[Page
73]
On the Shores of Newfoundland
1
(1)
Come
all you jolly seamen bold,
Who live a-safe on shore,
Free from all troubles and hardships,
Which we poor
souls endure.
(2)
Free from all troubles
and hardships,
That we were forced to stand,
For fourteen days and fourteen nights,
2On the banks of
Newfoundland.
(3)
A storm arose about 9 o'clock,
On a dreary winter's
morn.
We were hove in to the leeward my boys,
3Two of our men
were gone.
[Page
74]
(4)
We lashed ourselves in the mizzen shroud
4And then contrived
a plan,
For to hist
5 the signal of distress,
On the banks of Newfoundland.
(5)
We fasted there three days and nights
6,
Our
provisions
7 being all gone,
’Twas on
the morning of the fourth,
Our lots we did pass round.
8(6)
The lot fell on the captain's son,
Think him the least
at hand,
9But we spared him
yet another day,
On the banks of Newfoundland.
[Page 75]
(7)
Twas on the
very next morning
We told him to prepare
10;
We just give
him one hour
To offer up a prayer.
(8)
But
Providence11 proved kind to us,
Kept
blood from every man,
When an English vessel hove in sight
12On the banks of Newfoundland.
(9)
They took us from the wreck, my boys
13We were more
like ghosts than men.
They clothed us and they fed us,
And sent us home again.
[Page 76]
(10)
Soon we were
all jolly sailors bold
And did our ship well man;
But our captain lost his feet by frost
On the banks of
Newfoundland.
Notes
2.
Later in the ballad, the sailors fast for three days and three nights.
↵
3.
In
sailing, "heaving to" is a process of slowing a boat's forward progress. When
hove to, there will be some drift to leeward (downwind).
↵
4.
Shrouds are pieces of standard rigging which hold the mast up from side to
side. The mizzen mast is the third mast, immediately aft of the main mast. In
other words, the sailors have tied themselves to the rigging at the back of the
ship.
↵
5.
Hist: exclaimation; archaic. Used to attract attention.
↵
6.
Although we may assume that the ship has hit the rocks at this point, it is
unclear whether the sailors have been stranded on the wreck for three or
fourteen days (see line 7).
↵
7.
A
stock of supplies, especially food and drink.
↵
8.
Drawing lots is a method of making a chance decision by casting or drawing
straws, pebbles, etc.
↵
9.
Perhaps, the smallest man nearby; perhaps the lowest-ranking.
↵
10.
Prepare for death; the sailors intend to kill and eat the captain's son.
↵
11.
Divine providence; God's will.
↵
12.
Rose to view, as from below the horizon.
↵
13.
This line makes clear that the ship floundered on the rocks; the sailors were
stranded on the wreck after the storm.
↵
