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Don't stop me, Mrs. Doolin, and don't you call me back,
I am going down to see the sports down near the railway track;
For when fun is on, I'm in it, I'm as lively as a boy,
Oh! Don't stop me, Mrs. Doolin, for my heart is filled with joy.
Don't you stop me Mrs. Doolin, for I have not time to wait,
I have a sixpence in my fist for paying on the gate;
For the school boys will assemble, and at running they are smart,
So go home Johanna Doolin, for I want to see the start.
Can't you come down, Mrs. Doolin, in your arms bring little Mike,
And watch the sweet young ladies and they riding on the bike;
And you'll see how they can do it, for your eyes with joy will beam,
And you cannot be persuaded but the thing is run by steam.
I must go says Mrs. Doolin, if I have to sell the lamp,
For I'd heel it twice to Collier's in my stocking vamps I'd tramp;
For I'm real fond of diversion, it's amusement that I like,
And please goodness on next summer you will see me on a bike.
Mrs. Doyle and Mrs. Doolin put the dinner things aside,
Then put on their terra-cottas for to see the young men ride;
And they came home quite delighted, twice as nimble on the heels,
And they held their sides from laughing at the females on the wheels.
Published in Burke's Ballads, pp.26-27, c.1960, compiled by John White and archived at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Libraries, Centre For Newfoundland Studies - Digitized Books collection.
See more songs by Johnny Burke.
From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
Vamp - short, thick woolen oversock, worn in boots to prevent chafing or around the house as a slipper.
Terra-Cotta - for lack of a definition, GEST presumes this is a local nickname for an outdoor work bonnet steeped in an infusion of spruce bark to protect and preserve it and tan it red, very much like the process used on fishing sails and nets called barking.
