The Cambridge Navvies by Patrick Olsen 2017
The /Nav-vies were men who / made the can-als for /
twelve hours a day they’d / sweat with their pals movin’ /
twenty tonnes of earth in a / barrow up a plank… and /
leavin’ it all at the /top of the bank.
The navvies were men who / laid the train tracks /
Cutting through hills with a / pick and an axe. /
Lay-in’ the ties… / covered them with stones.
Sun / burning their skin and / Wind freezing their bones.
When the / whistle would blow, they’d off to their homes, /
Built near the tracks so they’d /not far to go. For /
wages they’d get beef and a gallon of beer.. then /
they’d drink and stink all with a / very good cheer.
When / they got near Cambridge, they ran into a bind,
The / colleges they said, (suddenly whispering) “noisy navvies must pay a fine”
(a little louder) So the / navvies built the station… a / mile out of town…(loud again) Where they / wouldn’t disturb all the men in their gowns.
Well our train tracks and boat paths are amazingly loooooong (hold this note until everyone turns blue)
Built by the navvies the / heroes of song.
CHORUS
Oh the Nav-vies came to our town
from Ireland and Cornwall and all around
Oh the Nav-vies united they stand
from Wales and Scotland and far away lands
