The Tunnel Tigers
(Ewan MacColl)
1. Hares run free on the Wicklow mountains,
Wild geese fly and the foxes play;
Sporting Wicklow boys are working,
Driving a tunnel through the London clay.
Up with the shields and jack it! Ram it!
Drive a tunnel through the London clay.
2. Lough Derg trout grow fat and lazy,
Salmon sport in Cushla bay;
And fishermen from Connemara
Drive a tunnel through the London clay.
3. Below Armagh the wild ducks breeding,
Wild fowl gather on Loch Rea,
The sporting boys of Longford County
Are digging a tunnel through the London clay.
4. The curragh rots on the Achill Island,
Tourists walk on the Newport quay;
The Mayo boys have all gone roving,
Digging a tunnel through the London clay.
5. The Carlow girls are fine and handsome,
All decked out so neat and gay;
The Carlow boys don't come to court 'em
They're driving a tunnel through the London clay.
6. Down in the dark are the tunnel tigers
Far from the sun and the light of day;
Down in the land that the sea once buried,
Driving a tunnel through the London clay.
One of the finest working songs I know (from the splendid a cappella
singing of The Johnstons) is Tunnel Tigers. It is about Irish work
emigrants helping to build the London tube (underground). The words
are from Ewan MacColl, the tune my source (a Xerox with no hints to
which book I made it from) says is traditional Irish, but I have never
heard it with any other song. The Copyright is from 1967 by Stormking
Music. I have left all the place names spellings as I found them in
print with one exception. I thought it safe to replace Laugh Derg by
Lough Derg. WH
WH
Apr98
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!