Noseworthy and Piercy were two fine fisherman Off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland Oh the ocean's an angel with the face of a flounder Ah she holds the devil by the hand "Good catch to you all," calls the captain, Robert Rose The dory boats are lowered where the fathoms fall below The red sun scowls and the wind the wiser Whispering a warning o'er the lines Those who dwell ashore know nothing of the lore And the glory and the mystery of the deep Salt water in our veins and the captain at the reins Our wandering souls the freest Our wandering souls the freest of the free When the mother ship's cannon cracked the signal to return My bu*ts were building bastions in the swirling up above Poseidon the king and the wind his jester Dancing with the Lightning Lady Fair The black water boiled and the dory pitched and toiled Can you hear the claxon calling out your name Are we anchored to a fate to die upon the waves Far from all our family
Far from all our family and friends Tiny fingers pressed agains the window pane Find your father's star upon the sea Keep your faith like teeth beneath your pillow case Until the day when he returns again Wind breath of wind and bones of ice They cast their cries into the night Lost, alone, adrift, alive After two days and nights with the oars in the grave The two men were given for gone, gone away Bitter news, it travels well, like a schooner on a swell Their families learned the story of their fate But on the ocean high a rescue had come by And took them to the Old World on the far Atlantic side After two months gone the blessed harbour of St. John's Rolled in on the North Atlantic tide For those who dwell ashore know nothing of the lore And the glory and the mystery of the deep But when the heart is strong you'll return where you belong They made it back to Newfoundland They made it back to Newfoundland again