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I’s the B’y – A Song from Newfoundland, Canada

Canadian Folk Song, “V’la l’Bon Vent (Go Good Wind)”, in French with an English Translation

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I’s the B’y – A Song from Newfoundland, Canada

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

Here’s a catchy new song I just learned called I’s the B’y, meaning I’m the Boy. I found two cool YouTube videos so you could hear it. The lyrics are below with some notes about their meanings…

I’s the B’y

I’s the b’y that builds the boat
And I’s the b’y that sails her,
I’s the b’y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Liza.

Chorus
Hip yer partner*, Sally Tibbo,
Hip yer partner, Sally Brown,
Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton’s Harbour,**
All around the circle!

Sods and rinds to cover your flake,***
Cake**** and tea for supper,
Codfish in the spring o’ the year
Fried in maggoty butter.

Chorus

I don’t want your maggoty fish,
That’s no good for winter,
I could buy as good as that,
Down in Bonavista.

Chorus

I took Liza to a dance,
As fast as she could travel,
And every step that she did take
Was up to her knees in gravel.

Chorus

Susan White, she’s out of sight,
Her petticoat wants a border,
Old Sam Oliver in the dark,
He kissed her in the corner.

Chorus

I’s the b’y that builds the boat
And I’s the b’y that sails her,
I’s the b’y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Liza.

*”Hip yer partner” means to bump your hip into your partner’s hip when dancing.
**These are all locations in Newfoundland (see map below).
***Sod was used to cover the holes and roofs of huts that were made to smoke fish.
Rinds are bark – they were used to cover the fish on the flakes to keep the fish from getting burnt in the hot sun.
A flake is a stand made of wooden poles used for drying out fish.
****Cake here refers to a hard, dry biscuit eaten on ships.

Map of Newfoundland showing Fogo, Twillingate and Moreton's Harbour

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Posted in Canada, Canadian Children's Songs, Canadian Folk Songs, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, English, Folk Songs, I's the B'y, Languages, Mama Lisa, YouTube | 2 Comments »

Canadian Folk Song, “V’la l’Bon Vent (Go Good Wind)”, in French with an English Translation

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005

Dani Atkinson wrote me…

I spent several years in Quebec as a kid. While I was there, somebody gave me a picture book and an accompanying tape of French/French-Canadian folk songs. Both book and tape have since disappeared, but I remember some of the tunes, and I recently hunted up the lyrics to refresh them in my mind.

This one was my favourite. Apparently it’s Acadian, over three hundred years old. There are several gazillion variations; I’ve pieced together the one I remember.

V’la l’Bon Vent (Go Good Wind)

(Chorus)

V’la l’bon vent
V’la joli vent
V’la l’bon vent
M’amie m’appelle
V’la l’bon vent
V’la joli vent
V’la l’bon vent
M’amie m’attend

(verses)

Derrière chez nous y’a t’un étang (x2)
Il n’est pas large comme il est grand

Trois beaux canards s’en vont nageant (x2)
Le fils de roi s’en va chassant

Avec son grand fusil argent (x2)
Visa le noir tua le blanc

O, fils de roi, tu es méchant (x2)
Tu as tue mon canard blanc

Par dessous l’aile il perd son sang (x2)
Et par les yeux les diamants

Et par le bec l’or et l’argent (x2)
Que ferons-nous de tant d’argent?

Nous mettrons les filles au couvent (x2)
Et les garçons au régiment

My translation:

Go good wind
Go pretty wind
Go good wind
My friend is calling
Go good wind
Go pretty wind
Go good wind
She waits for me

Behind our house there is a pond
It’s not as deep as it is wide

Three handsome ducks went for a swim
The king’s son went hunting

With his great silver gun
Wounded the black, killed the white

O, son of the king, you are cruel
You have killed my white duck

From ‘neath its wing it loses blood
and from its eyes, diamonds

And from its beak, gold and silver
What use to us is lots of money?

We send all our girls to the convent
And all the boys to the army.

I don’t swear to the accuracy of my translation, Quebec and French class were a while ago.

That’s it for now. Maybe some other time, I’ll send you the lyrics to Cadet Rouselle, who has three houses, and three large dogs, and three of just about everything else you can think of, and is really a good child. :-)

Dani Atkinson