James Brindley James Brindley came to Lancashire in 1759 To help the Duke of Bridgewater drain out his Worsley mine A cut from here to Manchester, this was the master plan And on this duly made canal the Duke's coal barges ran They ran, they ran, the Duke's coal barges ran And on this duly made canal the Duke's coal barges ran For industry was changing, the age of steam at hand And factories were rising all across the land To feed the hungry engines the cities needed coal To get it to them cheaply, this was Brindley's goal His goal, his goal, this was Brindley's goal To get it to them cheaply, this was Brindley's goal Now Brindley was a working man, no or Lord or Duke was he Apprenticed to a millwright in 1733 The man who worked in water, the dreamer with the skills He was the famous man who made the water run uphill Uphill, uphill, the water run uphill He was the famous man who made the water run uphill Although he was unlettered, the cross he made was grand He made it stretch from north to south and right across the land To get an act through Parliament to back his schemes with law Brindley went before the Lords, drew pictures on the floor The floor, the floor, drew pictures on the floor Brindley went before the Lords, drew pictures on the floor And when at last through overwork James Brindley was struck down His friend Josiah Wedgewood wrote these words to London town "His excellent constitution was worn down by his mind Too ardently intent on work to benefit mankind" Mankind, mankind, to benefit mankind Too ardently intent on work to benefit mankind The words were transcribed from a 1983 BBC TV programme featuring The Spinners and with narration by Mike Harding. The video above starts at 28m 4s to play this song. The full programme can be viewed here.