Digital Tradition Mirror

Wild Mustard River

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Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Wild Mustard River

Come all you young boys from the river
Come and listen to me for a while
And I will relate you a story
Of my friend and kind chum, Johnny Doyle

'Way up on the wild Moose River
By the side of the big Jumbo Dam
One morning while eating our breakfast
On the rocks we espied a great Jam

As soon as we'd finished our breakfast
We were out on the head of that jam.
Some of the boys took the pole trail
To break out the reservoir dam.

We worked for an hour and a quarter.
Our pike poles and peavies did pry
Not dreaming that one of our number
That day would so horribly die.

"Ride her down, ride her down to dead water.
So loudly our foreman did shout.
Not a man in the gang: who won't ride her
Not a man in the gang who'll back out.

On the river there never was better
Than my friend and kind chum, Johnny Doyle
As the logs came he always could roll them.
And he never was reckless and wild.

But this morning his luck was against him.
His foot it got caught in the jam,
And you know how those waters kept rolling
From the falls at the reservoir dam.

We rode it down to dead water,
The sweat down our bodies did pour;
When we pulled his dead body from under.
It looked like poor Johnny no more.

His flesh it was torn into ribbons,
Into pieces the size of your hand.
On earth his dead body lies resting
May the Lord take his soul in command.

DT #714
Laws C5
From Fowke and Mills, Canada's Story in Song
SOF
apr97

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!