Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach, A

DESCRIPTION: "A great big sea hove in Long Beach... And Granny Snooks she lost her speech." "Me boot is broke, me frock is tore... But George Snooks I do adore." "Oh, fish is low and flour is high... So Georgie Snooks he can't have I."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Doyle-OldTimeSongsAndPoetryOfNewfoundland, 2nd edition)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad sea hardtimes
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Blondahl-NewfoundlandersSing, p. 11, "Great Big Sea Hove in" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston-FolkSongsOfCanada, pp. 176-177, "A Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle-OldTimeSongsAndPoetryOfNewfoundland, "A Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" (1 text, 1 tune): p. 27 in the 2nd edition; p. 25 in the 3rd; p. 25 in the 4th; p. 13 in the 5th
Mills-FavoriteSongsOfNewfoundland, pp. 42-43, "A Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 77, "A Great Big Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
England-HistoricNewfoundlandAndLabrador, p. 51, "A Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4426
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gaberlunzie Man" (tune & meter)
cf. "Kate's Big Shirt" (tune)
NOTES [62 words]: Fowke suggests this song dates from the 1930s, when Newfoundland sailors received poor pay for their fish but had to pay high prices for flour. Long Beach is a town on the east coast of Newfoundland.
On the other hand, Gibb Sahib offers the idea that it's derived from the "Hieland Laddie" complex, with non-Newfoundland references deleted and local references added. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: FJ176

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