S4.E2: The Ghostly Fishermen
Season 4, Episode 2
Title: The Ghostly Fishermen
Time: 9 minutes
Locations: St. John’s
Stories: The Ghostly Fishermen: The Tale of the Charles Haskell
LisTen:
Watch:
About The Episode:
Some stories rise from the sea and never quite settle again.
The Charles Haskell was a proud New England schooner, built to survive the brutal waters of the North Atlantic. But after a terrible storm on George’s Bank in 1869, she gained a reputation no ship would ever want.
Sailors claimed that in the years that followed, the dead returned — climbing from the sea to finish the work they’d started in life.
More than a century later, her story is still told along our coastlines — from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia, and right here in Newfoundland. It’s been told as a legend, a ghost story, and even a folk song. But the line between fact and folklore remains as foggy as the Banks themselves.
So pour a cup of tea, turn down the lights, and listen close as we climb aboard the Charles Haskell — the schooner that couldn’t quite leave her ghosts behind.
The Song
Elisabeth Greenleaf collected a version of the Charles Haskell story from Newfoundland and published it in Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland under the title Spirit Song of George’s Bank, and The Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the collections of MacEdward Leach contains four variants (under the title The Ghostly Fisherman) collected from Newfoundland and Labrador, available as audio recordings.
Below you’ll find a recording by Alan MIlls:
Listening Options
You can listen to the episode here or on your favourite platform.
Sources & Further Reading
The Ghostly Fishermen, Product of Newfoundland
In the early 20th century a mysterious light glowed Trinity Bay and it got people talking. Was it sabotage?
After a deadly collision in 1869, the Charles Haskell became the most feared schooner in North Atlantic history when her crew claimed be haunted by ghostly fishermen.
Long before vaccines were common, a doctor in Trinity, Newfoundland made history — and all it took was a vial and a friendship.
Newfoundland’s Trinity Train Loop: once an engineering marvel, later an amusement park, now a haunting ruin where the spectacle never ends.
Harry Supple of St. John’s helped build the Brooklyn Bridge—but died before it was complete. His is a gripping story of skill, danger, and a life cut short midair.
Peter Easton ruled Newfoundland’s seas as the legendary “pirate admiral.” Discover his daring exploits, pirate kingdom, and lasting legacy in this thrilling tale of maritime adventure.