The word had spread from door to door
down the Barachois road to the harbor shore
old Joe Labelle would steal the house
from the widow Victoria.
He found some deed that claimed her land
and a handshake deal just wouldn’t stand
in a court of law, he did demand
that the house belonged to him
(Chorus)
Ring the churchbells in the night
we’ll gather at the first starlight.
Bring your lamps, sleighs and mare
to save the widow’s home
Across the big field, or’e the pond
we’ll move this house before the dawn.
When Joe Labelle arrives
he’ll find his prize already gone
It seems that some mistake was made
on the day her husband made a trade
and when he died he was betrayed
by Joe Labelle’s black heart.
He planned to force her to the cold
and he’d bring the sherif and his fold
so through the dead of winter’s hold
we’ve come to save her home
You could see his breath freeze in the air
as Pêre Felix said the lords prayer
and passed the wine to all hands there
and they sang a sailors song
There must have been near forty men
while their wives all held their lamps for them
they fashioned logs, levers, and skids
while shivering to the bone.
With winches, logs, and Pineau’s sleigh
they slowly hauled the house away
and the ice cracked like the break of day
as across it she was drawn
