Listen to Shovelling Mud embedded here
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Song lyrics by Alex Sinclair, 2004
Come all ye lads both stout and strong
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
And pay attention to my song
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
From Allanburg to Port Robinson
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
From cold grey dawn to setting sun
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
2 miles long and 50 feet deep
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
Mr Merritt’s mighty lucky we work so cheap
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
Half a dollar will buy you a day
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
Muscle and heart against Chippawa clay
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
Black powder shatters bones and boulders
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
100 lb sacks to stack on your shoulders
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood
Buckets of whiskey to muffle the pain
Shovelling mud, shovelling mud
Slide to the bottom and do it again
Deep Cut runs red with Irish blood.
Published in Spirit of the Big Ditch: The Story of the Welland Canals in Pictures, Poems and Songs. Compiled, edited and annotated by Robert Ratcliffe Taylor. St. Catharines: The Historical Society of St. Catharines, 2024
The Historical Society of St. Catharines 