.-Do Newfies really talk with what seem to be almost Scottish accents?
-Are all Newfies seafarers?
-Were there really pirate bands like the Quoyles?
-Are Newfies mystical people?
-How can a town as small as the one Kevion Spacey landed in support a newspaper?
-How bad are the winters there?
Any info from some one that has BEEN to Newfoundland (links I have found aren’t that helpful) and better yet, been there and seen the movie, would be appreciated!
Which, for some reason, seemed to offend some of the Mainlanders I went to school with after moving up here. (The rest of Canada puts the emphasis on the ‘found’, which grates on my ears.)
To the accent…in some areas, particularly the area I assume the area the movie/book took place in, the accent does, in fact, resemble a Scots accent. Other areas, like St John’s, have a more Irish touch. And, in the center of the island, where I’m from, our accent is closer to the Mainland than anything else, IMO.
It’s probable that the newspaper in question wasn’t just for the town the story took place in, but for the whole area.
Not all Newfoundlanders are seafarers - though, if you just see the coastal areas, you’ll probably get an idea the whole island is based completely around the fishery (which is an exageration, though not completely wrong). My hometown (Grand Falls, now Grand Falls/Windsor) is a logging/papermaking town.
Mystical…no more than anywhere else. Perhaps a touch more religious and/or superstitious than elsewhere, but…no.
Winters…coooold. We get a current coming down from the north, which tends to cool the climate somewhat. (The same current going the other way tends to keep parts of the British Isles more temperate.) After 12 years I STILL haven’t acclimated to the weather up here. ::Sweatsweat:: Lots of snow. Lots and lots.
I’ve been there once. My travels there were limited to the west coast of the island and the Labrador Straits area. My experiences:
Yes on the accent, but not that strongly.
I don’t know if they’re all seafarers, but on that drive up the west coast, I saw houses on the shore quite often, and darned if the huge majority of those didn’t have a boat and a pile of lobster traps (I think that’s what they were…look like small wire-mesh boxes on a wood frame).
I don’t think the tiny towns can support a newspaper by themselves, but, as in most rural areas, a single newspaper generally serves an entire region.
Don’t know about the pirates, mystics, or winters (my visit there was in July).
