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In cutting and hauling, in frost and in snow,
We're up against troubles that few people know;
And it's only by courage and patience and grit,
And eating plain food can we keep ourselves fit.
The hard and the easy we take as it comes,
And when ponds freeze over we shorten our runs;
To hurry my hauling, the spring coming on,
Near lost me a mare out on Tickle Cove Pond.
Lay hold William Oldford, lay hold William White,
Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might;
Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can,
And give me a lift with poor Kit on the pond.
I knew that the ice became weaker each day,
But still took the risk and kept hauling away;
One evening in April, bound home with a load,
The mare showed some halting against the ice road.
And knew more than I did as matters turned out,
And lucky for me had I joined her in doubt;
She turned 'round her head and with tears in her eyes,
As if she were saying, "You're risking our lives."
All this I ignored with a whip handle blow,
For man is too stupid dumb creatures to know;
The very next minutes the pond gave a sigh,
And down to our necks went poor Kitty and I.
For if I had taken wise Kitty's advice,
I never would take the shortcut on the ice;
Poor creature she's dead, poor creature she's gone,
I'll ne'er get my mare out of Tickle Cove Pond.
So I raised an alarm you could hear for a mile,
And neighbours turned up in a very short while;
You can always rely on the Oldfords and Whites,
To render assistance in all your bad plights.
To help a poor neighbour is part of their lives,
The same I can say for their children and wives;
When the bowline was fastened around the mare's breast,
William White for a shanty song made a request.
There was no time for thinking, no time for delay,
Straight from my head came this song right away:
Lay hold William Oldford, lay Hold William White,
Lay hold of the hawser and pull all your might;
Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can,
And with that we brought Kit out of Tickle Cove Pond.
See more songs by Mark Walker.
Published in Gerald S. Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (Second edition, pp.18-19, 1940; Third edition, pp.75-76, 1955).
