Subject: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Oct 03 - 11:29 AM We have lots of information on this song, scattered over a number of threads. I think it's time for us to compile the best of the information here. This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion. This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread. Search for other DTStudy threadsHere is the Digital Tradition entry on this song. It's unattributed. Can anybody tie down the source for this version? Are the lyrics an accurate transcription? FAREWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA The sun was setting in the west The birds were singing on ev'ry tree All nature seemed inclined to rest But still there was no rest for me Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast Let your mountains dark and dreary be And when I am far away on the briny oceans tossed Will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me? I grieve to leave my native land I grieve to leave my comrades all And my aged parents whom I always held so dear And the bonnie, bonnie lass that I do adore The drums they do beat and the wars do alarm The captain calls, we must obey So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms For it's early in the morning I am far, far away I have three brothers and they are at rest Their arms are folded on their breast But a poor simple sailor just like me Must be tossed and driven on the dark blue sea @Canada @leaving filename[ FARWELNS TUNE FILE: FARWELNS CLICK TO PLAY (the tune is exactly the same as the tune you'll find in Fowke's Penguin book - JRO) SOF
PLEASE NOTE: Because of the volunteer nature of The Digital Tradition, it is difficult to ensure proper attribution and copyright information for every song included. Please assume that any song which lists a composer is copyrighted ©. You MUST aquire proper license before using these songs for ANY commercial purpose. If you have any additional information or corrections to the credit or copyright information included, please e-mail those additions or corrections to us (along with the song title as indexed) so that we can update the database as soon as possible. Thank You. Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index: Farewell to Nova ScotiaDESCRIPTION: Even on a calm and beautiful night, the singer cannot rest. The wars force him to return to sea. He bids "Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast... When I am far away on the briny ocean tossed, will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me?"AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior) KEYWORDS: sea farewell Canada FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) REFERENCES (3 citations): Fowke/Johnston, pp. 44-45, "Nova Scotia Song" (1 text, 1 tune)[Edith Fulton Fowke (Literary Editor) and Richard Johnston (Music Editor), Folk Songs of Canada (1954)] Creighton/Senior, pp. 264-265, "Nova Scotia Song" (1 text (compilation), 1 tune) [Helen Creighton and Doreen H. Senior, Traditional Songs of Nova Scotia (1960)(sic)] DT, FARWELNS* Roud #384 File: FJ044 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2003 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. Note that the Traditional Ballad Index gives two dates for the Creighton/Senior book. is one incorrect, or is the book that was indexed a later 1960 edition? www.virtualmuseum.ca has a clip of "Farewell to Nova Scotia" Sung by Walter Roast, East Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1943-44. Recorded by Helen Creighton. (CMC CR-F-15, #1) The virtual museum page has the same lyrics found in Fowke's Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs (below), with the addition of one workd in the first verse:
The birds were singing on every tree All nature seemed inclined for to rest But still there was no rest for me. Masato found this page (click), which says Ann Greenough, of Petpeswick, first sang “The Nova Scotia Song” for Helen Creighton in 1933. Thread #42811 Message #623233 Posted By: masato sakurai 08-Jan-02 - 05:37 AM Thread Name: Lyr Req: Farewell to Nova Scotia Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farewell to novia scotia
Other pages on the song and Helen Creighton: Barry Taylor's MIDI arrangement of "Farewell to Nova Scotia" is here (click). |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Oct 03 - 11:35 AM Thread #42811 Message #622463 Posted By: Malcolm Douglas 06-Jan-02 - 09:16 PM Thread Name: Lyr Req: Farewell to Nova Scotia Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farewell to novia scotia
[The song] appeared in Creighton and Senior's Traditional Songs of Nova Scotia [1950] (pp.264-265; information from Steve Roud's Folksong Index). Thread #42811 Message #622481 Posted By: masato sakurai 06-Jan-02 - 09:53 PM Thread Name: Lyr Req: Farewell to Nova Scotia Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Farewell to novia scotia
Edith Fowke says in The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs (1973, pp. 197-198): Here are the lyrics from The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs. They are very slightly different from the version in the Digital Tradition. FAREWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA The sun was setting in the west, The birds were singing on ev'ry tree, All nature seemed inclined for rest, But still there was no rest for me.
Let your mountains dark and dreary be, For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed, Will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me? I grieve to leave my comrades all, And my aged parents whom I always held so dear, And the bonny, bonny lass that I do adore. The drums they do beat and the wars do alarm, The captain calls, we must obey, So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms, For it's early in the morning I am far, far away. I have three brothers and they are at rest, Their arms are folded on their breast, But a poor simple sailor just like me Must be tossed and driven on the dark blue sea. tune is the same as what's in the DT - Click to play |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Oct 03 - 11:37 AM Thread #12170 Message #222608 Posted By: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca 03-May-00 - 07:46 PM Thread Name: Farewell to Nova Scotia --lyrics request Subject: RE: Farewell to Nova Scotia --lyrics request
Upon followup to this thread, the information I've been given recently is that Dr. Helen Creighton assembled the verses we know as the song from several versions of the song. She thought these made the most coherent version. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of Dan McKinnon's information. Lyrics furnished by Crowhugger and Dale Rose. Source: a book, published by J. and R. Parlane, Paisley (shows also published in Glasgow & London) in 1911, of Tannahill's songs & poems. ^^ THE SOLDIER'S ADIEU
The weary sun's gane doun the west, Posted By: Jon Bartlett 29-Aug-02 - 02:48 PM Thread Name: Lyr Req: Farewell to Nova Scotia Subject: Origins: Farewell to Nova Scotia
There's a scholarly 10pp. article titled "The Scottish Origins of "Farewell to Nova Scotia" by Linda Christine Craig, in Dalhousie Review, Vol 58 No. 3 Autumn 1978. She explains the connection to "The Soldier's Adieu", attributed to Robert Tannahill. This poem was first printed in a Glasgow newsapaper September 1808, and thence in various editions of Tannahill's poems, via an appearance in an 1825 chapbook (now in the University Library at St Andrews). A good read and thoroughly researched. Thread #12170 Message #1029073 Posted By: Charley Noble 03-Oct-03 - 03:07 PM Thread Name: Farewell to Nova Scotia --lyrics request Subject: RE: Farewell to Nova Scotia --lyrics request
Here's some more info on the composer of "The Soldier's Adieu": |
Subject: ADD: Good Night and Joy From: masato sakurai Date: 28 Oct 03 - 12:37 PM The version under the section of Robert Tannahill in Charles Rogers, The Scottish Minstrel: The Songs of Scotland Subsequent to Burns (Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1872, p. 142; words only) has a different set of words with a chorus, the title being "Good Night, and Joy." GOOD NIGHT, AND JOY* Masato sent me a link to this information from Susanne (skw) -Joe Offer-^^
Good Night and JoyThe year is wearing to the wane And day is fading west awa' Loud raves the torrent and the rain And dark the cloud comes down the shaw But let the tempest tout and blaw Upon his loudest winter's horn Good night, and joy be wi' you a' We'll maybe meet again the morn O we hae wandered far and wide Though I was wayward, you were kind (as sung by The McCalmans) [1970:] Born in Ettrick Forest, [James Hogg (1770-1835)] spent his early days as a shepherd, but he was discovered by Scott while collecting material for his 'Border Minstrelsy', and taken under that ample wing. He had almost no formal education, [...] but he soon became famous among the famous of his time - helped by his magnificent personality. He farmed most of his life and left a variety of notable works [...]. (Penguin Book of Scottish Verse 15f) Thread #63989 Message #1043275 Posted By: Malcolm Douglas 28-Oct-03 - 01:26 PM Thread Name: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia
The tune Good Night and Joy be wi' ye a' was very well known in the later 18th century. Niel Gow and Sons included it in part II of Gow's Repository of the Dance Music of Scotland, with the comment "This Tune is played at the Conclusion of every convivial Dancing meeting throughout Scotland". |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Oct 03 - 12:52 PM Thread #10324 Message #70771 Posted By: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca 14-Apr-99 - 12:26 AM Thread Name: Nova Scotia question... Subject: RE: Nova Scotia question...
The song, titled "The Nova Scotia Song", was collected by Dr. Helen Creighton in the Halifax County area. It was known by a number of people, but as a true folk song, it is NOT know who wrote it originally. There is some speculation on the tune it was based on, but no clear winners there either. I've gone through all the threads on this song, and I think I've extracted all the pertinent information we have. The one thing we're missing is a documented early version of the lyrics - the earliest "Nova Scotia" lyrics above are from Fowke's 1973 Penguin book. Do we have lyrics as collected by Creighton? I have her Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, but it does not have the song. Anybody have a copy of Traditional Songs of Nova Scotia? -Joe Offer- |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 28 Oct 03 - 02:43 PM The lyrics posted from "The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs" are the same as those in GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador, with sheet music, chords, lyrics and two midis, online: Farewell GEST says the title originally was "The Nova Scotia Song." There is a story that this version of the Tannahill "The Soldier's Adieu" originated with WWI, and is about a Canadian sailor's loss of his brothers in that War. I have no information that would support this story, but it has entered Canadian folklore and is also found on the internet. In Canada, at least outside of the Nova Scotia area, the song remained obscure long after its collection in the 1930s. It was not included in the Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs, 1967, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Note: the second MIDI at the GEST site appears to be a Barry Taylor creation. -Joe Offer- |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Date: 28 Oct 03 - 06:54 PM Joe. A look at TSNS shows the song under the original title "The Nova Scotia Song" as given by Helen Creighton. This is the earliest publishing that is known currently. Also for the completists, the date of the collection of this song was Aug 4th, 1933. The story given is that Helen Creighton, and probably Doreen Senior were going around collecting songs (remember this is 1933 before recording equipment). They had been planning to picnic, but a rainstorm happened. Mrs. Annie Greenough welcomed them in, and in the kitchen, with their feet drying in the wood stove's oven, they heard this song for the first time. Cute. Thanks for this DTStudy, Joe. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia (Q) From: GUEST, GEST Date: 28 Oct 03 - 10:02 PM Q ~ Indeed, the MIDI file credits pages at GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador show many Barry Taylor originals. He is, after all, the best, eh? :-) Check out the June 30, 2000, entry for the Nova Scotia Song here. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 28 Oct 03 - 11:26 PM The Barry Taylow midi is superb. I know of no song with music more evocative of the rolling waves and images of the sea. Who made the arrangement of the music for the song as we know it today? Was it Helen Creighton? There are differences in emphasis and feel from "Good Night and Joy Be Wi' Ye A'" |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 29 Oct 03 - 05:19 AM These footnotes to the song are published in Allister MacGillivray's "The Nova Scotia Song Collection". There is a folksinger in Halifax named Clary Croft who has done tons of research on Creighton's collections, much of it obtained from Creighton herself. It is too bad that he dosen't seem to follow this forum. Maybe George can put a bug in his ear to drop in on us sometime. Sandy THE STORY OF "THE NOVA SCOTIA SONG" DR. HELEN CREIGHTON, AUGUST/89: "Iusually travelled alone but, when Miss Doreen Senior was with me, she could write the music down immediately. We often took picnics with us but this day in 1933 it was pouring rain and I believe we had our picnic in the car. Still we managed to get wet anyway, especially our feet, walking through the muddy road to the house. Of course the roads were not paved then; they were all mud. I hadn't heard of Mrs. Dennis Greenough before, but she had heard of me because I had been down that way before (i.e., the Petpeswick-Chezzetcook district). People are so hospitable, you know. Mrs. Greenough said, 'Why didn't you bring your picnic in the house and have it here?' Now, I don't remember whether Miss Senior did or not, but Iput my feet in the oven to get them warm and dry. While I was sitting there, Mrs. Greenough sang 'The Nova Scotia Song'for us. We liked it right away but at that time we weren't overly enthused; we didn't know then that the song was as special as it has now become. The song was very popular in that area. I was told that a singing-master taught it in the schools around Chezzetcook and Petpeswick. They all knew it—all the old people knew it because they would have gone to school at the turn of the century. So, I made a compilation—something I'd never done with any other song. You see, I'd get a verse here and a verse there. I'd write these verses down and put them in order. They all had pretty much the same tune. I published it in Traditional Songs From Nova Scotia." (note: according to the research and writings of Linda C. Craig and Marjory Whitelaw, "The Nova Scotia Song" began as a poem called "The Soldier's Adieu" by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), a famous weaver-poet from the Scottish town of Paisley. When Scottish immigrants arrived in Canada, they probably brought along the song which was eventually adapted to become a sailor's song with a Nova Scotia setting. "The Nova Scotia Song" was recorded in 1957 by Diane Oxner and then in the 1960's by Catherine McKinnon of CBC-TV's Singalong Jubilee. Miss McKinnon Is given credit for focusing national and world attention on the song.) |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Bearheart Date: 29 Oct 03 - 03:04 PM A favorite song of mine, thanks for this, and satisfying some curiosities. Bekki |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Willie-O Date: 29 Oct 03 - 04:21 PM True story: Sometime during the late 80's I picked up a hitchhiker on Highway 7 in eastern Ontario, just outside Sharbot Lake. I was just going home, so I had twenty miles of company with this fellow named Richard. His story was that he was a sailor from Nova Scotia, I think from Digby, and he had missed his ship in Vancouver, so he had to hitchhike all the way across the country to meet up with it again. He also told me,and this is why I link it to this song, was that he had lost 3 or 4 brothers at sea, but his mother knew that he was going to keep on going out, didn't even try to stop him. Stubborn bunch those Nova Scotians. He was broke so I bought him a Burger King special when I dropped him off. I had no way of checking out his story, but it rang true, because I'd heard about a scallop boat from his area that had gone down a year or two earlier with the loss of several crew members. W-O |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Jim McLean Date: 29 Oct 03 - 05:07 PM I have a book of Tannahill's poems published in Paisley, my home town, in 1874 and the poem 'The Soldier's Adieu' appears as an eight liner only: The weary sun's gane doun the west, The birds sit nodding on the tree, All Nature now inclines for rest, But rest allow'd there's nane for me: The trumpet calls to War's alarms, The rattling drum forbids my stay; Ah! Nancy, bless thy soldier's arms, For ere morn I will be far away. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 29 Oct 03 - 05:48 PM Charles Dibden also wrote a poem called "The Soldier's Adieu," but is quite different from Tannahill's (See Bodleian Collection). |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Mr Happy Date: 07 Apr 05 - 07:37 AM 'Good Night and Joy' above seems reminiscent of 'The Parting Glass' See here @displaysong.cfm?SongID=4599 Wonder if they're linked, anyone know? |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: GUEST,Allan S. Date: 07 Apr 05 - 10:22 AM I stopped in at a local book store in Cheshire that was going out of business and hd several hundred tape cassettes at 1 dollar each mostly from Canada Inclued was a tape by Diane Oxner of trad songs of Nova Scotia including Farewell to Nova Scotia Probably thr best dollar I ever spent.. Also Michael T. Wall "the singing Newfoundlander" also The Jonnie woods album tith Tom wilsin thd his western all stars. Some really great music... |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: ard mhacha Date: 07 Apr 05 - 12:21 PM Paddy Reilly has recorded this song, and does it justice with a superb rendition. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Date: 07 Apr 05 - 02:23 PM Awesome, Alan S. Don't suppose they had any more of the Oxner tape. That would have been the first commercial recording of the Nova Scotia song. What a find! |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: GUEST,Bee Date: 25 Aug 06 - 11:36 PM "...Marius Barbeau found another version in Beauce County, Quebec, as On the Banks of Jedddore (CAS 1). " Jeddore Harbour is two harbours (or one harbour and an inlet east of Petpeswick (Inlet)) where Helen C. collected the song. Greenough families still live there. The area around Chezzetcook/Jeddore has an Acadian population. Hope that sheds a little light on the Quebec version. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Charley Noble Date: 26 Aug 06 - 09:59 AM Joe- Thanks for bringing all these threads together into one big knot! It would be nice to be able to credit the person, or persons, who made major adaptations to "The Soldier's Adieu." Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Date: 26 Aug 06 - 07:42 PM Sorry Charley, but that was something which has been speculated about for nearly 75 or 80 years. It is supposed that the person could have been the anonymous schoolteacher who taught it to the children in the area back around the turn of the 20th century. No one has claimed to know who that was as of yet. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 27 Aug 06 - 04:14 PM Lyrics to "On the Banks of Jeddore," cited by 'Bee,' is posted in thread 941157: Jeddore The tune is just slightly different, mostly in the pacing. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: Herga Kitty Date: 27 Aug 06 - 04:55 PM I've heard it thanks to Dan McKinnon (and to Doug Bailey of Wildgoose Studios, who also sings it). Kitty |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: GUEST,cynthia Date: 12 Nov 08 - 03:46 AM The words and music are traditional, and therefore in the public domain. This means that anyone can record a version of it without having to pay royalties, and they do; most famously, the song has been covered by Ian and Sylvia and later the Irish Rovers, but innumerable others have done so as well. -------------------------------- cynthia jacquline nova scotia drug rehab |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca Date: 12 Nov 08 - 08:32 AM Cynthia, Sorry, but the song and melody is actually not in Public Domain, but has been in copyright to Helen Creighton's publisher since it was first published in the early 40s in one of her books. Has never left the copyright since that time. There are various arrangements which are copyright to the arrangers. So, royalties have to be paid. |
Subject: RE: DTStudy: Farewell to Nova Scotia From: mayomick Date: 21 May 16 - 06:44 AM Does anyone hear similarities with Farewell to Spain ? https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/itma.dl.scores/joyce_oifms_523.pdf |
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