Greenspond is a pretty place,
And so is Pinchard's Island;
Mom will buy me a new fur coat,
When Da' gets home from swilin'.
Here he comes as white as ghosts,
Children and their little boats;
Women in their petty coats,
Down from Petty Harbour.
####.... Variant of text by (Henry) Beckles Willson [1869-1942] found in his book The Tenth Island: Being Some Account Of Newfoundland, published by Grant Richards, London, 1897 ....####
This variant arranged and recorded by Great Big Sea (Play, trk#11, 1997, Warner Music Canada, Scarborough, Ontario, produced by Danny Greenspoon).
From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English: Swiling - sealing; the taking of seals, especially harp and hooded seals, by net, gun or gaff near the shore, or the hunt for them from a vessel on the ice-floes.
The YouTube video below features an excellent bodhran performance by Andrew, a lumberjack from Newfoundland and Labrador.
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