Tom Tobin's Dickey Bird

Come all ye friends and comrades, this story I will tell,
'Tis all about a family, on French Head they did dwell;
T'was Tom and Don and Joss and John and July Twenty Three,
And a cock-eyed bull, a dickey bird, made up the family.

T'was the middle of November, or somewhere there about,
The family barred up their home and traveled to the south;
Says Tom, it will cost fifty cents, its passage for to pay,
Now who will take my dickey bird while I'm am gone away?

Well, Tom he met Tom Hurley and this to him did say,
You'll take my hen and dickey bird while I am gone away;
Oh, Tom, you got a clever dick likewise a handsome hen,
Oh, yes, I'll take your dickey bird till you gets back again.

Well, Tom he ran into the house to break the news to Em,
I got Tom Tobin's dickey bird till he comes back again;
If I should go to the northeast point or to the southern end,
This rooster will be company till I gets back again.

Well, Em she clapped her tiny hands and shouted out with joy,
Oh, Tom, you thinks so much of me, you great big handsome boy;
Go get your hammer and your saw and build for him a crib,
I long to see that rooster, I know he must be big.

Well, Tom brought in the rooster and laid it on the floor,
While Emma declared she never saw the likes of it before;
She said she never saw the likes or had she ever heard,
Of a rooster any bigger than Tom Tobin's dickey bird.

Well, Em she loved that rooster, she loved to see it stand,
She used to pat his foamy head and take it in her hand;
The rooster he enjoyed the sport, with pleasure he did share,
With the wife of Thomas Hurley when Tom Hurley wasn't there.

Well, Tom he went and said to Em, I cannot understand,
How you can love the rooster of another married man;
Oh, Tom, I love that rooster, I'm not despising you,
You know you're rooster number one, there's rooster number two.

Well, the rooster he got saucy, as you may understand,
And had to be beheaded by a jealous minded man;
We all sat 'round the table with dish and spoon to scoop,
And filled our belly's to the brim with saucy rooster... soup.

####.... Pad John Welsh of Grey Islands, NL. Recorded by The Rampikes and by Mike Meaney on Newfoundland & Labrador Folklore: A Sampler Of Songs, Narrations, and Tunes (a project of The Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place, and Memorial University Folklore and Language Archive, 2007) ....####

From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Dicky - a rooster; dick; dickey; dickie.