Captain John H. Humphreys sailed on the ship Detroit in 1855. In 1910 he recollected some bits of chanteys for the Lewiston [Me.] Journal, including:

"In eighteen hundred and fifty-one,
My corduroy breeches I put on,
Oh, the railway, the railway,       [sic
Poor Paddy works on the railway.

In eighteen hundred and fifty-two,
I shipped on board the Kalamazoo,
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Oh, poor Paddy works on the railway.

In eighteen hundred and fifty-three,
I made my first voyage across the sea,
To work upon the railway, oh, the railway,
Poor Paddy works on the railway.

In eighteen hundred and fifty-four,
I landed on Columbia's shore,
To work upon the railway, the railway,
Oh, poor Paddy works on the railway.

In eighteen hundred and fifty-five,
I broke my legs and put out my eyes,
A-working on the railway, the railway,
Oh, poor Paddy works on the railway.

"Can't remember the rest of it."