We'll Rant And We'll Roar (MacEdward Leach) MIDIs, video

#00073

We'll Rant And We'll Roar (MacEdward Leach)
MIDIs, video

See also: We'll Rant And We'll Roar (Chris Andrews)

And also: We'll Rant And We'll Roar (Omar Blondahl)

And also: Rant & Roar (Great Big Sea)

And also: The Ryans And The Pittmans
(Gerald S Doyle)

And also: The Ryans And The Pittmans (The Fables)

And also: Ryans And The Pittmans (Ryan's Fancy)

#633: YouTube video by threelegsoman
©2010 ~ Used with permission ~

Click Here for tabs.

My name it is Robert, they call me Bob Pittman,
I sail on the Ino with skipper Tom Brown;
I'm bound to have Dolly or Biddy or Molly,
As soon as I'm able to plank the cash down.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

I'm the son of a sea-cook and a cook on a trader,
I can dance, I can sing, I can reef the main boom;
I can handle a jigger and I cuts a fine figure,
Whenever I gets in a boat's standing room.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

If the voyage is good then this fall I will do it,
I want two-pound-ten for a ring and a priest;
A couple of dollars for clean shirts and collars,
And a handful of coppers to make up a feast.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

I went to a dance one night in Fox Harbour,
There were plenty of girls as nice as you'd wish;
There was one pretty maiden
a-chawing of frankgum,
Just like a young kitten a-gnawing fresh fish.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

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 my girl from Toslow.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

Farewell and adieu to ye fair ones of Valen,
Farewell and adieu to ye ones in the Cove;
Now let ye be jolly, don't be melancholy,
For I can't marry all or in the chokey 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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

Farewell and adieu to you girls of Fox Harbour,
Oderin and Presque, Crabbes Hole and Brule;
I'm bound to the westward
to the wall with the hole in,
For I can't marry all or in the chokey 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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

Farewell and adieu to ye girls of St Kyran's,
Of Paradise and Presque, big and little Bona;
I'm bound unto Toslow to marry sweet Biddy,
And if I don't do so, I'm afraid of her da.

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

I've bought me a house from Katherine Davis,
A twenty-pound bed from Jimmy McGraw;
I'll get me a settle, a pot and a kettle,
And then I'll be ready for Biddy - Hurrah!

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 of two sunkers,
Then straight through the channel to Toslow we'll go.

####.... Henry W Le Messurier, CMG [1848-1931] c.1878 - civil servant (60 years); politician; author; editor of the Evening Herald and later deputy minister of customs in St John's, NL ....####

Sung by Clara O'Driscoll [1899-1978] of Tors Cove, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

The video above features an excellent 12-string guitar performance of a variant arranged by Tony Archibald from Port St Mary on the Isle Of Man.

A variant was published as The Ryans And The Pittmans in Gerald S Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (1927; 2nd Ed, p.53, 1940; 3rd Ed, p.51, 1955). A similar variant was also published as The Ryans And The Pittmans on pp.14-15 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed by the Bennett Brewing Co Ltd of St John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S Doyle Song Book from which the words were obtained.

See more NL Sea Shanties.

Notes:

¹ From The Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs (Edith Fowke, 1973):

"This rollicking tale of a young fisherman's love affairs is a Newfoundland offshoot of the widely known English capstan shanty Spanish Ladies which described the headlands sighted in a homeward voyage through the English Channel. Pacific whalermen later re-made it to tell of the Talcahuano Girls, with a chorus: 'We'll rant and we'll roar like true Huasco whalermen,' and Australian drovers sang their farewell to the Brisbane Ladies.

"The Newfoundland version has borrowed verses 2, 8, 9 and 10 from the whalers' song; the remaining verses about Bob Pittman and his courtship were those composed by Henry W Le Messurier who was editor of the Evening Herald and later deputy minister of customs in St John's. James Murphy [1867-1931] printed it in Old Songs of Newfoundland in 1912; it appeared in all the Doyle booklets; and Mrs Greenleaf heard it from Mr Le Messurier himself, and also from Tom White of Sandy Cove, whose version had acquired some variations.

"Paradise, Oderin, Presque, Brule and St Kyran's are tiny fishing villages along the west coast of Placentia Bay."

² Sung as Newfoundlanders Lament by Dick Nolan on two early albums (Be True Newfoundlanders, c.1968, and Newfie Hits, c.1968).

From the Dictionary Of Newfoundland English:
Frankgum - hardened resin of a spruce tree, often used for chewing.
Sunker - submerged rock over which the sea breaks; familiar form of sunken rock; breaker; grounder.
Settle - long, home-made wooden bench with arms and high back; unupholstered couch; stretcher.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Notes On Tabs:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.

My [G] name it is Robert,
they [Am] call me Bob [D] Pittman,
I sail on the Ino
with [D7] skipper Tom [G] Brown;
I'm bound to have Dolly or
[Am] Biddy or [D] Molly,
As [G] soon as I'm [Am] able
to [D] plank the cash [G] down.

We'll [G] rant and we'll roar
like [Am] true Newfound- [D] landers,
We'll rant and we'll roar
on [D7] deck and [G] below,
Until we see bottom in- [Am] side
of two [D] sunkers,
Then [G] straight through the [Am] channel
to [D] Toslow we'll [G] go.

I'm the [G] son of a seacook
and a [Am] cook on a [D] trader,
I can dance, I can sing, I can
[D7] reef the main [G] boom;
I can handle a jigger and I
[Am] cuts a fine [D] figure,
When- [G] ever I [Am] gets in
a [D] boat's standing [G] room.

If the [G] voyage is good then
this [Am] fall I will [D] do it,
I want two-pound-ten for
a [D7] ring and a [G] priest;
A couple of dollars for
[Am] clean shirts and [D] collars,
And a [G] handful of [Am] coppers
to [D] make up a [G] feast.

I [G] went to a dance one
[Am] night in Fox [D] Harbour,
There were plenty of girls as
[D7] nice as you'd [G] wish;
There was one pretty maiden
a- [Am] chawing of [D] frankgum,
Just [G] like a young [Am] kitten
a- [D] gnawing fresh [G] fish.

There's [G] plump little Polly,
her [Am] name is Golds- [D] worthy,
There's John Coady's Kitty
and [D7] Mary [G] Tibbo;
There's Clara from Brule
and [Am] young Martha [D] Foley,
But the [G] nicest of [Am] all
is my [D] girl from [G] Toslow.

[G] Farewell and adieu to ye
[Am] fair ones of [D] Valen,
Farewell and adieu to ye
[D7] ones in the [G] cove;
Now let ye be jolly,
don't [Am] be melan- [D] choly,
For I [G] can't marry [Am] all
or in the [D] chokey I'd [G] be.

Farewell and adieu to you
[Am] girls of Fox [D] Harbour,
Oderin and Presque,
Crabbes [D7] Hole and [G] Brule;
I'm bound to the westward to
the [Am] wall with the [D] hole in,
For I [G] can't marry [Am] all
or in the [D] chokey I'd [G] be.

[G] Farewell and adieu to ye
[Am] girls of St [D] Kyran's,
Of Paradise and Presque,
big [D7] and little [G] Bona;
I'm bound unto Toslow to
[Am] marry sweet [D] Biddy,
And [G] if I don't [Am] do so,
I'm [D] afraid of her [G] da.

I've [G] bought me a house
from [Am] Katherine [D] Davis,
A twenty-pound bed from
[D7] Jimmy Mc- [G] Graw;
I'll get me a settle,
a [Am] pot and a [D] kettle,
And [G] then I'll be [Am] ready
for [D] Biddy - [G] hurrah!

Index Page
GEST Songs Of
Newfoundland And Labrador

~ Copyright Info ~

~ Privacy Policy ~