Chords for When First I Went to Caledonia -- Tony Cuffe

_ _ _ _ _ _ Here's [A] a song from a church in Nova Scotia.
_ [D] _ _ _ Over the last few centuries, many [G] Scots and Quints and Irish as [Fm] well have used [Em] it there.
So the music up there is very [A#] strongly influenced by the Scottish [C#] music.
In fact, one or two of them [A] were written by a great Cape Towner, Julian Holland. _
But this song _ _ _ [D] is [D] called,
well, first I went to Caledonia and I thought it was [A#m] a song about people going back to Scotland, Caledonia being [G] a new view for Scotland.
Turns out to be [A] not that, it's a song about the Caledonia coal mines in Glace Bay
and two brothers who end up working there.
But at the beginning of the song, [D] they're looking back on how they got there.
Because they started out _ subsistence farming on an island called Scatteree,
but they were, you know, hopelessly [A] poor.
One day, when one of the brothers was trying to get credit at _ _ [E] _
[C] a grocery store and boarding [D] house,
he picked up his little boat, _ wandered down to the harbour, _ _ [F#] _
_ _ [A] _ to the lake, [Dm] and fell madly in love with her.
But was being a Scottish descent, he was too shy to say hello, [D] so he goes off and gets drunk instead.
_ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
I decided to sign this song when I met a club in New York State.
A gentleman came up to me and said, not only did he know the song from his youth,
but he actually knew Donald Norman, who was one of the people in the song.
And I was amazed, I'd never met someone who knew any traditional song that well.
It's [B] like saying, so we can say, we're gay. [D] It's amazing.
_ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ I [C] was hoping for a playwright.
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ I _ _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ went [G] to [D] _
Caledonia, I [G] got a loading [Bm] pad number [D] three,
_ I [Bm] got a boarding, a [D] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [A] _ _
good gig, good pay.
_ [D] My [Bm] _
_ [G] _ brother, [D] she are this, the big ass shape as you dared [G] to see,
with [Bm] sweeping heels and a monkey's [D] _ _
_ _ legs on,
[A] scattered _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [D] _ _ across the _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ sea,
[Bm] and I be what the fucking [D] gal had _ _ _ been to take [A] on,
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _
just [G] on her back [Bm] to see this [G] parade.
_ [Bm] Looking on the [D] phone, _ _ _ she seemed to [D] me like the queen of the sea.
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _
_ [D] _ _ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ [D] Now if I had [G] a drum [D] pen, so big as,
if I had [G] paper, popular as the white, _
[Bm] I'd finish [F#m] off the road [D] in the morning,
I'd shove a note [A] unto you, [D] I'd write.
_ But I wish I [G] _ was on the deepest [D] ocean,
as far [Bm] from [D] land as once I could be,
[G] and sailing [F#m] over the [D] deepest _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ [G] sea.
_ [D] I'd lay my head [G] to the cask [D] of brandy,
and as the time is, I do declare,
for my [Bm] friends _ [D] _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ [D] _ _ [A] in the young, _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
and the sea,
[G] _ the [Bm] _
[D] Caledonian _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
[F#m] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [D] sea.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _