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When I was a young lad just barely fourteen,
A-seeking adventure and lore;
I boarded a clipper, my dad was the skipper,
That sailed all along the French Shore;
Yes, we sailed all along the French Shore.
We soon weighed the anchor and hoisted our sails,
Straightway for Cape Bauld;
For which destination, without hesitation,
We sailed all along the French Shore;
Yes, we sailed all along the French Shore.
What beautiful vessels were sailing those days,
Some bound for the North Labrador;
And so for this reason, throughout there that season,
They too sailed along the French Shore;
Yes, we sailed all along the French Shore.
On each ship a maiden was hired to cook,
A beautiful girl to adore;
So young and cavorting, all ready for courting,
While sailing along the French Shore;
Yes, while sailing along the French Shore.
Being too young for courting, I soon did decide,
To spy on the lovers on shore;
I spied on a couple so loving and supple,
While sailing along the French Shore;
Yes, while sailing along the French Shore.
Their actions peculiar appeared to me then,
But now they are funny no more;
Their hugging and kissing, oh, what I'd been missing,
While sailing along the French Shore;
Yes, while sailing along the French Shore.
One Sunday I trailed them over the hill,
And saw what I ne'er saw before;
And the knowledge I gained forever remained,
After sailing along the French Shore;
After sailing along the French Shore.
This couple got married that very same Fall,
As soon as the voyage was o'er;
Engendered, I'm certain, by secretly flirting,
While sailing along the French Shore;
Yes, we sailed all along the French Shore.
This couple has children now, married I ween,
You see, they're not young any more;
Nor yet do they know that I witnessed the show,
That they staged all along the French Shore;
Yes, while sailing along the French Shore.
So this ends the story of those bonny days,
Oh, that I could live them once more!
With what I now know, I'd produce my own show,
And I'd stage it along the French Shore;
Yes I'd stage it along the French Shore.
Recorded in 1985 by Jim Payne and Kelly Russell (Pigeon Inlet Productions). A variant was also recorded as French Shore by Great Big Sea (The Hard And The Easy, Warner Music Canada, 2005)
