Category: songs

Stan Rogers 1983

Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell of Greenfield (19 April 1785 - 14 October 1812) was an aide-de-camp to British Major General Sir Isaac Brock during the War of 1812, dying in the Battle of Queenston Heights.

Too thin the line that charged the Heights And scrambled in the clay
Too thin the Eastern Township Scot Who showed them all the way
And perhaps had you not fallen You might be what Brock became
But not one in ten thousand knows your name

To say the name, MacDonnell It would bring no bugle call
But the Redcoats stayed beside you When they saw the General fall
Twas MacDonnell raised the banner then And set the Heights aflame
But not one in ten thousand knows your name

Chorus:
You brought the field all standing With your courage and your luck
But unknown to most, you’re lying there Beside old General Brock
So you know what it is to scale the Heights And fall just short of fame
And have not one in ten thousand know your name

At Queenston now, the General on his tower stands alone
And there’s lichen on ‘MacDonnell’ carved upon that weathered stone
In a corner of the monument to glory you could claim
But not one in ten thousand knows your name

 

 

Stan Rogers 1975

"In 1974 and 1975 I made several visits to Bill and Bev Howell in Halifax. One weekend they left me alone in their house with a stack of Bill's excellent poetry for inspiration, and I wrote 5 songs. This was one of them and I believe the first song for the inshore fishermen that I ever wrote, though hardly the last."

How still lies the bay, in the light western airs
Which blow from the crimson horizon
Once more we tack home, with a dry empty hold
Saving gas with the breezes so fair
She’s a kindly cape islander, old but still sound
But so lost in the long liner’s shadow
Make and Break and make do, but the fish are so few
That she won’t be replaced should she founder

Now its so hard to not think of before the big war
When the cod went so cheap, but so plenty
Foreign trawlers go by now with long seeking eyes
Taking all where we seldom take any
And the young folk don’t stay with the fisherman’s ways
Long ago they all moved to the cities
And the ones left behind old and tired and blind
Won’t work for a pound, for a penny

Chorus:
In Make and Break Harbour the boats are so few
Too many are pulled up and rotten
Most houses stand empty, old nets hung to dry
Are blown away lost and forgotten

Now I can see the big draggers have stirred up the bay
Leaving lobster traps smashed on the bottom
Can they think it don’t pay to respect the old ways
That make and break men have not forgotten
For we still keep our time to the turn of the tide
In this boat that I built with my father
Still lifts to the sky, the “one lunger” and I
Still talk like old friends on the water 

Ed McGraw 

Recorded by Moon Mullican in 1960. Third verse by Alex Ellis, Fourth verse by Armand Aromin

Chorus:
Make friends, make friends, make friends, try to make friends
While traveling through this world, try to make friends
Wear a smile, not a frown, don’t you put your neighbor down
While traveling through this world, try to make friends

Make friends with the rich, make friends with the poor
Make friends with the high, make friends with the low
Even the little child, you oughta greet him with a smile
While traveling through this world, try to make friends

Sometimes you may be weak, sometimes you may be strong
Sometimes talked about, and sometimes treated wrong
But you just can’t miss, if you just remember this
While traveling through this world, try to make friends

Some say you gotta work, some say you gotta pray
Some say you gotta save, and wait for that rainy day
But you’ll always come up dry just as long as you don’t try
And while traveling through this world, try to make friends

Make friends to the left, make friends to the right
Make friends in between and those on the outside
There’s no day but today so when you greet your neighbor say
While traveling through this world, try to make friends

Lester Simpson 1995

Growing up in hard times on the wrong side of the tracks
Means you’re often taking short cuts and you’re always looking back
But though you’re running barefoot chasing dreams down dead end streets
You remember what your mama said about the way to make ends meet

Chorus:
You gotta make it, mend it, wear it out, make it do or do without (x2)

Now when my old man learned his trade they made things that would last
They would temper future vision with a knowledge of the past
If something broke or wore out, well you know they’d feel no shame
For they took pride in using skills to make it good again

Now the watchword is disposable and plastics rule the day
And if something now gets broken, you can only throw it away
But when the wells all dry up and the mines are all worked out
Well you’ll see this house start falling, hear the poor and hungry shout

Now politicians tell you they’re both green and left or right
They can see the problem clearly, they can understand our plight
But if greed’s the only motive, a chance for all to fill their purse
How can things expand forever, you know that bubble’s got to burst 

Fields Ward

Chorus:
Make me a pallet on your floor, darlin’ baby
Make me a pallet on your floor
I’m going to my long lonesome home

Who’ll rock the cradle when I’m gone, darlin’ baby
Who’ll rock the cradle when I’m gone
I’m going to my long lonesome road

Who’ll spoon your gravy when I’m gone

Leave me the roses while I’m here darlin’ baby

I won’t need no roses when I’m gone

I’m going where the chilly winds don’t blow

Jess Arrowsmith 

"This song was written by Jess in celebration of the people who make song, dance and music events happen, and in particular for good friends Jen Wilson & Martyn Harvey. She set her words to the wonderful tune "Mr Isaac's Maggot" (published in Playford's 9th edition of The Dancing Master, 1695)."

Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/make-the-world-anew

Sing, sing, let’s bring good friends together
Leave our cares aside, hope for better weather
Sing, sing, join in our song, forever
Searching for a way to make the world anew

Chorus:
Every note a spark, driving off the dark,
Fan the flames up bright, bring the day more light
Sing, let it ring as we dance to enhance all the evening’s pleasure
Play, if we may, come and stay in your hearts and your memories forever
Sing, dance, play, treasuring every day
The friends along the way who make the world anew

Dance, dance, what chance a finer meeting
Leave our cares aside, join our hands in greeting
Dance, dance, advance in time so fleeting
Forwards on our way to make the world anew

Play, play, this day our tunes we’re sharing
Leave our cares aside, worries they are sparing
Play, play, and say your challenge, daring
All to find a way to make the world anew 

Bernie Parry 1977

The Teacups: https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/man-of-the-earth

Each day as I go through the old shantytown Where the sheds and allotments all stand
I see an old man on his land With a fork or a spade in his hand
And he’s there in all weather, in sunshine and rain And I hesitate as I walk past
Is he happy or sad with his task? Oh, I haven’t the time for to ask

Chorus:
A man of the Earth, a man of the soil
In his lonely allotment, he labors and toils
And he’s not much to do since he turned sixty-five
So he took to his garden to keep him alive
And I think it’s his joy and his pride

Fifty years in the ironworks broke his will And his back and his shoulders are round
There was no other work in the town So they had him both fettered and bound
Then all of a sudden, he turned sixty-five And the bosses said, “Thank you, my man”
And they stuck a gold watch in his hand And behind him the door quickly slammed

Each Saturday evening he’s down at the pub And he sits by himself at the bar
Slowly sipping the solitary jar Oh, a pension won’t go very far
So he sells a few things to his neighbors and friends Some things from his garden he grows
But he’s got to watch out how he goes Or they’ll stop all his pension, he knows

Each day as I go through the old shantytown Where the sheds and allotments all stand
I see an old man on his land With a fork or a spade in his hand
But I cannot linger, no I must be gone For I work at the ironworks too
I started there five years ago Only forty-five more to go 

Tom Lewis 1987

"The philosophy underlying this song can be found in Homer's Odyssey. In Britain, however, it is impossible to get 100 miles from the sea."

Lord Nelson knew the perfect way to cure your ‘mal-de-mer’,
So if you pay attention, his secret I will share,
To any sea-sick sailor he’d give this advice for free:
“If you’re feeling sea-sick, sit underneath a tree!”

Chorus:
I’m marching inland from the shore, over m’ shoulder I’m carrying an oar,
When someone asks me: “What – is that funny thing you’ve got?”
Then I know I’ll never go to sea no more, no more,
Then I know I’ll never go to sea no more!

Columbus he set-sail to find out if the world was round,
He kept on sailing to the West until he ran aground,
He thought he’d found The Indies but he’d found the U.S.A.
I know some navigators who can still do that today.

Drake he’s in his hammock and a thousand miles away,
Grenville’s Revenge is at the bottom of the bay,
Many’s the famous sailor never came home from the sea,
Just take my advice, Jack, come and follow me.

Sailors take a warning from these men of high renown,
When you leave the ocean and it’s time to settle down,
Never cast your anchor less than ninety miles from shore,
There’d always be temptation to be off to sea once more. 

trad 

Melrose Quartet: "Appalachian, from the singing of Jean Ritchie via Peter Bellamy." Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles collected it in 1917 from Hillard Smith in Hindman, Kentucky, where Jean Ritchie also spent part of her life.

The Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/mariahs-gone

Chorus:
Morning’s come and Mariah’s gone (x3)
And it’s early in the morning.

Oh she’s gone and I can’t go

Never did I know her mind

Trouble, trouble is my name

Sean Cooney 2025

Wikipedia: "Mary Fildes (c. 1789-1876) was a British social reformer and political activist. She was president of the Manchester Female Reform Society in 1819, and played a leading role at the mass rally at Manchester in that year which ended in the Peterloo massacre."

She was born in Ireland when the war with France began
Her father was a working man a friend to all the poor
When she married William, the bells of Stockport sweetly sang
Soon there were four children marching through the door
But hard times came a-calling, down the rain came falling
And conditions were appalling, life was like a jail
How our parents they are dying and our children they are crying
And our husbands they are trying, but we must tip the scale
So said…

Chorus:
Mary, Mary Fildes Oh Mary, Mary Fildes

From Blackburn she heard the call, come womenfolk and stand up tall
One thousand came to sign up all in Manchester one day
Come sisters of the [earth] said she, then heart in hand come stand with me
We’re here to reform society or we will hold our sway
And from the alleys of the town, from the country all around
The folk came marching to the sound of fife and drum the same
And the women dressed in white serene their arms were open, hands were clean
With banners high and courage keen, to Peter’s Field they came
And they followed…

She rode in the carriage that her handkerchief held in the air
No finer hero could compare in any fabled tale
When she climbed the hustings high, she waved her banner through the sky
On it was Britannia fine holding of the scale
And she looked like…