The Song of the Lumpers (1888)
Off with the hatches and reeve the gear,
Cheerily boys, cheerily ho !
Send blocks and strops up to the tops,
Parcle the yard-arms where they go,
Haul away there--look out below !
Now all is ready--heave and sway,
The yard-arm tackle haul out, belay !
Now let her swing, and, lower away !
Chorus--
Year in, year out, in cold or heat,
We load and discharge the merchant fleet.
Coals, and wool, and copper, and wheat;
Cases heavy, and cases light,
Timber and iron--these we fight
The livelong day and the dreary night.
Smartly, carefully, that's the style,
Cherrily boys, cheerily ho !
There's those that deny the work we ply
Needs skill; ha ! ha ! let them start to stow
The bales of wool, and the wheat we grow ;
Haul timber, shovel and carry coals.
Or run the plank when a vessel rolls,
And they'll know better, the silly souls.
Chorus--
Year in, year out, in cold or heat,
We load and discharge the merchant fleet.
Coals, and wool, and copper, and wheat;
Cases heavy, and cases light,
Timber and iron--these we fight
The livelong day and the dreary night.
Some would begrudge us ; our hard earned pay,
Cheerily boys, cheerily ho !
They are safe in bed, while our lanterns shed
A misty light, in the hold below,
Or over the decks their dim light throw.
Break out, and sling, and heave away !
We'll look out that we get our pay,
We do the graft, and we'll have our say.
Chorus--
Year In, year out, in cold or heat,
We load and discharge the merchant fleet.
Coals, and wool, and copper, and wheat;
Cases heavy, and cases light,
Timber and iron--these we fight
The livelong day and the dreary night.
When the ship's discharged or loaded up,
Cheerily boys, cheerily ho !
We'll take our pay, and will pay our way,
And how will a foaming pewter go ?
Then home to the wives, and let them know
What we have made, and share our share,
The children shall have new boots to wear,
And the wife a dress, for fair is fair.
Chorus--
Year in, year out, In cold or heat,
We load and discharge the merchant fleet.
Coals, and wool, and copper, and wheat;
Cases heavy, and cases light,
Timber and iron--these we fight
The livelong day and the dreary night.
Port Adelaide,
May, 1888.
G.M.
Notes
From the South Australian Newspaper the Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser Fri 18 May 1888 p. 8.