Gloucester Sea Ballads

By the mid 18th century Gloucester had become one of the most important fishing communities in North America, with a commanding position on George’s Bank and the immensely rich fishing grounds of Newfoundland.
However with this huge growth in maritime activities came an astonishingly high rate of fatalities amongst Gloucester-men working the boats in the fishing industry, and it is the history of the exploits of those that risked their lives in the pursuit of cod that inspired the author Kitty Parsons to pen the ballads in this volume. These verses have an incredible vitality and involve story-telling in a most immediate form. The author also had a very definite sense of humor.
The poems were first published in 1946 and then reissued in the current format in 1981. They have, however, been long out of print, and Galileo is very happy to bring them back to a new audience.