Oh - there's lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour,
Lots of fish right in around here;
Boys and girls are fishin' together,
Forty-five from Carbonear.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
Oh - Sally is the pride of Cat Harbour,
Ain't been swung since last year;
Drinkin' rum and wine and cassis,
What the boys brought home from St. Pierre.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
Oh - Sally goes to church every Sunday
Not for to sing nor for to hear,
But to see the feller from Fortune,
What was down here fishin' the year.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
Oh - Sally got a bouncin' new baby,
Father said that he didn't care,
'Cause she got that from the feller from Fortune,
What was down here fishin' the year.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
Oh - Uncle George got up in the mornin',
He got up in a 'ell of a tear;
And he ripped the arse right out of his britches,
Now he's got ne'er pair to wear.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
Oh - there's lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour,
Lots of fishermen in around here;
Swing your partner Jimmy Joe Jacobs,
I'll be home in the spring of the year.
Oh - catch a-hold this one, catch a-hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she,
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-dum this one, diddle-dum dee.
####.... Author unknown. Original Newfoundland song collected in 1951 from Lloyd Soper and Bob McLeod of St. John's, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published as Feller From Fortune (Lots Of Fish In Bonavist' Harbour) in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.53-54, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved ....####
The YouTube video above features a very similar variant recorded as Feller From Fortune by Alan Mills on the second of his three Folkway albums (We'll Rant And We'll Roar - Songs Of Newfoundland, trk#2, 1958 LP, Folkway Records and Service Corp., New York, New York) accompanied by Gilbert Lacombe on guitar and Gordon Fleming on accordion.
Kenneth Peacock also recorded a variant as Lots Of Fish In Bonavist' Harbour, on his album, Songs And Ballads Of Newfoundland, Folkways FG 3505, LP (1956), trk#A.03.
A variant was published as Feller From Fortune in Gerald S. Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (Third edition, p.23, 1955). Also published on p.9 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed free by the Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., of St. John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S. Doyle Song Book.
Kenneth Peacock noted that this rollicking native ditty has achieved wide popularity since it was first collected in the early forties. It is one of several native songs from the National Museum's collection used by the late Gerald S. Doyle of St. John's in his 1955 booklet Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland. The song has also been included in other anthologies and on several recordings. Peacock further noted that a week or so after he had collected this song in St. John's he was in Fortune and inquired about the 'feller.' No one had ever heard of him, but Peacock did find a cowboy-type singer who sang a variant called The Feller From Burgeo. Unfortunately, the guitar drowns out most of the words on the recording, so it was not reproduced in his collection. He added that the words that are audible indicate the variant would probably be unprintable anyway. Peacock suggested that for more information about the sort of winter 'fishing' that was going on in this song, see the note on Bill Wiseman. On a final note, he mentioned that 'cassis' in verse two is black currant brandy.
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Notes On Guitar Tabs:
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All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.
Oh - [G] there's lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour
[C] Lots of fish right in around [G] here.
[G] Boys and girls are fishin' together
[C] Forty-five from [D] Carbo- [G] near.
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