Harry the Tar by Mal Edwards Recorded by Mal Edwards Down at Shrewsbury Gas Works They call me Harry the Tar I've a horse as fat as butter To pull us near and far Oldbury town’s three long days away By the time we get back up here We sure have earned our pay Chorus : We work for Thomas Clayton We've an old tar boat She's covered in tin patches To keep herself afloat Do a trip to Shrewsbury Gas Works Once a week In the summer when it's warm In the winter when it's bleak Start early next morning, I drives the horse Molly's at the tiller to keep the boat on course Crossing Pimley aqueduct we've made good time Then we got to Berwick tunnel Where I coiled up the line Chorus Molly walked the horse across the top I poled the old boat through Walking along the deck top, the best way to do After an hours hard slog I got round the dog-leg bend Then I saw a beam of light from the Berwick Wharf end We crossed the Tern at Longdon went up Eyton locks Stopped at Whappenshall Junction For we'd had our lot Put the horse in the stables where I fed him corn and hay Oldbury town is now two long days away Chorus Went along the Lubstree valley past the Humber Arm Up Edgmond’s lock then through Newport town At the top of the 17 Norbury we did stay Oldbury town is now one long day away Went up through Wheaton Aston, turn right at Coffin lock Up Anderson’s 21 then through the gauging lock Got back to Oldbury, picked up our pay Pumped the tar from the boat Start back to Shrewsbury next day Chorus The song lyrics were transcribed from Mal Edward’s 2001 CD recording. In 2021 Mal was interviewed in three YouTube videos which can be found on the Hidden Waterways website. The video in which he sang a slightly different version of this song features here. Recorded on :
Harry the Tar by Mal Edwards Recorded by Mal Edwards Down at Shrewsbury Gas Works They call me Harry the Tar I've a horse as fat as butter To pull us near and far Oldbury town’s three long days away By the time we get back up here We sure have earned our pay Chorus : We work for Thomas Clayton We've an old tar boat She's covered in tin patches To keep herself afloat Do a trip to Shrewsbury Gas Works Once a week In the summer when it's warm In the winter when it's bleak Start early next morning, I drives the horse Molly's at the tiller to keep the boat on course Crossing Pimley aqueduct we've made good time Then we got to Berwick tunnel Where I coiled up the line Chorus Molly walked the horse across the top I poled the old boat through Walking along the deck top, the best way to do After an hours hard slog I got round the dog-leg bend Then I saw a beam of light from the Berwick Wharf end We crossed the Tern at Longdon went up Eyton locks Stopped at Whappenshall Junction For we'd had our lot Put the horse in the stables where I fed him corn and hay Oldbury town is now two long days away Chorus Went along the Lubstree valley past the Humber Arm Up Edgmond’s lock then through Newport town At the top of the 17 Norbury we did stay Oldbury town is now one long day away Went up through Wheaton Aston, turn right at Coffin lock Up Anderson’s 21 then through the gauging lock Got back to Oldbury, picked up our pay Pumped the tar from the boat Start back to Shrewsbury next day Chorus The song lyrics were transcribed from Mal Edward’s 2001 CD recording. In 2021 Mal was interviewed in three YouTube videos which can be found on on the Hidden Waterways website. The video in which he sang a slightly different version of this song features here. Recorded on :