“Ballad of Captain Bob Bartlett, Arctic Explorer”

Description

"Bob Bartlett, born in Brigus, of a bold sea-faring breed, Became a master-mariner as destiny decreed; He won renown... When Peary used his services to the Northern Pole." We are told of the hardships in the arctic, and of the sealing ships he captained

Notes

Robert Bartlett is now remembered mostly as an arctic explorer (Robert Peary took him on three expeditions, and in 1913 Bartlett, as commander of the _Karluk_, was wrecked, and saved his expedition by a sled trip to Alaska). But it is clear that he was well known in Newfoundland even before that; several of the poems in Ryan/Small, including those written before Peary's explorations, mention him.

It is possible that some of this is by confusion with his uncles Isaac and John Bartlett, who also were sealing captains and connected with the quest for the North Pole.

For more background, see the notes to "Captain Bob Bartlett." - RBW

Historical references

  • 1875-1946 - Life of Robert Abram Bartlett

Cross references

References

  1. Ryan/Small, p. 85, "Ballad of Captain Bob Bartlett, Arctic Explorer" (1 text)
  2. BI, RySm085

About

Author: A. C. Wornell?
Earliest date: 1951 (Wornell, Rhymes of a Newfoundlander)