FRESH FROM THE BOARD

(collected and arranged by Armand Aromin & Benedict Gagliardi)


Let the bards from the North, from the South, East, and West
All sing in the theme that suits them the best
Let 'em sing of baked beans and their puddings and pies
Their hot apple dumplings and donuts likewise
The bard of Rhode Island no theme can afford
But to sing of hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

	Fresh from the board, fresh from the board
	To sing of hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

Our neighboring farmers may plough, sow, and reap
And raise crops of barley, of rye and buckwheat
But the soils of Rhode Island our farmers adorn
With potatoes aplenty and abundance of corn
With butter and cheese their cellars are stored
To relish hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

	Fresh from the board, fresh from the board
	To relish hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

The Rhode Island farmers are healthy and strong
Their sons and their daughters are fresh as the morn
They weave and they spin, make butter and cheese
They work when they like to and play when they please
But all these enjoyments, they think them absurd
Deprived of hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

	Fresh from the board, fresh from the board
	Deprived of hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

The good Roger Williams, that pious old chief
First crossed the Atlantic for conscious relief
Paid adieu to oppression to seek and to find
A spot more congenial that suited his mind
He came to Rhode Island and there, praise the Lord
Content with hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

	Fresh from the board, fresh from the board
	Content with hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

Oh the Rhode Island farmers raise horses and cows
Bulls, calfs, and heifers, pigs, barrows, and sows
Their oxen and sheep make old Brighton to stare
For Brighton nor Brooklyn can with them compare
Each farmer's a nabob, he lives like a lord
And smiles on hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

	Fresh from the board, fresh from the board
	And smiles on hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board

The state of Rhode Island affords every dish
That the stomachs of gluttons or epicures wish
The best Christmas turkey, fine chickens and lambs
Old fashioned hot pudding and nice bacon hams
Besides the hot Johnny Cakes fresh from the board
Which they'll swear to defend with the point of their sword

	Point of their sword, point of their sword
	They'll swear to defend with the point of their sword

recording: The Vox Hunters [BandCamp]