Come boys let’s sing a song for the day it won’t be long
When united to our country we will be
Then the maple leaf entwined
And the beaver too combined
With old England’s flag shall float upon the sea

Chorus:
Tramp, tramp, tramp the new dominion
Now is knocking at the door
So good-bye dear Uncle Sam
As we do not care a clam
For your greenbacks or your bunkum anymore

With your Alabama claims
And your other little games
You thought old John would gladly let us go
And although Bright may be your friend
That’s a game that has an end
When you trod upon the British lion’s toe [Chorus]

Then boys fill a bowl
And let each jolly soul
Labor as he never dared to do before
And here’s to thee Sir John
Whom we go our pile upon
And the Conjuration knocking at the door [Chorus]

Far From Home

Where mighty waters foam and boil
And rushing torrents roar,
In Fraser River’s northern soil
Lies hid the golden ore

Chorus:
Far from home, far from home
On Fraser River’s shore
We labour hard, so does our bard
To dig the golden ore

Far, far from home we miners roam,
We feel its joys no more.
These we have sold for yellow gold
On Fraser River’s shore. [Chorus]

In cabins rude, our daily food
Is quickly counted o’er
Beans, bread, salt meat is all we eat
And the cold earth is our floor. [Chorus]

Lonely our lives-no mothers no wives.
Or sisters’ love runs o’er
When home we come at set of sun
To greet us at the door. [Chorus]

At night we smoke, then crack a joke,
Try cards ‘til found a bore.
Our goodnight said, we go to bed
To dream of home once more [Chorus]

With luck at last, our hardships past.
We’ll head for home once more.
And greet the sight with wild delight
Of California’s shore [Chorus]

And once on shore, we never more
Will roam through all our lives.
At home we’ll find, just to our mind,
And call our sweethearts wives [Chorus]

The Dredger

Victoria town is nearly caved,
Lots scarcely worth a pin there,
Because the bottom won’t fall out
And let big ships come in there.
Says Joe D.P. to Amie de C.,
“Let’s tot the public ledger,
And if there’s any tin to spare, 
I’ll go and buy a dredger.

“Oh the dredger, the pretty little dredger!
A trip to Europe’s just the thing’
I’ll go and buy a dredger.”

Canning Salmon

Chorus:
High is the smell, low is the pay
Long are the hours – why do we stay?
Somewhere outside a whole summer slips away
While we’re stuck in here canning salmon.

The guys on the dock laze around, race the fork-lift,
And sass the floor lady till it’s time for their tea,
Then they sit at the table by the window that opens
And they get paid a buck more an hour than me. [Chorus]

The machinery’s so loud that we say we’ve gone ‘can-deaf’,
Our shift is long over, before we can hear
But they keep the noise level just under the limit
So they won’t have to buy us the right safety gear. [Chorus]

First we can springs, so heavy our arms ache,
Then we do sockeye, which we pack with ease
Then we do pinks that are mashed up and rotten
So they’re packed up in pound cans and sent overseas.  [Chorus]

Last night we were waiting for a boat on the Fraser
So they kept us on line, just standing around,
But we didn’t know that outside on the river
The boat had flipped over, and two men had drowned. [Chorus]

Blow the Man Down

As I was a-walking on down Broughton Street
To me way, heigh blow the man down
I went into Speedie’s me shipmates to meet
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

Well the crowd was all there, pretty tough-looking crew
To me way, heigh blow the man down
To have our pea soup and salt horse for to chew,
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

Well the Old Man is tough and a hard looking guy
To me way, heigh blow the man down
To get more than your whack there is no use to try,
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

Well the duff is like rubber and heavy as lead
To me way, heigh blow the man down
With roaches in plenty for raisins instead
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

Well the cook is a soaker who loves a good booze
To me way, heigh blow the man down
Twixt him and the steward there’s little to choose
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

And talk of the Bo’sun he’s tougher than tough
To me way, heigh blow the man down
In handling poor sailors he’s much more than rough,
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

Supercargo is stingy with stores he is mean
To me way, heigh blow the man down
On robbing poor sailors he’s awfully keen,
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

I don’t like to sail in this rotten old tub
To me way, heigh blow the man down
With no grog allowed and the poorest of grub,
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

When we get to port I am leaving the sea
To me way, heigh blow the man down
I’ll get work on land and a farmer I’ll be
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

And now I have come to the end of me lay
To me way, heigh blow the man down
For the topsail’s aloft and the Mate said, “Belay!”
Gi’me some time to blow the man down

When the Lusitania Went Down

(1915) (Charles McCaroon and Nat Vincent)

The nation is sad as can be,
A message came over the sea.
A thousand or more, who sailed from our shore,
Have gone to eternity.
 
The Statue of Liberty high,
Must now have a tear in her eye.
I think it’s a shame; no one is to blame,
But all we can do is just sigh.
 
Some of us lost a true sweetheart,
Some of us lost a dear dad,
Some lost their mothers, sisters and brothers
Some lost the best friends they had.
 
It’s time they were stopping this warfare,
If women and children must cry.

New melody for:
Many brave hearts went to sleep in the deep, When the Lusitania went down.
 
Oh, listen to all these good deeds.
When we feel like crossing the sea,
American ships that sail from our slips,
Are safer for you and me.
 
A Yankee can go anywhere
As long as Old Glory is there.
Although they were warned, the warning they scorned,
And now we must cry in despair.

Some of us lost a true sweetheart,
Some of us lost a dear dad,
Some lost their mothers, sisters and brothers
Some lost the best friends they had.
 
It’s time they were stopping this warfare,
If women and children must cry.