S3.E5: Mar Falten, Fanny Goff!
Season 3, Episode 5
Title: Mar Falten, Fanny Goff!
Time: 18 minutes
Locations: Portugal Cove
Story: The Beautiful Fanny Goff
Listen:
About The Episode:
Newfoundland’s Valentine’s traditions range from playful greetings to daring card deliveries, but love on the island isn’t always lighthearted.
The story of Fanny Goff, said to be the most beautiful woman in Newfoundland, is one of romance and tragedy, proving that love can be as fleeting as winter frost.
And sometimes, love isn’t just for people but for place—like the deep connection Newfoundlanders have to the sea. But that love comes with loss, as seen in the Ocean Ranger disaster, a tragedy forever tied to Valentine’s Day, reminding us that love and sorrow often go hand in hand.
Listening Options
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Credits
Ocean and Fog Horn, Shepardr, freesound.org, creative commons 0
Sad Music on Guitar, veterOK777, freesound.org, creative commons 0
Sources & Further Reading
The Beautiful Fanny Goff, Product of Newfoundland
Mar Falten: Valentine’s Day in Newfoundland, Product of Newfoundland
Pretty Fanny Goff, Christmas Bells, 1913
The Story of Fanny Goff, Book of Newfoundland, vol 2
George Goff, Book of Newfoundland, vol. 5.
Fanny Goff, Sites & Memorials, Town of Portugal Cove-St. Phillips
The Lover & The Liar, Christmas Review, 1897
Portugal Cove, Newfoundland Weekly, April 19, 1941
A Bit of the History of Portugal Cove, Shortis Papers vol. 3, MUN DAI
History Society Meeting, Evening Telegram, Nov 11, 1920.
The tragic love story of Portugal Cove’s Fanny Goff — a young woman who shared a love as legendary as her beauty.
A stolen fish, a cruel punishment, and a lesson in power—one sailor’s tale will change the way a young man sees the world forever.
In 1902, two-year-old Minnie Keefe disappeared near her home in Colinet, NL. Eight days later, she was discovered alive, leading to stories of miracles, mysteries, and survival.
Just off Harbour Buffet, Placentia Bay a fisherman vanished, his shattered boat was the only clue. It looked like something, some ocean creature, was responsible.
In 1891, James Brennan spun a tale of a shipwreck so tragic it shook the Atlantic—until the “wreck” turned out to be pure fiction.
On a moonlit January night in 1870, 16-year-old Elfreda Pike began a walk home from Harbour Grace—unaware it would be her last.