Newfoundland Ditty, I'se the b'y that builds the boat

One of Canada's authorities on folk music, Edith Fowke, defined folk songs this way: "A genuine folk song is not a song written within recent memory for commercial profit, but rather a song handed down by oral tradition, usually of unknown authorship and found in more than one version - since as with anything passed on by word of mouth or ear, no two people remember it exactly the same way." Canadians have a rich trove of folk music and these important links with our past are now celebrated in four commemorative stamps, each featuring a different song. This is the fourth and last issue in the popular Canadian folklore series. One stamp is dedicated to the Newfoundland dance ditty, "I'se the B'y That Builds the Boat." This tune reflects the Newfoundlander's close links to the sea. And like all folk songs, it is rooted in the experience of the common people. Dr. Leslie Bell first documented this song in the late 1920s - early, and introduced it to the rest of the country via the Leslie Bell Singers recordings. The song also appeared in "Folk Songs of Canada", and many other folk music publications.