The Cambridge Navvies with lyrics and melody by Patrick Olsen, Chorus and Harmonies and Score by Bethany Kirby
VERSE ONE
The Navvies were men who made the canals,
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.
VERSE TWO
The navvies were men who laid the train tracks,
Cutting through hills with a pick and an axe,
Lay-in’ the ties and covered them with stones.
Sun burning their skin and wind freezing their bones.
CHORUS
Oh the navvies came to our town
from Ireland and Cornwall and all around
Oh the navvies united they stand
from Wales and Scotland and far away lands
VERSE THREE
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 they'd stink all in a very good cheer.
CHORUS
Oh the navvies came to our town
from Ireland and Cornwall and all around
Oh the navvies united they stand
from Wales and Scotland and far away lands
VERSE FOUR
When they got near to 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 navvies came to our town
from Ireland and Cornwall and all around
Oh the navvies united they stand
from Wales and Scotland and far away lands
