Untitled - Memorial University's Digital Archives - Memorial ...

When I told this story to the people on Tickernluck Island as a possible tall tale.
thc) accepted it as possibly being a true story. They infonned mc thaI the husky puppy
owned b) the children was the only one in the litter to sun1vc attacks from flies.
No lall tales \\ere recorded during my inten'iews in Colliers: however. some
reference to the flies from Labrador are described in the abo\'c personal narrativcs. Their
intensity has earned them a place in the folklife of Labrador. as reflected in the foJlo\\;ng
archival account.
Labrador mosquitoes are credited with being the biggest and most fierce in
lhe world. They do not carT)' malaria. It always secmed 10 mc. lhe furthcr
nonh I wenl. the thicker. bigger. and more fierce the)' were. loe crew ofa
schooner, sailing along the coast. in a lighl breeze. saw \\hat Ihey lhought
was a hard \\1nd squall gathering nonh ofthem. They began to prepare for
the squall \\hen il would strike and accordingly broiled Iheir gafflopsail.
hauled down their topmast staysail and flying jib. Ilaving done that much.
Ihey discovered it was nol a squall. but a cloud ofmosquitoes (nippers).
The mosquitoes hit the schooner's mainsail and took it clean away. Next
year in the same vicinily. they met the same cloud of mosquitoes and
believe it or not, each one was wearing a white canvasjacket. 212
SUllcrnalunl1 Beliefs
Among the most prevalent folk beliefs associuted with the Labrador are these
connected with death. and especially omens or death (lnd "forerunners." Although the
Labrador did have a mail service (twice a season delivery) and a wireless service, news
usuully arrived via word ofmouth and/or the next boal home. Sometimes news ofdeath
spread much more quickly. A nine-ycar-old boy who losl his father on his first voyage
recalled that his molher knew ofhis father's death before the body rclumed home.
m Ralph Barrett Collection. IDLA.
136