The half-past-ten from Tralee town to Queenstown's on its way, Bringing thousands of our boys and girls up to Americay. They leave the places of their birth and that's against their will. They labor daily for their bread in Scovill's Rolling Mill.
"Good morning, Mister Wilcox." "Good morning," he will say. "Have you got a job for me at a dollar and a half a day?"...
It also contains the following note:
Scovill's Rolling Mill - Waterbury, Connecticut was the center of America's brass industry from Colonial times until about 20 years ago. Large numbers of Irish - from Co. Kerry and Queen's Co. (Co. Laois) in particular - came to work in the mills of Scovill, Benedict & Burnham, Chase and other companies. "Scovill's Rolling Mill" is a look into the hard life of industrial workers before unions and occupational safety laws. "The half-past ten from Tralee town to Queenstown's on its way" refers to a journey on the Great Southern & Western Railway for connection to a transatlantic sailing. Special thanks to Caroline Paton, from whom I first heard the song, and Jeremy Brecher, who collected it from Congressman John Monagan of Waterbury.