Songs About Horses: Tickle Cove Pond

One of my favorite Pandora stations is my Great Big Sea mix, which I have carefully cultivated to be mostly rousing songs that I can sing along to, even if they're more sad than not. It's a good cleaning channel.

Tonight I turned it on and up came a song called Tickle Cove Pond, which I hadn't heard before. It's about an accident with a draft horse on an icy pond. Don't worry, it has a happy ending!

(um, also ignore the awful videographer commentary, I couldn't find a clean version of this on YouTube.)

Lyrics:

In cuttin' and haulin', in frost and in snow

We're up against troubles that few people know

And it's only by courage and patience and grit

And eatin' plain food that we keep ourselves fit

The hard and the easy we take as it comes

And when ponds freeze over we shorten our runs

To hurry my haulin' with spring coming on

Near lost me a mare out on Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus:

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William White

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And give me a lift with poor Kit on the pond

I knew that the ice became weaker each day

But still took the risk and kept haulin' away

One evening in April bound home with a load

The mare showed some halting against the ice road

She knew more than I did as matters turned out

And lucky for me had I joined her in doubt

She turned round her head, with tears in her eyes

As if she were sayin', "You're riskin' our lives"

All this I ignored with a whip handle blow

For man is too stupid; dumb creatures to know

The very next moment the pond gave a sigh

And down to our necks went poor Kitty and I

Chorus

For if I had taken wise Kitty's advice

I never would take the shortcut on the ice

Poor creature she's dead; poor creature she's gone

I'll ne'er get my mare out of Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus

So I raised an alarm you could hear for a mile

And neighbours turned up in a very short while

You can always rely on the Overs and Whites

To render assistance in all your bad plights

To help a poor neighbour is part of their lives

The same I can say for their children and wives

When a bowline was fastened around the mare's breast

William White for a shanty song made a request

There was no time for thinkin', no time for delay

Straight from his head came this song right away

Chorus Final

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William White

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And with that we brought Kit out of Tickle Cove Pond