Regatta

There's a day that's held most dear by everyone that's here,
By every Terra Nova son and daughter;
In the graveyard just ahead they are sleeping with the dead,
The hardy boys that often rowed the water.

You remember well the year when the Prince of Wales was here,
With a picked crew from the Hero just to face us;
But before they turned the stake they were beaten half a length,
By our fishermen who rowed them at the races.

Yes, boys, sure, boys, everyone was there,
To see the pretty girls with smiling faces;
And there's many a city dude that got paralyzed and stewed,
At Betsy Colbert's tent down at the races.

When the tents were in full swing and the music sweetly ring,
And the boiled crubeens upon the dishes sloping;
The figgy duffs were seen that would sink a brigantine,
Or would gap the Yankee hatchet trying to open.

The rum and ginger beer your poor stinking heart would cheer,
Sure you would never lose your head but take things coolly;
The whiskey was so mild you could give it to a child,
Sure they call it lemonade at Ballyhooly.

Yes, boys, sure, boys everyone was there,
To see the rousing fights with some hard cases;
And it's many a time Ben Cox had come to heel it in his socks,
The evening of the Terra Nova races.

Coming on the afternoon we would heel it pretty soon,
To the platform where the merry dance adorning;
The fiddler would cry out, "Ladies in the Ballroom,"
Sure we often held the platform till the morning.

Out in hornpipes, jigs and reels, oh, how happy we would feel,
Boys and girls would laugh with smiling faces;
I danced the whole night long with a girl that had one eye,
Said I, the dickens, odds were at the races.

Yes, boys, sure, boys, everyone was there,
To see the pretty girls with smiling faces;
And there's many and many a fellow, oh, they lost and got new girls,
At Tom Martin's dancing platform at the races.

####.... Author unknown ....####

Notes:
¹ The St. John's Regatta was first documented in 1818, and is still a public holiday today.
² The visit of His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, on board his flagship, HMS Hero, took place in 1860.
³ Ballyhooly, County Cork, is the site of the oldest regatta in Ireland.

From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
Crubeens - pickled pigs' feet.
Figgy duff - boiled pudding containing raisins.