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"Now hasten forth, reporter man," the Editor did say,
"For some important news is out about the town today;
Go down to Skipper Eli Dawe and question him, my son;
He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
Then straight hied that reporter man to Skipper Eli Dawe,
And sought the information with considerable awe;
"I cannot tell," the Skipper said, "but ask E. C. Watson;
He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
E. C. received the pencil-fiend with bland and kindly smile,
And said, "I'll get the news you want in just a little while;
I'll inquire of H. C. Morris (he's out now for a run)
He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
Ere long the stalwart form of Mr. Morris hove in sight;
He said, "My dear reporter man, go call on Richard White;
For information of this sort, good Richard takes the bun;
He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
Good Richard, in his kindly way, received the wandering scribe,
And said he always had a liking for the tribe,
But for such information Captain English is the one;
"He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
The captain calmly listened to the scribbler's tale of woe,
And said he always told the papers anything he'd know;
"Try Mr. Wheatley; he's the man who'll ask no better fun;
He knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun."
To Mr. Wheatley's private den the wanderer led the way;
But the lights were out, and doors were locked,
It was the close of day;
But 'round the vaulted corridor an echoing run;
Who knows, I s'pose, who asked Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun.
The brave policeman on his beat was shocked at dawn of day
To find the body of a man, prone, lifeless by the way;
The spirit of the puzzled scribe had flown beyond the sun
And now knows, I s'pose, who told Tom Rose
To stop the Sunday Gun.
See more songs by the Devines.
From Parks Canada, Eastern Newfoundland:
The noon day gun on Signal Hill in St. John's was fired for approximately 155 years starting about 1840. For a brief period in 1906 the local clergy told the signalman, Tom Rose, to stop firing the gun on Sundays. The clergy's request was overruled by publc opinion.
