Print This Page#00944 Print This Page
I'm the b'y that builds the boat,
And I'm the b'y that sails her;
I'm the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings 'em home to Liza.
Lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour,
Lots of fish right in around here;
Boys and girls a-fishing together,
'45 a terrible year.
Catch a hold this one, catch a hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she;
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-um-dee, a diddle-um-dee.
I took Liza to a dance,
As fast as she could travel;
And every step that she could take,
Was up to her knees in gravel.
I'm the b'y that builds the boat,
And I'm the b'y that sails her;
I'm the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings 'em home to Liza.
Sally goes to church every Sunday,
Not for to sing and not for to hear;
But to see the fella from Fotune,
What came down here fishing last year.
Catch a hold this one, catch a hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she;
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-um-dee, a diddle-um-dee.
Sods and rinds to cover your flake,
Cake and tea for supper;
Codfish in the spring of the year,
Fried in maggoty butter.
I don't want your maggoty fish,
They're no good for winter;
I can buy as good as that,
Way down in Bonavista.
Sally's got a bouncing new baby,
Father said that he doesn't care;
'Cause he liked the fella from Fortune,
What came down here fishing last year.
Catch a hold this one, catch a hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she;
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-um-dee, a diddle-um-dee.
Susan White she's out of sight,
Her petticoat wants a border;
Old Sam Oliver in the dark,
He kissed her in the corner.
I'm the b'y that builds the boat,
And I'm the b'y that sails her;
I'm the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings 'em home to Liza.
Lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour,
Lots of fish right in around here;
Boys and girls a-fishing together,
'45 a terrible year.
Catch a hold this one, catch a hold that one,
Swing around this one, swing around she;
Dance around this one, dance around that one,
Diddle-um-dee, a diddle-um-dee.
I'm the b'y that builds the boat,
And I'm the b'y that sails her;
I'm the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings 'em home to Liza.
Lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour,
Lots of fish right in around here;
Boys and girls a-fishing together,
'45 a terrible year.
A variant was also recorded as I'se The B'y That Builds The Boat by Gordon Bok (North Wind's Clearing: Songs Of The Maine Coast, 1995)
A variant was published as I'se The B'y on p.22 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed by the Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., of St. John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S. Doyle Song Book from which the words were obtained. Also published in Gerald S. Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (Third edition, p.30, 1955)
A variant was also collected in 1951 from Lloyd Soper and Bob McLeod of St. John's, NL, by Ken Peacock and published as I's The B'y That Builds The Boat in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.64, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
See more songs by Great Big Sea.
From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Flake - a platform built on poles and spread with boughs for drying cod-fish on the foreshore.
