The Anti-Confederation Song

Ye brave Newfoundlanders who plough the salt sea,
With hearts like the Eagle so bold and so free,
The time is at hand when we'll have to say
If Confederation will carry the day.

Men, hurrah for our own native Isle, Newfoundland,
Not a stranger shall hold one inch of her strand;
Her face turns to Britain, her Back to the Gulf,
Come near at your peril, Canadian Wolf!

Cheap tea and molasses they say they will give,
All taxes taken off that the poor man may live -
Cheap nails and cheap lumber, our coffins to make,
And homespun to mend our old clothes when they break.

If they take off all taxes, how then will they meet
The heavy expenses on Army and fleet?
Just give them the chance to get into the scrap,
They'll show you the trick with pen, ink and red tape.

Would you barter the right that your fathers have won?
No! let them descend from father to son.
For a few thousand dollars Canadian gold
Don't let it be said that our birthright was sold.

Taken from Doyle, Gerald S. Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland. St. John's: Gerald S. Doyle, 1940. 69. Print.