Mary Joe Slip On Your Bloomers (Johnny Burke) (For the Blueberries Now Are Ripe)
To the air: Kelligrew's Soiree
Mary Joe slip on your bloomers for the blueberries now are ripe,
Put the winkers on the pony while your father fills his pipe;
Get every basket in the house, the buckets and a crock,
They are heeling it from Collier's for St. John's to Browning's Block.
There's a pair of shoes for Benjamin, the girls they want short skirts,
It's better than the Klondike since the rush came on the whorts;
And a cotton drawers for father, and a pair of summer socks,
He's in bed since Easter Sunday, the poor man is on the rocks.
We will buy the latest motor car for nineteen twenty-eight,
We will bust ourselves on pastry, Basses Ale and cuts of meat;
And the turkeys have for grog bits, and the best of grub you bet,
We are bound to live like fighting cocks up here in Colinet.
For father always took a smile, but only just in spurts,
Now he's on the devil's racket since the rush came on the whorts;
The foxey rum he always drank and said it was all right,
But now it's Johnnie Walker or a bottle of Black & White.
The woods is lined with people from Bay Bulls to Spaniard's Bay,
The women are all turned angels, they are on their knees all day;
They go to bed fatigued and tired, and then they wind the clock,
For they're on the road at daylight for St. John's to Browning's Block.
If the rush keeps on the berries till the last week in July,
Every motor car that's in the town the country folks will buy;
For Vanderbilt or Henry Ford must take a cheaper seat,
For their bank accounts in Kelligrews these millionaires will beat.
####.... Johnny Burke [1851-1930] of St. John's, NL, 1928 ....####
Published in Burke's Ballads, pp.44-45, c.1960, compiled by John White and archived at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Libraries, Centre For Newfoundland Studies - Digitized Books collection.
From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: Devil's Racket - hard bout of drinking. Foxey Rum - light-coloured or amber rum. Grog Bits - small amount of food; snack accompanying a drink.
From Wikipedia: Bay Bulls - small fishing community in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located along the eastern coast in a sheltered bay just a few miles south from the capital of St. John's. Black & White - blended Scotch whisky first produced by the London-based whisky blender founded by James Buchanan. Originally known as House of Commons (after the British House of Commons), its nickname, referring to the black and white labelling, was eventually adopted as the official brand instead. The brand's motif (featuring a black Scottish Terrier and a white West Highland White Terrier) was conceived by James Buchanan himself during the 1890s. After a series of mergers and acquisitions involving Dewar's (1915), the Distillers Company, and Guinness (forming United Distillers), the brand is now owned by Diageo. It is claimed to be most successful in France, Venezuela, and Brazil. At present, the brand is not used within the United Kingdom. Colinet - incorporated town (population: 165) located on the northwest arm of St. Mary's Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador. Johnnie Walker - brand of Scotch Whisky owned by Diageo and produced in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country with yearly sales of over 130 million bottles. Spaniard's Bay - town in Newfoundland and Labrador located on the northwest side of Conception Bay, approximately a 45 minute drive to St. John's. Whorts - bog whortleberry; a low-growing shrub bearing edible fruit of the genus Vaccinium, closely related to wild blueberries and huckleberries. Winkers - also known as blinders or blinkers, are a piece of horse tack that restrict the horse's vision to the rear and, in some cases, to the side.
From Economic Expert.com Basses Ale - Bass is the brand name for an English beer brewed since 1777 in Burton-upon-Trent. Bass is most particularly associated with their pale ale. Its distinctive Red Triangle logo was Britain's first registered trademark. Levi Wells Prentice included a bottle in his Still Life with Basses Ale, c.1890.
Print This Page
