Possible precursor to "Drill, Ye Tarriers. Drill.

Lyr. Add: MICK UPON THE RAILROAD
Anon. 19th C. song sheet.

When first from Limerick I come here,
My latther days to spend and cheer,
It was to dhrink good ale and beer,
Wid the boys upon the railroad.

Chorus
The railroad, the railroad,
The divil take the railroad.

Now Mick do this, and Mick do that,
Widout a stockin' or cravat,
The divil the thing but an ould straw hat,
To work upon the railroad.

They gave me a drill to drill the hole,
And then confound my Irish sowl,
And blast the ship that brought me over,
To work upon the railroad.

Our smith he is from Molehill town,
He sharpens the picks that grubs the ground,
But be will take his jigger when it goes round,
Wid the boys upon the railroad.

When I lay me down to sleep,
The ugly bugs around me creep,
Bad luck to the wink that I can sleep,
While workin' on the railroad.

When I rises on Monday morn,
I hear the sound of the damned ould horn,
I curse the hour that I was born,
To work upon the railroad.

J. Wrigley, New York.
ImPac, the Library Company of Philadelphia, Digital Collections, American song sheets and poetical broadsides collection, has put the date range as 1850-1870.