The Mobile Goat

Have you heard the story of the Mobile goat
On the grand old southern shore,
In the lovely isle of Newfoundland,
Where goats don't roam no more?
It's about a man named Dillon,
Whose cursin' was of note,
And how he was diggin' for spuds one day,
When he spoke to the Mobile goat.

Now, that goat had been stealin' Dillon's spuds
For twenty years or more,
And every time he saw him,
Dillon cursed and raged and swore;
He was diggin' hard in his field this time...
The goat was chewin' away
Near a great big six foot granite rock,
When Dillon heard him say.

Are you diggin' 'em, Dillon,
Are you diggin' 'em deep?
Are you pilin' 'em, Dillon,
In a nice big heap?
Oh, I'm diggin' 'em, says Dillon...
Not enough to fill a boat
But I'd be diggin' 'em more if it wasn't for you,
You rotten stinkin' goat.
But I'd be diggin' 'em more if it wasn't for you,
You rotten stinkin' goat.

Now Dillon got the fright of his life,
When he knew just what took place,
And he said, Good Lord, 'tis the devil himself
Come to snatch me from your grace;
Come to take me for my sacrilege
And my rotten life of sin.
And he ran like mad down the hill to home,
And the goat just pitched right in.

But they say it was the priest just passin' by,
When he heard old Dillon curse
On the goat and the spuds and the Lord above,
For makin' all things worse;
Just to hush the roars at Heaven above
He thought he'd bid good-day,
And as he passed the garden fence,
The good priest he did say

You could never tell Dillon 'twas the priest
Who spoke to stop his cursin' spree,
Passin' quietly behind that rock,
So Dillon couldn't see.
And to this day in Mobile,
On that grand old southern shore,
There's a thousand who believe
The goat spoke out when Dillon swore.

####.... Tom Cahill. Popularized by Joan Morrissey (1933-1978) (Home Brew, 1973) ....####

See more songs by Joan Morrissey.

Note: Located on the Avalon Peninsula, about thirty minutes from downtown St. John's, early seventeenth century maps referred to the Mobile area as Momables, Mummable, and Mumemobiles. The meaning of the term is not known for certain but it is believed it may refer to the old English word for turbulent sea or it may refer to the migratory (mobile) nature of the early fishery.

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