1. |
Charming Sally Greer
03:15
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Oh it being in the month of August eighteen and thirty-three,
My parents they forced me to leave this counteree,
Because I would not break the vows I made unto my dear.
That girl I love so tenderly, my charming Sally Greer.
‘Twas from the Monarch of Aberdeen to Belfast we bore down,
We hoisted an English colour, to Quebec we were bound.
One day the wind from the mountains blew, it tossed us to and fro
Our ship she struck against a rock, to pieces she did go.
Oh, it was on Paul's Island for three long days we lie
The cold ground being our bed, our covering was the sky
Of hundred and fifty passengers, only thirteen reached the shore
The rest of them to the bottom went; they sank to rise no moe.
And were we not a sight to be seen when we landed at Quebec.
We lost our money and clothing all by that dreadful wreck.
But I hope to sail for Ireland before another year,
Where I can rove in splendour with my charming Sally Greer.
And I hope to rove in splendour with my charming Sally Greer.
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2. |
Opeongo Line
04:29
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On the Opeongo Line, I drove a span of bays
One Summer, once upon a time for Hoolihan and Hayes.
Now that the bays are dead and gone and grim old age is mine
A phantom team and teamster start from Renfrew rain or shine.
Chorus
I am dreaming, as I go teaming, on the Opeongo Line
Yes I am dreaming, as I go teaming, out on the Opeongo Line.
On the Opeongo Line, that Nature might defy
The hand of man to match her art, she wrought in earth and sky
A perfect setting for Lake Clear, whose crystal waters spread
In island-dotted splendour where Plaunt’s Mountain rears its head.
On the Opeongo Line the parish priest was boss,
And for a project, by and large, was never at a loss.
He put the women in their place; the men, he stood on ear;
He taught the growing girls and boys the wrath of God to fear.
Chorus
On the Opeongo Line the fiddle’s merry ring
Across the moonlit clearance meant a square dance in full swing,
A truth of which the countryside was wholly unaware,
Though lass and lad for miles around were no place else but there.
On the Opeongo Line the loon called from the Lake;
The ducks flew low above the reeds; the trout leaped high to take
The daring fly that came its way; the oat fields drew the deer;
The partridge drummed along the road for all the world to hear.
On the Opeongo Line when working men were dry,
On hands and knees they drank their fill from spring or brook hard by
And got up feeling fine and fit to keep on mowing hay
Or cradling grain or picking stones until the Judgement Day.
Chorus
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3. |
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Away wi’ Canada’s muddy creeks
And Canada’s fields of pine!
Your land of wheat is a goodly land,
But ah! it isna mine!
The heathy hill, the grassy dale
The daisy-spangled lea,
The purling burn and craggy linn,
Auld Scotia’s glens gie me.
Oh, I wad like to hear again
the lark on Tinny’s hill.
And see the wee bit gowany
That blooms beside the rill.
Like a banished Swiss who views afar
his Alps with longing e’e.
I gaze upon the morning star
that shines on my countie.
Nae mair I’ll win by Eskdale Pen
or Pentland’s craggy cone;
The days can ne’er come back again
of thirty years that’s gone,
But fancy oft at midnight hour
will steal across the sea.
Yestreen, in a pleasant dream
I saw the auld country.
Each well-known scene that met my view
brought childhood’s joys to mind,
The blackbird sang on Tushey linn
The song he sang, ‘Lang Syne.’
But like a dream time flies away,
again the morning came.
And I awoke in Canada,
Three thousand miles ‘frae hame’.
No more I’ll walk the village square
or go fishing in the bay.
I see the bright colours of the market stands
they have all faded away.
The sand so white, and a sea so blue,
The crickets in the night,
The high falls in their rainbow hues,
The old island is mine.
Oh, I would like to hear again
the laughter of old friends,
my gramma singing with voice so strong
She sings ‘Redemption Song’
But like a dream time flies away,
always the morning comes
And I wake up in Canada,
Many miles from home.
And I wake up in Scarborough,
Many miles from home
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4. |
The Cobalt Song
04:57
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You may talk about your cities and all the towns that you know,
With trolley cars and pavements hard and theatres where you go.
You can have your little auto and carriages so fine,
But it’s hob-nail boots and a flannel shirt in Cobalt town for mine.
Chorus
And we’ll sing a little song of Cobalt.
If you don’t live there it’s your fault.
Oh, Cobalt, where the silver nuggets glow
Oh, Cobalt, you’re the best old town l know.
Old Porcupine is a muskeg, Elk Lake a fire trap,
New Liskeard’s just a country town and Haileybury’s just come back;
You can buy the whole of Latchford for a nickel or a dime,
But it’s hob-nail boots and a flannel shirt in Cobalt town tor mine.
Elk Lake was only a bubble, Gowganda had a few,
Old Larder Lake was just a fake, Lorrain was a whisper too,
Swastika is a rockpile, hot air is Porcupine,
But it’s hob-nail boots and a flannel shirt in Cobalt town for mine.
Chorus
We’ve got the only Lang Street; there’s blind pigs everywhere.
Old Cobalt Lake’s a dirty place, there’s mud all over the square,
We’s got the darndest railroad, that never runs on time,
But it’s hob-nail boots and a flannel shirt in Cobalt town for mine.
We’ve bet our dough on hockey and swore till the air was blue.
Cobalt stocks have emptied our socks with dividends cut in two,
They don’t get any of our dollars in poor old Porcupine,
But it’s-hob-nail boots and a flannel shirt in Cobalt town tor mine.
Chorus
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5. |
Johnston's Hotel
03:48
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Chorus:
Johnston's Hotel, Johnston's Hotel,
Oh they treat you swell, at Johnston's Hotel.
On the banks of the Otonabee there's a nice little spot
There's a boarding house there where you get your meals hot
And across from the Quaker comes a corn-flaky smell
To remind you you're boarding at Johnston's Hotel
Oh the rooms up at Johnston's, they are heated with steam.
The finest apartments I ever have seen.
The windows are airy and barred beside,
To keep the good boarders from falling outside
Chorus
Oh the meals up at Johnston's, you get such a hoard.
If you want to cut beefsteak, borrow a sword.
Ain't much to look at, but oh it is swell.
Just to be boarding at Johnston's Hotel
There's old Johnny Dainard, not a bad cop you know
And old Billy Wigg, he ain't bad also
There's Pearcy and Puffin, and Mahar as well.
They're looking for boarders for Johnston's Hotel.
Chorus
Oh, you're in front of Langley and and he's reading your charge
My darling young boy, you've been running at large.
Oh you're in front of Langley and the truth you must tell
And he gives you your pass up to Johnston's Hotel.
If you want to spend some time in Johnston's Hotel
Just ramble down George Street, raising blue hell
Dry bread and water won't cost you a cent.
Your taxes are paid for, your board and your rent.
Chorus
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6. |
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Battle of Queenston Heights
Lyrics by James L. Hughes; arrangement and additional verse by Rob Niezen
Upon the heights of Queenston one dark October day
Invading forces were marshalled in battle’s dread array
Brave Brock looked up the rugged steep and planned a bold attack
No foreign flag shall float, said he, above the Union Jack
His loyal hearted soldiers were ready every one
Their foes were thrice their number, but duty must be done
They started up the fire swept hill with loud resounding cheers
Brock’s inspiring voice rang out—push on York Volunteers.
Tecumseh and his Shawnees played a brilliant trick
Brave and fierceless warriors moved everywhere and quick
They faked a fearsome force of more than tenfold size
And many scared attackers ran—they fled demoralized.
Soon a fatal bullet pierced through Brock’s manly breast
And loving friends to help him around our hero pressed
Push on, he said don’t mind me, and ere the set of sun
Canadians held the rugged steep—the victory was won.
Each true Canadian patriot laments the death of Brock
His country told its sorrow in a monumental rock
And if foes should ever invade our land in future years
His dying words will guide us still—push on brave volunteers.
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7. |
Farewell to Mackenzie
02:39
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Willie's away from the field of contention
From the land of misrule and friends of dissension
He's gone over the waves as an agent befitting
Our claims to support the councils of Britain
No more shall the soup-kitchen beggars annoy him
Nor the Hamilton murderers attempt to destroy him
No dread deed of blood shall he fear their committing
He's safe from their fangs on his voyage to Britain
There, there the reformers shall meet him
And there his great friend King Willie shall greet him
Our patriot monarch whose name shall be written
with letters of good in the records of Britain
Go Canada's patriot, go strong in your mission
Go bear our sovereign his subjects' petition
Our despots unmask show the deeds they're committing
Perverting the blest institutions of Britain
Willie's away from the field of contention
From the land of misrule and friends of dissension
He's gone over the waves as an agent befitting
Our claims to support the councils of Britain
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8. |
Battle of the Windmill
02:15
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On Tuesday morning we marched out
In command of Colonel Fraser
With swords and bayonets of polished steel
As keen as any razor.
Unto the Windmill plains we went
We gave them three loud cheers
To let them know that day below
We’re the Prescott Volunteers.
Oh, we’re the boys that feared no noise
When the cannons loud did roar
We cut the rebels left and right
When they landed on our shore.
Brave Macdonall nobly led
His men into the field;
They did not flinch, no, not an inch
Till the rebels had to yield.
He swung his sword right round his head
Saying, “Glengarrys follow me,
We’ll gain the day without delay,
And that you’ll plainly see!”
The rebels now remain at home,
We wish that they would come
We’d cut them up, both day and night,
By command of Colonel Young.
If they ever dare return again
They’d see what we can do;
We’ll show them British play, my boys,
As we did at Waterloo.
Under Colonel Jessup we will fight,
Let him go where he will;
With powder and ball they’ll surely fall
As they did at the Windmill.
If I were like great Virgil bright
I would employ my quill;
I would write both day and night
Concerning the Windmill.
Lest to intrude I will conclude
And finish off my song,
We’ll pay a visit to Ogdensburg
And not before too long!
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9. |
Mary Ann
03:28
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Oh, fare thee well my own true love, fare thee well my dear
For the ship is waiting and the wind blows high
And I am bound away for the sea—Mary Ann
And I am bound away for the sea—Mary Ann
Oh yonder don’t you see the dove, sitting on the sill
He is mourning the loss of his own true love
As I do now for you my love—Mary Ann
As I do now for you my love—Mary Ann
A lobster boiling in the pot, a blue fish in the brook
They are suffering long, but it’s nothing like
The love I feel for you my love—Mary Ann
The love I feel for you my love—Mary Ann
Oh, had I but a flask of gin, sugar here for two
And a great big bowl for to mix it in
I’d pour a drink for you my dear—Mary Ann
I’d pour a drink for you my dear—Mary Ann
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10. |
Fair and Tender Ladies
02:54
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instrumental
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11. |
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I wandered today to the hill Maggie, to watch the scene below
The creek and the old rusty mill Maggie, where we sat in the long long ago
The green grove is gone from the hill Maggie, where first the daisies sprung
The old rusty mill is still Maggie, since you and I were young.
A city so silent and lone, Maggie, where the young and the gay and the best
In polished white mansions of stone Maggie, have each found a place of rest
Is built where the birds used to play Maggie, and join in the songs that were sung
For we sang as gay as they Maggie, when you and I were young.
Oh they say I've grown feeble with age Maggie, my steps are much slower than then
My face is a well written page Maggie and time all along was the pen
Oh they say we've outlived our time Maggie, as dated as the songs that we've sung
But to me you're as fair as you were Maggie, when you and I were young.
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Backwoodsmen Peterborough, Ontario
The members of Backwoodsmen met while playing traditional music at Lang Pioneer Village Museum in Keene, Ontario. They firmed up their collaboration as part of a long term traditional music and art project that came to a conclusion in 2022 with the two Cross Cut albums ... more
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