Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s

Conductor Notes:

Folk song in unison from Newfoundland. A cappella, very simple options for adding a drone and harmony. Flexible for key. A very satisfying melody to learn, and the text paints a picture of a life as a fisher in Newfoundland.

Take me back to my Western boat,
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary’s,
Where the hagdowns sail and the foghorns wail,
With my friends the Browns and the Clearys,
Let me fish off Cape St. Mary’s.

Let me feel my dory lift,
To the broad Atlantic combers,
Where the tide rips swirl and the wild gulls whirl,
Where Old Neptune calls the number,
‘Neath the broad Atlantic combers.

Let me view that rugged shore,
Where the beach is all a-glisten,
Where the Caplin spawn and from dusk to dawn,
You bait your trawl and listen,
To the undertow a-hissin’.

Take me back to that snug green cove,
Where the seas roll up their thunder,
There let me rest in the earth’s cool breast,
Where the stars shine out their wonder,
And the seas roll up their thunder.