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community, similar 10 the circumstances ofThancl, England. described in an eighteenlh-
century document. The people ofThanct wcre, the rcpon said,
amphibious animals. who gel their living both by thc sea and land.
equally skilled in holding helm or plough, according to thc season ofthe
year. Thcy knit nets. catch coos. herrings. mackerel [sic]. elc., go on
\ oyagcs and expon merchant dyes. Thc vcry same persons dung the land.
plough. sow. reap. and carry in the com. They work hard and live hard and
nrc truly industrious. !2
Besidcs growing potaloes, the early settlers ofColliers kept sheep. s\\inc. goalS.
horses, milk cows and catlle. Tbey cut hay and fodder, a laic gro\\th ofhay produced by
seuing oats.
According 10 my older infonnants. the early inhabitants ofColliers sculed first in
James Cove, then Burke's CO\'c. then Colliers proper. The coves were doned with tiny
cottagcs and Colliers proper was considered "the COunlry.··ln \\;nlenime, they would
build tilts (small. single·roomed hUIs) in the country and clear the land. In summer during
the ninctcenth ccntury, stovcs would be stored a\.vay until fall and a fireplace would be
uscd for cooking.
Thc early scttlers wcrc self sufTicicnt. They produccd their own food, made their
own clothes, built their own homes, and accepted employment anywhere they could find
it. They fished the inshore. on the Grand Banks. on the Labrador, and elsewhere in
Ncwfoundland. From 1860 to 1890, as mentioned previously, thcre was poor production
in the fisheries and local emigration began as men len to find work. Many men and
\\omen who left did not come back except for visits. The mcn wcnt to work in mines in
12 Paul Thompson ('.1 ai.. Liring Ihe Fishing (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1980) p. 13.
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