ANTH 452
The Folklore of Coastal New England Fishing Communities
New England coastal folklore draws from a rich heritage of Algonquin, French, and English traditions, and revolves around the sea. The ocean is an unpredictable environment, yet it has nourished life on the coast since the first communities settled its shores. Economically dependent on fishing, these communities have developed a robust folk culture revolving around the Atlantic: admiration of its bounties, fear of its dangers, and hard work at sea. The ocean touches every life on the coast, and as such there are hundreds of folk tales, heroes, rituals, and beliefs that make up the fabric of New England coastal culture.
New England History and Heritage
New England folklore and culture is a blend of many different communities. Colonists from England and Ireland brought cultural folklore to New England, blending with preexisting folklore and tradition from Algonquian tribes, as well as French Canadian communities at the northern-most points of New England. In this regard, the folklore and rituals of New England fishing communities draw from this cultural heritage, presenting a fusion of belief, ritual, and folk art. English fishing communities share parallels regarding rituals for sailors, while Algonquian folktales contain similar references to the personification of the ocean and its inhabitants, a continual theme in coastal New England folk groups (Gregor, 55 and Parsons, 63).
Safety At Sea, and Ensuring a Good Catch
The ocean is a dangerous place, and many New England folk beliefs and rituals revolve around preventing disaster from occurring while at sea. These beliefs have been developed as a response to the unpredictability of the ocean: the possibility of storms, large sea creatures, and the dangers inherent with heavy equipment are reckoned with every day by sailors and fishermen. As such, there are a multitude of superstitions with proscriptive qualities, including beliefs such as never turning a boat hatch upside down, and never whistling at sea (Dorson, 281, Poggie, 69, Gennep, 8). These beliefs are common across the coast, creating a folk community steeped in ritual and folktale intended to provide fishermen with a psychological element of control over the uncontrollable ocean (Poggie, 68). The folklore of the sentience of the ocean can be seen here, responding to the sailor's success or failure to adhere to these rules.Folk superstition also combats the unpredictability of the ocean in another regard: the bounty of the sea. Fishermen and their coastal communities depend on quality catches, and so a rich folk tradition has been developed in order to ensure successful fishing expeditions. These rituals, like those of safety, are also often proscriptive: examples include never carrying two dollar bills or black suitcases on board, and never launching a new boat "dry," or without throwing a large launching party for the community to attend (Poggie, 69, Dorson, 280, Gennep, 8). Here one can see that the folk rituals extend beyond the fishermen themselves, touching the lives of every person in the coastal community.
Scrimshander Art
There is a variety of folk art created by the New England coastal folk group, spanning centuries. The most notable form of their folk art is scrimshander art, carved by whalers from whale bones and teeth (Babcock, 131). Two of the most famous scrimshander artists, Frederick Myrick and Edward Burdett, hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, and their legacy of artwork remains as valuable pieces of the history of whaling (Nantucket Historical Society, 1). These folk art pieces contain a plethora of references to life on fishing and whaling vessels, as well as lyrics, Bible verses, and depictions of homes and families. Scrimshander art is considered to be one of the few unique forms of American folk art, and was used by sailors as a way to pass the time and relax while surrounded by the perils of the open ocean.
Folk Music
Folk music also has been influenced by New England coastal folklore superstition, including sea shanties. In more modern times, the midcentury folk singer Connie Converse is an example of this folk art heritage. Born in 1924 in New Hampshire, Converse's music reflects the folk group she grew up within. Her song "King Neptune" tells the story of a wife singing prayers to Neptune to ensure the safety of her husband at sea. Here, the element of risk inherent to the trade is evident, as is the rituals involved with ensuring safety at sea.Sea shanties are songs with specifically timed lyrics or repetitive elements meant to be sung to the rhythm of work on a ship, such as hauling rope (Gioia, 115). Sea shanties themselves have a long-standing tradition in New England fishing communities, many of them adapted from other shanties in fishing communities around the world. One such example, "Blow the Man Down," also includes references to King Neptune- another example of fishing communities personifying the ocean in folklore.
Excerpt from "King Neptune"
I sing to the God with the three pronged rod
And the whiskers wild and free
That I've got a man with a beard and tan
And a passion for the seaHe rides through the storm, and the cold and the warm
And he loves to risk his neck
And I like to know when he goes below
That it's just below the deckExcerpt from "Blow the Man Down"
He prayed to King Neptune, the ruler of seas
Away, away, blow the man down.
He prayed to King Neptune to send him a
breeze,
Oh give us some time to blow the man down.
Folk Heroes
There is a plethora of folk tales within this folk group, many localized to specific communities and recounting tales of legendary community members, disasters, or catches. One notable folk character is the infamous Paris Calor (also spelled Kaler) of Jonesport, Maine. Kaler was born in the 1850's and later immortalized in folk legend for tossing coins into the ocean to "buy wind" from the sea to fill his sails (Dorson, 279). This folk tale emphasizes the continual dialogue between coastal communities and the personified ocean: and also illustrates how real people can become canonized into folklore.Another such folk hero comes from Massachusetts: Alfred Bulltop Stormalong. This folk hero is a mythical one, rather than a real historical person. His story is told as such: he was a sailor who was reported to have had a ship so large it could not fit into Boston Harbor, and the masts had to be lowered at night to keep them from hitting the moon (Schlosser, 1).Both these characters, real and created, exist as part of a greater folk history of sailors, the sea, and New England as a whole.
Two Final Statements: The Community in Coastal Folklore, and The Modern Problem
Coastal New England folklore is marked by one thing: the Atlantic Ocean. Fishing in various forms has been and remains one of the largest industries in the region, employing and feeding many. As such, the ocean is the focal point of life for those on the coast, regardless of employment. Even non-fishermen are aware of the constant sounds of the waves beating against rocky shores, the smells of high and low tide, and the feeling of salt on one’s skin and hair. I would like to emphasize that the folklore and ritual of these coastal communities is not relegated solely to fishermen, even though many folk superstitions pertain to this industry. Rather, it is a folk culture that extends to every person who lives in coastal New England, as the ocean plays a role in everyone’s life.In a second ending note, as technological advancements have increased certainty of fishing yields and safety, many older folk rituals and beliefs no longer hold the same weight amongst the younger generation of New England fishermen. However, these communities keep these traditions, rituals, beliefs, and arts alive. This is indicative of the continued importance of the ocean upon New England coastal communities, as well as the generations of heritage and culture now intertwined with these folk beliefs and practices. To conclude, as fishermen face new problems such as depleted fish stocks and environmental changes, it can be understood that this folk group is still faced with the still fickle and uncertain ocean, and these folk beliefs shall live on.
CitationsBabcock, C. Merton. “Melville’s Backwoods Seamen.” Western Folklore 10, no. 2 (1951): 126–33. https://doi.org/10.2307/1497965.Dorson, Richard M. “Collecting Folklore in Jonesport, Maine.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 101, no. 3 (1957): 270–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/985369."Father Neptune," #11 on Connie Converse, How Sad, How Lovely, 2009.Gennep, Arnold van, Monika B. Vizedom, Gabrielle L. Caffee, and David I. Kertzer. The Rites of Passage. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2019.Gioia, Ted. "Sea and Shore," in Work Songs: Duke University Press, 2006. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11hpj5f.Gregor, Walter. “Some Folk-Lore of the Sea.” The Folk-Lore Journal 3, no. 1 (1885): 52–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1252596.Handler, Richard, and Jocelyn Linnekin. “Tradition, Genuine or Spurious.” The Journal of American Folklore 97, no. 385 (1984): 273–90. https://doi.org/10.2307/540610.Nantucket Historical Association. “Scrimshaw Gallery,” n.d. https://nha.org/whats-on/exhibitions/featured-exhibitions/scrimshaw-gallery/.Parsons, Elsie Clews. “Micmac Folklore.” The Journal of American Folklore 38, no. 147 (1925): 55–133. https://doi.org/10.2307/534961.Poggie, John J., and Carl Gersuny. “Risk and Ritual: An Interpretation of Fishermen’s Folklore in a New England Community.” The Journal of American Folklore 85, no. 335 (1972): 66–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/539130.Schlosser, S.E. “Old Stormalong.” American Folklore, n.d. https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-stormalong/.Winick, Stephen. “A Deep Dive Into Sea Shanties.” Library of Congress: Folklife Today, January 29, 2021. https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2021/01/a-deep-dive-into-sea-shanties/.
This project is a part of a research anthology by students of Oregon State University's ANTH 452 Folklore and Expressive Culture class.More student projects can be viewed here:https://folkloreandexpressiveculture.jimdofree.com/