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Ye Torbay boys and did ye hear
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Ye Torbay boys and did ye hear
The way he treated the buck last year?
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
The buck got into Terry Toole's cabbage,
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
The buck got into Terry Toole's cabbage,
And Terry came out like a roarin' savage.
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Terry went in and a knife he got,
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Terry went in and a knife he got,
And when he came out he had the poor buck caught.
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Richie Reilly standing by,
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Richie Reilly standing by,
He said, "Now, b'ys, we'll do it on the sly."
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Tommy Gosse held on the buck
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Tommy Gosse held on the buck
While Jim pinned on the dirty work.
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Tommy Gosse put out for a port,
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Tommy Gosse put out for a port,
And old Mrs. Williams took it into the court.
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Three dollars and fifty was the fee,
Try diddle air-o, fall a diddle I doh,
Three dollars and fifty was the fee,
They all paid it down on the young Tommy.
To me whack fall a diddle fall a day.
Kenneth Peacock noted that although the author of this native ditty is unknown, he thought it would be safe to assume he lived in Torbay several decades ago. He also noted that Torbay is a few miles north of St. John's and the animal in the song is a goat.
Although the animal is different, the plot of this song is similar to The Moose Song collected in 1960 from the composer, George Croucher of Burnt Islands, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.77-78, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
