August Gale (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The captains and crews of four ships lost are cited: John Follett, Danny Cheeseman, John Lockin. Only the Annie is mentioned by name. The singer hopes God will protect the families of the dead
AUTHOR: Billy Wilson (source: Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou)
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck moniker
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 25, 1927 - The _Joyce M. Smith_, _Uda F. Corkum_, _Mahala_, and _Clayton W. Walters_, all of Lunenburg, are lost with all hands off the Sable Island shoal. The _Annie Healy_, _Effie May_, Hilda Gertrude_, _John C. Loughlin_, _Vienna_, _Annie Jane_, and _Loretta_ are lost in Newfoundland
Aug 25, 1935 - "Placentia Bay was hit by a severe storm ... which claimed the lives of forty fishermen."
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou 5A, "The August Gale" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #30700
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gale of August '27" (subject) (describes the consequences of this storm in Nova Scotia)
cf. "The August Gale (II)" (subject?)
cf. "The Annie Young" (subject?)
NOTES [373 words]: Although Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou link this and "The August Gale (II)" to the gale of August 1935, for which see "The Annie Young," they appear to have been wrong about ths one at least -- at least if my sources are correct about ship casualties. The names of the captains clearly show that this was the Gale of August 1927. Gerald Hallowell, The August Gales: The Tragic Loss of Fishing Schooners in the North Atlantic, 1926 and 1927, Nimbus Publishing, 2013, p. 133, lists seven Newfoundland ships lost in 1927, the Annie Healy (7 men lost), the Effie May (six lost), the Hilda Gertrude (8 lost), the John C. Loughlin (7 lost), the Vienna (6 lost), the Annie Jane (four lost), and the Loretta (there doesn't seem to be any information on who was aboard her).
Hallowell, pp. 153-154, says that most of the crew of the Joyce M. Smith was from Newfoundland, although she sailed from Lunenberg. Hallowell therefore thinks the crew of the Smith were the first Newfoundlanders to die in the storm.
References in the song are as follows:
"John Follett in his little boat about ten tons or more": None of the ships listed in Hallowell had a captain named Follett, but John Mullins was captain of the Annie Healy, and he and his son Michael were lost in her wreck. Also, Arthur Durnford was the captain of the Effie May, and he and his son Frank were lost in her wreck.
"Danny Cheeseman from Rushoon also went down that day": Danny Cheeseman of Rushoon was the captain of the Hilda Gertrude.
"Another schooner... Commanded by John Locklin from Red Harbour": William Albert Loughlin of Red Harbor was captain of the John C. Loughlin (thus the informant confused the name of the captain and the ship).
"The Annie from Fox Harbour... with seven hearty fishermen": Earlier versions of the Index said the Annie was the Annie Young, but it is clear that it was the Annie Healy, of Fox Harbour, which had seven men aboard. The song says all the crew were married except the captain's son. Michael Mullins, the son of Captain John Young, was only 17, so he presumably wasn't married yet. According to Hallowell, p. 132, Darrell Duke produced a play, "Thursday's Storm: The Annie Healy Story" about that ship. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: LeBe005A

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