Here Come the Navvies by Ian Campbell Recorded by The Ian Campbell Folk Group I am a navigational and come from County Cork And I had to leave my native land to find a job of work The crops were bad in Ireland and the tax too much to pay So here I am in England digging up the waterway. Here come the navvies, out to earn their pay We work with barrow, plough and spade to clear the cut away And when we put the puddle in, with sweat we wet the clay And we scar the face of England for to make the waterway Once I was a ploughman and I did a decent job I worked from dawn 'til darkness just to earn a couple o' bob But when the praties died on us I couldn't pay me way And so here I am in England ploughing up the waterway The lads who built the waterway we are a motley crew And when we've sweated all day long, we like a drink or two The local folk don't take to us, but still I'm proud to say In years to come our monument will be the waterway Tune : Little Beggarman According to the sleeve notes on the album "Ian Campbell and the Ian Campbell Folk Group with Dave Swarbrick" issued in 1969, "Here Come the Navvies" was written by Ian Campbell for a BBC Radio programme about the men who built the canals. This was the 'lost' Radio Ballad entitled 'Cry from the Cut' which has now come to light thanks to the endeavours of Chris Brady. Recorded on :
Here Come the Navvies by Ian Campbell Recorded by The Ian Campbell Folk Group I am a navigational and come from County Cork And I had to leave my native land to find a job of work The crops were bad in Ireland and the tax too much to pay So here I am in England digging up the waterway. Here come the navvies, out to earn their pay We work with barrow, plough and spade to clear the cut away And when we put the puddle in, with sweat we wet the clay And we scar the face of England for to make the waterway Once I was a ploughman and I did a decent job I worked from dawn 'til darkness just to earn a couple o' bob But when the praties died on us I couldn't pay me way And so here I am in England ploughing up the waterway The lads who built the waterway we are a motley crew And when we've sweated all day long, we like a drink or two The local folk don't take to us, but still I'm proud to say In years to come our monument will be the waterway Tune : Little Beggarman According to the sleeve notes on the album "Ian Campbell and the Ian Campbell Folk Group with Dave Swarbrick" issued in 1969, "Here Come the Navvies" was written by Ian Campbell for a BBC Radio programme about the men who built the canals. This was the 'lost' Radio Ballad entitled 'Cry from the Cut' which has now come to light thanks to the endeavours of Chris Brady. Recorded on :