Thursday 19 January 2017

APAD 19: Migration





Migration

Load up the ship boys
load her to the top
she’ll roll away the miles boys
across the wide blue sea

Jeannie Johnston leaves Quebec
lumbered to the gills
her sails are set a-flapping
her deck it is a-creaking

Mind you watch the sails boys
keep them trim and tied
she’ll roll away the miles boys
across the wide blue sea

Winds will switch and stop
winds will swell and blow
the sea will roil and boil
despite the burning cold

Keep your fingers safe boys
blue-ice though they be
she’ll see you to safe dock boys
across the wide blue sea

In an Irish river town
her load will swing ashore
long straight logs to barges
bound for mills upstream

Empty up the ship boys
empty all you can
for we’ve another load boys
to cross the wide blue sea

This time the load is Irishers
carrying all they own
nothing left to keep them here
famine has stripped it all

Load up the ship boys
with Irish refugees
keep the ship a-steady boys
across the wide blue sea

A new life can begin now
the dreams of sunshine lives
where Irish worth grows well
beyond back-load for a boat

The Irish are the ballast boys
on every voyage out
they earn their keep twice over boys
they keep the ship afloat

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