Souid Jiggin· Ground

OTHER SONGS BY THE AliTHOR

The Six Hone-Power Coaker The Shooting of lhe Bawb

Payne's Cove Bait SkiH Squarln' Up

SQUID JIGGIN' GROUND A. R. SCAMMELL

l -Oh this +,t -+ ,.,., is th~ place where the

f ( +· ~ ~ t !,

___, ' I 7 tnf ... +

+ • . -+ -+ + '-:'\

-:fl: :fl: n

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and boots and Cape-~nns battened down; All

fish er- men ga-ther, '" oil-skins 7

~ . ~ ::t $: ~ i' "t 7 i' '' $ r.-!

+ + ,. -.' + 'L-......:L...!t 7\ ~ " "

r .C ... + , sizes of \.. 1gures, with ( squid lines and jiggers, They con- gre- gate here 00 the

+ ~ 7 1 71 f • mf

~ .. , + · :it • .. '

sq~id j!"gin~rou:. Re aar foY Ve. ysesl-q Coda{. , V« sei 00

~ 1 i i fr ~! ~ 1 ~

----... '+ + · . + + +

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SQUID JIGGIN' GROUND

Some ore workin' their jiggers while others are yarnin',

There's some standin' up and there's more lyin' down;

While all kinds of fun, jokes and tricks are begun,

As they wait for the squid on the squid~jiggin' ground.

There's men of all ages and boys in the bargain,

There's old Billy Cave and there's young Raymond Bown,

There's a red rantin' Tory out here in a dory,

A·runnin' down Squires oo the squid-jiggin' ground.

There's men from the harbour; there's men from the tickle

In all kinds of motorboats, green, gray and brown;

Right yonder is Bobby and with him is Nobby,

He's chawin' hard tack on the squid-jiggin' ground.

God bless my sou'wester, there's skipper John Choffey,

He's the best hand at squid-jiggin' here, I'll be bound,

Hello! whet's the row? Why, he's jiggin' one now,

The very first squid on the squid-jiggin' ground.

The men with the whisker is old Jacob Steele,

He's gettin' well up but he's still pretty sound;

While uncle Bob Hawkins wears six pairs of stockins'

Whenever he's out on the squid-jiggin' ground;

Holy smoke! whet c scuffle, ell hands are excited,

'Tis a wonder to me that there's nobody drowned,

There's a bustle, confusion, c wonderful hustle,

They're ell jiggin' squids on the squid-jiggin' ground!

Says Bobby, "The squids ere on top of the water,

I just got me jiggers about one fathom down;"

But a squid in the boat squirted ri~ht down his throat,

And he's sweorin' like mod on the squid-jiggin' ground.

There's poor uncle Billy, his whiskers ere spattered

With spots of the squid juice that's flying around;

One poor little boy got it right in the eye,

But they don't give c dam on the squid-jiggin' ground.

Now if ever you "feel inclined to go squiddin',

leave your white shirts end-collars behind in the town,

And if you get cranky, without yer silk hanky,

You'd better steer clear of the squid-jiggin' ground.

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THE SQUID

The squid is c species of cuttle·fish-:-a mollusc with ten

tentacles growing out of the head, with suckers at the

end of each tentacle, and a fin at each side of the toil.

It is soft bodied, brown tan in colour, and ranges from

eight to twelve inches in length. When pursued or

taken, the squid squirts out an inky liquid, which the

wise fisherman takes care to avoid.

Squid occur in huge schools along certain parts of the

Newfoundland coast, usually during the months of

August, September and Odober, and, though edible,

are chiefly prized by the local fishermen for bait.

When the squid strike in, or are "on the grounds", the

fishermen cluster their dories, or small flat bottomed

boats, close together amid the school of darting fish

and pull them in with line and jigger as fast as they

can. It is quite an interesting sight and the fishermen

make sport among themselves during the operations,

for the pace is fast and furious as they load the dories

with the precious bait.

Squid jigging is part and parcel of the Newfoundland

fisherman's life and the "SQUID JIGGIN' GROUND"

captures the atmosphere of jollity and laughter that

usually accompanies the proceedings.

*

Gramophone records of the "SQUID JIGGIN' GROUND", sung by the author, can be

purchased at Messrs. Ayre & Sons, Ltd., St. John's, Newfoundland, and copies of the song

may be obtained at your local music store or by sending 50c to A. R. Scammell, 3484 Shuter St., Apt. 10, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.