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Although written in a humorous way, the song is critical of the harsh and callous treatment of railway workers. It expresses workers’ resentment of the foreman’s arrogance, questionable pay deductions, abusive treatment of them, and racial intolerance.
Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill
Original Lyrics by Thomas Casey & Connelly, a vaudeville team, in 1888 (see below*). Adapted lyrics used here are unknown.
Every morning at seven o’clock
you see a gang of of tarriers drilling in the rock;
The foreman yells,“Now don’t stand still
Come down heavy on the cast iron drill.”
Then drill, ye tarriers drill!
(Chorus)
Drill, ye tarriers drill. For we work all day without sugar in are tay
when we work for the CP Railway. So it’s drill ye tarriers drill.
The boss sent us to drill a hole --
He swore and cursed our Irish soul,
He cursed the ship that brought us through,
To work on the CP railway crew.
(Chorus)
The Foreman’s name was Pat McGann,
B’gosh he was an awful man;
One day a premature blast went off,
And a mile in the sky went big Jim Gough.
(Chorus)
When payday next did come around,
Big Jim a dollar short was found
“What for?” says he. Came this reply:
"You're docked for the time you were up in the sky"
Vocabulary
tarriers – railway workers who blasted the rock to clear the way for the rail bed.
tay – tea
premature – occurring before the appropriate time
docked – payment withheld
* Original Lyrics
Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill 1888
Every morning at seven o’clock,
There were twenty tarriers a-working at the rock.
And the boss comes round and he says “Keep still,
And come down heavy on the cast iron drill”
And drill, ye tarriers drill. Drill, ye tarriers, drill!
Oh, it’s work all day for the sugar in your tay,
Down on the old railway,
And drill ye tarriers, drill. And blast, and fire.
The boss was a fine man down to the ground
And he married a lady six feet round,
She baked good bread and she baked it well.,
But she baked it hard as the holes of hell, and drill.....
Now, our new foreman is John McCann,
By god, he was a blamed mean man,
Last week a premature blast went off,
And a mile in the air went big Jim Goff.
The next time pay day came around,
Jim Goff one dollar short was found.
He asked what for. Came this reply:
“You were docked for the time you were up in the sky.
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