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I was much struck with the beauty of the little valley we had visited, its sheltered situation between two bold rocky ridges, and the apparent superiority of the soil on the banks of the pond and brook, as evinced by the larger size of the trees, and the little patches of natural grass or turf which were to be seen.
– J. Beete Jukes, 1842¹
The families who once lived along the coastline in this area were largely self-sufficient. They grew their own vegetables, raised their own livestock, and hunted, fished, and foraged for their food. The closest shops were located in what is known as Burnt Head, and in Cupids, or over the hill in nearby Brigus.²
Most families had small kitchen gardens near their houses. They grew vegetables such as cabbages, carrots, potatoes, beets, turnips, and other root vegetables. Seeds were collected and saved for the next season — the shops in Brigus or Cupids could supply seeds for crops whose seeds were too difficult to collect (such as carrots and turnips).³
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| Three men and a child pose with their long-bladed scythes, date unknown. Photo courtesy of Ed Taylor, Cupids Historical Society Collection, Cupids Legacy Centre. |
They also needed larger pastures to grow hay, to feed horses and cows, which would be harvested using scythes. Hay from the summer crop was dried and kept in the stable. Where now there are trees, families would tend several garden plots. Rock walls served as permanent boundaries that indicated to successive generations where their family land was located. These gardens and pastures are gone now, but you can still see the remains of rock walls and old fences that formed the pasture boundaries.
Early settlers from England and Ireland brought their dry stone wall traditions with them. Dry stone walls are built without mortar.⁴ Sometimes the stone was quarried, but rocks removed to make land more tillable were mostly used. Sometimes known as "diter" walls, they were built or repaired after the fishing season was over and fishermen returned from Labrador.⁵
The stones were stacked, piled or even thrown together to form boundaries⁶, some more loose piles than sturdy walls. They protected crops from horses, cows, goats, and sheep, which were generally left to roam during the summer. In winter time the animals were kept stabled to protect them from the harsh Newfoundland weather. Households also kept hens and sometimes ducks.
In the summer, caplin was collected.⁷ This little fish was very important to Newfoundland life. In addition to being pan fried and eaten for lunch, caplin was also used as fertilizer for the gardens and fed to the dogs.
² Renelle Bishop, "The Abandoned Communities: Greenland, Noder Cove and Deep Gulch," August 6, 2000, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
³ Graham Newell, interview with Kelly Butler, July 14, 1997, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
⁴ Dan Snow and Dale Jarvis, "Dry Stone Wall Building and Its Place in Newfoundland's Heritage," Living Heritage Podcast episode 204, April 9, 2021.
⁵ "Diter," Dictionary of Newfoundland English, edited by George Story, W.J. Kirwin, J.D.A. Widdowson, and Rex Murphy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.
⁶ Alexander Robertson, The Walled Landscape of Grates Cove, National Historic Site, http://lib-lespaul.library.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/GratesCoveStoneWalls.pdf.
⁷ Vernon Taylor, interview with Tammy Mason, June 15, 1998, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.