Lyr Req: Merasheen Farewell

Subject: Merasheen Farewell
From: GUEST,Corinne Pomroy
Date: 20 Aug 00 - 02:09 AM

Hi there,

I'm searching for lyrics to this song. It comes out of southern Newfoundland, somewhere off the Avalon Peninsula (?). I have seen it in a songbook, so it has been published somewhere...

"Merasheen Farewell", or perhaps "Farewell to Merasheen?"

Any help would be much appreciated...

Thanks, Corinne :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Merasheen Farewell
From: Pene Azul
Date: 20 Aug 00 - 02:11 AM

You can get the lyrics here (click).

PA

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Merasheen Farewell
From: GUEST,Corinne Pomroy
Date: 20 Aug 00 - 02:29 AM

Wow, that was amazing! Thankyou so much Pene for your incredibly prompt post !!

Corinne :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Merasheen Farewell
From: Giac
Date: 20 Aug 00 - 08:13 AM

Hangin' on to that record, eh, PA? ~:o)

Subject: Lyr Add: MERASHEEN FAREWELL (Ernie Wilson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 01:20 PM

Copied from http://www.k12.nf.ca/stas/sebwebsite/merasheen.htm and corrected by comparing with the sound file here: http://www.merasheen.ca/title.html

MERASHEEN FAREWELL
(Ernie Wilson)

Attention, all good friends of mine, and listen to my tale,
Relating to an island down in Placentia Bay.
It was my home of childhood times, where memories still do stray,
The lovely Isle of Merasheen down in Placentia Bay.

The people make their living on the land and on the sea.
They all helped one another; that was their policy.
With their little gardens by their houses and their boats moored to the pier,
And a singsong in the evening around a keg of beer.

Sometime in December, they turned out all the lights,
And locked the doors on the happy homes, that they worked for all their lives.
It will break your heart to see them walk to their boat to go away,
As they bid farewell to Merasheen, down in Placentia Bay.

No more they'll watch the capelin as they wash upon the sand,
The little fish they used for bait and to fertilize the land.
No more they'll watch their gardens grow, or their meadows full of hay,
Or walk the road in their working clothes, their good old-fashioned way.

The houses now are all closed up. Their windows no more will rise.
Their doors will never open again to welcome you inside.
Nor will you hear the sounds of laughter, or the songs they used to sing.
Those days are gone forever now, and so is Merasheen.

I hope you're settled down by now in your homes across the way,
Although we're separated, we'll meet again some day.
From all of us who live far away, and from our chil-der-en,
We thank you for the happy homes we had in Merasheen.

[For capelin, see here: http://www.coastalsafari.com/CAPELIN.htm]