Print This Page#00009 Print This Page
You bully boys of Liverpool
I'll have you to beware,
When you sail on them packet ships,
no dungaree jumpers wear;
But have a big monkey jacket
all ready to your hand,
For there blows some cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
There was Jack Lynch from Malnahinch,
Mike Murphy and some more,
I tell you well, they suffered like hell
on the way to Baltimore;
They pawned their gear in Liverpool
and they sailed as they did stand,
And there blow some cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
Now the mate he stood on the fo'c'sle head
and loudly he did roar,
Now rattle her in me lucky lads,
you're bound for America's shore;
Go wash the blood off that dead man's face
and haul or you'll be damned,
But there blow some cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
So now it's reef and reif, me boys,
with the canvas frozen hard,
And this mountain pass every mother's son
on a ninety foot topsail yard;
Nevermind about boots and oilskins,
but haul or you'll be damned;
But there blows some cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
So now we're off the Hook, me boys,
and the land is white with snow,
And soon we'll see the pay table
and we'll spend the whole night below;
And on the docks, come down in flocks,
those pretty girls will say,
Ah, It's snugger with me than on the sea,
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
on the Banks of Newfoundland.
A variant was arranged and recorded by Great Big Sea of St. John's, NL (Fortune's Favour, trk#7, 2008, Warner Music Canada, Scarborough, ON).
See more songs by Great Big Sea.
The YouTube video above features a variant recorded by Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd on their CD Blow, Boys, Blow (World Music, 1996).
See more songs by Ewan MacColl.
From Wikipedia: This variant of The Banks Of Newfoundland was composed as a dance when Francis Forbes was Chief Justice of Newfoundland and published in a piano arrangement by Oliver Ditson of Boston. It is the earliest Newfoundland composition set down in music notation. During the First World War, soldiers of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment treated it as a march and later made it the Regiment's authorized march.
This is also the official song of the Royal St. John's Regatta where it is known as Up The Pond. It is traditionally played on Regatta Day each year in St John's, the capital of Newfoundland, as the crews pass the bandstand on their return to the stakes. The regatta is said to be the oldest continuously running sporting event in North America.
