Clinton's Ditch
I come from County Cork
With not a penny for to speak
Driven by the famine
That took my love from me
In search of work I traveled north
From Ellis Isle to Rome
Where they're building a canal
That's said will change the world we know
Up, oh Irishmen!
There's much work to be done
No rest till night falls upon these hills
We sleep in shantytowns
With tired souls and blistered hands--
This life of mine
The winter wind comes early
Off of Lake Ontario
My men and mule got a quarter mile
To dig before the snow
We blast through rock with dynamite
We fell trees with our hands
And shed the blood of others' dreams
For sixty cents a day
Up, oh Irishmen!
There's much work to be done
No rest till night falls upon these hills
We sleep in shantytowns
With tired souls with blistered hands
So far from home in Dunmanway
Digging Clinton's Ditch
This is what I do
From dawn to dusk
With a heart still heavy
From my love I left behind--
This life of mine