Remembering My Friend Cabot Martin

On June 21, 2023, a service was held for Cabot Martin at the St. George’s Anglican church in Petty Harbour.

Cabot’s roots were in Port aux Basques, but he spent most of his life in St. John’s. However, he never forgot the rural parts of this province and spent a lot of his time and money working for our rural communities and for the ocean that was the life blood and our reason for being here.

One of his projects was cod farming, where fisher people would catch small cod and put them in pens where they would be fed and sold later when they tripled in weight. But all that came to an end on that fateful day in July 1992, when, for the first time in 500 years, we were not allowed to take a cod.

He had a beautiful service in a rural town that he loved.

A very touching tribute by his lifelong friend, Gerald O’Brien and a closing song by another of his friends, Con O’Brien, (Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s). It was a service fit for a king, as was shown by the number of people in attendance. To me, he was a king and will always be remembered by me as someone who loved this province and fought for its survival.

So long dear friend, until we meet again.

Wilfred Bartlett
Conception Bay South