Al, the Wee Little Drummer, mentioned the song Me Cock's Me Own, so I thought I'd add it a bit belatedly to this thread. GEST
Me Cock's Me Own
One Saturday afternoon I went out for a walk,
I went into the marketplace to hear the people talk;
A woman was selling birds, she had an awful stock,
I handed her a half a buck,
And she handed me a cock-a-doodle-do.
Is nothing to do with you, me cock's me own;
So leave him alone and cock-a-doodle-do.
I put me cock under me coat and down the road I strolled,
I wouldn't gone too very long me cock began to grow;
A woman was walking by, she got an awful shock,
She said, young man, please button your coat,
'Cause I can see your cock-a-doodle-do.
Is nothing to do with you, me cock's me own;
So leave him alone and cock-a-doodle-do.
I took me cock out for a row and the boat began to rock,
I fell into the water and the fish got hold of me cock-a-doodle-do.
Is nothing to do with you, me cock's me own;
So leave him alone and cock-a-doodle-do.
I took me cock home and then I put him in the pen,
I put him in the pen alongside me sisters little black hen;
Jenny come running out, she got an awful shock,
She said me hen, me little black hen,
Is underneath your cock-a-doodle-do.
Is nothing to do with you, me cock's me own;
So leave him alone and cock-a-doodle-do.
Well, fellers, I got to go, I got to be on me way,
The time that I have buggered around I could have been miles away;
But before I go there's something I'd like to know,
Is there any young lady present who,
Would like to see his cock-a-doodle-do?
Is nothing to do with you, me cock's me own;
So leave him alone and cock-a-doodle-do.
####.... Author unknown. Variant of a 19th century British traditional ....####
Recorded by Jenny and Josie Wilkinson of Point Rexton, Trinity Bay, NL (Now And Then, Ambassador Records, 1996). Also recorded by Chuck Simms from Grand Bank, NL (Campfire Songs, Atlantic Seabreeze Records, 2003)
Also recorded by Simon Ritchie and his So-Called Band (Melodeon Mania, X-Tradition TMM1911CD, 1998) who remembers this song being well known in country farrming pubs, but says it may have started life in the London music halls of the 1800s. Simon told GEST he learned it from Hubert 'Sugar' Bailey from Essex, England, who Simon recorded in the mid-1980s when 'Sugar' was in his sixties. Simon added bits from other singers such as the late Ted Chaplin of Suffolk and added a couple verses of his own through the folk process. Simon has heard the song referred to as The Comical Cock, but Me Cock's Me Own is his title for it. Simon and his band still sing it in the pub on a 'good' night (or day).
Archived at GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador