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To land men all, on ye I call, I hope you will attend,
To these few simple verses that I have lately penned;
Concerning the dangers which we must undergo,
While anchored down in Gull Cove,
Where the stormy winds do blow.
The Madonna Hayden and Tommy in command,
Each year he got a saving voyage here on Gull Cove Stand;
The spring when he was leaving home, he had not mind to go,
To the rugged shores of Gull Cove,
Where the stormy winds do blow.
The Carrie and Aggie Bailey I mean for Paddy Hann,
The year he was lamenting being here on Gull Cove Stand;
If he had to go to the Southern Shore,
We'd have got a load, you know,
But were anchored down in Gull Cove,
Where the stormy winds do blow.
This song it only reaches up as far as Leather Cove Point,
I don't think they're getting fish up there,
They all seem rather buoyant;
But, perhaps they're getting fish up there and don't want us to know,
While we're anchored down in Gull Cove,
Where the stormy winds do blow.
We sailed up to St. Mary's, it was a place of rest,
But mostly up in Riverhead, the place we loved the best;
After a few days lying there, back to our gear we do go,
And the rugged shores of Gull Cove,
Where the stormy winds do blow.
Now to conclude and finish, I wish to end my song,
John Hayes it is my name, Parker Cove I do belong;
I don't think I have offended you, as far as I may know,
May the Gull Cove waves roll me to sleep,
Where the stormy waves do blow.
A variant was also sung by Bill Fulford of Merasheen, NL, and published for the 1980 Merasheen Reunion in Placentia Bay, NL, by Loyola Pomroy and Bill Wilson.
A longer variant was collected in 1979 from Pius Power of Southeast Bight, NL, by Genevieve Lehr and Anita Best and published as #48 in Come And I Will Sing You: A Newfoundland Songbook, pp.84-85, edited by Genevieve Lehr (University of Toronto Press © 1985/2003).
Genevieve Lehr noted that Gull Cove is near Branch, NL. Mr. Power learned his version from "the fellow who made it" in the 1920s.
