FIREMEN'S MUSIC

"And as they passed on, and as the music faded into the distance, "Hie, Bonnie Laddie," "John François," "Run Wid de Bullgine, Run," it sounded, even to practiced ears, with an effect not to be excelled by the most transcendent operatic efforts. Compared with these, Italian trills are tame.'

[New Orleans Republican, 25 May 1871, p.4]


"The gear us coiled up, the brasswork polished until it glistens in the morning sun, the paintwork and grating are wiped off, decks are swabbed dry, and the pumps manned to another rousing chanty:

"London town is a-burning,
Oh run with the bullgine, run.
Way, yay, way, yay, yar,
Oh run with the bullgine, run."

[Clark, Arthur H., The Clipper Ship Era, (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1911, p.230)]