Ice Harvesting Songs?

Subject: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Chex29
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 11:38 AM

20,000 men cut ice on the Hudson River for 60 years. till electricity came up the valley in 1922.Why can't I find any songs?Are there any out there?

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: prock477
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 11:55 AM

there's one to the tune "No Irish Need Apply"

Chorus: Hudson River Diamonds are the finest in the land,
Hudson River diamonds you can pick up all you can.
And when you've got your load filled up and headed for the shore,
You'll hear the foreman calling out."Go back and pick some more"

Of course Hudson River diamonds are the frozen kind thanks to the horses working the ice. They didn't want them in the ice houses you can be sure.

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 12:36 PM

On a different note: Perhaps someone should write a song about moving a lake by cutting the ice into chunks and hauling them away?

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Sourdough
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 05:05 PM

I grew up in New Hampshire where a lot of the water was sliced up and sent to Boston as well as to the fishing boats out of Cape Anne, north of Boston. ALthough I knew some people who remembered the ice harvests, I neve rheard of any songs but I am afraid that's my insensitivity to the possibility rather than that they don't exist. It also makes me wonder if there are any maple harvesting songs.

The verse about Hudson River diamonds intrigued me. I don't understand, though, why you would think that the "diamond" are horse droppings as opposed to ice. Clear river ice would be beautiful with the light shining through it. I would think that it would have been the ice blocks that looked like big, shiny diamonds (unless they had a flaw such as a half pound meadow muffin) in the midst if it.

Sourdough

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: prock477
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 05:15 PM

Hudson River diamonds was a eupemism used by the ice cutters. That we know.

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Les B
Date: 17 Jan 00 - 11:59 PM

That's an interesting point about ice harvesting and maple harvesting seemingly having few known songs. I can't think of any traditional grain, corn, or hay harvesting songs either. How come the cowboys get all the glory !?!

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: P
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 12:59 AM

Jerry Rasmussen (Folk Legacy recording artist) of the Stamford Nature Museum in CT might know as his museum has had exhibits about ice harvesting in the past as well as participatory programs where ice was harvested.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HAYING SONG (David Mallett)^^
From: JenEllen
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 03:32 AM

Les B: There IS a lovely song...

THE HAYING SONG (David Mallett)

When the raspberries burst from the woodvine
And the summer lies close to the ground
And the porch is a fit place for young boys to sleep
The brook in the hollow dies down
Then with straw hats and wagons and horses
Like young Tim and tired old Dan
We head for the fields to the creak of the wheels
With a pitchfork that blisters your hand

CHORUS:
And you have to make hay when the sun shines
That's what all of the hill people say
Keep your load wide
Keep your eyes to the sky
And make sure it's dry when you put it away

I remember the chaff on the back of my neck
And the cool at the edge of the trees
You rest for a time and you talk about the weather
You drink from the spring getting mud on your knees
Then it's back to the wagon and back to the mound
Six loads in and eight more to go
There's biscuits and beans at the late supper meal
And there's nothing like beans when you're working, you know

CHORUS

Now it's the season of clover and killdeer
And it's the time when the does the best
It's when all men are strong
And the work days are long
And you know when to rise and you know when to rest
In the cool of the evening I perch on the load
And let the wagon wind blow through my hair
Count off the stars and talk to the moon
Sing to myself in the sweet summer air
Hang on at the corners and duck from the branches
Sing to myself in the sweet summer air

CHORUS X 2

Subject: Lyr Add: OFF TO THE SUGARBUSH AGAIN^^
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 10:35 AM

Well, I've written a couple of songs about maple syruping (which I presume is what you mean by "maple harvest"), a subject I have a lot of experience with. Here's one which borrows a tune and most of a verse from the Australian shearing song "Lime Juice Tub."

OFF TO THE SUGARBUSH AGAIN
lyrics: Bill Cameron & Gary Glover
tune: "Limejuice Tub" (Australian)

(Chorus:)
Here in east Ontario, when the sap is running it's time to go,
So grab your buckets, get the tractor chains,
We're off to the sugarbush again
(Response: "Off to the sugarbush again.")

From the second rock back to Gruesome Gulch,
The sap ain't running very much.
Over in Quebec they say it flowed,
But not in east Ontario. (Not in east Ontario)

(Chorus)

It's home drinkin beer I'd rather be,
Than drilling holes in defenceless trees,
Humpin' buckets of sap for free
In mud and snow up to my knees
(Mud and snow up to my knees)

(Chorus)

Although we live beyond our means,
Our daughters wear no designer jeans
Nor are they bothered by fancy shoes
They're wild as Watson's kangaroos
(Watson's Corners kangaroos)

 Our sugar shack is a relic fine,
You could say its past its prime
But if we stick a two by four in here
It might stand up for one more year.
(Might stand up...)

The pans all leak and they're full of scum
Sap pump's blown to kingdom come.
I've got an idea and I'll tell you it:
We'd be better off with a gravel pit.
(Better off with a gravel pit!)

Kangaroos don't show up much in this part of the world, but Watson's Corners, (which I have spoken of before, see "Gigs from Hell" thread) got some minor fame some years ago when a guy swore up and down he'd seen a 'roo cross the road. Got a lot of attention, but best guess is it was a combination of bad whiskey, bad vision and a deformed calf...

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Áine
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 10:47 AM

Dear Willie-O,

Would you like to submit your song for inclusion in the Mudcat Songbook? This is a great song that deserves to join the ranks of the other great songs there.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 10:53 AM

Aine:

That was fast! ;>= I'm blushing furiously...why sure, of course. Can you lift it straight out of the posting or how would you like it packaged?

I was going to submit it anyway, thanks for asking.

Willie-O

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Roger the skiffler
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 11:08 AM

Following on from the "It's so cold that... "thread perhaps there were songs about ice cutting but it was so cold that the words froze as they came out of their mouths, fell to the ice and shattered, to be heard no more!
[I think I must reduce my medication!]
RtS
<:o}

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 11:16 AM

Back to original thread topic, sort of: No songs, but twenty years ago when I lived in Lake St. Peter Ontario, the general store owners still had an ice-house and harvested it off the lake the old-fashioned way, packed it in the ice-house full of sawdust, and sold it in the summer. Gave them something to do in winter, and they had ice to sell in cottage country, without paying huge freezer bills. (And it was sure as hell cold enough there. One year it went to -60 Fahrenheit, the cold snap around New Years 1981.)

A balmy minus 13 F this morning...

Willie-O

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Áine
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 12:16 PM

Great Willie-O! No problem, I can lift it straight out of this thread. Would you like to put any comments on the lyrics' page along with the song? When you wrote it, why, what it's about, any historical info?

-- Áine

Subject: Billy Brink (sheep shearing)
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 12:58 PM

Has anyone heard of a song called Billy Brink?

I used to have an OLD songbook (30s or thereabouts) with this song, among others. Now I'd like to go back to doing it, but alas, the book is gone. The tune is well in my mind, but it's words I can't round out.

As much as I can remember, it started like this:

"There once was a shearer by name Billy Brink,
A dev-ill for work and a dev-ill for drink.
He'd shear his two hundred a day without fear
And drink without winking four gallons of beer!

"Now Jimmy the waiter, who served out the rum,
He hated the sight of old Billy, the bum,
Who stayed much too late and who came much too soon,
At morning, at evening, at night and at noon."

The story then goes on that Jimmy was cleaning the bar one morning with sulfuric acid. Billy came in, "roaring and balling with thirst. Whatever you've got, Jim, just hand to me first!" You guessed it, it's the acid. Billy drinks it, and the song ends with these two lines:

"They say I drink whiskey, you know I'm no liar,
But every blamed cough sets my whiskers on fire!"

If any great benefactor of the human race can fill in the words, or direct me to a source for them, I'd be forever grateful.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Troll
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 01:09 PM

Yje song you want is in the DT . It's called" Bluey Brink"

troll

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Troll
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 01:10 PM

Duh? Proofread? Whuts that?

troll

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 08:36 PM

Folks---My uncle went ice fishing once and caught 100 pounds of ice. My aunt drowned trying to fry it up for breakfast.

(Is this what you're talking about?)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Susan A-R
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 09:32 PM

There's an ice harvest festival that happens every year her in Vermont in Brookfield (the Pond Village part.) I'm not sure who does it, but I'd bet it's the Brookfield Historical Society. They may have some info on songs. The festival is also fun. They do harvest ice, and have dog sled races and other winter feats of prowess.

Susan A-R

Subject: Lyr Add: ROZIE BROWN'S STORE^^
From: Margmac
Date: 18 Jan 00 - 10:20 PM

Several years ago when I was Artist in Residence at the elementary school in Williston VT the students and I wrote a song that featured info given to us by elders of the town, members of the historical society. They remembered the first freezing plant in the US, a plant that processed geese from Canada as well as local fowl, right by the RR station for shipping to Boston. Super cooled by ice cut from a cove in the Winooski River

ROZIE BROWN'S STORE Multi aged group,Williston Central School, Our information came from the Historical Society elders

ROZIE BROWN'S STORE

(Chorus:) First came the railroad
Then came the depot
Then came the general store
Gathering place for the people

Rozie Brown's store had everything and more
That anybody could need
Fishing pole, hook line and sinker
Pins and needles and thread
Horse collars, straw hats and clothes
Barrels of pickles and fish
Cookies and crackers, pump your own molasses
You can get anything you wish (Chorus):

The farmer's big hands would roll the milk cans
Onto the train to Boston
Then drive their teams back to the store
For gabbin' and for talkin'
Telephone exchange didn't cost any change
You could help plug in the wire
Sort the mail, put it in a big bag
Hook it to the fast train "Flyer" (Chorus):

First freezing plant in all the land
Down by the railroad track
When the cove was frozen men would go out knowin'
Time to cut the Chapman Cove ice
From here you could see all the geese who would flee
'Til all the hill looked white
A boy drove geese to the freezing plant
A boy in command all right (Chorus):

We saw the bridge go down by ice coming up
In nineteen twenty three
It floated on down the Winooski River
Pushed by a big elem tree
To slide down Depot Hill was a great big thrill
All the way to the railroad track
After a chill or a winter spill
We'd go to Rozie Brown's before headin' back (Chorus):

(Repeat first verse)

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Willie-O
Date: 19 Jan 00 - 10:30 AM

Art, what kind of bait and tackle did he use?

Whiskey and an icehook?

Willie-O

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Jan 00 - 02:38 PM

what kind of bait?? Why ICE WORMS, of course!

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Jan 00 - 02:42 PM

like like this

and like this, also

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 19 Jan 00 - 04:35 PM

This thread certainly brings back many fond memories of the days when we used ice boxes. We had two of them on the back porch at my grand parents house. During the 1930's the ice man had a wagon pulled by a team of horses. I recall that in the summer on real hot days most of the kids in the neighborhood would wait for the ice man in order to get a chunk of ice to chew. The ice pick was used to chunk up the ice into whatever amount you required ~ usually 10 to 25 lb. pieces, and in this process there were several small pieces that would break off. The driver would always let us have a chunk or two. Of course we were eating lake ice ~ but it was great on a hot summer day. There was a warehouse on the edge of town where ice was stored, packed in sawdust, during the warm months.

One thing that amazed me, at the time, was that the horses knew the route. The driver would walk along beside the wagon and just say "get'up" and the horses would go on the next stop. The horse drawn wagon was eventually replaced by a flat bed truck ~ etc., etc. There must be a song there some where... Thanks ~~~ Cap't Bob

Subject: Lyr Add: ROZIE BROWN'S STORE
From: Áine
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 09:35 AM

Dear Margmac,

I would love to put 'Rozie Brown's Store' in the Mudcat Songbook -- do I have your permission? Was the song written to an original tune or did you and the kids use one that was already written? I've put the line breaks in the verses you gave above -- let me know if the verses look all right.

Thanks, Áine

ROZIE BROWN'S STORE

Chorus:
First came the railroad
Then came the depot
Then came the general store
Gathering place for the people

Rozie Brown's store had everything and more
That anybody could need
Fishing pole, hook line and sinker
Pins and needles and thread
Horse collars, straw hats and clothes
Barrels of pickles and fish
Cookies and crackers, pump your own molasses
You can get anything you wish

Chorus:

The farmer's big hands would roll the milk cans
Onto the train to Boston
Then drive their teams back to the store
For gabbin' and for talkin'
Telephone exchange didn't cost any change
You could help plug in the wire
Sort the mail, put it in a big bag
Hook it to the fast train "Flyer"

Chorus:

First freezing plant in all the land
Down by the railroad track
When the cove was frozen men would go out knowin'
Time to cut the Chapman Cove ice
From here you could see all the geese who would flee
'Til all the hill looked white
A boy drove geese to the freezing plant
A boy in command all right

Chorus:

We saw the bridge go down by ice coming up
In nineteen twenty three
It floated on down the Winooski River
Pushed by a big elem tree
To slide down Depot Hill was a great big thrill
All the way to the railroad track
After a chill or a winter spill
We'd go to Rozie Brown's before headin' back

Chorus:

Rozie Brown's store had everything and more
That anybody could need
Fishing pole, hook line and sinker
Pins and needles and thread
Horse collars, straw hats and clothes
Barrels of pickles and fish
Cookies and crackers, pump your own molasses
You can get anything you wish

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 04:03 PM

now, that's a good song!

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: northfolk/al cholger
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 04:45 PM

Ramblings...

One of the reasons that there are no work songs for ice harvesting, and sugarbush work is that worksongs were used in part to accomplish the work, whereas these jobs required smaller crews, and less coordinated effort.

One memory I have, from talking to my older relatives that worked in the woods with horses was that they had a job shoveling up the "meadow muffins" because when the sun beat down, it would cause that spot in the ice roadway to thaw. While the other references have focused on the turd in the punchbowl...keeping the road from thawing out was tantamount to maintaining productivity.

Art, did I ever tell you about the day we took my irish setter ice fishing?

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: GUEST,Chex29
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 05:50 PM

The workers on the ice in my town along the Hudson were a rowdy bunch. The local hotels were full.( Many came from NYC when ice delivey in winter wasn't needed)Also a rare source is local police blotters. I can't imagine no songs in the local hotel after a day on the ice. I see a doctoral thesis in American studies here. If not a labor of love for the next few years!

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 06:03 PM

Just a random thought...........

Did you ever think that there are a lot of subjects that are kinda' short on songs simply because some things are an incredible pain in the ass and the less said, the better?

Skiff....I think we're both needed back at the Young Center.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 06:16 PM

I dunno, spaw...it's an idea..(There is ONE stable cleaning song I know of...THE MUCKIN'O GEORDIES BYRE ... but there are a lot of sheep-shearing songs. Perhaps it depends on getting a break long enough to write songs..stable cleaning goes on constantly, while sheep-shearing is seasonal...but, then, ice-harvesting...oh, never mind

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Áine
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 10:09 AM

Dear Margmac,

Please see my last posting (Jan. 20; 9:35 AM) -- I'd still like to put your song on the Mudcat Songbook. Please let me know if I can. And please tell me whether you used a 'traditional' tune or have an original one for it.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: GUEST,Dave Ruch
Date: 29 May 07 - 11:41 AM

I wonder if anyone has turned up any more ice harvesting songs since this thread left off over seven years ago?

Subject: Lyr Add: FROZEN FACTS
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 May 07 - 04:35 PM

SDave-

I starting a new thread on this topic this year and failed to find this thread. Here's the traditional ballad that I found in a book about the ice harvest on the Kennebec River in Maine around the early 1900's:

By John "Liverpool Jack" Ellis, circa 1900
From TIDEWATER ICE, BY Jennie G. Everson,
published by The Maine State Museum,
Freeport, Maine, © 1970, p. 224.

Frozen Facts

For ice men generally and the Cochran-Oler Company in particular.

Come all you men of every land who are inclined to rove;
You're sure of work on the Kennebec at a place called Cedar grove;
Be sure you're well provided with clothing new and old,
For if you're not, as sure's you're born, you'll be frozen with the cold.

Chorus:

There's Mr. Barker, Ford, and Head, and Mr. Bramble, too,
Every morn when you turn out they'll find you work to do;
Quite early in the morning you're sure to hear their voice,
And you'll wish the Devil had you when you come to work on ice.

The is Superintendant Barker, a man you'll like at sight,
But when he gets you on the ice, he'll work you day and night;
And every frosty morning you're sure to hear him shout,
"Come out of that, you sleepers, the canal wants clearing out!" (CHO)

Next I'll mention Mr. Ford, a man we all love well,
Especially on pay day when our pockets he helps swell;
He shells us out our greenbacks, our pocket books we shut,
And then strike out for Richmond in search of tanglefoot. (CHO)

Our men are all good citizens, just take them as a rule,
There's "Killam" and "Dan" from Picou, and "Jack of Liverpool;"
"King" says he is a Yankee; his story makes me smile,
For I believe that boy was born at a place called Erin's Isle. (CHO)

We had hard luck last winter, may it never happen twice;
The water was so dirty we could not get our ice;
Starvation stared us in the face, indeed, it made us shiver
To see that nasty, muddy slosh blocking up the river. (CHO)

Our firm was nothing daunted, tho' their plans it did disjoint;
They instantly resolved to go to a place called Carney's Point;
We moved down our machinery, of men we hired a host,
But truth to say some were scared away by the former owner's ghost. (CHO)

To fill our buildings up with ice we tried with might and main,
But the spectre's power was often felt tugging at the chain;
We heard it trying to break us down, it stopped our engine twice,
But pull or tug, 'twas all the same, we were bound to have our ice. (CHO)

And now we have our buildings full, as they've often been before,
And "Cockcrane," "Head" and "Bramble" have gone back to Baltimore;
We wish them a safe passage, and everything that is nice;
May they return next winter, and help us with the ice. (CHO)

Of one thing more I'd like to speak, Mr. Hall will be my proof,
How Superintendent Barker rushed the work upon the roof;
Boards swung like mill sails in the air, both boards and battens too,
And when it came to nails, my boys, good gracious, how they flew! (CHO)

And now my rhyme is ended; I think I've said enough;
I hope I've none offended, although my manner's bluff;
I know I can't please every one, for no man has that knack,
But other poets have failed in this as well as "Liverpool Jack." (CHO)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: ICE DAMMING (Barry Finn)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 29 May 07 - 05:12 PM

Hi Dave, hope all is well with you. Not an Ice Harvesting song but it should be a topical/tropical subject in your neck of the woods when you're in a good winter bout.

Ice Damming by Barry Finn

It's winter in New England and throughout the land
The trucks will start rolling with all available hands
It's a party, a picnic, a past time, a plan
Over mountains of snow they attack the Ice Dams

    Chorus:
    And you hear everywhere the cry Ice Dam
    Down the flue like a fever it spreads through the land
    Man your pickups, your axes, every woman and man
    And answer the call and the cry Ice Dam

Blaze a path round a house in snow that's waist deep
Take a roof rake & a shovel, clear up 3 feet
Crawl the edge of an dam on a roof that's too steep
And start pounding on ice and let nobody sleep

On a 40 foot ladder that slides on the ice
Out comes the homeowner who tries to be nice
I like what you're doing but I won't pay you're price
For a few dollars less would you still risk your life

Some shingles may break & the ice will sure fall                                                               But no more will the water run down your walls                                                                So pay us in cash & don't call our hall                                                               
Is it illegal to be paid to have such a ball

Like ants, like termites we're all over your roof
We sing ice dam and drink 100 proof
It's our tough winter windfall & that's the dam truth
When ice damming is done we're a winter recluse


Copyright, Barry Finn 1996 (winter)

Subject: RE: Ice Harvesting Songs?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 May 07 - 08:37 PM

Barry-

Damn! That's a good song.

Charley Noble