The Ryans and the Pittmans
"The Ryans and The Pittmans"
It is based on a traditional English
Verses 2, 8, 9, and 10 of the Newfoundland version are adapted from that of the whalers; the remainder were composed around 1875 by Henry W. LeMessurier. It was printed in Old Songs of Newfoundland (1912) by James Murphy. The places mentioned in the song are outports[2] in and around Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.
The most famous recent version of the song was recorded by Great Big Sea.
Lyrics
THE RYANS AND THE PITTMANS
- Chorus:
- We'll rant and we'll roar like true Newfoundlanders[3]
- We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below
- Until we see bottom inside the two sunkers[4]
- When straight through the Channel to Toslowwe'll go.
- My name it is Robert, they call me Bob Pittman
- I sail in the Ino with Skipper Tom Brown
- I'm bound to have Polly or Biddy or Molly
- As soon as I'm able to plank the cash down.
- I'm a son of a sea cook, and a cook in a trader[5]
- I can dance, I can sing, I can reef[6] the mainboom,[7]
- I can handle a jigger,[8] and cuts a fine figure
- Whenever I gets in a boat's standing room.[9]
- If the voyage is good, this fall I will do it
- I wants two pounds ten[10] for a ring and the priest
- A couple of dollars for clean shirts and collars
- And a handful of coppers to make up a feast.
- There's plump little Polly, her name is Goldsworthy
- There's John Coady's Kitty and Mary Tibbo
- There's Clara from Brule and young Martha Foley
- But the nicest of all is me girl from Toslow.
- Farewell and adieu to ye girls of Valen
- Farewell and adieu to ye girls in the Cove
- I'm bound to the westward, to the wall with the hole in[11]
- I'll take her from Toslow the wide world to rove.
- Farewell and adieu to ye girls of St. Kryan's
- Of Paradise and Presque, Big and Little Bona[12]
- I'm bound unto Toslow to marry sweet Biddy
- And if I don't do so I'm afraid of her da'.[13]
- I've bought me a house from Katherine Davis
- A twenty pound bed from Jimmy McGrath[14]
- I'll get me a settle,[15] a pot and a kettle
- And then I'll be ready for Biddy, hurrah!
- O, I brought in the Ino this spring from the city,
- Some rings and gold brooches for the girls in the Bay;
- I bought me a case-pipemeerschaum—-
- It melted like butter upon a hot day.[17]
- I went to a dance one night at Fox Harbour,
- There were plenty of girls, so nice as you'd wish;
- There was one pretty maiden a-chewin' of frankgum[18]
- Just like a young kitten a-gnawing fresh fish.
- Then here is a health to the girls of Fox Harbour
- Of Oderin and Presque, Crabbes Hole[19] and Brule
- Now let ye be jolly, don't be melancholy
- I can't marry all or in chokey[20] I'd be.
- We'll rant and we'll roar like true Newfoundlanders
- We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below
- Until we see bottom inside the two sunkers
- When straight through the Channel to Toslow we'll go.
Notes
- ^ The title is a bit of a puzzle. While "Pittman" is the main character of the song, there is no mention of anyone named "Ryan".
- ^ outport: A coastal settlement other than the chief port of St John's [1]
- ^ Newfoundlanders" is pronounced new-f'n-LAND-'rs (rhymes with "understanders"); the vowel in the second and last syllables are neutral.
- ^ sunker: A submerged rock over which the sea breaks
- ^ trader: A coastal vessel that visits small ports, buying fish or furs and selling meat, molasses, flour and other provisions [2]
- ^ reef: Tie up or shorten a sail
- ^ mainboom: (Nautical Terms) the spar for the mainsail
- ^ jigger: Unbaited, weighted hook used with a line to catch cod (or squid) by giving a sharp, upward jerk [3]
- ^ standing room: Compartment between the thwarts of an undecked fishing boat [4]
- ^ two pounds ten: British currency. Until 1949 when it joined Canada, Newfoundland was British territory. Newfoundland adopted the Newfoundland Dollar to replace the pound in 1865.
- ^ wall with the hole in: the narrow entrance to Toslow Cove
- ^ Big and Little Bona: Big Bona is properly called Great Bona on Placentia Bay. Little Bona was also a town on Placentia Bay. Both are now abandoned following the resettlement of the Newfoundland outports.
- ^ da': Father; grandfather; respected elderly man
- ^ The surname "McGrath" is pronounced "McGraw".
- ^ settle: A long, home-made wooden bench with arms and high back; an unupholstered couch [5]
- ^ case-pipe: meerschaum, from the protective case enclosing it
- meerschaumitself does not melt, meerschaum pipes are usually coated with wax that could melt "like butter upon a hot day"
- ^ frankgum: (or Frankum) The hardened resin of a spruce tree, often used for chewing [6]
- ^ Crabbe's Hole: No town with this spelling, but there was a community of Crabb's Hole in Placentia Bay (now abandoned)
- ^ chokey: Prison