"The Banks Of Newfoundland" is the earliest Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

 composition set down in music notation. It was composed by Chief Justice Francis Forbes

Francis Forbes

Sir Francis Forbes was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Early life:...

 in 1820 and published in a piano arrangement by Oliver Ditson

Oliver Ditson

Oliver Ditson was an American businessman and founder of Oliver Ditson and Company, one of the major music publishing houses of the late 19th century. Ditson began his business with Samuel H...

 of Boston.
Originally composed as a dance, it was treated as a march by the soldiers of Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

; it later became the Regiment's authorized march

March (music)

A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...

.

It has also been associated with the Royal St. John's Regatta

Royal St. John's Regatta

The Royal St. John's Regatta is North America's oldest annual sporting event with documented proof of 1816 boat races. There is credible contention that St. John's regattas were held even earlier than 1816, likely in the 18th century....

since its early days. As a Regatta tune it is more popularly known as "Up The Pond", and is traditionally played as the crews pass the bandstand on their return to the stakes. It was later made the official tune of the Regatta.

An entirely different "The Banks of Newfoundland" is a song in ballad form, created as a parody of "Van Dieman's Land." It voices the lament of a sailor on a voyage from Liverpool to New York, on which one must pass the cold Grand Banks.

Lyrics

THE BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND

You bully boys of Liverpool

And I'll have you to beware,

When you sail on them packet ships,

no dungaree jackets wear;

But have a big monkey jacket

all ready to your hand,

For there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her

with holy stone and sand,

For there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We had Jack Lynch from Ballynahinch,

Mike Murphy and some more,

And I tell you by's, they suffered like hell

on the way to Baltimore;

They pawned their gear in Liverpool

and they sailed as they did stand,

But there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her

with holy stone and sand,

For there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

Now the mate he stood on the fo'c'sle head

and loudly he did roar,

Now rattle her in me lucky lads,

you're bound for America's shore;

Come wipe the blood off that dead man's face

and haul or you'll be damned,

But there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her

with holy stone and sand,

For there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

So now it's reef and reif, me boys

With the Canvas frozen hard

and this mountain pass every Mother's son

on a ninety foot topsail yard

nevermind about boots and oilskins

but holler or you'll be damned

But there blows some cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her

with holy stone and sand,

And we'll think of them cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

So now we're off the Hook, me boys,

and the land is white with snow,

And soon we'll see the pay table

and we'll spend the whole night below;

And on the docks, come down in flocks,

those pretty girls will say,

Ah, It's snugger with me than on the sea,

on the Banks of Newfoundland.

We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her

with holy stone and sand,

And we'll think of them cold nor'westers

on the Banks of Newfoundland.