Most BPA fans know that there are 3 Crows hidden in each of my paintings. Some of the crows are easy to find, but others you’ll have to search a little to find them. I have many people ask me about the story behind them. Never let it be said that I didn’t try my best to ease the curious mind. Today, I’ll explain why I use three crows and what they mean to me.
The first crow factor, would be my family Nickname. Nicknames were an everyday part of life in outport Newfoundland. There were so many families with the same last name, they began to use nicknames to help differentiate one family from others with the same last name. For example, Mercers were Foxes, Toochs, Braves, Fessors, and Nishes. Cranes were Drums, Sticks, Crumps, Clavers, Pops, and Crowbars My family/maiden name was Seymour and for the Surname Seymour, the Nickname was Crow.
Rumour has it, the crow nickname originated because the first Spaniard’s Bay Constable was a Seymour. Constable Seymour was often spotted patrolling the Lanes and Drungs late at night, while wearing a long black cape to protect him from the chilly temperatures. If you envision him out patrolling the streets on a damp foggy evening, with his night Watchman’s cape flapping in the wind, no wonder he was called crow.
The second factor would be that there were three of us kids in the family, my two older brothers and I. We all grew up with the nickname Crow. Dad was a Crow, therefore we were too..It was a part of our life. As we grew, we watched Dad walk into a room, with the sounds of his pals cawing at him like a crow, instead of the normal ‘Hello, how are you?’
The final component to my three crows, would be the counting crows poem that many of us grew up with. I have heard many different variations over the years, but the one that I grew up with is;
One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy ,Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told.
Three crows signifies a girl…a girl crow, thats ME!!
So, my three crows represent many things to me; my nickname, myself and my two brothers growing up, they also represent my inner core of three at home now.
That’s it for this time, if you have any questions, or comments, I’d love to hear them. If you’re really enjoying the BPA blogging adventures and don’t want to miss out, click ‘follow me’ and your name/email will be added to our growing list of blog subscribers.
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Now that you know behind my three crows, can you find them in all my paintings?
Hi Bobbi, I can identify with the nicknames as well. I’m from Bishop’s Cove originally. My mom was from Island Cove, my dad ,from Bishop’s Cove.
My mom was a Drum (Crane)
My dad was a Stick (Smith)
So that makes me a “Drum Stick” lol
I love your paintings, and would love to have a Newfoundland painting hanging in my Calgary house ( I didn’t say home, because Newfoundland is where I call home 😊)