G'day gecko and oldhippie,

Since Danny's singing "... for the Labour Day celebrations on 7 May..." there's a good chance that he has decided to use John beaut old (1985) song, which, in passing, pays tribute to one wonderful line in Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem Pied Beauty!

Here are the words (just in case you have to run them past a committee ... or something:
^^
All Trades ( Tradesman's Toast)
John Warner © 1985

Here's to the smith, with his sets and hammer
Fore and hard, his swage and tongs;
Beating his will on the blazing steel,
To the forge's roar and the anvil's song.
          All trades, their gear and tackle,
          Fittings and fettlings, tools and blades'
          Subtle hands working ageless patterns -
          Here's to the people of - all trades!

Here's to the weaver's, loom and shuttle
Heddle and beater, warp and weft;
Tweed and gaberdine twill and cotton,
Shuttles shooting both right and left.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the mariner's sheets and halyards,
Fair leads, fiddle blocks, anchor and oar,
Here's to the shanty at the weather main brace
When the tide has turned and the wind's off-shore.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the cooks, their leeks and onions,
Rosemary, basil, garlic and chives ,
Cleavers and skillets and pans and ladles,
Cauldrons, kettles and carving knives.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the cooper's croze and cressock,
In-shaves, flagging iron, trusses and adze,
Driving the hoops on the smoking barrels
To hold good ale for the lasses and lads.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the shipwright's planks and gunwales,
Stem post, stern post, scantling and beams
Trenails, inwales, iron and mallet
Tar and oakum to caulk the seam.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the wheel of your home-spun spinner,
Bobbin whirling on the mother of all
Here's to her carders, her combs her treadle
She plys and spins the greasy wool.
          All trades, their gear and tackle…

Here's to the hands of men and women,
Here's to the fine-wrought goods they've made
Here's to the tools, the words, the secrets,
The brand of humanity on every trade.
          All trades, their gear and tackle,
          Fittings and fettlings, tools and blades'
          Subtle hands working ageless patterns -
          Here's to the people of - all trades!

Regards,

Bob