Tobias Pearson was born on Merasheen Island in 1941 to Agnes Wilson and Cecil Pearson. He taught school at South East Bight for many years and earned his degree from Memorial University during the summers. His grandmother, Kate Wilson, was a powerful traditional singer who passed her songs on to her daughter and her grandsons Tobais and Gerald. They also learned the old songs from their father who was from Petit Forte. Tobias has perfomed at various folk festivals in Newfoundland and at traditional music gatherings in Boston and New York.
A Few of Tobias's Songs
Eggs in a Basket
Two sailors find a babe in the basket instead of eggs. Learned from John Lake 1976.A ballad of love and murder learned from Jack Burke (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
Jessie Monroe
The blacksmith's daughter sends handsome Johnny back to his wife (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
The Poor Little Fisherman
An orphaned lad is saved from a shipwreck on a foreign shore and taken in by kind strangers. He learned this from his Uncle John Wilson (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
Virginia Shore
A young woman thinks she has been abandoned by her sailor lover (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
Well Sold the Cow
In this comic song Jack gets the best of robbers on his way home from market (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
The Constant Farmer's Son
Mary's brothers murder her true love so she will marry the squire's son. A song from his mother Agnes Wilson (collected by Anita Best and Pamela Morgan).
