All Around the Circle

September 2022 - Fogo, Twillingate, Morton's Harbour, Bonavista

Everywhere you go in Newfoundland and Labrador, you will hear this song.

"I'se The B'y" (also I's The Bye) is a traditional Newfoundland folk song/ballad. "I's the B'y" is in the Newfoundland English dialect, and translates to standard English as "I'm the Boy" or "I'm the Guy". The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame decided to honour the song in 2005, officially accepting it as part of the Canadian Song Hall of Fame.

I'se The B'y that builds the boat and
I'se The B'y that sails her and
I'se The B'y that catches the fish and
Brings 'em home to Liza

I'm the boy that builds the boat, and I'm the boy that sails her. This song is about self-sufficient fishermen from Newfoundland, Canada.

Hip-yer-partner Sally Tibbo
Hip-yer-partner Sally Brown
Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton's Harbour,
All around the circle

This refers to three towns on the northeast coast of Newfoundland - a "circle" that would be navigated by the fishermen during fishing season.

Sods and rinds to cover your flake,
Cake and tea for supper
Cod fish in the spring of the year,
Fried in maggoty butter

Sods and rinds to cover your flake - The fishermen would dry the fish so they would last through the winter season. The fish would be sun-dried on platforms, covered with grass sod and tree bark.

"Cake" is hard tack.

Photo taken in Trinity.

I don't want your maggoty fish
They're no good for winter
Well I can buy as good as that,
Way down in Bonavista!

Bonavista is another coastal town on the east coast of Newfoundland, but is far away from the "circle" described above. The singer is haggling with someone over the quality of the fish, with someone claiming they could get that quality anywhere.