Re-reading Charles Hadfield's British Canals last night, I came across a reference to a song written for the opening of the Neath & Swansea Junction Canal (usually called the Tennant Canal - George Tennant was the promoter).

Hadfield gives 2 of the 19 verses (possibly the first and last?) and says:

The opening of a canal was an occasion for considerable jollification. Sometimes verse contributed, as when Elizabeth Davies, who kept a lollipop shop in Wind Street, Neath, wrote a song of nineteen verses, of which two are given here, to commemorate the opening of the Neath & Swansea Junction (usually called the Tennant) Canal:

O! could I make verses with humour and wit,
George Tennant, Esquire's great genius to fit;
From morn until even, I would sit down and tell,
And sing in the praise of Neath Junction Canal.

***

I hope when he's dead and laid in his grave,
His soul will in heaven be eternally saved;
It will then be recorded for ages to tell,
Who was the great founder of Neath Junction Canal.

It sounds more like a song of praise to George Tennant - maybe he was her landlord? The canal was completed in 1824.

The song is quoted from The History of the Vale of Neath by DR Phillips, 1925. The only copies I can find for sale are over £250.

I'll try the local library when I'm down there this summer.

Phil