When first I came to Caledonia

[jim lawton]

When the location for this was being discussed I should have remembered to
ask about the lyrics :-

I went to Norman to buy some brogues(?)
and a cake of soap and a pound of tea....

I went over to the big harbour....
I saw a maid from *where*?

If I had ben from Pennsylvania
and I had paper so snowy white,
And I had ink of the *what* ?

All thoughts and chinese whispers gratefully received,

cheers Jim

--
Folk music in Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire at:-

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~tabbycat/otleyfolkmusic.html

[JohnS16545]

Lyrics are as follows:

When first I went to Caledonia
I got loading at No. 3
And I got boarding at Donald Norman's
He had a daughter could make good tea

And it was me and my brother Charlie
The biggest shavers you e'er did see
We're spearin' eels in the month of April
And starvin' slaves on Scataree

I went to Norman's for a pair of brochan
A pound of soap and a cake of tea
But Norman said that he would not give them
Till fish got plenty on Scataree

So I went over to their big harbour
Just on purpose for to see the spray
I spied a maiden from Boulardrie over
She looked to me like the queen of May

Now if I had a pen from Pennsylvania
And if I had paper of the purest white
And if I had ink of the rosy morning
a true love note unto you I'd write

But I wish I was on the deepest ocean
As far from land as once I could be
A' sailing over the deepest ocean
Where woman's love would not trouble me

I'd lay my head to a cask of brandy
and it's a dandy I do declare
For when I'm drinking I'm seldom thinking
How I can gain that young lady fair

(repeat first verse)

John Sherman

[jim lawton]

Thanks John, you've sorted out my missing bits, don't know
where your version came from, but Gary Gillard has a version
closer to Norma Waterson's at

http://hum2mac1.murdoch.edu.au/watersons/when.html

[Nigel & Nancy Sellars]

Timothy Jaques wrote:
<snipped>
>
> The missing word is allegedly "broadseye", others have it as "brochans".
> Don't ask me what either of those are supposed to be.

Shoes or boots, similar to the Irish "brogan," which I think also means
feet. "Broadseye," IIRC, is a kind of boot with large eyelets for
snapping closed or lacing.

Nigel

[Timothy Jaques]

Someone posted the all the words on the Cape Breton list. It is allegedly a
Cape Breton song, and the reference to Caledonia and Scatarie Island would
indicate this. Scatarie Island is near the town of Louisburg, where the
French had a fortress, blown up by the British when they were on one of
their Canadian tours, and rebuilt in the last thirty years,bit by bit, as a
make-work project.

The missing word is allegedly "broadseye", others have it as "brochans".
Don't ask me what either of those are supposed to be.

-------
Timothy Jaques tja...@netcom.ca
Trapped in Rimouski with a blown tranny and a laptop.

jim lawton wrote in message <01bdca14$781460c0$77e82ac2@jims>...