Uploaded June 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
This video is featured with lyrics and more at mobile-friendly
GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador:
gestsongs.com/31/polina.htm
The video features part of a 1953 film commissioned by Joey Smallwood advocating the benefits of confederation with Canada. The film was made live and features William T (Paddy) Gearin [1936-2007] of Shea Heights, St John's, NL, who spent his summers in Renews with his uncle. The scene is on the wharf of the fish plant in Fermeuse, where Paddy is performing a variant he recorded over 25 years later on his 1979 My Home In St John's LP, trk#12, engineered by Doug McClement at Comfort Sound Studios, Toronto, ON.
This traditional Newfoundland folk song is most likely based on the ship Polynia, built in 1861, of the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company fleet. The Polynia was commanded by Captain William Guy from 1883 to 1891, when it was sunk by ice in Davis Strait. Every year, the whaling fleet would sail from Dundee, Scotland, to Newfoundland, there to pick up men to hunt the whales. Since the first ships to make it to Newfoundland would be able to pick the most experienced men, it became a bit of a competition to see who could make it in the fastest time.
This video is featured with lyrics and more at mobile-friendly
GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador:
gestsongs.com/31/polina.htm
The video features part of a 1953 film commissioned by Joey Smallwood advocating the benefits of confederation with Canada. The film was made live and features William T (Paddy) Gearin [1936-2007] of Shea Heights, St John's, NL, who spent his summers in Renews with his uncle. The scene is on the wharf of the fish plant in Fermeuse, where Paddy is performing a variant he recorded over 25 years later on his 1979 My Home In St John's LP, trk#12, engineered by Doug McClement at Comfort Sound Studios, Toronto, ON.
This traditional Newfoundland folk song is most likely based on the ship Polynia, built in 1861, of the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company fleet. The Polynia was commanded by Captain William Guy from 1883 to 1891, when it was sunk by ice in Davis Strait. Every year, the whaling fleet would sail from Dundee, Scotland, to Newfoundland, there to pick up men to hunt the whales. Since the first ships to make it to Newfoundland would be able to pick the most experienced men, it became a bit of a competition to see who could make it in the fastest time.
