Let Me Fish Off Cape St Mary's, Irish Descendants
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- Опубліковано 12 сер 2015
- A tribute to my grandfather, Otto P. Kelland, O.C.
A beautiful rendition of Let me Fish Off Cape St. Mary's sung by the Irish Descendants.
My grandfather wrote the lyrics and composed the music.
Video shot by my son Maximilian Kelland and edited by Max and Kevin Hu.
This was my father's favourite song. He had a brief but hard fight with cancer and requested it for his funeral. The verse "And when I reach that last big shoal, Where the groundswells break asunder, Where the wild sands roll to the surge's toll, Let me be a man and take it, When my dory fails to make it" always reminds me of his courage at the end.
Oh, how I miss my Newfoundland! So beautiful with wonderful people.
Proud to be a Newfoundland descendant...Hopefully I can "Come from away" again someday..
I watched this video a few days ago with great interest and decided I had to comment. My name is Gerard Broderick,,, I was a member of the Irish Descendants from 1992 to 1999. I played Drums and bodhran and did some harmony vocals as well. Toured extensively and recorded two CD's with the band ( Gypsies & Lovers and Livin' on the Edge ). I think this is a fantastic video and most fitting tribute to Mr. Kelland. I would like to thank Bob Kelland for a Job well done. My home town of Bay de Verde is featured in the video a couple of times. It brings back a lot of fond memories of being in the recording studio in Toronto in the summer of 95.
My mom was originally from Petty Harbour, Nfld; she taught school in the Collinet area when she met my dad in 1954 (he was in the U.S. Army). My mom always said the most beautiful part of Newfoundland was Cape St. Mary's area. She loved the beautiful sound of the Irish Descendants; especially the "original members". Though she passed away in 2007; when I hear this song in particular, I have fond and nostalgic memories of my mom and of Newfoundland; I can't wait to go back for a visit this summer to see my relatives and the beautiful scenery of the "rock"!!
I bought your cd several years ago and later had the opportunity watched your band play at the Old Dublin Pub in Charlottetown It was in the early 2000's. It was amazing . You guys are probably the most underrated Irish band on the planet.
Hi Gerard would you be able to contact me?
Gerard, I love this song/video. You & your brother are amazing musicians. It's a God-given talent for sure. I don't think you guys realize how much you are appreciated by so many people. God Bless.
Loved your shows.
You don’t have to be a Newfoundlander to love this song. Such emotion of place!!
Oh how I miss my home that beautiful Rock !! And God Bless the By’s we call the Irish Decedents 🍻
my dad fished off cape st mary's ~ our family was stretched across st marys bay from branch to trepassey ,,, great tune !
First heard this sung slow and sad at Gros Morne Nat. Park in 1985. Best sea chanty ever, to me. Beautifully shot video. I long to go back.
By far, this is my favourite version of this song. So powerful
Beautiful music & images of a magical island called Newfoundland
Saw the band last night in the "Small Halls" of Ontario tour. So good to see them again.
Absolutely beautiful---Otto was a family friend.
This song makes me most emotional next to hearing the Ode to Newfoundland. The video is beautiful and I long for home watching it. No wonder we Newfoundlanders love our home no matter how far away we are.
Probably one of the best renditions of this song.
"The Browns and the Cleary's", me mudder was a Cleary born in Argentia, Newfoundland.
Her name was Mary Cleary. Parents were Richard and Ellen Cleary.
A wonderful musical tribute, to all those Newfs who fished and finished in the broad Atlantic. Had a fine Newfoundland friend who died too young of cancer, and I always think of him when I listen to Mr. Kelland's wonderful piece of music. thanks
Beautiful - Juann
Take me back to my Western boat,
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary's,
Where the hogdowns sail and the foghorns wail,
With my friends the Browns and the Clearys,
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary's.
Let me feel my dory lift,
To the broad Atlantic combers,
Where the tide rips swirl and the wild ducks whirl,
Where Old Neptune calls the number,
'Neath the broad Atlantic combers.
Let me sail up Golden Bay,
With my oilskins all a streamin',
From the thunder squall when I hauled me trawl,
And my old Cape Ann a gleamin',
With my oil skins all a streamin'.
Let me view that rugged shore,
Where the beach is all a-glisten,
With the Caplin spawn where from dusk to dawn,
You bait your trawl and listen,
To the undertow a-hissin'.
When I reach that last big shoal,
Where the ground swells break asunder,
Where the wild sands roll to the surge's toll,
Let me be a man and take it,
When my dory fails to make it.
Take me back to that snug green cove,
Where the seas roll up their thunder,
There let me rest in the earth's cool breast,
Where the stars shine out their wonder,
And the seas roll up their thunder.
Take me back to my western boat
Let me fish off cape St. Mary’s
Where the hogdowns sail and the foghorns wail
With my friends the browns and the clearys
Let me fish off cape St. Mary’s
I love this song,,,and all the ideas and feelings associated with it, being the daughter of an Irish fisherman.Gerry O'Shea , from Castletownbere , who married my mother in Howth ,another fishing port,,,this is a wonderful song as are most of the songs I have listened to by 'the Irish Descendants,,problem is I cannot buy any of their c.ds as it says they do not deliver to my address,,,Ireland,,...well there you go...
Lovely Video and Music. This is one of my favorite all time NFLD songs. I play piano and fly a DJI Air2S so I can relate to all of it. Thank you for your excellent work.
Beautiful tribute to your grandfather Bob. Thank you for posting this. My Gr gr grandfather Patrick Corcoran lies in those waters. He went down with with his dory full of Cod off the Cape of St. Mary's.
beautiful, thank you Bob.
Great and a very talented man Bob. He worked with my father Frank Bennett at the old Fishery College
Beautiful.
Love the song, reminds me of fishing here in the summer time I'm a fisherman from Torbay nl
Nice tribute. Excellent drone shooting and the editing is well done. Feel proud.
always loved this song
best rendition i ever heard
I love it!
Awesome video, seen my hometown of Ochre Pit Cove a few times in the video. Makes me a little homesick, but in a good way. Thanks for sharing this beautiful video.
Hi Pete I have a house in OPC on Wharf Road, used to be owned by Gord and Vera Rose. Perhaps related.
@@bobkelland7769 Me and Gord were very good friends way back, havent seen him in 40 years
Loves it
hi Bob! Great to connect with you this way! I am your 2nd cousin twice removed?? No idea how that works. I figure it out and then I forget. My grandfather is Aubrey Kelland! My kids and I sing this song along with the Irish Descendants and simply love it. My eldest son was reading Otto's book several years ago on our way to pick up our puppy. We needed up naming our dog Otto! Maybe we can find each other on Facebook :)
Nice to meet you Susan. It looks like your grandfather and my great-grandfather (Edgar) were brothers. Edgar and Mary Pittman had 6 children. Otto was the youngest (and favourite :)). Otto and Hilda had 10 children, my father Robert had 4 children. Im the oldest (and as it turns out coincidentally the favourite) of that crowd. I have 2 boys. My oldest took this video. You can prob find me on facebook.
very nice...
The Globe and Mail ~
HALIFAX -- Prison warden Otto Kelland was working at his
desk at the St. John's penitentiary in 1947 when he decided
to set to music a conversation he had with a sea captain
about a homesick sailor who yearned to fish in waters near
his southeastern Newfoundland home.
In about 20 minutes the poet, balladeer and author who made
a living as a policeman and prison official penned the
haunting lyrics of the universally famous song that is the
unofficial anthem of Newfoundland and Labrador: Let Me Fish
Off Cape St. Mary's.
"I thought about this conversation between this young man
and the captain," Mr. Kelland recalled in a CBC interview
several years ago. "I wrote Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary's
without hesitation."
Mr. Kelland died in the small Newfoundland community of
Flatrock on July 8 at the age of 99, only one month shy of
his 100th birthday.
He wrote several books, including Dories and Dorymen and
Strange and Curious: Unusual Newfoundland Stories, and his
ship's models were widely sought by craft collectors for
their detail and craftsmanship. But it was the
emotion-choked song of yearning for the rugged life of
small-boat fishing that was his trademark.
Mr. Kelland was born in the small Newfoundland town of
Lamaline in 1904.
His work history included stints at the Royal Newfoundland
Constabulary and serving as warden and superintendent of the
penitentiary in St. John's; as well, he was a prolific
writer who composed several songs and poems about life in
his home province. He and his wife also raised 10 children.
On his day job Mr. Kelland was known as a hard worker and as
a manager who insisted work be done by the book. But his
most famous composition is laced with romanticism and
fatalism about life and death at sea.
It is a song that calls the fisherman back to his boat off
the awe-inspiring cape where he fishes with his neighbours
among wailing foghorns, swirling tides and whirling wild
ducks.
In the sixth verse the fisherman reaches the final shoal
swept by the surging sea onto the sand and the song
concludes: "when the wild sands roll to the surges toll/ let
me be a man and take it/ when my dory fails to make it."
In a society where the sea dominates the politics and
culture the song struck a chord with Newfoundlanders -- many
of whom had never been to sea and had no desire to fish on
the swirling seas off Cape St. Mary's.
It evoked a yearning for a simpler way of life when
fishermen did go to sea in dories and spoke of a love for
life on the water.
In the 1990s when the cod stocks were depleted and thousands
of fishermen were forced off the water the song was an
often-sung anthem for those who wanted to get back to their
traditional, rugged way of making a living.
One of the most poignant renditions of the song was done by
Folk of the Sea, a group of out-of-work fishermen and
fishery workers who toured the country in 1995 singing songs
from their province.
Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary's was recorded by more than a
dozen artists and performed by many choirs and symphonies.
The Newfoundland Youth Symphony Choir performed it in 1994
when Mr. Kelland was named to the Order of Canada for his
contributions to Newfoundland culture.
"He was a very dignified man, strong and powerful," said
singer Dennis Ryan this month. He interviewed Mr. Kelland on
a CBC program in 1977.
"He symbolized Newfoundland -- he was rugged, cultured and
tough."
Mr. Ryan's trio, Ryan's Fancy, recorded Let Me Fish Off Cape
St. Mary's in the early 1970s and he has sung it all over
the world for audiences who want to hear a Newfoundland
song.
"You just close your eyes and the lyrics transcend you to
Newfoundland," Mr. Ryan said.
He recalled singing the song in Winnipeg at a folk festival
in the early 1970s before 10,000 people.
"A few months later I met a girl on the street in St. John's
and she said she was from Manitoba and she was going to
university [in St. John's]. She told me one of the reasons
she decided to come to school in Newfoundland was that
song," Mr. Ryan recalled.
Newfoundland musician Fergus O'Byrne, a member of Ryan's
Fancy in the 1970s, recalled being struck by the song when
the group recorded it. The group, made up of three Irish
singers who had come to Canada, was looking to add
Newfoundland songs to its repertoire.
"This was one of the songs that really struck us as a
description of what it was like to be in a boat at sea. It
was very dramatic," Mr. O'Byrne recalled in an interview
after Mr. Kelland's death. "At the time when you're
recording something you don't think much about the
significance of a song. But when it became a mini-hit we
began to see what it was."
Mr. O'Byrne said that the song was a favourite of his
father-in-law who was a lobster fisherman.
"It described what it was like for a fisherman to be out
there," Mr. O'Byrne said.
In a tribute to Mr. Kelland, Newfoundland's Tourism, Culture
and Recreation Minister Paul Shelley called Let Me Fish Off
Cape St. Mary's "a true Newfoundland classic."
Mr. Shelley also praised Mr. Ryan's contributions to
Newfoundland culture.
Mr. Kelland's collection of strange Newfoundland stories
included the tale of Springheel Jack who travelled around
the Avalon peninsula in the early 1900s wagering that he
could broad jump farther than anyone in the town he was
visiting. He also published a book of poetry called Bow
Wash. But the fishing song was his legacy.
Mr. Ryan sang the song at a wedding in Bermuda the weekend
after Otto Kelland died.
"He [Mr. Kelland] was almost a hundred years of age but that
song will live for hundreds of years," Mr. Ryan said.
LET ME FISH OFF CAPE ST. MARY'S
Take me back to my western boat
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary's
Where the hog-down sail
And the fog horns wail
With my friends the Browns and the Clearys
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary's
Let me feel my dory lift
To the broad Atlantic combers
Where the tide rip swirls
And the wild ducks whirl
And old Neptune calls the numbers
'Neath the wild Atlantic combers
Let me sail up Golden Bay
With my oilskins all a-streaming
From the thunder squalls when I hauled my trawls
And my old Cape Ann a-gleaming
With my oilskins all a-streaming
And let me view that ragged shore
With the beaches all a-glisten
With the caplin spawn
Where from dusk till dawn
You bait your trawn, and you listen
To the undertow a-hissin'
And when I reach that last big shoal
Where the groundswells break asunder,
Where the wild sands roll to the surge's toll
Let me be a man and take it
When my dory fails to make it
Oh take me back to that snug green cove
Where the seas roll up their thunder
There let me rest
In the Earth's cool breast
Where the stars shine out their wonder
Ad the seas roll up their thunder
Thank you for the Great read and for history behind one of the most beloved Newfoundland songs. God bless you.
thank you for the additional context.
I was so happy to share all the history. Right up there with the “Ode to Newfoundland” is “Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s”. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Mr. Kelland was an amazing man.
This video came my way. Absolutely lovely. I’ve been to NL. TROUT RIVER and across to St. John’s. Amazing province. 🌟♥️🌊
Anyone know where I can get the lyrics and chords for this song....Chordify does not have the correct ones
Harry Hibbs
When was this written please? Also, was Otto P. Kelland Irish, if so where from or where were his anscestors from please?
It was written in 1947.
Otto was born in Newfoundland and lived in Flatrock.
My grandfather was born in Lamaline, Newfoundland.
Harry hibbs
He does another nice version
Beautiful. Not cape st. Mary’s though
North shore of conception bay
The scenes are from around various areas of Avalon Peninsula - videos taken mostly by his great grandson. Should be re-done with more video from Cape St Marys area.