Johnny Doyle

This song was song by my dad's cousin and his brother according to the wife of one of them it is a song about John Doyle of Miramichi. Has anyone ever heard it ?

"Twas in the fields, he met Dow Shields.
And asked him for employ.
But the answer that was given him.
The waters' ragin' high.
This news he got caused his blood to boil.
And all night long heard through the halls.
Was the roarin' Johnnie Doyle."

Here is another one which was song long ago on the Miramichi and it was never associated to our Doyles but I am trying to find out who it was associated to. The story went that this John Doyle had killed his girlfriend and this song was composed following the murder. This is only part of it

"Oh Johnnie Doyle, Oh Johnnie Doyle. What stains your hands and clothes?" And the answer that he made to her. "It's the bleeding of my nose."

Now this one was apparently a poem / song which was sung by Wilf Carter and it was once a poem in the Miramichi school books. I have never heard it or found it in print would anyone have a copy of it or know where one could be found ? Does Wilf Carter have a museum or a place where ALL his songs are stored ?

LEGEND OF JOHN DOYLE

Come all you young boys from the River
Come and Listen to me for a while
And I will relate you a story
Of my friend and kind chum, Johnny Doyle

Way up on the wild Moose River
By the side of the big jumbo dam
One morning while eating our breakfast
On the rocks we espied a great jam

As soon as we'd finished our breakfast
We were out on the head of the jam
Some of the boys took the pole trail
To break out the reservoir dam

We worked for an hour and a quarter
Our pick poles and pevies did pry
Not dreaming that one of our number
That day would so horribly die

"Ride her down, ride her down to the dead water"
So loudly our foreman did shout
Not a man in the gang who won't ride her
Not a man in the gang who'll back out

On the river there never was better
Than my friend and kind chum, Johnnie Doyle
As the logs came he always could roll them
And he never was reckless and wild

But this morning his luck was against him
His foot it got caught in the jam
And you know how these waters kept rolling
From the falls at the reservoir dam

We rode it down to dead water
The sweat down our bodies did pour
When we pulled his dead body from under
It looked like poor Johnny no more

His flesh it was torn into ribbons
Into pieces the size of your hand
On earth his dead body lies resting
May the lord take his soul in command