It was up with the dawning and down to the stage,
And haul on your oil clothes each morn;
Put your nine-foot oars across her and leave the land behind,
Head her out through the fog on the scend.
And 'twas haul all day in the cross-handed way,
And hope that the dogfish wouldn't run;
Curse the old black punt just to keep your spirits high,
Keep your eye to the westward for the squall.
Now, the cross-handed set was the Paradise way,
It was slow, but the man was on his own;
And you owed no man a penny, but your 'baccy with cod oil,
And your pride was in the strength of your arm.
As the years they passed by there were three daughters born,
With no sign of a boy coming on;
But your woman didn't worry, she was young and fair and strong,
And she smiled from her garden on the hill.
Then with two boys born and coming into their own,
All your comrades went chasing a dream;
And ya died never knowing of the wealth that you have done,
For it's only now it started to be seen.
And 'twas haul all day in the cross-handed way,
And hope that the dogfish wouldn't run;
Curse the old black punt just to keep your spirits high,
Keep your eye to the westward for the squall.
####.... Pat Byrne (SOCAN) All rights reserved ....####
Recorded by Pat and Joe Byrne of Great Paradise, Placentia Bay, with Baxter Wareham of Harbour Buffett, Placentia Bay, NL (Towards the Sunset, trk#2, 1983, Pigeon Inlet Productions, St. John's, NL. Re-issued on CD in 2003 by Jim Payne's SingSong, Inc, St. John's, NL).
Also recorded by Arthur O'Brien of Bay Bulls, NL (Arthur O'Brien, trk#13, 1997 CD, produced by Paul "Boomer" Stamp and Jason Whelan, published by Arthur O'Brien, St. John's, NL).
A variant was also recorded by Eventide from Burin Peninsula, NL (Off The Rocks, trk#13, recorded by Rick Hollett and Kevin Pinhorn, and published by Record Time Productions, St. John's, NL).
From The Dictionary of Newfoundland English: Cross-Handed - with a man handling two oars instead of one to propel a boat; rowng a boat alone, especially for the purpose of catching fish; carrying out any activity alone rather than in a co-operative group; rigged for rowing by one man. Set - placement of a trawl-line when fishing for cod. Trawl - buoyed line, of great length, to which short lines with baited hooks are attached at intervals.
From Wiktionary: Scend - rising motion of water as a wave passes; surge, wave or ground swell.
Additional Note: Dogfish - squalus acanthias; small schooling shark that forms groups of hundreds or thousands of individuals of the same sex and size, and is an opportunistic feeder eating whatever prey is abundant.
