Irish Newfoundland lyrics

Subject: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 10:20 AM

I am looking for a link where I can find Irish Newfoundland songs, such as Old Flatrock Hills, Tiny Red Light, Sonny's Dream etc. If someone could direct me to the web site, I would appreciate it. Also any good Irish lyrics would be great as well.

Thanks

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Tim Jaques
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 11:24 AM

As I mentioned in another thread, I have an old Newfoundland songbook. If you will advise me the list of traditional songs you need I'll try to send them to you.

Sonny's Dream is not traditional, as I'm sure you are aware, but written by Ron Hynes when he was with the Wonderful Grand Band. I have it on CD in a newer version by him and I'll post the lyrics once I get a chance to write them done.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 11:29 AM

Tim- If you're sending out traditional songs, please send a copy to this forum-- That way everyone will have them.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Tim Jaques tjaques
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 11:45 AM

Sure thing!

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 12:51 PM

Tim,

My brother is a musician and Irish Nfld. music is what he usually plays. Some of the songs he's looking for are as follows: (Not all of them are just Nfld. songs.)

The Loss of the Marion
Mary from Dunloe
Music and Friends
Bell Island Song
Excursion Around the Bay
Gypsy Maiden
When the Robins Come Home
Long Before Your Time
Michael
Portland Town
The Boston Rose
Saltwater Joys
A Mothers Love is a Blessing
Tribute to Nfld.
Shamrock City
Uncle Dan
Run Runaway
Mari-Mac
The Old Black Rum
McRory
Right all Right
Seasons of a Sailor
Alone by your side
Year my come, Years may go
The orange and the green
Follow the wind
My Old homestead
Carol Anderson
Seven years I loved a sailor
Shall my soul pass through ole Ireland
The Macdonald Name
Maid of the Mountain Brow
My lovely Irish Rose
The rose of Aranmore
Nobody’s Child
My Old Main
For these are my mountains
By Lough Sheilin Side (Eviction)
Among the Wicklow Hills
Star of Logy Bay
Sonny’s Dream
Rubber Boots
Kelligrew's Soiree
Northern Lights of Labrador
Wild Colonial Boy
Northern Lights of Aberdeen
Patsy Fagan
The Broad Black Brimmer

I bet you're sorry you asked!!!!!! Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 8-Jan-02.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE STAR OF LOGY BAY
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 04:27 PM

I'll look, but I don't recognize many of those there and those that I do are not Newfoundland in origin.

I have to think that many of them are in the database, such as Wild Colonial Boy, which is Australian. Mary Mack is Scottish, I think, as is The Northern Lights of Aberdeen.

Kelligrew's Soiree, as a matter fact, I just e-mailed in to be posted on the database. I don't know when it will be on.

If you wish, e-mail me your snail and I will mail to you a photocopy of the old Newfoundland songbook to which I have been referring. (The book was for free distribution back in 1955) It has the music as well as the words which should be a bonus to your brother. Note, note, note, that I am going away for two weeks so if I don't get your e-mail before then don't be surprised. Eventually I intend to post all the lyrics on the database when I find the time.

Star of Logy Bay I can get to you, though.

THE STAR OF LOGY BAY

Ye ladies and ye gentlemen, I pray you lend an ear
While I locate the residence of a lovely charmer fair
The curling of her yellow locks first stole my heart away
And her place of habitation was down in Logy Bay

'Twas on a summer's evening, this little place I found
I met her aged father, who did me sore confound
He said, "if you address my daughter, I'll send her far away
And she never will return again while you're in Logy Bay."

'Twas on the very next morning, he went to St. John's town
And engaged for her a passage on a vessel outward bound
He robbed me of my heart's delight and sent her far away
And left me here downhearted for the Star of Logy Bay.

How could you be so cruel as to part me from my love?
Her tender heart beats in her breast as constant as the dove
Oh Venus was no fairer, nor the lovely month of May
May heaven above shower down its love on the Star of Logy Bay

So now I'll go a-roving, I can no longer stay
I'll search the wide world over, through every country
I'll search in vain through France and Spain, likewise Americay,
'Til I will sight my heart's delight, the Star of Logy Bay

Now to conclude and finish, the truth to you I'll tell
Between Torbay and Outer Cove 'twas where my love did dwell
The finest girl ere graced our isle, so everyone did say
May heaven above shower down its love on the Star of Logy Bay

"The Star of Logy Bay" is one of the most popular folk songs in Newfoundland, wherein all of the named places can be found. Numerous groups have done this traditional song, but this version is as sung by Jim Payne.

---

Star of Logy Bay (withy MIDI) in DT

Subject: Lyr Add: SONNY'S DREAM (Ron Hynes)
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 05:17 PM

SONNY'S DREAM
(Ron Hynes)

Sonny lives on a farm, on a wide-open space
You could take off your shoes; you could give up the race
You could lay your head down by a sweet riverbed
But Sonny always remembers what it was his Momma said

Chorus
Oh Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone
And your Daddy's a sailor, who never comes home
All these nights get so long, and the silence goes on
And I'm feeling so tired, I'm not all that strong

(Chorus)

Sonny carries a load, though he's barely a man
There ain't a whole lot to do; still he does what he can
And he watches the sea, from a room by the stairs
And the waves keep on rolling; they've done that for years

(Chorus)

Sonny's dreams can't be real; they're just stories he's read
They're just stars in his eyes; they're just dreams in his head
And he's hungry inside, for the wide world outside
And I know I can't hold him, though I've tried and I've tried

(Chorus twice to end)

This is the version as recorded by Ron Hynes on "Face To The Gale", but he's done other versions. He did it originally when he was with The Wonderful Grand Band. Unfortunately, I got my CD second hand and it is missing the liner so I can't give you the proper copyright information. It has also been recorded by other Canadian singers, including Valdy.

Other versions include an extra verse, which if memory serves me correctly goes like this:

It's a hundred miles to town, and Sonny's never been there
He just goes to the highway, and sits there and stares
And the mail comes at four, and the mailman is old
And Sonny still dreams his dreams full of silver and gold.

---

Sonny's Dream (with MIDI) in DT

Subject: Lyr Add: KELLIGREW'S SOIREE (J. Burke)
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 05:20 PM

KELLIGREW'S SOIREE
(J. Burke)

You may talk of Clara Nolan's ball
Or anything you choose,
But it couldn't hold a snuffbox to the spree at Kelligrew's.
If you want your eyeballs straightened
Just come out next week with me
And you'll have to wear your glasses
At the Kelligrew's Soiree.

CHORUS
There was birch rine, tar twine, Cherry wine and turpentine,
Jowls and cavalances, ginger beer and tea
Pig's feet, cat's meat, dumplings boiled in a sheet
Dandelion and crackies' teeth
At the Kelligrew's Soiree.

Oh, I borrowed Cluney's beaver,
As I squared my yards to sail;
And a swallow-tail from Hogan
That was foxy on the tail;
Billy Cuddahie's old working pants
And Patsy Nolan's shoes,
And an old white vest from Fogarty
To sport at Killegrew's.

CHORUS:
There was Dan Milley, Joe Lilly,
Tantan and Mrs. Tilley,
Dancing like a little filly;
'Twould raise your heart to see.
Jim Brine, Din Ryan, Flipper Smith and Caroline;
I tell you boys, we had a time
At the Kelligrew's Soiree.

Oh, when I arrived at Betsy Snook's
That night at half past eight,
The place was blocked with carriages
Stood waiting at the gate.
With Cluney's funnel on my pate
The first words Betsy said:
"Here comes a local preacher
With a pulpit on his head.”

CHORUS:
There was Bill Mews, Dan Hughes,
Wilson, Taft, and Teddy Roose,
While Bryant he sat in the blues
And looking hard at me;
Jim Fling, Tom King,
And Johnson, champion of the ring,
And all the boxers I could bring
At the Kelligrew's Soiree.

The Saratoga Lancers first,
Miss Betsy kindly said:
Sure I danced with Nancy Cronan
And her Grannie on the "Head";
And Hogan danced with Betsy
Oh you should have seen his shoes!
As he lashed old muskets from the rack
That night at Kelligrew's.

CHORUS:
There was boiled guineas, cold guineas,
Bullocks heads and picaninies
And everything to catch the pennies,
You'd break your heart to see;
Boiled duff, cold duff, apple jam was in a cuff;
I tell you, boys, we had enough
At the Kelligrew's Soiree.

Crooked Flavin struck the fiddler
And a hand I then took in;
You should see George Cluney's beaver
And it flattened to the rim.
And Hogan's coat was like a vest --
The tails were gone, you see.
Says I "The devil haul ye
And your Kelligrew's Soiree!"

This is a popular Newfoundland folk song written by Johnny Burke in the 1920's, closely based on an older New York Irish song called "The Irish Jubilee", which documents a similar party and lists the guests and bill of fare. This version of The Kelligrew's Soiree comes from "Old Time Songs of Newfoundland,” 1955 edition.

---

Kelligrew's Soiree (with MIDI) in the DT

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 05:28 PM

Are you sure the song isn't Patrick Fagan? A music hall song, I think, and the Irish Rovers did a version ages ago.

The chorus, as I recall, and it has been a while, goes

Hello, Patrick Fagan, you can hear the girls all cry
Hello, Patrick Fagan, you're the apple of my eye
You're a decent boy from Ireland and no-one can deny
With a har-em, dare-em diddle-I-air you're a decent Irish boy.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 21 Jul 97 - 11:31 AM

Tim,

Here is my mailing address, soyou can forward a copy of the book. Greatly appreciated.

K. Bradbury P.O. Box 337 Torbay, Nf A1K 1E4

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: LaMarca
Date: 21 Jul 97 - 02:22 PM

Thanks for the words to Sonny's Dream, Tim. I love it, and I've been singing it ever since I learned it from Claudine Languille(sp?) of Touchstone, who used to sing it in concert, including the 4th verse (which she sang 3rd), crediting Ron Hines. I've never heard Ron's own version, but heard Jean Redpath do a simply dreadful rendition on Prairie Home Companion a few years ago (Country-Western just isn't her style...) My husband can't stand the song, so I don't sing it very often...

I have a bunch of song collections from the Maritimes, and will see if I can find any of the other songs requested, too.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 08 Aug 97 - 10:37 AM

Been away on vacation to the Maritimes for the last two weeks, so I am just getting around to checking things.

I sent your song book, K., so you should be getting it soon. There are a bunch in there that I have never heard sung in my life.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 12 Aug 97 - 09:54 PM

Gerald S. Doyle Ltd., purveyors of castor oil and other essentials, published Old Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland in 1927, and by 1978 it had gone into its fifth edition. Perhaps this is the book Tim is referring to. The edition I have ('78) has 31 songs and half a dozen ballads. Included are such as Ticklecove Pond, Hard Hard Times, Homeward and Harbor Le Cou, all recorded by Ed McCurdy on an album in the late 50s. Songs like The Old Flat Rock Hills and Tiny Red Light are rarer, but are still sung in parlours around St. Mary's Bay, at least. They can be heard at the annual Rampike Folk Festival in Mt. Carmel, S.M.B., in the beer tent, if not on stage. If you are desperate for the OFRH and TRL words, write to my cousin, Mary Nolan, Box 200, Mt. Carmel, SMB, Newfoundland. Another great live singing source is her brother-in-law, Harold Power, Box 245, Admiral's Beach, S.M.B., Nwfd.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Barry Finn
Date: 12 Aug 97 - 10:15 PM

LaMarca, do you know of Claudine's where abouts these days, she was a friend of my wife & her sisters & hasn't been seen since her Touchstone/Chapel Hill days. Hi John figures you'd be hanging around this thread. Barry

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE CAPLIN COME IN
From: John Nolan
Date: 13 Aug 97 - 01:42 AM

I'm still awake, so here, from faulty memory, are a few verses of "When the Caplin Come In," which is a great old Newfie song.

When the Caplin Come In (part)

Well now is the time when the men are all ready
With oilskins and rubbers their work to begin
You bet they'll be busy and work 'til their dizzy
And live on the beach 'til the caplin are in.

There's some are long-whiskered and some are bald-headed
There’s Dicks, Jims and Billies, Joes, Georges and Jacks
There's little wee laddies and big-headed Paddies
All marching along with their nets on their backs

They rush for the water like ducks to a puddle
All floundering around like a crew in a wreck
There’s motor boats steaming while Johnny is screaming
Look, poor Uncle Tom has gone up to the neck.

And here's Uncle Billy, he's fussin' and cussin'
Me net it's all tattered and tangled and torn
A tuck load o' caplin got hooked in a grapnel
And now me old net is gone right from the horn.

He's lost all his fishes, o boy he looks vicious
He’s chawing tobacco; there's juice on his chin
There’s spawn in his whiskers; his hands are all blisters
He’s been on the beach since the caplin come in.

And now it's all over, the men getting ready
To hoist up their catch on their backs with a grin
Come laddies and lassies to the beach with your glasses
There’s sure to be fun now the caplin are in.


There are a couple of other good verses in there somewhere, detailing dip nets and cast nets, bait tucks and boat hooks...and something about twisting and turning like eels in the brook. Bet that Harold Power knows.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 14 Aug 97 - 01:36 AM

It is indeed the same songbook, although mine dates from 1955.

Is it now into a new edition? Do Doyle's still make cod liver oil? Do they still put those amusing ads about "your nerves" into it? I had understood that it was out of print. I got mine by badgering a Newfie to let me photocopy hers which she never lent. It took me years.

The songs have been done by any number of people. Many are verbatim on the CD "Another Time The Songs of Newfoundland". Some, such as Cape St. Mary's and The Badger Drive, are on Stan Rogers "For The Family". Others were done by Ryan's Fancy years ago.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Karen
Date: 18 Aug 97 - 02:32 PM

Thanks, John for your relatives' addresses. I will drop them a line to see what info they can provide me with. Also, thanks Tim again for sending me that book. My brother has read it from cover to cover and is familiar with alot of the songs and thinks it's a life saver. Again thanks very much for you help.

Cheers

Karen

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 02:41 PM

You must get hold of a copy of "Come and I will Sing You" a collection of Nfld tunes collected by three women ethnomusicologists Morgan (Anita?) and Best ... it may be out of print now, but there's be copies in St John's.

:) dennis

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 06:03 PM

Another fascinating book is The Last Stronghold, detailing Scottish Gaelic traditions in the Codroy Valley of southwest Newfoundland. It reminds us that all the island's musical tradition doesn't hark back to Ireland. Researched and written in the 1980s by Margaret Bennett, formerly of the School of Scottish Studies, (who is known to many in the U.S. through her singing tours and teaching) the book devotes a chapter to "We Worked and We Sang" and concerns itself with waulking songs and ceilidh music.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 06:16 PM

Pamela Morgan (formerly of Figgy Duff, that wonderful band) and Anita Best, folklorist and traditional singer.

The songbook "Come And I Will Sing You" was published in the mid-eighties by Anita Best . (She and Pamela did a CD of traditional and not-often-heard folk songs of Newfoundland) Now that you mention it I don't have a copy and will see if my local indie book store can get it for me.

I assume that the title of the book comes from the song that begins that way and lists items 1 to 12, the last being the 12 apostles if memory serves me right. Figgy Duff did a version years ago.

Speaking of Newfs I am off to see Great Big Sea at a local saloon next week. The local Newfs have been sighted buying tickets twenty at a time so I got mine today.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: DrWord
Date: 29 Aug 97 - 02:19 PM

Great Big Sea are fabulous! My folk festival buddies & I saw them at West End Cultural Centre just after "up!" was released. Thanks, Tim, for the correction to Pam & Anita's names, but I was at work & my copy of the book's at home. I will post the ISBN here ... :) dennis

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Cliff Mcgann
Date: 29 Aug 97 - 09:10 PM

Another great book is Paul Mercier's Newfoundland Songs And Ballads in Print 1842-1974 which was published by Nf's Memorial U. Dept. of Folklore and is a fairly exhaustive discography of NF songs in print (no actual songs but a good way to track down printed versions of songs). Copies were still available from MUN (at least when I was there two years ago). If anyone is interested I can send info. Margaret Bennet's book on the Codroy also featured a tape (some copies)of songs which was put together by the school of Scottish Studies and featured Allan MacArthur. A matter of fact if one listens closely to Ashley MacIssac's Hi Hoe are you Today Cd you can hear Alan on one track ("those songs came from Scotland they were my mothers songs"). Anyway Newfoundland is a vurtual treasure trove of song even to this day so many great songs are underperformed and not published. If you can get your hands on the 3 volume Songs of the Newfoundland outports by Kenneth Peacock (a tape by Pigeon Inlet records was also released) you are in for a treat. Loads of great songs. Peacock took some liberty on translations etc. and wasn't fond of locally composed songs but still a good source for NF material.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 12 Sep 97 - 11:34 PM

Karen: Thanks to cousin Mary, I now have the words to that melodramatic gem "The Tiny Red Light." If you still want em, I'll post em.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Sep 97 - 03:35 AM

Please do, John. How about a new thread?

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Karen
Date: 18 Sep 97 - 10:08 AM

John, yes I would love to have the lyrics of The Tiny Red Light.

Cheers

Karen

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 18 Sep 97 - 11:08 AM

I am not a musician, but I collect recordings of Irish folk ballads. However, it is almost impossible to find any selection in stores, and most tapes I buy turn out to be bitterly disappointing--either instrumentals or medlies or just plain junk. Is there a good source (like a mail order catalog) for this sort of thing?

Walt Kailey [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 18 Sep 97 - 08:57 PM

Joe and Karen: It's on my must do list for Saturday.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 19 Sep 97 - 09:49 AM

Walt, I don't know where you are but there is a mail-order source in Canada, Back Porch Music, at http://www.bpm.on.ca/ You can order online or by mail. I just found out, to my pleasure, that they have the CD of Archie Fisher's Man With A Rhyme.

When buying CD's, why not concentrate on recommended bands or artists, and get their CD's out of the folk section of the record store. I'm sure many here or on the Celtic music newsgroup could recommend good Irish artists. Many of those anonymous taped compilations are just nonsense recorded for the ordinary person to play on Saint Patrick's Day.

Subject: Lyr Add: TINY RED LIGHT
From: John Nolan
Date: 21 Sep 97 - 08:22 PM

TINY RED LIGHT
(according to Mary Nolan, Mt. Carmel, Saint Mary's Bay, Nwfd.)

"Put a light in the window my darling," she said
As she gazed at the dark dreary night overhead
Her little girl ran with her eager delight
As she placed in the window the tiny red light.

Her father came home from his work with a cold,
Angry and tired cause his fish were not sold.
He said that the oil it must do for the night,
And he took from the window the tiny red light.

"Oh father, dear father, don't take it away,
Think of the poor sailors far out on the bay,
Many will drown on the billow tonight
If you take from the window the tiny red light."

Early next morning came a knock on the door,
There stood a sailor far out on the shore.
Three tiny ships went adrift in the gale,
With tears in his eyes told the father this tale.

"We followed your tiny red light," said the man,
"Till it vanished from sight, on the rocks our ship ran,
Many have drowned on the billows last night,
That could have been saved by your tiny red light."

Well, that's the song, which raises the question: How long was that sailor's arm that he could knock a door and while standing on the beach? But that's a minor point. The song is important because it represents a watershed - it is still loved by the old-time, sentimental, family-oriented, down-around-the bay folks, and thought sappy by St. John's suburbanites, where Water Street is a cacophony of Irish music blaring out of tinny speakers every 50 feet to help sell Newfie kitch. The tune of Tiny Red Light is what has helped to preserve its popularity, at least in St. Mary's Bay, because it is an excellent waltz for the lounge bar crowd. Meanwhile, modern culture ever changes the bays. Last year, when I was home, the latest generation of McDonalds were buzzing up and down the Salmonier Arm on jet skis, driving my old aunt bananas.^^

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Sep 97 - 04:55 AM

John, thanks a lot for the "Tiny Red Light" lyrics. They're great. Now, any chance you can type up a midi file? I don't ask for much, do I???
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 24 Sep 97 - 04:45 PM

Joe, I would certainly oblige with the tune if I knew how to, and probably my Dell has the capability to make a MIDI file - I can certainly play other people's - but I am a dunce who even lacks the knowledge to make verse appear in separate lines. How about singing it over the phone?

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Sep 97 - 02:24 AM

Well, asking you to call would be asking a bit too much, John. thanks for offering, though. I'll find it in a songbook or recording somewhere, I'm sure.
someday soon, I'm sure Max will have us all typing MIDI files. It's actually quite easy with Noteworthy Composer, 3 keystrokes or a couple of mouseclicks per note. Your can download the shareware program at this URL:
http://www.ntworthy.com/composer/index.htm
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Nonie Rider
Date: 26 Sep 97 - 06:19 PM

So, do any of y'all know the source/details on the old camp song about canoeing? (Yes, I did check the database first, without luck.) It went something like:

Swiftly the paddles ply,
flashing like silver,
Swift as the wild geese fly,
Dip, dip and swing.

We were told this was a Newfoundland song, but since it had pretty clearly been passed along a few times, I was never quite sure.

Thanks!

--Nonie

Subject: ADD: Harbor Le Cou
From: John Nolan
Date: 27 Sep 97 - 09:42 AM

As I rowed ashore from my schooner close by,
A girl on the beach I chanced to espy,
Her hair it was red and her bonnet was blue,
And her place of abode it was Harbour Le Cou.

Subject: Lyr Add: HARBOUR LE COU
From: John Nolan
Date: 27 Sep 97 - 10:01 AM

Bert: The penny dropped. Thanks a lot. I'll finish off Harbour Le Cou, because I don't think it is in the database.

Harbour Le Cou

As I rowed ashore from my schooner close by,
A girl on the beach I chanced to espy,
Her hair it was red and her bonnet was blue,
And her place of abode it was Harbour Le Cou.

2. Well, boldly I asked her to walk on the strand,
She smiled like an angel and held out her hand,
So I buttoned me guernsey and hove 'way me chew,
In the dark rolling water of Harbour Le Cou.

3. As we walked on the shore at the close of the day,
I thought of my wife who was home in Torbay,
I knew that she'd kill me if she only knew,
I was courting a lassie in Harbour Le Cou.

4. My ship she lay anchored far out on the tide,
As I walked along with the girl at my side,
I told her I loved her, I said I'd be true,
And I winked at the moon over Harbour Le Cou.

5. As we passed a log cabin that stood on the shore,
I met an old shipmate I'd sailed with before,
He treated me kindly, saying "Jack, how are you?
It's seldom I see you in Harbour Le Cou."

6.And as I was parting this maiden in tow,
He broke up my party with one single blow,
Saying, "Regards to your Mrs. and wee kiddies too,
I remember her well, she's from Harbour Le Cou."

7. Well I looked at this damsel a-standing longside,
Her jaw it had dropped and her mouth opened wide,
And then like a she-cat upon me she flew,
And I fled from the furies of Harbor Le Cou.

8. So come all ye young sailors who walk on the shore,
Beware of old shipmates ye've sailed with before,
Beware of the maiden in bonnet of blue,
And the pretty young damsels of Harbor Le Cou.

Tune: Same as Sweet Betsy from Pike, I think.
Harbor Le Cou is on the south coast of Newfoundland.

---

Harbour Le Cou (with MIDI) in DT

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 27 Sep 97 - 07:44 PM

It's usually sung "comrades" rather than shipmates, but that is a trivial variation.

Ryan's Fancy, a Newfoundland band that is no more, used to do a good version of this on their live LP. You'll have it find it in a used vinyl shop as most regretably none of their LP's are out on CD. This is a shame as they were an excellent Newfoundland ( & Cape Breton) Celtic band. Perhaps there is some dipute about the masters.

Fergus O'Byrne from the group has just recently released a CD with Jim Payne but I don't know if this song is on it as I haven't bought it yet.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUNT MARTHA'S SHEEP
From:
Date: 27 Sep 97 - 10:53 PM

Incidentally, as John Nolan says there are other cultural traditions in Newfoundland. I once heard a Newfoundland fiddler who played in a style very much like the Cape Breton style. There are also the French and the English. Many Newfoundlanders trace their heritage back to Devon and that's where some of the songs came from.

I'd like to find a recording on CD of the song The Boarding House on Federation Square.

John, are you related to the Nolan that wrote and sang Aunt Martha's Sheep? Dick Nolan, I think his name was.

Here are the lyrics -- someone can fill in the blank as to place name:

AUNT MARTHA'S SHEEP

Come gather all around me and I'll sing to you a tale
About the boys from ------- who almost went to jail
It happened on a November night when all hands were asleep
We crept up over Joe Topp's Hill [phonetic] and stole Aunt Martha's sheep

Now if you pay attention, I know I'll make you laugh
We never went to steal the sheep; we went to steal the calf
But the old cow she got angry when we woke her from her sleep
We couldn't take any chances so we had to steal the sheep.

We caught the woolly animal, and dragged her from her pen
She said good-bye to little lambs she'd never see again
She knew that those dark strangers soon would take her life
In less than half an hour she felt the dreadful knife.

Aunt Martha she got angry when she heard about her loss
She swore she'd catch the robbers no matter what the cost
So early the next morning she to the office went
And to the RCMP a telegram she sent.

The Mountie got the message, and started in to read
"This is from Aunt Martha, relating an awful deed
Last night my sheep was stolen, by whom I cannot tell
I'd like for you to catch them and to drag them off to jail."

Well just a short while later, about twelve o'clock that night
We had the sheep a-cooking, and everyone feeling tight
The smell of mutton and onions, no man could ask for more
We were chug-a-lugging Dominion when the Mountie walked through the door.

He said "Sorry boys, your party, I really don't want to wreck,
But I smelled the meat a-cooking so I had to come in to check
Aunt Martha's sheep's been stolen, and the thief is on the loose.”
We said "Come right in and join us, Sir, we're having a feast of moose."

He came right in and he sat right down and we gave him a piece of the meat
He said, "This is the finest piece of moose I know I'll ever eat"
At two o'clock in the morning, he bid us all good day
"If we get any leads on the sheep, Sir, we'll phone you right away."

He said "Thanks a lot, you're a darn fine bunch and your promise I know you'll keep
If everyone was as good as you, she wouldn't have lost her sheep.”
After he left we had the piece we had in the oven to roast
Now we might have stole the sheep boys but the Mountie ate the most.

---

See thread on Aunt Martha's Sheep (click)

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 28 Sep 97 - 09:46 AM

No relation to Dick Nolan, Tim. My branch of the family are the Tuneless Nolans (save Cousin Mary). My father was very fond of songs and poetry though, and committed a lot to memory when he was working in the lumber camps in Labrador in the 1930s. In fact the lumber camps acted like the Aberdeenshire bothys of the 1800s in being a crucible of poetry and music. In the 1950s, when I was a kid, my father still had fragments of verse stuck in his head like shrapnel. Harbor Le Cou was one. The Little Beggar Man was another - he knew most all of that (except the tune, naturally). He also used to mutter bits of verses from a lumber camp song/poem called "The Double-sledded Lad" sitting up on his logs, "as happy as a king." I asked Dick Swain once, when he was researching woodsmen's songs in Maine, if he has come across it - he hadn't, at least at that time, so it may be localized to Newfoundland/Labrador. Can Tim or anyone throw more light on this one?

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Bob Landry
Date: 28 Sep 97 - 11:10 AM

Tim, re Aunt Martha's Sheep, the place names were Carmanville and Joe Tuck's Hill.
In an earlier thread I asked if anyone might have the lyrics to the two sequels to "Aunt Martha's Sheep" (the story may have reached epic proportions in Nfld.) I don't remember the titles but the first was about how the Monutie, who was actually a Newfie boy himself, had feigned ignorance at their first meeting and returned to catch the perpetrators. I heard this tune once while driving through Cape Breton many years ago. The second, which I've never heard and may be only a rumour, sings about the boys trying to pass on to their heavenly reward but finding themselves on trial defending themselves against the poor sheep (who, naturally, had made it to heaven) and other assorted witnesses.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 28 Sep 97 - 04:51 PM

I've never heard the two sequels, although the original song sounds like something the villains might have pleaded in court in hope of a lighter sentence.

I haven't heard that lumbering song, but I am trying to get a couple of Newfoundland songbooks through my local bookstore, which is trying to order them. I'll let you know if it is in there. I am also going to see what my local library has to offer.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Bob Landry
Date: 28 Sep 97 - 11:33 PM

Thanks, Tim. I'll keep an eye on this thread. I've got a few Newfie songbooks and an old Omar Blondahl record at home plus access to two Newfies in exile who are avid song collectors. Are there any tunes that you'd like for your collection?

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 29 Sep 97 - 03:14 PM

I left Newfoundland in '75; I haven't been able to find ANYONE in the US or Europe who knows the words to "Butcher Boy" - "In Dubllin city, where I did dwell ..." It was so hauntingly lovely, I world dearly love to be able to pass it on to my children. Does anyone know this?

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Sep 97 - 03:55 PM

I KNEW "Butcher Boy" was posted recently, but a forum search under [butcher boy] came up with no results. Then I did a forum search under "butcher" and came up with lots of entries. It's the first entry form Alice in the "Women's song circle" thread. Good song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 29 Sep 97 - 05:39 PM

I knew it as "In Jersey City"

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 14 Oct 97 - 07:19 PM

I bought the CD Wave Over Wave (Old And New Songs of Atlantic Canada) by Jim Payne and Fergus O'Byrne. It has a version of Double Sledder Lad on it, but unfortunately the lyrics are not provided. I'll try to listen and post.

It's a good CD of eastern Canadian songs and shanties. It's on Duckworth Distribution, 02 50440. I bought it through Back Porch at http://ww.bpm.on.ca -- with which I have no connection except for buying CD's.

Fergus O'Byrne used to be with Ryan's Fancy when they existed.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: John Nolan
Date: 14 Oct 97 - 09:11 PM

Thanks, Tim. I look foward to your posting, and may even prise open the sporran and buy the CD.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Nonie Rider
Date: 15 Oct 97 - 01:27 PM

If it's a sporran yuir wearin', don't be puttin' of vibratin' pagers intae't.

This public service warning comes to you via several startled security guards at a convention in Scotland.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From:
Date: 26 Jul 99 - 06:42 PM

Refresh so Newfoundland songs don't get put into BC thread.

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 14 Jan 00 - 12:42 PM

My father-in-law is from Isle-Aux-Mort NFLD; and has several volumes of NFLD songs. I have asked him to lend them to me. If I can be of assistance to you please drop me a list of the ones you have trouble getting the lyrics for, and I will be happy to look them up for you. Should be in next week. Yours, Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: Irish Newfoundland lyrics
From: Barry T
Date: 14 Jan 00 - 03:48 PM

This is a link to what appears to be a fantastic resource about to be published... Songs of the Newfoundland Outports... Kenneth Peacock's collection in CD-ROM format!

When I inquired the manager advised that it would be ready "in the next month or two." I recommended that he drop by ye olde Mudcat forum to tell us when it has been released.