There are indeed remnants of the Dorset accent and dialect to be found there.
Similarities between old Dorset (as well as Devon and Cornwall) and traditional Newfoundland English include:
- both are rhotic - a strong r sound after vowels, sometimes when there isn't one in the written words e.g. The very idea of it becomes The very idear of it. (this is also known as the linking r)
- vowel shifts and diphthongs e.g. time pronounced more like toime.
- consonant sounds e.g. wasn't sounding like waddent and look resembling luh (luh over there!)
- grammatical inclusions e.g. where to instead of simply, where.
-h-dropping such as the fronting h e.g. ouse instead of house, example, luh at ouse up on ill [hill]. Also, h-insertion, Andrew sounding like Handrew.
- retaining old words and pronunciations that have moved on in Dorset but remain in Newfoundland e.g. some good instead of very good.* In a similar vein, right is a synonym for very e.g. Oim [I am] roight comfortable.
Having written all that, there are greater influences from Scottish and, especially, Irish on Newfoundland English than from Dorset. But that is a quite different kettle of cod.
*In variations of English established in the 17th and 18th centuries around the world, there are terms and words that exist there that are no longer extant in Britain. For example, in the US, on stop signs you see the word yield and America has everyday legal terms such as felony and misdemeanor that are archaic in Britain. So the Dorset influence on Newfoundland English was that of 300 to 150 years ago rather than the Dorset of today.
E & OE
