Murphy, Oswald

  • Speaker
    Speaks about his great grandfather, a farmer. You would say "going to the shop" rather than "going to the store". Oswald's heard the tale that his great grandparents met on the boat coming to Prince Edward Island; she was a widow. Some say they met on PEI. They arrived sometime between 1813-1824. His great grandfather had two sons. His wife was named Elizabeth Kerwin.
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    Speaks of New Ross, a seaport town in Ireland. They'd get a boat from New Ross to the new world. The joke would be if someone bothered you, you'd tell them to go to New Ross. Speaks more about his great grandfather, Joseph Murphy, was in the legislature in the 1880's or 1890's.
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    Speaks about courtships, marriages, dances and fights.
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    Shares a poems of a man from Miramichi New Brunsiwck: one about the death of Mr. Teasdale: Mr. Teasdale died of late, up he went to the pearly gate. Along came Satan... Reads another poem.
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    Discusses landlord agent, Warburton. Gives directions to one of the oldest houses in the area. Mentions the Belfast Riots.
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    Tells story, that occurred in Abels Cape [Lot 43], about a murder (with a pitchfork) over the possession of a horse.
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    Recalls a story in Bedeque when the tax collector was run off the property with pitchforks. The landowner was fined twenty-five dollars.

Description

Geoff LePage interviews Oswald Murphy in Foxley River, PEI. Oswald discusses his great grandparents' lives and occupations, Irish settlers' relations with other groups, settlers letting go of customs and traditions, and the process of emigrating to PEI. He also shares some poems, and tells stories about dances, fights, landlords, and rent collectors.