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DAM ON BALDWIN CREEK The dam went out on Baldwin Creek On a Wednesday night; Bill Reed came to fix it up Before it was daylight. He dug a channel through the bank Of sawdust, chips, and sand, And tried to turn the water through By using a cofferdam. Three days he labored faithfully, He labored all in vain; And then the general manager, He sent for Old George Shane. Old George he saved the shingle mill By pulling in bags of sand, While Reed had squandered all his time Building a cofferdam. Reed lost his job of bossing there, But did not feel the loss; For he stuck around and kept the time And imagined he was boss. They tried to start the old sawmill Upon a Friday noon; But says Old George, " Now, you can't raise The water quite so soon." Then Old Reed he walked away And, hanging down his head, He cursed Old George uphill and down And wished him to be dead. Now, Reed he could not do the job; He gave it up as lost He couldn't hold his place in the mill. Old George Shane he was boss. THIS ballad tells the story of Old George Shane's saving the shingle mill from flood waters when Bill Reed, the boss, failed. When Bill Reed failed a second time, he was replaced by Old George. A bit of obscenity creeps into " The Dam on Baldwin Creek " once in a while. This version, from the lips of William McBride, of Isabella City, is free from it: DT #838 Laws C21 @work @mill @flood From Beck filename[ BALDCRK SOF apr97 |
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