I's The B'y | Mama Lisa's World Blog

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