Bridget (Bride) Judge was born in Patrick's Cove in 1908 and died in 1999. She left school in Grade 6 to go to Gooseberry Cove and care for her uncle and aunt, James and Ellen Doyle. She learned a lot of songs from her uncle and she met her soulmate Patrick, who also loved music. Bride knew hundreds of songs - many of them old ballads with 20 or more verses.
She and Paddy had five children but only two survived. They also fostered 18 and adopted two of those. Their house was always full of family, friends and music. Bride and Paddy performed at many folk festivals all over the province, in Canada and beyond.
Bridget Judge's Songs
Fifty Cents. A man is surprised by a date with a huge appetite.
John O'Reilly the Fisherman. Young love ends in tragedy.
Johnny Doyle. A young woman would rather die than marry a man she doesn't love.
Old and in the Way. There for the grace of God...
Once There Was a Sailor. A young woman won't be bought for gold.
Collected by Kenneth Goldstein in 1980. Courtesy of the Memorial University Folklore Archives.