[fogo4]

Hi all,

I was just visiting Fogo Island in Newfoundland Canada. There is a place there called Brimstone Head which is promoted as one of the four corners of the world according to the Flat Earth Society.

Brimstone Head, Fogo, a piece of rocky landscape jutting into the sky. The Flat Earth Society believes this is one of the four corners of the Earth.

link

I searched online but can't seem to find any more info on what the four corners of the world are or why Brimstone Head would be one or anything from the FES with info on this. Does anyone here know anything about this or why the Flat Earth Society has come to this conclusion.

Thanks!

[fappenhosen]

Please apply zeteticism. Does it look like a corner? Then it is probably one of the corners of the earth.

[Pete Svarrior]

Hi fogo4, thanks for stopping by.

This claim about the Flat Earth Society seems to mostly appear in travel guides, advertisements, and parody sites. It appears to have very little to do with the Flat Earth Society or its past incarnations. As it stands, the FES does not believe that the world has corners, and there are no known records of it ever believing that.

That said, I would be interested in finding out how this rumour originated. There appears to be a link between this claim and the Flat Earth Society of Canada (a terrible misnomer, since they weren't actually a Flat Earth group), which was most likely originated by John Robert Colombo in his book Canadian Literary Landmarks (ISBN 978-0888820730). Colombo never had any history in the Society, and has not documented any of his encounters with it either, so it is most likely a work of his vivid imagination.

Sorry for the sparse information, but that's all I know. Hope it helps anyway!

[Pete Svarrior]

Here's an excerpt from Colombo's book:

Fogo

This small fishing community, on Fogo Island, off the northeastern coast, is mentioned by name in the popular folksong "I'se the B'y that Builds the Boat." The so-called Fogo Process was developed here in 1967 by the National Film Board and Memorial University. Film and video are used to stimulate individual and group action to foster desirable community change. Fogo Island holds a special place in the mythology of the Flat Earth Society, members of which maintain that the Earth is shaped like a pancake with an Edge or Great Abyss which may be sighted (weather permitting) at the North Pole or off Fogo Island. This at least is the belief of the Flat Earth Society as reconstituted in Fredericton, N.B., in 1973. (The original Flat Earth Society of Great Britain fell into desuetude some time earlier.) The Canadian founders included poet Alden Nowlan, philosopher Leo Ferrari, and writer Raymond Fraser. Several hundred people are members, including Eugene Ionesco. It was the poet Al Pittman who first sighted 'the Edge" off Fogo Island, and the intrepid Dr. Ferrari actually fell over the edge, or so he alleges, but saved himself by clutching on a projecting rock and pulling himself back, the only man alive known to have survived such an ordeal.

[fogo4]

Wow thanks for the quick reply pizaaplanet. I have emailed Iris Taylor (http://www.itaylorresearch.com/fes_images.html) who I found online to see if she has any other insight or primary sources.

From what you are saying, regardless whether Brimstone Head is a 'corner', the FES has never believed in the earth having corners anyway. I did find online the other corners are the Bermuda Triangle, Hydra and Papua New Guinea. Where do you think this is coming from? None of these seem to have any relationship that I can see.

Also - in regards to the Colombo paragraph. Doesn't the FES believe the North Pole is the centre of the world? If so his sentence doesn't make sense that one can see the edge of the world from the North Pole (or indeed Fogo which is fairly far north).

[Pete Svarrior]

Ah, yes, I believe Iris was trying to resurrect the FES of Canada that I mentioned, but I haven't been keeping up with her work. Please let me know if you find out anything!

As for the origin of the corners, I'm not sure. Historically, there have been many societies under very similar names, often advocating very different views (or simply being parodies or using the Flat Earth Theory as a metaphor to inspire free-thinking), so it's very possible that some group somewhere did claim for those corners to exist. Or perhaps they didn't and someone just made up an urban legend which became viral. Hard to tell.

[fogo4]

I wonder if the Colombo bit about Al Pittman sighting 'the Edge" comes from his poem Brimstone Head

[jroa]

I think the origins for the four corners of the Earth originates from pre-biblical times, as I believe it is mentioned in several places in the bible. 

[rpoulin]

Here a map seen at Brimstone Head - Fogo