St. John's, NF
Quidi Vidi Village was an old fishing village, pronounced [ki dee vi dee], [kwi dee vi dee] or [kwy da vy da]. The reason for the dispute
in pronuniciation is unknown because the origin of the name Quidi Vidi is unknown. Some say it comes from the French name Quidville. Some say it is Latin: que de vide or Italian: qui divide,
meaning that which divides. There is also a legend that a woman
by the name of Kitty Vitty lived in these parts, and she had a house of ill-repute, so it was named after her!
These are pictures of the gut, or cove in Quidi Vidi.
Mallard Cottage is said to be the oldest, small, wooden dwelling that has been structurally unchanged in all of North America. It was built by the Mallard brothers, Irish immigrants, who came to Quidi Vidi circa 1750, and owned an animal husbandry. It remained in the Mallard family until 1986 when the last member of the line died: an old woman who had never married and never had any children. The cottage went on the market. Peggy Magnone, bought it later that year and says that she remembers buying "no electricity, no running water, a few rats and twenty-seven layers of wallpaper!"
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