to look at) didn't know McCarthy very well.
The 1902 Regatta
According to The Daily News, in 1902 the Outer Cove crew consisted of: J Kinsella, Cox., John
Whelan, Stroke, Martin Boland, John Nugent, D Kinsella J Croke and D Croke. They again
rowed the Blue Peter and won the Fishennen's Race in a time of 9:31.8 as well as the
Championship Race in a time of9:22. They won the Governor's medals and the Honorable E. P.
Morris' $2 gold piece. I told Willie I had a poor quality photograph of the 1902 crew and asked
him for help identifying the crew. His response to this question was very interesting:
Did you ever try taking that photo of the 1902 Outer Cove crew to Mr Tooton to see what his
new computer can do. They can do wonders with old snaps now-a-days. In 1901, your
grandfather Boland rowed No. 1 oar and made a record that lasted for 80 years. When he rowed
in 1902, how could you figure he had any oar but No.1. If I was looking for Martin Boland on a
snap, I would look for the man with the biggest legs and arms and maybe the shortest and widest
guy there. Whelan was the smallest fellow. Nugent was a small fellow, a little taller and lighter
than Whelan. There was never a J. Croke in Outer Cove, and the two in Logy Bay were Pat and
Tom. If Din Croke is on that picture, he is the tallest and youngest in the crew. When they made
the new record in 1901 he was 19 years old and he rowed No. 3 oar. There was no picture in
Outer Cove. I remember more today that one your grandmother Boland had of Fr. O'Callaghan .
. She always had it over her China Cabinet. Daniel was a slim young fellow. I think he was 6'5"
and the Outer Cove crew from the 1920s he was photographed with included John Nugent, Cox.,
Nix Power, Stroke, Jim Coady, Stephen Power, Nix Power, Dan Houston and Dave Hickey.
My father (Tom Croke) rowed there in 1900. In 190 I of the record year, my father was fishing
out of Boston. I doubt very much that my father was home in 1902. It was many times I heard
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Din Croke say: "Anyone would go rowing for fun, would go to Hell for passtime". Mull that over
for a while. In 1902, the two McCarthys didn't row. I don't think they ever rowed again, and I'm
not sure they ever rowed before either. When I try to dope things out, I do it by deduction. Like,
the two McCarthys are out. So I have John Whelan, Nugent, Dave Kinsella, Martin Boland and
maybe Din Croke. There's 5 down and I to go. Now pay attention! At that time (1902) there was
a Jimmy Hickey there that was best known as Jimmy Croke Hickey, and to many he was Jimmy
Croke. He was married to Kate Croke and they had five fine girls. Maybe he was a stand-in on
your snap. And maybe he was just standing around and they needed one more to fill 'ER up. HA .
He wouldn't be rowing with them because he was the one that rowed the bow oar in the Myrtle
when they made 9:20. That was in 1885. That record lasted for 16 years. STERN to stem they
had Watt Power, Will Power, and Nix Power on one side with Mike Stack, Mike Hanlon and
Jimmy Hickey on the Starboard side.
William Joseph,
In Gaelic its Liam O'Croagh (By Hell)
Rantin' Roarin' WiUie
Martin M Boland
December 11, 2000
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Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory - Avalon
