The Banks of Newfoundland
ChorusWe'll wash her and we'll scrub her down with holystone and sand, And we'll bid adieu to the Virgin rocks on the Banks of Newfoundland.We had one Lynch from Ballynahinch, Jimmy Murphy and Mike Moore; It was in the winter of '72 those sea-boys suffered sore. They pawned their clothes in Liverpool and sold them all out of hand, Not thinking of the cold north winds on the Banks of Newfoundland. We had one lady fair on board, Bridget Reilly was her name. To her I promised marriage and on me she had a claim. She tore up her flannel petticoats to make mittens for our hands, For she could not see the sea-boys freeze on the Banks of Newfoundland. Now, boys, we're off Sandy Hook, and the land's all covered with snow; The tugboat will take our hawser and for New York we will tow, And when we arrive at the Black Ball dock the boys and the girls will stand; We'll bid adieu to packet-sailing and the Banks of Newfoundland.
LAST CHORUS We'll wash her and we'll scrub her out with holystone and sand, For it's whilst we're here we can't be there, on the Banks of Newfoundland!
This song describes a harsh winter crossing of the North Atlantic on a packet ship running from Liverpool to New York. “The winter of ‘72” almost certainly refers to 1872, placing the song in the final years of the packet trade. The Black Ball Line, whose dock is mentioned in the last verse, operated from 1818 into the late 1870s. Different versions shift the date: Chris Foster’s recording uses “the winter of sixty-two,” and Willie Scott’s version moves it forward to 1906. The named sailors (Lynch from Ballynahinch, Jimmy Murphy, and Mike Moore) give the song the feel of a firsthand account, though no specific disaster has been tied to it. The Irish names reflect the large number of Irish emigrants and sailors who crewed packet ships in the post-famine decades.
A monkey jacket is a short, close-fitting jacket that came only to the waist, as opposed to the longer coats worn ashore. The song warns that dungarees and light clothes aren’t enough for the freezing nor’westers on the Grand Banks, especially for sailors who had pawned their warm gear in Liverpool before sailing.
The song is often performed with unusual rhythmic phrasing, stretching and accenting syllables that would normally be unstressed.
Ballynahinch is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. Sandy Hook is a barrier spit at the entrance to New York Harbor, marking the final approach before reaching port. The Virgin Rocks are a shallow shoal on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, a well-known hazard to shipping.