The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #48724   Message #3165476
Posted By: Richard from Liverpool
05-Jun-11 - 11:25 AM
Thread Name: Discussion: Love Affair With Trains
Subject: RE: Discussion: Love Affair With Trains
There are a few British Isle railway songs in "The Shuttle and Cage: Industrial Folk Ballads" ed. Ewan MacColl:
* Poor Paddy Works on the Railway
* The Iron Hrose ("...I gaed upon an iron road, a rail they did it ca', man, an' rugget be an iron horse, an awfu' beast to draw, man")
* The Fireman's not for me ("Come all you young maidens, take warning from me, Shun all engine firemen and their company; He'll tell you he loves you and all kinds of lies, But the one that he loves is the train that he drives"; this one's by MacColl himself I think.

Others I can think of:
* Are ye right there Michael, are ye right, by Percy French - I've heard my father singing this, he does a very good rendition of it.
* A New Song on the Opening of the Birmingham to Liverpool Railway in Roy Palmer's A Touch on the Times

There's an album by Harry Boardman et al which sounds like it has lots of interesting railway songs from the British Isles on it: Steam Ballads (about half way down that page)