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There's a girl in St. John's city I'm going out to see,
No fellow in the region that knows her only me;
She cried so when I left her I thought I'd break her heart,
And if I ever find her we never more shall part.
She's the sweetest rose of color a soldier ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Scottie girls from Boston o'er the strand,
But none of them are any like the girls from Newfoundland.
When summer winds are blowing and starry nights are bright,
I would take her to the Nickel most every weekday night;
And as we watched the pictures, oft to her I did say,
I hope you won't forget me when I am far away.
So now I'm going to leave her, for soon I'll have to go,
For it's soon I'll be sailing, for to fight the German foe;
And if I die in battle where shot and shell do roar,
There is one brave girl will think of me on Terra Nova Shore.
I hope, please God, someday to see, for when the war is o'er,
The only girl I love on earth's on Terra Nova Shores;
Though but a private in the ranks my part I well will play,
So keep the old flag flying and help to win the day.
Now sweethearts keep your courage up wherever you may,
You'll find I am no coward, I'm not downhearted, no;
To fight for you and all at home the khaki suit I wear,
When fighting in the trenches you bet I'll do my share.
I left my home and all I love and by the flag do stand,
You'll find I am no slackard I belong to Newfoundland;
I want no man to fight for me, my country on me calls,
And I'm prepared to fight it out, or in the trenches fall.
And every man that's in the ranks from Terra Nova's shores,
Has the spirit of their fathers, as in the days of yore,
Who fought well at Sebastopol and more at Waterloo;
So now, dear sons, take out your guns and see what ye can do.
Collected in 1951 from Leo Halleran of Trepassey, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA). Variants were also collected in 1951 from John Molloy of St. Shott's, NL, and from George Hatfield of Tors Cove NL, and published as Girls Of Newfoundland in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
A two verse variant was collected in 1959 from Mrs. Wallace Kinslow of Isle aux Morts, NL, by Ken Peacock, and published as The Bouncing Girl In Fogo in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, p.354, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
A variant was recorded as Girls From Newfoundland by Kevin Collins of Placentia, NL (My Old Homestead, 1988, Sawyer Hill Productions) with a musical arrangement of an original Kevin Collins composition.
