Anita Best was born on the island of Merasheen the year before we joined Canada. This was a time when singing, dancing and storytelling were the main forms of recreation. Anita has become one of the great bearers of this tradition, collecting, performing and recording these songs and stories.
A Few of Anita's Songs
The Liverpool Pilot
What Pius Power would call a tuneful heave-up shanty handed down from grandfather to father to him (from the album Crosshanded. Amber Music. 1997).
Lord Bateman
The first of the very old songs she set out to learn. She got it from Kate Wilson in 1973 (from the album Crosshanded. Amber Music. 1997).
Me Old Ragadoo
A comical ditty she learned from Pius Power, Sr (from the album Crosshanded. Amber Music. 1997).
The Spanish Captain
One of the wonderful old songs her mother brought from Tack's Beach to Merasheen in 1945 (from the album Crosshanded. Amber Music. 1997).
