livyer n also liver, livere, liveyer, liveyere, livier [phonetics unavailable]. Cp DAE liver 'inhabitant, resident' (1678-1850), EDD liver sb1 1 'dweller' s w cties: var livier Do So D, livyer D; O Sup2 liveyere (Nfld: 1863-); DC liveyere Nfld 2 (1946-) for sense 1, 1 (1905-) for sense 2. See OED -ier. Cp LOVYER, MILLIER, SHOREYER.
1 A permanent settler of coastal Newfoundland (as opposed to migratory fisherman from England).
1745 CAREW 30 Bampfylde ... this Trip visited St John's, Torbay, Kitty-Vitty Harbour and Bay Bulls, very industriously remarking their Situations and Anchorage, and making himself fully acquainted with the Names, Circumstances and Characters of all the Inhabitants and Livers of any Account therein. [1759] 1895 PROWSE 295-6 The men mentioned in the margin [are] to repair to work on the said church from the date hereof to the 4th day of November next, as it appears that they are livers in this place and have not subscribed towards the building of the same. 1850 [FEILD] 27 The whole settlement [of Burnt Islands, S W coast] has sprung up within ten years, and now there are nearly one hundred 'livers' or settled inhabitants. 1863 MORETON 34 Livier. An inhabitant or liver. One who lives in any place. It is said of any uninhabited place that there are no liviers in it. 1868 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 15 July On our way from Ship Cove to Patrick's Cove by water we passed Gooseberry, where a few liviers reside. 1895 PROWSE 279 Some of the first 'liviers,' in Old Newfoundland parlance, had by this time built their huts and fishing stages as far north as Twillingate. 1932 BARBOUR 17 I also allowed for the possibility of our drifting to land on some island where no 'liviers' (small communities of original settlers) would be. 1937 DEVINE 31 Livier. An inhabitant. Originally, it was probably applied to settlers in a new or unfrequented place, but it has come to apply to population generally. 1949 DULEY 13 It was definitely laid down that local labour must be used in ordinary construction. The fisherman knew he could beach his boat and take a rest from the sea. The 'livvyer' understood construction. Was he not a natural Jack-of-all-trades, accustomed to entering the virgin forest to cut wood for his house. his boat, his oars? T 70/1-641 I often said to myself it'd make a wonderful place for livyers. T 54/62-64 It was a forsaken place over on the other side o' the harbour here. I mean, there was no liviers or no nothing there. T 272/31-662 An' there was no bridges, no roads an' no livyers, an' that man walked from Bonne Bay to Flowers Cove. 1975 BUTLER 80 [In the early days at Buffett] with a homemade table and stools for seats, those livvers would be as proud of their homes as wealthy people would be of a mansion.
2 A settler on the coast of Labrador (as opposed to migratory summer fisherman from Newfoundland). Also attrib.
1895 J A Folklore viii, 36 Liveyers. A name applied by the Newfoundland fishermen to those who permanently reside on the Labrador coast, in contrast with those who came there during summer. It seems simply the word livers, but curiously altered in the pronunciation. [1906] GRENFELL 146 They once more dropped me over the rail that I might visit a tiny, out-of-the world settlement of liveyeres (or residents) of Labrador. 1908 TOWNSEND 15-0 The permanent inhabitants of the Labrador coast, the 'liveyers,' are about three thousand in number, while between twenty and thirty thousand fishermen spend the short summer there.
[1918-19] GORDON 5-6 The true Labradorman, or 'Livyere,' as he is called, is a mixture of white and dark. British servants, sailors, carpenters, coopers, tinsmiths, or shipwrights, who came out in the employ of trading companies of a century ago, these were the progenitors of the Labrador race. 1940 MACKAY (ed) 79 There are three classes of fishermen [in Labrador fishery]: the liviers, who live the year round on the Labrador; the stationers, who come to the Labrador each season as passengers on the coastal steamers or on the schooners. and return to Newfoundland in the autumn; and the floaters, who come from Newfoundland as members of crews of fishing vessels, and who operate with the vessel throughout the season. 1950 PARKER 15 Over 3,000 'Liviers' are now in residence along this coast between Hamilton Inlet and Blanc Sablon at the Quebec border. Most of these came from Newfoundland although a number of Channel Islanders settled directly along the north shore of the straits of Belle Isle. 1953 Nfld Fish Develop Report 20 While almost 90 per cent of the floater crews and about 70 per cent of the stationer crews fish for cod only 60 per cent of the livyer crews fish for both salmon and cod. T 141/64-652 An' everybody had a suggestion which way they'd go, 'cause I mean there was livyers somewhere. 1970 Daily News 2 June, p. 9 The Dingo will discharge supplies to fishermen in White Bay and ports along the Labrador coast. These fishermen are 'liviers.' 1973 GOUDIE 37 There were no liveyers around that part of the bay.
