Banks of Newfoundland
The artist name is Ewan MacColl & A.L. Lloyd.

BLOW, BOYS, BLOW is a… Read Full Bio ↴The artist name is Ewan MacColl & A.L. Lloyd.

BLOW, BOYS, BLOW is a full and rousing selection from folk heroes Ewan McColl (whose resume included author, playwright, actor, street singer, and laborer) and A.L. Lloyd (who, among other things, sang as the "Shantyman" in the movie version of MOBY DICK). Sung to ease the back-breaking work and fill up the long and lonely nights with rowdy and profane entertainment, the songs are fierce, rough, sublime and full of longing

Banks of Newfoundland
Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd Lyrics


We have lyrics for 'Banks of Newfoundland' by these artists:


Andy Irvine Far from the billows and the waves that round poor…
Great Big Sea Me bully boys of Liverpool And I'll have you all beware When…
Siobhan Miller You Western Ocean labourers I'll have you all beware When yo…
The Irish Rovers We'll rub her round and we'll scrub her round With holy…
The Longest Johns Me bully boys of Liverpool I'll have you to beware, When…


We have lyrics for these tracks by Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd:


A Hundred Years Ago A hundred years is a very long time, Ho, yes, ho! A…
Blow Boys Blow I've played the game with the fatman in the city I've…
De Me Ama As a sailor was walking one fine summer day The squire…
Handsome Cabin Boy It's of a pretty female as you may understand, Her mind…
Haul on the Bowline Haul on the bowline, homeward we are going Haul on the…
Old Billy Riley Old Billy Riley was a dancing master …
Paddy Doyle To me way ay, ay-ay, yah! We'll pay Paddy Doyle for…
Row Bullies Row From Liverpool to 'Frisco a-rovin' I went For the stay in…



South Australia In South Australia I was born Heave away, Haul away In South…


The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Occam's Broadsword

I found lyrics similar to this version on Mainly Norfolk. After some corrections done by ear, here they are:

Me bully boys of Liverpool, I'd have you to beware,
When ye sail in the packet ship, no dungaree jumpers wear;
But have a big monkey jacket all ready to yer hand,
For there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holystone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
On the Banks of Newfoundland.

There was Jack Lynch from Ballynahinch, Mike Murphy and some more,
I tell ye, well, they suffered like hell on the way to Baltimore;
They pawned their gear in Liverpool and they sailed as they did stand,
And there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holystone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
On the Banks of Newfoundland.

The mate he stood on the fo'c'sle head, and loudly he did roar:
“Now rattle her in, me lucky lads! We're bound for America's shore!
Go wash the mud off that dead-man's face and heave to beat the band,
For there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland!”

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holystone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
On the Banks of Newfoundland.

So now it's reef and reif*, me boys, with the canvas frozen hard,
And it's mount and pass every mother's son on a ninety-foot tops'l yard.
Never mind about boots and oilskins, but haul or you'll be damned
For there blows some cold nor'westers on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holystone and sand,
And we'll think of them cold nor'westers
On the Banks of Newfoundland.

And now we're off the Hook, me boys, and the lands all white with snow,
But soon we'll see the pay table and have all night below;
And on the docks, come down in flocks, them pretty girls will stand,
Saying, “It's snugger with me than it is at sea on the Banks of Newfoundland...”

So we'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holystone and sand,
For while we're here we can't be there
On the Banks of Newfoundland!

*reif means robbery, plunder and quite possibly piracy in this context



Aphelion

Me bully boys of Liverpool
And I'll have you all beware
When you sail on them packet ships,
No dungaree jackets wear
But have a big monkey jacket
All ready to your hand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holy stone and sand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

We had Jack Lynch from Ballynahinch
Mike Murphy and some more
And I tell you boys, they suffered like hell
On the way to Baltimore
They pawned there gear in Liverpool
And sailed as they did stand
But there blow some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holy stone and sand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

Now the mate he did stand on the fo'see'sle head
And loudly he did roar
Come rattle her in me lucky lads,
You're bound for America's shore
Come wipe the blood off the dead man's face *)
And haul or you'll be damned
For there blow some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holy stone and sand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland

So now we're off the hook me boys,
And the land is white with snow
And soon we'll see the pay table
And we'll spend the night below
And on the docks, comin down in flocks,
Well, those pretty girls they will say
It?s snugger with me than out on the sea,
On the banks of Newfoundland

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
With holy stone and sand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
On the banks of Newfoundland



Peter Pan

Thanks! :-) Pretty good! It's almost as I remember it, apart from a few (very minor) differences:

Me bully boys of Liverpool, I'd have you to beware,
Me bully boys of Liverpool, I'll have you all beware,
When ye sail in the packet ship, no dungaree jumpers wear;
When ye sail on them packet ships, no dungaree jumpers wear;
“Now rattle her in, me lucky lads! We're bound for America's shore!"
“Come, rattle her in, me lucky lads! We're bound for America's shore!"
Go wash the mud off that dead-man's face and heave to beat the band,
Come, wipe the blood off that dead-man's face and haul or you'll be damned,
But soon we'll see the pay table and have all night below;
But soon we'll see the pay table and we'll spend all night below;
And on the docks, come down in flocks, them pretty girls will stand, Saying, “It's snugger with me than it is at sea on the Banks of Newfoundland...”
And on the docks, come down in flocks, those pretty girls who'll say: “It's snugger with me than on the sea on the Banks of Newfoundland...”
(Actually, the version I know is pretty close to Aphelion's below.)

Anyways, a great shanty. And yes, it is a shanty, a working song; the "forebitters" (mentioned by nozecone in his comment) are actually the bitters (a kind of bollards, in conjunction with the jib boom or bowsprit) in the bow of a ship, where the fore hawser(s) was belayed. The purpose of the song is to make the heavy work of hauling the hawser more efficient and feel less cumbersome for the crew. The end of a rope or hawser made fast to the bitters, was called "the bitter end". Thus: "To hold on to the bitter end". It is a well known expression, but few people today know what it really means.
Cheers! :-)



All comments from YouTube:

Sam the Man

How are ya, folks? Doing good myself. Just wanted to listen to this rad song for a bit. It really fuels the mind! I can just picture all the sailors on their ship, singing and working in peace. The sky is blue, the ocean calm. The sun is shining, the weather is sweet. Makes me want to move my dancing feet! Anyways, hope all is well on your end. Have a good one, peeps!

Shipmate's Studio

My artistic image for this song: A group of mariners was sailing in a great storm, searching for safe land, but as days went by each and every one died. Sometimes it was a disease, sometimes a man fell overboard... Either way the sailors didn't lose hope, encourage each other they did. In the end the ship arrived to land. But no living crew was found... They all worked so hard, now they have peace they so deserve...

splended pencils

Jesus... You ok mate?

mohea12

I grew up with this song. My dad saw Ewan MacColl do this song live in 1970. I listen to it over and over.

bruceaisher

This is a wonderful shanty - I would love to sing this in a large group

Alba E

Me too :))

Vince

Ewan MacColl is an amazing man. If you haven't read his story of how he had to flee fascist persecution. He's very inspiring. Not to mention Peggy Seeger. They were far more than simply musicians. They fought for a better world, and stood up for the common man. In fact, Peggy still does. Look it up, it's a treat.

ghost on the shore

Don t forget
Bout
AL Loyd
Also an amazing
Singer musician
And man
In his own
Right

baseball man

He was also a communist

Josh Thompson

@baseball man so what?

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