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When Kate she joined in wedlock 'twas sixteen hundred and two,
They had no stoves nor funnels then, but the smoke went up the flue;
The bride-boys dressed in corduroy, the bride-girls dungaree,
Old Bob cleared out the kitchen and they started off a spree.
Uncle Ruben held the fiddle, it was up and down the floor,
Swing around Jemima, but don't knock down my door!
Swing to your partner, Nell Bell Flemont, dance to your partner now John Twine,
Right and left, me darlin' creature, now fair lady toe the line!
Saul took down the flint and steel, we all shook hands with the bride,
Aunt Viner went to get some cake and her costume came untied;
We seated around the open fire when Jezz began to spin,
He took a chew of 'T and B' when the juice ran down his chin.
When the dance was finished it was fill your old T.D.'s,
Bill crawled under the table and tickled Bessie's knees;
Saul brought in a stock of rum from a Frenchman in the bay,
He placed the jar on the table - come on, boys, drink away!
Jim Hickman made some baskets, all of us bought one,
We tied them to the bride's frock tail, now didn't we have fun;
Nick had killed a great big owl and Lude had a job,
She dished the soup on table, they called it northern slob.
Uncle Joshua raised an argument, he called young Clem a liar,
He made a crack at Nattie's back, then his whisker caught on fire;
Sal she rushed for water and nearly drowned us all,
We all ran home and jumped in bunk and this cleared up the ball.
Kenneth Peacock noted that Chris Cobb was, of course, kidding about the date '1602'. The wedding party actually took place in Barred Island, and Chris composed this song to commemorate the event and to entertain the people who had been there.
From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
T.D. - brand-name of a type of clay tobacco-pipe; scooter.
'T and B' was a brand of chewing tobacco referenced in literature at the turn of the nineteenth century. See The Voyage Of The Tilikum.
