Happy Adventures & Damnable Days
Happy Adventure is one of the nicest place names in Newfoundland... and I don't say that just because I grew up there. It's wonderfully weird -- pleasant but just quirky enough to make people take notice. And when they take notice, they've got to wonder why, or how, a tiny outport community ended up with such an unusual name. It's a good question, one that has spawned a lot of legends.
Maybe it was pirates?
The first, and possibly most interesting, explanation for the name ‘Happy Adventure’ features famed ‘Pirate Admiral’ Peter Easton. Easton started his Newfoundland adventures in 1602 as a privateer for The British protecting the Newfoundland fishing fleet. This role gave him permission to attack, plunder and destroy the boats of foreign nations. And since he was allowed to, he did — from his flagship, the Happy Adventure. In 1604 England’s James I ended Easton’s contract as a privateer but Easton continued his plundering, thereby becoming a pirate. For good measure, he included the British among his targets.
Easton set up headquarters in Harbour Grace and dominated the Newfoundland coastline. Some of his notable exploits included taking Sir Richard Whitbourne prisoner and plundering about 30 ships in St. John’s harbour. At around 40 years old, Easton retired to the south of France where he was made a Marquis…because, you know, crime doesn’t pay.
Obviously, Happy Adventure shares its name with Easton’s ship. One theory is that the name was a direct homage to the boat. Why? Clearly, my ancestors were pirates and sympathizers.
Maybe it was other pirates?
An alternate tale is that the town was named when a ship evaded capture by hiding in one of Happy Adventure’s sheltered coves. Sometimes it is said the ship was fleeing from pirates, sometimes it is said a pirate ship (maybe even Easton’s) was fleeing the law. In any case, the ship avoided detection and it’s crew proclaimed it a ‘happy adventure.’ The event led to the name. Local plaques perpetuate this story — they assert that Easton used the harbour to escape pursuit by the French navy. Strangely, they make no mention that Easton’s flagship was the Happy Adventure.
Maybe it was as surveyor?
Not quite as romantic as pirates, another legend says Happy Adventure was named by surveyor George Holbrook. Holbrook came to Newfoundland in 1813 to begin maritime surveys. He served as the Surveyor General of the Colony from 1821 until his death in 1832. Legend has it Holbrook took shelter from a storm in one of the quiet coves of Happy Adventure. He found the respite so comfortable and the surroundings so pleasant he was moved to proclaim the whole affair a ‘happy adventure’ and, since he was the man with the maps, the name stuck.
This origin seems to be favoured by scholastic-types but I think it's an Occam's razor type thing -- whereby scholars think the least exciting explanation 'must' be true.
Maybe the citizens named it?
The fourth story is that the Happy Adventure's first settlers chose the name themselves. They named the place to reflect the good life the area promised. I’m sure the early citizens of Happy Adventure struggled to survive just as Newfoundlanders all along the coast did, but maybe the place did offer a measure of comfort others did not.
Nestled alongside Newman Sound, the sheltered coves of Happy Adventure, provide a degree of protection from the elements not found in many outports and the sandy beach must have made it easier to bring boats ashore.The community is close to lumber woods and the forest reaches right to the water’s edge. There’s a relative abundance of flat land and sandy soil must have made growing crops easier. Maybe these simple things are enough to make life a happy adventure.
It is, after all, the little things.
It’s a mystery.
I don’t know if there’s a shred of truth in any of these stories and, truthfully, I don’t know if I care.
Beyond being a beautiful name, Happy Adventure is a name that prompts questions, encourages stories and welcomes fantastic legends. At the end of the day, that may be the best legacy -- a good mystery is a happy adventure all it’s own.
Those Damnable Days
When it comes to the pirate lore on Newfoundland's Eastport Peninsula, Happy Adventure doesn’t tell the whole story - the pirates had some damnable days too.
The community of St. Chad’s was once known as Damnable and the waters outside it were Damnable Bay.
It was once pronounced as ‘Damn the Bell.’ The stories I heard as a child had it that a pirate, attempting to evade detection, was plagued by a noisy ship’s bell. It ultimately gave away his location. “Damn the Bell,” he cursed and, supposedly the name was born.
St. Chad’s existed as Damnable until the 1890’s when a minister prevailed upon the town to change it. Damnable Bay lives on and, the local trail network (which I highly recommend) goes by Damnable Trails.
Sandy Cove, home to one of my favourite beaches, also has a pirate story. Legend has it the community was once known as Silver Buckle in reference to the pirate treasure that is, or was, concealed there. Some versions of the story say that the pirate returned to collect his treasure but crashed his ship on the rocks outside the cove, losing his loot. It may still be there, just waiting to be discovered.
I certainly don’t know, but I will point out that there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that anyone ever really called Sandy Cove ‘Silver Buckle’ but there is mention of a pirate ghost named Silver Buttons, supposedly protecting a buried treasure, in nearby Bar Harbour.
I’m wondering if the Silver Buckle legend is an offshoot of that.
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Salvage Notes, Evening Telegram, Sept 1, 1921
Peter Easton, Canadian Encyclopedia
