This song was buried in another thread, and needs exposure. Great song.

Thread #113151   Message #2404563
Posted By: Crane Driver
03-Aug-08 - 06:42 PM
Thread Name: Songs about Horses
Subject: Lyr Add: LIFEBOAT HORSES (Andrew McKay)

Here's my Lifeboat Horses song, called ... er, 'Lifeboat Horses'

It's a traditional story from Mumbles, the fishing village at the west of Swansea bay, from the days when lifeboats were launched from horse-drawn waggons. I really want this to be a true story

LIFEBOAT HORSES
© Andrew McKay, 2004

In the village of Mumbles, at the end of the bay,
They keep two fine horses, a brown and a grey,
When the signals ring out they are harnessed away,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat.
And the lifeboat crew's coxswain he mentions with pride,
How the brown and the grey, they would work side by side,
By day or by night, at high or low tide,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat.
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat
By day or by night, at high or low tide,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat

And also in Mumbles there lives a proud man,
With mutton-chop whiskers and gloves on his hands,
Who makes a fine living from the dead of the land,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat.
And he's got two horses, they're regal and black,
They stand in the traces, with plumes on their backs,
He takes many folks forward, brings none of them back,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
He takes many folks forward, brings none of them back,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

But the black horses sickened, they lay on the floor,
The horse-doctor came round, with his potions galore,
He said "No more hearse driving for a fortnight or more,
In your sombre black hat and your frock-coat"
"But the squire's just died, oh it couldn't be worse,
I haven't a horse for to handle the hearse!"
Then he scratched at his head, and he muttered a curse,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
Then he scratched at his head, and he muttered a curse,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

Then he said "These two horses, the grey and the brown,
They were bought and maintained for the good of the town,
They do nothing all day but just wander around,
And go down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Well, the brown and the grey didn't quite look the part,
In the nodding black plumes of the old dead-man's cart,
But they started off strongly, and the proud man took heart,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
But they started off strongly, and the proud man took heart,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

'Twas a stormy old day but they pulled with a will,
On squire's last trip to the top of the hill,
Till the signal rang out from the coastguard so shrill,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Well, the horses they faltered, and then they stood still,
And then they turned round and walked back down the hill,
Though the proud man he hollered and hauled with a will,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat,
Though the proud man he hollered and hauled with a will,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat

They pulled that old hearse right out into the bay,
The mourners stood watching in shock and dismay,
As the squire's remains drifted out and away,
Going right out to sea like a lifeboat.
And from that day to this, the brown and the grey,
Have had nothing to do but to eat grass all day,
Till the signal rings out from the coastguard to say,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Till the signal rings out from the coastguard to say,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"

Horses aren't as stupid as some people think.