Abraham Chambers was born on January 20, 1917, in Bear Cove on the Northern Peninsula. His mother was from the resettled community of Currant Island. He learned the fiddle from his father, William Chambers, and Uncle Steve, who were “very good players.” Abe played square dances years ago and could recall sometimes being paid $5 per dance, but usually no pay. He lived all his life in Bear Cove and worked as a fisherman, lumberman, and jack-of-all-trades. Abe passed away on September 21, 1997

Isaac Chambers was born on May 24, 1918. Like his cousin Abe, he lived and worked all his life in Bear Cove. He learned the fiddle from his father, Steve, and Uncle Bill. His wife, Irene, recalled that “he knew the old tunes quite well but also spent hours with his ear to the radio, learning new ones from Don Messer.” Ike went overseas during WW2 to work in the Forestry Service in Scotland and brought home a fiddle from there. He passed away in 1990.

Collector’s Note: I made a surprise visit to these cousins one day in 1978, and we sat around in Abe’s kitchen for several hours, chatting and playing tunes. Both men had not played fiddle much in recent years, and at one point, Ike said, “My fingers are stiff from too much lobster fishing.” I got several tunes that I had not heard elsewhere. I was told that  Reilly was “an old square dance tune.”