"Lukey's Boat" is a comical folk song originating from the east coast of Newfoundland. Given its metre

Metre (music)

Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...

, it may have derived from a sea shanty

Sea shanty

A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...

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There are many minor variations of the song, depending on the singer; however it is essentially about the characteristics of the title boat, with the last few stanzas about Lukey returning home to find his wife dead and buried (which appears not to grieve him much, as he'll have another "in the spring of the year"). The earliest printed version was in "Ballads from Nova Scotia" (1932) by Helen Creighton

Helen Creighton

Mary Helen Creighton, CM was a prominent Canadian folklorist. She collected over 4,000 traditional songs, stories, and myths in a career that spanned several decades, and she published many books and articles on Nova Scotia folk songs and folklore...

, listed as "Loakie's Boat".

It was recorded as "Lukey" by Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...

 for their 1995 album Up

Up (Great Big Sea album)

Up is an album by Great Big Sea released in September 1995. With at least 100,000 sold in Canada, it is certified 4x platinum in the country.-Track listing:#"Run Runaway" 2:51#"Goin' Up" 3:12...

, by Great Big Sea with The Chieftains

The Chieftains

The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...

 for the 1998 album Fire in the Kitchen

Fire in the Kitchen

Fire in the Kitchen is a compilation album recorded by The Chieftains, in collaboration with an array of Canadian folk musical guests, and released in 1998....

, by Fiddler's Green

Fiddler's Green (band)

Fiddler’s Green is a German band from Erlangen that plays independent Irish speedfolk, formed in 1990. Their first concert under the name of Fiddler’s Green was at the Newcomer-Festival in Erlangen in November 1990, where the band came second...

, a German folk band, for their 2007 album Drive Me Mad!, and The Kreellers on Sixth and Porter released in 2008.

Used as a theme song for Australian comedian Lukey Bolland.