MCALPINE’S CREW

 

McAlpine’s Crew

You roving blades and winsome maids
That hopes to emigrate
To England’s soil to work and toil
And wealth accumulate
Consider well before you go
What lies in store for you
Take my advice and think twice ‘ere
You join McAlpine’s crew

From Dun Laoghaire quay I sailed away
All in the month of June
The boat it sped and Hollyhead
It was in full view soon
To Camden town I then went down
My work for to pursue
To carry bricks and mortar mix
All in McAlpine’s crew

The foreman’s bark from dawn to dark
Was “Boys make no delay
For if you do I’m telling you,
I’ll dock it from your pay”
The Sunday Mass to him alas
Was something rather new
Likewise to many other boys
All in McAlpine’s crew

From dawn to dark each day I’d work,
Each day that God did send
For to make a bob and keep me job,
For on it I did depend
Until at length it broke my strength,
Consumption followed too
And a lonely man lay in the sand,
And cursed McAlpine’s crew

And now at last I’m back at home,
I’m back in Aughamore
And, truth to tell, I’m getting well,
Much wiser than before
Oh Camden Town on you I frown
Its no wonder that I do
So in God’s own land I’ll make me stand
And curse McAlpine’s crew