#01521
Drill Ye Heroes, Drill (Kenneth Peacock)
MIDI, video
#1377: YouTube video by oldirishladdie
℗2010 ~ Used with permission ~

midi1

Now, my boys, I think it's time
To tell our trip on the Hall's Bay Line;
It was up to Gambo we did go,
All in the good ship Ivanhoe.
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

Sammy Grand was our boss man,
And Jim McCann was our second hand;
And Joseph Kean was our cook man,
And now, my boys, the truth to you:
They're just the lads could put us through.
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

It was at Codroy we pitched our tent,
We got employment as we went;
There were four of us lived in one camp,
Three King's Cove boys and a Stock Cove tramp.
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

Our boss was a fine man all along,
Till he married a great big fat fall down;
She baked good bread, she baked it well,
She baked it hard as the hubs of hell.
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

When poor John's pay day come around,
Two dollars short poor John was found;
"What for?" says Jack, but he can't reply,
"You're docked for the time you were in the sky."
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

In the morning at four the whistle will blow,
You'll snatch your duds and away you'll go;
We had to gravel in the Grand Tar pit,
And we had to ditch in the slope as well,
And I wish to God you were all in hell.
And drill ye heroes, drill!
Drill ye tarriers, drill!
You will work all day without sugar in your tea,
When you're workin' on the northern railroad.
Drill ye heroes, drill!

####.... John Martin Devine [1877-1929] of Kings Cove, Bonavista Bay, NL. Patterned after an American comic railroad song possibly written by Thomas Casey, Drill Ye, Tarriers (Frank Harding, New York, 1888) ....####
See more of the Devine's songs .

Collected in 1952 by Kenneth Peacock from William Holloway [1883-?] of Kings Cove, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Vol 3, pp.781-782, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved. Also recorded by Kenneth Peacock (Songs And Ballads Of Newfoundland, 1956, trk#11, Folkway Records And Service Corp., New York, NY, and reissued in 2000 by Smithsonian Folkways, Washington, DC).

Tarrier (from the word terrier) was the name given to the railroad blasters and drillers of Irish descent. Some say the word tarrier came from their wiry whiskers, while others say it was because terriers are 'earth' dogs who dig their prey from tunnels and holes.

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