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Bakeapple time is here again we're making up a crew,
My mother says that I can't go but father says I can;
And when we get in on the marsh I'll only eat a few,
'Cause we got to stock up on bakeapple jam.
Bakeapple jam! now don't you take too much of it,
I'm savin' it along till the snow is off the ground;
Just a spoonful or two for you and sister Sue,
'Cause I want to have a crock or two when company's around.
I picked a pint around that knap, I'll shuck 'em later on,
I'm the fastest picker here, I'm pretty sure I am;
We're goin' to lose a lot of sweat afore the day is gone,
And have to pay with nipper bites for bakeapple jam.
Uncle Isaac finds some blasty boughs and cuts a kettle stick,
Aunt Bessy brought a rounder and she shares a bit with Gran;
Then suddenly the chant is heard, insistent, eager, quick —
"Did anybody bring any bakeapple jam?"
When garden party time rolls 'round to swell the church's funds,
There's food galore for one and all and little boys can cram;
On the table that's reserved for the high and mighty ones,
There's sure to be a crock or two of bakeapple jam.
Oh, the parson came for prayers and he stayed with us a while,,
He took us uawares 'cause he sent no telegram;
When the main course was over says my mom with a smile —
"Now have a little taste of my bakeapple jam!"
We asked her where she kept it and we gave her a little peace,
Till she turned in desperation and sternly bade us scram;
"Go on out-of-doors and play," and she'd murmer every day,
"I'll soon be right out of me bakeapple jam."
One day a friend of dad's dropped in to share a social meal,
So we had a jar of "you know what" to coax down the Kam;
But when my mom with reverent hands removed the outer seal,
There was a 'fowst" on the top of her bakeapple jam.
Whenever mother's women friends came visiting and tried
To be polite and querried her about her precious lamb;
She'd brag about my appetite with mixed regret and pride —
"I never saw his beater for bakeapple jam."
When we cleaned the house this spring from attic to the ground,
We swept out all the cobwebs in behind the baby's pram;
And under all that rubbish what do 'ee 'low we found?
But a big jar of last year's bakeapple jam!
When I left my home that day for places far away,
Said mother, "Just be careful of that parcel, will you, Sam?
Now, don't bang this about, 'tis a few bottled trout,
And my last little crock of bakeapple jam!"
Bakeapple jam! Now don't you take too much of it,
I'm savin' it along till the snow is off the ground;
Just a spoonful or two for you and sister Sue,
'Cause I want to have a crock or two when company's around.
Published in Art Scammell's book, My Newfoundland, pp.126-128 (Harvest House, Montreal, 1966).
See more songs by Arthur J. Scammell.
From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
Bakeapple - a low plant growing in bogs and producing an amber berry in late summer; cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus).
Blasty bough - a dead and dry branch of spruce or fir with the needles still adhering which, used as kindling, burns with a quick, fierce, crackling flame.
Fowst or Foust - mould.
Knap - a raised portion of land, often with a round top; crest of a hill; knob.
Nipper - a large biting mosquito.
Rounder - a small cod-fish or 'tom cod', gutted, headed, salted, and dried without being split.
Notes:
¹ Although the name bakeapple does seem to be used almost exclusively in Newfoundland, the berry itself can be found in most of the world's circumpolar regions and is usually called the cloudberry. For more information see the Cloudberry Fact Sheet.
² Kam is a ready-to-eat canned luncheon meat product.
