The Banks of Newfoundland

Pete Shepheard: This is one of my favourite songs and I seem never to have tired of it since I first recorded it from St Andrews fisherman Tom Gordon in 1964. He learned it in turn from a man who had sailed on the whaler fleet out of Leith in the early 1900s. This is the only version I have come across that is modernised into the steam boat era - and incidentally dated in the text to 1906.

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland were famed for their productivity although the fishery has recently declined possibly caused by overfishing or by changes in water temperature brought about by global warming. The harsh winter weather made the task very hard and the men were only too happy to ‘bid farewell to the Virgin Rocks of Newfoundland’ and bring the season to a close with a trip past Sandy Bay and on to New York. (Laws K25; Roud 1812)

Pete (vocal and melodeon) with Tom (fiddle and vocal) and Arthur (whistle)

1: Come aa ye men and fair young lads, come aa ye sports beware,
As ye go steamboat sailing, old dungaree jackets wear;
And aaways wear a life belt, or keep it close at hand,
For there blows a cold nor-westerly wind on the Banks of Newfoundland.

2: ’Twas in the year of nineteen-six that we did suffer sore,
We had on board some fair young lads, some Swedies and some more;
We pawned our clothes in Liverpool, we pawned them every hand,
Never thinking of the nor-westerly winds on the Banks of Newfoundland.

3: And we had on board a fair young maid, Bridget Wellford was her name,
To her I promised marriage on me she had a claim;
She tore her flannel petticoats to make mittens for my hands,
For she could not see her true love perish on the Banks of Newfoundland.

4: One night as I lay sleeping I had a sad old dream,
I dreamt I was back in Scotland beside a flowing stream;
And by my side a fair young maid and a bottle in my hand,
But I woke up broken hearted on the Banks of Newfoundland.

5: And now we’re off for Sandy Bay where the high hills covered in snow,
Our steam boat she’s so hell-of-a fast, by New York we will go;
We’ll rub her up and we’ll scrub her down with holystone and sand, [sandstone block
And we’ll bid farewell to the Virgin Rocks and the Banks of Newfoundland.
We’ll rub her up and we’ll scrub her down with holystone and sand,
And we’ll bid farewell to the Virgin Rocks and the Banks of Newfoundland.