On the backside of Hibbs Cove, just up from Pick Eyes on the tip of Newfoundland’s east coast, is a natural formation on a wall of rock slanting toward the sky like a piece of work on exhibition: Mother Nature’s sculpture of The Rock of Newfoundland. It stands like an unusual road sign beside No Denial, the name of the narrow lane that runs past it, just out from Jacky Doughboys Hill.
Other than cobwebs spanning its nooks, tiny creatures inhabiting its cracks, and wild birds pitching on it, this lichen-marked rock remains undisturbed as a remarkable replica of the island of Newfoundland.
American Men, The ∼ two familiar mounds of flat stones erected in the distant past along a trail near Cupids and neighbouring Brigus Bay.
Arches, The ∼ a limestone rock formation of two openings known as The Arches, located between Parsons Pond and Portland Creek on the Northern Peninsula.
barnacle ∼ an awkwardly shaped rock sticking out of the ocean.
bawn ∼ small beach rocks grouped together to hold codfish while they are drying.
beachy ∼ a sharp cliff rock.
bed warmer ∼ a heated rock wrapped in flannel and placed in the foot of one’s bed.
brandies (brandy rocks) ∼ dangerous outlying rocks in the ocean large enough to stand on.
breaker (grounder, sinker, sunker) ∼ a submerged rock, sometimes sticking up just below the surface. It is a threat to vessels, a terror for a captain and his crew.
chimney rock ∼ a huge boulder or projecting rock forming a gable or rere-dosse: the substitute for a chimney.
clew rock ∼ a stone fastened to a net or trap as an anchor.
Devil’s Dining Table ∼ a large, flat-topped rock on Castles Island, Labrador.
diters ∼ rock walls.
duck rock ∼ a rock used in a game where one rock is placed on top of another. Players mark about 30 paces before they try to knock the rock off.
gaze ∼ a wall usually built of rocks for a hunter to hide behind to get a shot at wild birds. god rock ∼ an all-white stone thought to be lucky.
gulch ∼ a steep cliff of rock between headlands.
hare’s ears (hazures) ∼ twin rocks rising above water in at least seven places off Newfoundland.
inukshuks ∼ lifelike rock figures erected by the Inuit in the image of humans.
jump rocks ∼ flat rocks used to skim across the surface of water.
killick stone ∼ a large, oblong rock (about 100 pounds) held with two curved crosspieces of wood and used as an anchor (killick).
kilpy rock ∼ a rock with kelp around it.
Labrador stone ∼ an iridescent crystalline mineral that reflects all the colours of the peacock.
lap rock (beach stone) ∼ a smooth and round rock heated to warm a bed.
live rocks ∼ coral-like seaweed, called live rocks because of their ability to tangle in nets.
lucky rock ∼ a rock with a hole worn through it.
mad rock ∼ the term given to a rock that rises out of the water where tides and winds turn the sea into a cauldron of foaming sea.
Mexican man ∼ a pile of rocks placed along shorelines as a navigational marker.
M’Lard ∼ a large rock off Blow Me Down that often caused an exclamation of “M’Lard!” from fishermen steering their boats through the 15-foot space between the rock and land.
Mother Rock ∼ a rock in the back side of Port de Grave facing Bay Roberts.
naked man, rocky man (inukshuk) ∼ a pile of rocks prominently noted as a guide in coastal navigation.
Naked Rock ∼ a rock off land called Horse Chops, near English Harbour, Trinity Bay. It recently disappeared into the sea.
nascopi ∼ a heap of rocks used as a marker for a place, an occasion, etc.
old harry ∼ a reef over which the sea breaks. It is hazardous to vessels.
Old Woman’s Apron ∼ a white rock over the precipice of Blow Me Down, Port de Grave, on the face of the 300-foot cliff. It is wide in the bottom and goes up on the sides in veins of white rock (quartz).
puckawn rock ∼ a hill of massive rocks.
pumbly rocks ∼ broken, jagged rocks; large and coarse rocks; rocks rolling with the tides.
Red Rocks ∼ a marker off Bay Roberts close to where fishermen set salmon nets.
St. John’s slate ∼ a rock formation in St. John’s.
saltwater rock ∼ a rock worn smooth by the sea.
sculp of rock ∼ a glacial rock.
skimmer ∼ a small flat stone skimmed over water.
slickenside ∼ a smooth polished rock.
sling rock ∼ one of a number of stones used to sink a fishnet in the water.
spelling rock ∼ a large rock where a person can rest and take a blow (breather).
stag ∼ a submerged rock. swile rock ∼ any rock sticking out of the water big enough for a seal(swile) to lie on.
The Narrows ∼ The mouth of St. John’s, where rocks give their own descriptions: Pancake Rock and Flat Rock.
Three Sisters ∼ three similar rocks close to each other sticking up out of the ocean to about 30 feet off Bay Roberts point.
wash balls ∼ rocks four and a half feet underwater that lie on the edge of a coastal bank.