BREAKFAST IN HELL
By Slaid Cleaves.

In the melting snows of Ontario,
Where the wind'll make you shiver,
'Twas the month of May up in Georgian Bay
Near the mouth of the Musquash River,
Where the bears prowl and the coyotes howl
And you can hear the osprey scream.
Back in '99 we were cutting pine
And sending it down the stream.

Young Sandy Gray came to Go Home Bay
All the way from P.E.I.,
Where the weather's rough and it makes you tough;
No man's afraid to die.
Sandy came a-smilin', 30,000 Islands
Was the place to claim his glory.
Now Sandy's gone, but his name lives on,
And this is Sandy's story.

CHORUS ONE:
Young Sandy Gray lives on today
In the echoes of a mighty yell.
Listen close, and you'll hear a ghost,
In this story that I tell,
Boys, this story that I tell.

Now Sandy Gray was boss of the men
Who'd toss the trees onto the shore.
They'd come and go till they'd built a floe
Of 100,000 logs or more.
And he'd ride 'em down toward Severn Sound
To cut 'em up in the mills for timber.
And ships would haul, spring, summer, and fall,
'Til the ice came in December.

One Sabbath Day, big Sandy Gray
Came into camp with a peavey on his shoulder.
With a thunder crack, he dropped his ax
And the room got a little bit colder.
Said, "Come, all you. We've got work to do.
We've gotta give 'er all we can give 'er.
There's a jam of logs at the little jog
Near the mouth of the Musquash River."

With no time to pray on the Lord's Day,
They were hoping for God's forgiveness,
But the jam was high in a troubled sky
And they set about their business.
They poked with their poles and ran with the rolls
And tried to stay on their feet.
Every trick they tried, and one man cried,
"This log jam's got us beat."

CHORUS TWO:
But Sandy Gray was not afraid
And he let out a mighty yell:
"I'll be damned! We'll break this jam,
Or it's breakfast in Hell,
Boys, breakfast in Hell."

Now every one of the men did the work of ten
And Sandy scrambled up to the top.
He's working like a dog heaving 30-foot logs
And it looked like he'd never stop.
They struggled on, those men so strong,
Till the jam began to sway,
Then they dove for cover to the banks of the river
All except for Sandy Gray.

Now with thoughts of death, they held their breath
As they saw their friend go down.
They all knew in a second or two
He'd be crushed or frozen or drowned.
They saw him fall and they heard him call,
Just once and then it was over.
Young Sandy Gray gave his life that day
Near the mouth of the Musquash River.

CHORUS THREE:
But Sandy Gray was not afraid,
And he let out a mighty yell:
"I'll be damned! We'll break that jam,
Or it's breakfast in Hell,
Boys, breakfast in Hell."

East of Giant's Tomb, there's plenty of room,
There's no fences and no walls;
And if you listen close, you'll hear a ghost,
Down by Sandy Gray Falls.
Through the tops of the trees, you'll hear in the breeze,
The echoes of a mighty yell:
"I'll be damned! We'll break this jam,
Or it's breakfast in Hell."

CHORUS FOUR:
And Sandy Gray lives on today
In the echoes of a mighty yell:
"I'll be damned! We'll break this jam,
Or it's breakfast in Hell,
Boys, breakfast in Hell."

~~~~~~
Note - P.E.I. is Prince Edward Island.