''Aunt Martha's Sheep'' is a song written by Terrence White and Arthur Butt of
Perry's Cove and later re-written by
Ellis Coles and performed by
Dick Nolan. It was primarily viewed as a
slight on the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
the police force for the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
, Canada. The song got airplay in the 1970s, but less after that. Released in 1972 it became one of Dick Nolan's signature songs.
"Singing legend Nolan dead at 66"
''CBC News'', Dec 13, 2005 The song tells the tale of a group of Carmanville sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
-stealers who hoodwink an investigating RCMP officer by insisting their stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...
was made of moose
The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
.
The Rest Of The Story Ben Weatherby
who originally produced "Aunt Martha's Sheep" for Nolan, released an album not long afterwards entitled ''You Can't Fool A Newfoundlander.'' On it, Weatherby performed a cover of "Aunt Martha's Sheep," but for a bit of fun, he wrote a continuation of the story (the title track) where the Mountie gets the last laugh. ''You Can't Fool A Newfoundlander'' won Weatherby his first
gold record
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
.
See also
* List of Newfoundland songs
This is a list of songs associated with the Canadian Island of Newfoundland.
Songs with an unknown composer/lyricist ("Traditional")
*" A Great Big Sea Hove In Long Beach"
*" Bake Apple Time in Newfoundland"
*" Ballad of the Southern Cross"
*" ...
* Newfoundland Rangers
The Newfoundland Ranger Force was the police force of the Dominion of Newfoundland. It provided law enforcement and other government services to outports for 15 years. It existed from 1935 to 1949, at which point it was merged into the Royal C ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Newfoundland Heritage, Traditional SongsDictionary of Newfoundland English
Newfoundland and Labrador folk songs
Canadian folk songs