Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jun 22 - 05:05 PM

My name is Robert named after my farther’s Brother. My mom nicked named me “Rory” when I was born in 1948. She named me after the Irish ditty “ Rory get your Dory there’s a Herring in the Bay. So it was somewhat popular in the late 1940’s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 03:31 AM

I'm totally amazed rtnw bc I was just telling someone today how my grandfather Duncan J.MacDonald would tell us stories and they'd sing old Irish and Scottish songs after dinner and after Gpa and my uncle,aunty and dad had a couple shots of aftr dinner scotch,they'd say(yell out)these words...
"There's a rory in the dory and a herring in the bay!"...
My great grandfather's name was Alexander Roderick MacDonald.So I thought this thing they were saying was made up by the our family only about him!! I thought they were talking about Great Gpa!They were from Nova Scotia.
Well when I was talking about this w/someone today,they suggested I go to lyrics.com,so I did and come to find that others have said this too!Not just our family.Gpa and my dad are passed on now.My dad,Dalton Ian Brennan MacDonald,would have been 79 this month.
May God Bless You All??

Sincerely,
Christina MacDonald

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: ripov
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 04:03 PM

Asouwester,apart from being a strong wind was also an article of clothing, like the cape that cyclists wear, that we used to call an 'oilskin'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 12:40 PM

Like Charlie, I remember Bill Bonyun singing this, but I'm pretty sure it was the "Oary Dory" version. I recall him singing something tha sounded like "Oh Redory, get your dory.." and the tune was not as jolly as the one on youtube
cheers- j

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 11:45 AM

The last post is I think the recording from which Beer got the lyrics that were done up by Maeve at 14 Sep 12 - 03:09 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 11:40 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-mz8VOroA

Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)

However, it has only four stanzas, two of which are the chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,Alan Furth
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 09:26 AM

Oary Dory


C                            G                                           C
Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
C                            G                                           C
Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
C                                  F       G                   C
For the herring are like silver shining in the sea
C                            F          G                         C
And all that shining silver is there for you and me

Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
Oary Dory get your dory, for the herring swim away
For the herring like the white gull want to live and not to die
And the herring like the white gull have wings on which to fly

Oary Dory got his dory and he went down to the bay
Oary Dory got his dory but the fish had gone away
For there was oil upon the water and tankers at the docks
And the herring and the white gull lay dead upon the rocks

Oary Dory sell your dory; get a job a-pumping oil
Oary Dory sell your dory, and forget this life of toil
For the herring and the white gull they do not riches bring
No the herring and the white gull they do not mean a thing

Oary Dory got his dory and he went out on the bay
Oary Dory got his dory, didn’t know just what to say
But out on that shining water, he knew deep in his soul
He needed that clean water with its fish and herring gull

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 21 - 09:14 AM

Oary Dory


Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
For the herring are like silver shining in the sea
And all that shining silver is there for you and me

Oary Dory get your dory; there are herring in the bay
Oary Dory get your dory, for the herring swim away
For the herring like the white gull want to live and not to die
And the herring like the white gull have wings on which to fly

Oary Dory got his dory and he went down to the bay
Oary Dory got his dory but the fish had gone away
For there was oil upon the water and tankers at the docks
And the herring and the white gull lay dead upon the rocks

Oary Dory sell your dory; get a job a-pumping oil
Oary Dory sell your dory, and forget this life of toil
For the herring and the white gull they do not riches bring
No the herring and the white gull they do not mean a thing

Ovary Dory got his dory and he went out on the bay
Ovary Dory got his dory, didn’t know just what to say
But out on that shining water, he knew deep in his soul
He needed that clean water with its fish and herring gull

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jul 20 - 07:53 PM

It was a phrase Captin Dick Murphy used to say.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,Kevin
Date: 14 May 19 - 01:38 PM

My dad used to tell me this as a nursery rhyme when I was a tot:

"Rory in the dory and the dory upset. Rory got a duckin' but he didn't get wet"

Same rhythm and cadence as the OP's phrase. Part of the same nursery rhyme? I only ever heard the two lines above but now I wonder if there is more to it.

My dad's also from Nova Scotia (Cape Breton).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 May 18 - 05:06 PM

You can hear Eddie LeGere singing RORY GET YOUR DORY at YouTube. The sound quality is so poor that I'm unable to verify that the lyrics posted above are correct in every detail, but at least you can hear what the tune sounds like.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,Hawk Hickok Huckman
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 01:33 PM

Hi.Writing a book on dories and want to use these song lyrics in the book with credit to Eddie Legere. Can you advise me on whom I might need to get permission from? [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,I learned this version in
Date: 14 Mar 16 - 10:27 PM

Oary Dory get your dory, there are herring in the bay
Oary Dory, get your dory, there are herring in the bay
For the herring are like silver shining in the sea
And all that shining silver is there for you and me.

Oary Dory, get your dory, there are herring in the bay
Oary Dory, get your dory, for the herring swim away
For the Herring like the white gull want to live and not to die
And the Herring, like the white gull, have wings on which to fly

Oary Dory got his dory and he went out on the bay
Oary Dory got his dory but the herring'd gone away
For there was oil upon the waters and tankers at the docks
And the herring like the white gull lay dead upon the rocks.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: maeve
Date: 14 Sep 12 - 03:09 PM

This one was pretty much settled by Beer's efforts, with fine-tuning help from Charley Noble and Bluenose Girl...corrections applied below:

Subject: Lyr Add: RORY GET YOUR DORY (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer - PM
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 09:31 AM

RORY GET YOUR DORY
(Eddie LeGere)

In Cape Breton Island, down Nova Scotia way,
Lies a little fishing village; they call it Pleasant Bay.
No one ever hurries there; a day seems like a year;
And any time you're passing by, these words you're sure to hear:

Oh, Rory, get your dory out. There's herring in the bay.
Do your fooling in the winter time. There's still no time to play.
Why, what good is blue potatoes, without herring on the plate?
So pull up your suspenders, b'y, or perhaps we'll be too late.

Big Willie Dan MacDonald, and Rory John McNeil,
Are the finest herring fisherman that ever used the creel.
Known to all Cape Bretoners, from the Bay to Whitney Pier,
Band when Willie Dan meets Rory John, these words you're sure to hear:

Oh, Rory, get your dory out. There's herring in the bay.
Put on your old sou'wester, b'y, and we'll be on our way.
A school of herring in the sea, just waiting to be caught.
Wee Alex needs a pair of shoes and the baby needs a cot.

Words by: Eddie LeGere
Recorded in Toronto 1966 but written in the early 50s according to what Eddie told me.
Ad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 11:48 AM

Bluenose Girl-

"these words your sure to here"

Most likely you meant to type:

"these words you're sure to hear"

It ain't easy to get lyrics tidied up!

Thanks! We're making progress.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: GUEST,Bluenosegal
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 10:34 AM

The last line in the third verse as I remember it from the album, was
"and when Willie Dan meets Rory John, these words your sure to here"

also first line of third verse was, again as I remember,
"Big Willie Dan MacDonald,and Rory John McNeil"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 09 - 01:32 PM

Adrien-

I would spell it "So'wester" as an abbreviated version of southwest.

Oh in the third verse it's probably "RORY John" rather than "RODY John."

I just can't help proofing!

Cheerily,
Charley Whatever

Subject: Lyr Add: RORY GET YOUR DORY (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 09:31 AM

You're correct in all Charley.
Another typo I'm sure is "Soewester". I don't think I've spelt this correct.
Adrien


RORY GET YOUR DORY

In Cape Breton Island, down Nova Scotia way,
Lies a little fishing village; they call it Pleasant Bay.
No one ever hurries there; a day seems like a year;
And any time you're passing by, these words you're sure to hear:

Oh, Rory, get your dory out. There's herring in the bay.
Do your fooling in the winter time. There's still no time to play.
Why, what good is blue potatoes, without herring on the plate?
So pull up your suspenders, b'y, or perhaps we'll be too late.

Big Willie Dan MacDonald, big Rory John McNeil,
Are the finest herring fisherman that ever used the creel.
Known to all Cape Bretoners, from the Bay to Whitney Pier,
Big Willie Dan, and Rory John, these words you're sure to hear:

Oh, Rory, get your dory out. There's herring in the bay.
Put on your old sou'wester, b'y, and we'll be on our way.
A school of herring in the sea, just waiting to be caught.
Wee Alex needs a pair of shoes and the baby needs a cot.


Words by: Eddie LeGere
Recorded in Toronto 1966 but written in the early 50s according to what Eddie told me.
Ad.


Corrections made. --JoeClone, 19-Apr-09.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 08:40 AM

Adrien-

Excellent work and timely as well!

I do believe there are two typo's in what you posted that need attention:

"So pull up your suspenders b'y, or perhaps WILL be too late."

Most likey should be:

So pull up your suspenders b'y, or perhaps WE'LL be too late.

And a similar question in this line:

"Put on your old Soewester b'y, and WILL be on our way."

Most likely should be:

Put on your old Soewester b'y, and WE'LL be on our way.

Other minor typo's include:

Known to all Cape Bretoners, from the Bay to Whitney PEIR (Pier).
Big Willie Dan, and Rody John, these words YOUR (you're) sure to hear.

As we used to say, "Hunky dory!"

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 12:23 AM

Adrien! Thanks for the PM! I'd forgotten about asking after this and it has given me great joy to read of your stupendous efforts! I will have to let my friend know.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 08:02 PM

End of Story. I think. Thanks again Kat for starting this thread.
Adrien

Rory Get Your Dory

In Cape Breton Highland down Nova Scotia way.
Lies a little fishing village they call it Pleasant Bay.
No one ever hurries there, a day seems like a year,
And any time you're passing by these words you're sure to hear.

Oh Rory get your Dory out, there's herring in the bay.
Do your fooling in the winter time, there's still no time to play.
Why what good is blue potatoes, without herring on the plate.
So pull up your suspenders b'y, or perhaps will be too late.

Big Willie Dan MacDonald, big Rory John McNeil.
Are the finest herring fisherman, that ever used the creel.
Known to all Cape Bretoners, from the Bay to Whitney Peir.
Big Willie Dan, and Rody John, these words your sure to hear.

Oh Rory get your Dory out, there's herring in the bay.
Put on your old Soewester b'y, and will be on our way.
A school of herring in the sea, just waiting to be caught.
Wee Alex needs a pair of shoes and the baby needs a cot.

Words by ; Eddie Legere
Recorded in Toronto 1966 but written in the early 50's

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 05:15 PM

Got most of it done but I'll have to call the man this evening to get a few words correct. Not sure what he says. I spoke to Eddy this afternoon and he told me that he wrote the song around 1956/57. He couldn't be sure. The only date is 2005 on the C/D.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 05:08 PM

Adrien-

Oh, I'm sure you'll get around to it in a day or two, maybe in a week or two, or maybe we'll have to track you down when you are old and gray!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 03:20 PM

Arrived today. Song is just how I remember. Except all the missing words are here. Hopefully I'll get around to writing out the lyrics this evening.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From: Beer
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 05:46 PM

I'm hoping that Eddy got the c/d in the mail.
Ad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory Get Your Dory (Eddie LeGere)
From:
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 05:35 PM

Sounds wonderful. Found a link here Snippet

Lots of other Snippets available. But sounds like you're on the track of the full lyrics. Great stuff.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 09:57 AM

...rory...dory...rory...dory...

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 09:18 AM

Interesting meself.
Ad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: meself
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 06:52 AM

I would be curious to see how the date of publication of Eddy LeGere's song corresponds with the time-periods in which it is implied the song was current in the several texts mentioned in the posts above. Without know anything about how the man operated, we should reserve the possibility that he re-worked an existing ditty or rhyme. On the other hand, any of those other writers could have assumed that a relatively recent song came from timeless tradition.

Back to meditation.

... om ... om ... om ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: meself
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 11:08 PM

(meditating ... )

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 10:43 PM

Thanks Charley. This is what makes this site fun.
ad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 09:11 PM

That you (and other Mudcatters) could reach the real person who composed such a song is why I still monitor the occasional song thread.

Excellent work, Adrien!

We can all meditate while the lyrics wing their way to you.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 08:31 PM

Yes Sandy you are very correct. I guess i didn't express what my intention is and that is to post the words to his song. Which I want to ask him if it is O.K. Which in all likelihood it would be alright. However, do want to ask his permission.
ad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 08:19 PM

As a point of clarification the author need not take any action beyond creation of the work. Copyright is automatic. He may however take some action at some point to prove his claim as author.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 08:14 PM

Great detective work Adrien!
As for copyright in Canada any work is under copyright from the time of its creation until long after the death of the author. If he wrote it and is still alive he owns copyright unless he conveyed it to another party.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 06:51 PM

Well, well, well, well. Just got off the phone with the man himself. Eddie LeGere lives in St. Catherine's Ontario and still does a little performing. He said he is 81 plus. He confirmed that he indeed wrote the song and that he would send me a c/d if I'd like. I told him to send it and include the cost so I can pay. He refused but I insisted. He is originally from Joggins Nova Scotia and has been away for about 30 years. He still goes back though. He then asked to hold tight as he would play the song for me. So after a few minutes he turned on his player and I caught some of it while he spoke. I asked him as to why the words could not be found on the Internet and he said he wouldn't know anything about that because he has no computer. Waste of time. I asked him if it would be alright to sing his song. he laughed and said that was why he wrote it. Stupid question I guess.
When I receive the c/d. I will call him back and ask if I can write the words down and show it to other people. I will also try and get to find out if it is copyrighted as Charley has suggested.
Thanks Kat for starting this thread and all the folks who have contributed.

Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 01:24 PM

No answer. Will call this evening.
adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 01:22 PM

Your right Charley, I lost me oar. But just one. Here is what I just received but brings us back to what Jim Dixon mentions above.

It is on "A Bluenose Song Book" which Jim found in his search. Anyway, here is what my friend who runs a radio show up in Ottawa wrote me.

Hey Adrien, my good friend Jim Wade passed this along to Frank Maher, one of our wonders of musical knowledge ... so here it is, via Frank (Maher's Bars) from NL (one of the island's finest button accordionists - also part of the Auntie Crae's Band!) ....

Cheers,
Ron
P.S. apparently Frank says that Eddie's number is: ..........


Eddie wrote and sung Rory get the Dory



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank Maher
Sent: April 6, 2009 11:08 AM
To: Ron Moores
Subject: Rory get your dory


Hi Ron......You'll find it here...
Frank

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84145165?tab=details#tabs

This brings us back to Jim Dixon post.
However I will call Eddie and see what develops.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 01:03 PM

Adrien-

Steady, big fella!

Make sure you've got a firm grip on both oars and that they're both in the water.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 12:48 PM

ooooooh! I'm getting closer. Should know soon.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 09:14 PM

Adrien-

I expect that this song has actually been copyrighted since it did get radio play. But I sure can't find more than fragments.

Interesting discussion. I wonder if Vince Morash would know more details. He' and Pixie are going to be stopping by this week on his way south.

And some day soon all will be revealed!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 08:23 PM

meself,
Good to read what you have written. Your explanation to me fits perfectly and as well I can't figure out where the Portuguese fit into the song.
I probably heard them at some house party that I was playing at. However I have a feeling that in one of my downeast cassettes it was also sung. I still have more to go through but a Newfoundland singer is where I am leaning toward. I wrote to George Seto - Chebucto but haven't heard from him as yet.
This is one that and answer is out there and will be found.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: meself
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 08:04 PM

This sounds as if it would have come from someone who has been around both Cape Bretoners and Newfoundlanders. Back in the 'seventies, I had a friend from Cape Breton who would occasionally snort at the "drunken-Rory-in-his-dory stories" that were, according to my friend, recounted on a not-infrequent basis amongst persons of a certain social class on the island of his birth. "Rory" is, at least on the western side of the Atlantic, a distinctly Scottish name, and familiar in Cape Breton. However, the way "the bay" and the "sou'wester" are used here are at least equally suggestive of Newfoundland, if not moreso. While Newfoundland certainly does not have a monopoly on bays, "the bay" as a communally-recognized locale is, I think it is fair to say, a part of Newfoundland consciousness. On the other hand, "bays" and "sou'westers" are familiar concepts all along the north-east coast.

And it is possible that the ultimate source of my friend's rhyming of "Rory" and "dory" is the song, rather than the song (or ditty) being inspired by a folk expression.

And then the line from a verse quoted above - "Oh, Rory, oh, begorrah, oh," - suggests an Irish or mock-Irish element.

Hard to imagine it has anything to do with the Portuguese. Perhaps in the context of the piece of writing in which the connection is made, the reader is to understand that there IS no real connection - that the father is just being silly, or is a blowhard, or innocently ignorant.

I hope someone can find a complete set of lyrics; I've never come across this song before.

(Adrien: where do you remember those lines from?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Beer
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 07:05 PM

Jim that was a great find. I checked with my Newfoundland friend and was disappointed in that she had never heard it. But I'm not giving up. I have a friend who is vacationing for the next few week who has a sister in Newfoundland who seems to know more Newfoundland songs than there are cod on the Great Banks. I guess she doesn't know many songs eh!
Yes Charlie it is amazing.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: GUEST, GEST without a cookie
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 05:37 PM

Jim ~ For future reference, you can access the search engine of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English on the Main Page at GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador. The only entry found in the dictionary for rory is as follows:

rory-eyed a also roary-eyed*. From a U S cpd (h)orry-eyed 'drunk': DAS oryide (1894), orry-eyed (1943): BERREY p. 106 hoary-eyed, orie-eyed, Am Speech iv (1928-9), p. 102 orie-eyed, 422, v (1930), p. 231; cp SND roarie 'drunk' 1865, 1904.
   1 Drunk.
    P 279-89 We used to say 'He's roary-eyed' when someone was very, very angry, really enraged, and also when someone was roaring drunk.
   2 Very angry, furious.
   M 64-3 When anyone dared to call him that [nickname] he'd get roary-eyed. T 147-65 He went right crazy, right roary-eyed. C 71-110 She would get rory-eyed meaning that she would get very mad or angry. 1985 A Yaffle of Yarns 11 I also realized that...Dad would be 'rory-eyed' and hit the roof if he knew his only son was takin' his life in his own hands.

I think Rory in this ditty is a person's name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 04:46 PM

It's amazing that this one has taken so long to nail down but at least now we have some more clues.

I never considered it a traditional ditty but more of a popular song composed in the 1960's when it got some radio air play.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 12:24 PM

Aha! WorldCat.org says that RORY GET YOUR DORY is on the LP album A Bluenose Song Book by Eddie LeGere (Toronto: Arc, [196-]).

Unfortunately, it doesn't say where the LP can be found.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 12:18 PM

There MIGHT be some relevant information in Dictionary of Newfoundland English by George Morley Story, W. J. Kirwin, John David Allison Widdowson (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990). At least that book keeps coming up when I search for "rory, dory, herring" and some other words from the song—but it's a recent book, under copyright, and Google Books doesn't allow a preview of the relevant pages. I'd look around pages 732-733.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 12:07 PM

Here's another tantalizing quote from a novel: Where the Land and Water Meet by Julian Moynahan (New York: Morrow, 1979):

Ace went to the window. He put his head out and sang melodiously, "Does Your Mother Come from Novy? Did she get here in a dory?" Then he said, in a fake English accent of the lah-di-da variety, "I say, Rory, er-ah get your er-ah dory, because er-ah I do believe there er-ah is an er-ah herring in the er-ah bay." He went from there into fake darky lingo....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rory get the dory... Song or ditty?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Apr 09 - 12:16 PM

Not in GEST, not in Peacock.