Getting Started By Bill Murphy
We set out from
St John's in June 1975 to do a pilot of nine shows, all shot in Nfld. to
see if we could do a Network series. The head of Network Programs,
Jack McAndrew, a PEI boy, believed in us but he had to convince the
blockheads in Toronto.
We left St John's right in the midst of a strike at the Nfld Liqour
Commission. To go on the road in Nfld without a few bottles of rum was
unheard of, Land & Sea had set a tradition right from its first show
in 1964, take along a bottle.
All was not lost, the Ryan's boys were doing beer commercials for Molson's
so we had lots of free beer. After our first show on the Newfie
Bullet on the Bonavista branch line we headed for Gander to overnight. In
Gander a kind soul, I suspect Harry Steele, managed to find us a half
dozen bottles of rum.
Then we headed off to Baie D'espoir to do a program on Rum-Running, not
realizing until afterwards, that our show guest had been caught
rum-running for the very first time by the RCMP just days before.
We ended up our trip in Placentia Bay where we did a program on Pius Power
with a very moving scene of about a dozen old fishermen holding hands and
dancing around in a circle.
We crossed Placentia Bay the next day with the entire deck covered with
"empties" while I played Celtic music to the whales!
Bill Murphy was the sound recordist on the CBC television series "Ryan's Fancy"
Adventures in the Labrador Wild by Bill Murphy
We did an
episode of Ryans Fancy at the Govt fishing camp near Nain, Labrador. It
took quite a roundabout trip to get to the camp, first by the coastal boat
"Bonavista" from Goose Bay to Nain. Then by a 30 ft fishing boat
from Nain to the mouth of the river and then by canoe up this very shallow
river. We carried about 30 - 2 ft x 4 ft cases of equipment on the road
with us in those days, so it was quite the task to get to the camp.
Horace Gaudie was our host at the camp, which was rustic but quite
comfortable. We had a fine cook, a woman out of Goose Bay. We ate fish and
game all through the ten days; Artic char, the finest fish in the ocean to
my mind, grilled, baked and pan fried, caribou of course, and wonderful
pies made from wild berries.
We did the show in September and the weather was just beautiful. But of
course that also brought out the black flies and a Labrador pest called a
"stout" that looked and stung like a large wasp. We were all
black and blue from inset bites when we finally left the camp.
It was a challenge to film Ryan's songs in such a wild setting. We did not
want to limit ourselves to the lodge electricty to run the camera and
sound equipment in such with such beautiful scenery around us. So we had
one of our innovative maintenance technicians at CBNT make up some
adaptors so we could run the equipment off skidoo size batteries. Dermot
sang one song with a beautiful waterfall behind him, something we would
not have been able to film had we been tied to the lodge.
Getting out of the camp was even more of a challenge. We had arranged for
two bushplanes, Dehavilland Otters, to pick us up to take us back to Goose
Bay. The first arrived around noon and took the band and crew while I
waited with the equipment for the second Otter. I waited on the shore all
afternoon, happily swatting flies and stouts, in the meantime Horace and
his guests left to go hunting overnight and the cook had gone to bed with
the flu. The second Otter did not show up until about 5 pm, the
pilot and I hurriedly loaded the equipment aboard and we made it back to
Goose and landed on the Bay just as the sun was setting.
We had a rousing night at the RAF Bulldog club in Goose Bay and flew home
the next day.
Bill Murphy was the sound recordist on the CBC television series Ryan's Fancy
Last night I had The Strangest Dream By Danielle Bolt
As I was walking
the rocky road to Dublin I met with three musicians.They invited me for
fish and chips at The Black Night Lounge. I said, come along, we'll ride
Delaney's Donkey. Along the way we met seven old ladies on their way to
Galway City. Apparently, Peggy Gordon's daughter's husband just passed,
and they had no music for poor Tim Finnigan's Wake. The musicians, being
Boys of the Island, agreed to help out!
It was a long journey, and all we had to guide us was The bright
silvery light of the moon. I'm a rover, so I enjoyed the trip, I could
hear the sound of the lark in the morning as we arrived! Peter
Amberly was waiting for the ladies outside the church, he said the Ryan's
and the Pittman's were inside laying out the body. He recognized the
musicians right away. He knew them from Far away in Australia, where
they were Peat bog soldiers together in the war!
The musicians were a big hit at the wake, The Butcher Boy said he hadn't
heard such music since the night that paddy murphy died. And somewhere
between the jigs and the reels, it turned out ol' Tim wasn't dead afterall.
He sat right up and said he had just caught a glimpse of heaven, but the
music wasn't so good, so he came back! Seeing as Tim was alive and well,
the musicians looked at each other and said, "home boys home". I
had one Parting Glass with them, and said, "so long (It's been good
to know ya)".
Twenty-one years have passed, and now I'm 64. I never saw
those three musicians again, but I heard that not long after the wake they
were bound down for Newfoundland. They formed a band, and my son
tells me they were very popular. I can't remember what they called
themselves... oh yes... it's come to me... I believe t'was Ryan's Fancy
Dermot O'reilly
Denis Ryan
Fergus O'Byrne