The Honest Working Man is a song that both Edith Fowkes and Helen Creighton published versions of, from Cape Breton, apparently popular there in the early 1900s or so. I heard a recording of Alan Mills singing it this morning on the radio, which reminded me that I've always been perplexed by the chorus:


HONEST WORKING MAN

chorus:
'Way down in East Cape Breton, where they knit the sock and mitten
Chezzetcook is represented by the husky black and tan.
May they never be rejected, and home rule be protected
And always be connected with the honest working man!


From the Penguin Book of Canada Folk Songs, Fowkes


Does anyone know the relevance of Chezzetcook, the husky black and tan, and home rule, to the honest working man of Cape Breton? I don't believe either Fowke or Creighton give any explanation.