Ye ladies and ye gentlemen, I pray you lend an ear,
While I locate the residence of a lovely charmer fair;
The curling of her yellow locks first stole my heart away,
And her place of habitation is down in Logy Bay.
It was on a summer's evening this little place I found,
I met her agèd father, who did me sore confound;
Saying, "If you address my daughter, I'll send her far away,
And she never will return again while you're in Logy Bay."
How could you be so cruel as to part me from my love?
Her tender heart beats in her breast as constant as a dove;
Oh, Venus was no fairer, nor the lovely month of May,
May heaven above shower down its love on the star of Logy Bay.
'Twas on the very next, he went down to St. John's town,
And engaged for her a passage in a vessel outward bound;
He robbed me of my heart's delight and sent her far away,
And he left me here downhearted for the star of Logy Bay.
Oh, now I'll go a-roaming, I can no longer stay,
I'll search the wide world over in every country;
I'll search in vain thro' France and Spain, likewise America,
Till I will sight my heart's delight, the star of Logy Bay.
Now to conclude and finish, the truth to you I'll tell,
Between Torbay and Outer Cove, 'tis where my love did dwell;
The finest girl e'er graced our Isle, so every one did say,
May heaven above send down its love on the star of Logy Bay.
####.... Author unknown, but possibly Mark Walker [1846-1924] of Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay, NL. First published in 1902 by James Murphy [1867-1931] of St. John's, NL ....####
Also published on pp.18 & 20 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed by the Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., of St. John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S. Doyle Song Book from which the above lyrics were obtained.
A variant was also recorded by "His Nibs" Harry Hibbs, which Marcel Alexander used as the basis to sequence MIDI file #4 above (Salute To Harry Hibbs, trk#2, 1972 LP, Paragon Records, Toronto, Ontario, distributed in Canada by Marathon Music Incorporated, Scarborough, Ontario); and (Folk Songs Of Newfoundland, trk#13, 1974 LP, Radio Canada International, Montreal); and (Between Two Trees, trk#6, 1976 LP, Hibbs Records, Toronto, Ontario); and (Pure Gold, trk#10, 1980 LP, Tapestry Records And Tapes, Toronto, Ontario).
The YouTube video below features a recording of a variant by Eddie Coffey (Souvenir of Newfoundland, 1996, Scarborough, Ontario: Heritage Music HCD 4422.
The YouTube video below features a recording of a variant by Richard Woodrow of New Harbour, NL, on his third CD (Island Favourites, trk#14, 2007, recorded and mixed by Kevin Collins at Sawyer Hill Productions, Placentia, NL, and published and distributed by Richard Woodrow).
