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HOT ASPHALT
Ah, it's likely gone six months ago I came to Dublin town,
Where I joined a gang of lab'ring men who laid the ashpelt down;
Sure, now I wear a Guernsey and around me waist a belt
I'm the gaffer of the boys that make the hot ashpelt.
Well one day a copper comes up to me and he says to me, "'McGuire,
Will you kindly let me warm myself, around your boilin' fire?"
Then he turned around to the boiler, and upon the edge he knelt,
And he toppled right into the boiler full of hot ashpelt.
Well we quickly pulled him out of it and we put him in a tub,
And with soap and lots of heated water we did rub and scrub.
But the divil a bit of tar came off; it was stuck on just like stone,
And every time we gave a rub you could hear the poor man groan.
With the boilin' and the wettin', he caught a bloomin' cold,
And for scientific purposes his body has been sold.
Inside the National Museum now, he's a-hanging by the belt,
As an example of the dire effects of the hot ashpelt.
Note: In a poorly-remembered version, the policeman mouthed off at McGuire, and was pushed in the boiler. RG
Tune: Napoleon Crossing the Rhine
@work @Irish @police
filename[ HOTASPLT
TUNE FILE: HOTASPLT
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
HOT ASPHALT (Digital Traditionn Lyrics)
Ah, it's likely gone six months ago
I came to Dublin town,
Where I joined a gang of lab'ring men
Who laid the ashpelt down;
Sure, now I wear a Guernsey and around me waist a belt
I'm the gaffer of the boys that make the hot ashpelt.
Well onc day a copper comes up to me
And he says to me, "'McGuire,
Will you kindly let me warm myself,
Around your boilin' fire?"
Then he turned around to thc boiler,
And upon the edge he knelt,
And he topplcd right into the boiler full of hot ashpelt.
Well we quickly pulled him out of it
And we put him in a tub,
And with soap and lots of heated water
We did rub and scrub.
But the divil a bit of tar came off,
It was stuck on just like stone,
And every time we gave a rub
You could hear the poor man groan.
With the boilin' and the wettin',
He caught a bloomin' cold,
And for scientific purposes
His body has been sold.
Inside the National Museum now
He's a-hanging by the belt,
As an example of tlhe dire effects of the hot ashpelt.
Note: In a poorly-remembered version, the policeman mouthed
off at McGuire, and was pushed in the boiler. RG
tune: Napoleon Crossing the Rhine
@work @Irish @police
filename[ HOTASPLT
TUNE FILE: HOTASPLT
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
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There's a version of this song in the Digital Tradition, but I thought this one was also quite interesting.
-Joe Offer-
HOT ASH-PELT (Hot Asphalt)
1. 'Tis lately gone six months ago since I left sweet Bandon town
Where I helped me Uncle Barney for to cut the harvest down
But, sure, now I wear a Guernsey and around me waist a belt
I'm the gaffer o'er the boys that makes the hot ash-pelt
CHORUS: So you may talk about your soldiers and your sailors and the rest
Your tailors and your shoemakers to please the ladies best
But the devil a one of them has got their graisy hearts to melt
Like the boys around the boiler making hot ash-pelt
2. Now one day a peeler came to me and says he to me: McGuire
Would you kindly let me light my duidin at your boiler fire?
Then he turns round to the boiler with his coat-tails up so neat
Now says I: My decent man, you'd better go and mind your beat
O sure, says he, that'll do for me, for I've got me blooming marks
And I know you for a dirty pack of Tipperary barks
Then I drew out from me shoulder and I gave him such a belt
That I knocked him into the boiler full of hot ash-pelt
3. Well we quickly pulled him out again and put him in a tub
And with soap and warm water, sure, how we did rub and scrub
But the devil a bit of tar came off, it stuck on just like stone
And every rub that we did give, you should hear the peeler groan
And out of the wetting he did get, he caught a blooming cold
And for scientific purposes his body has been sold
And now in the National Museum he's hanging by the belt
As an example of the dire effects of hot ash-pelt
Good evening all me jolly lads, I'm glad to see you well
If you gather all around me, boys, a story I will tell
For I've got a situation and begorra 'tis a fancy job
I can whisper: I've the weekly wage of eighteen bob
This was the introductory verse sung by an Irish travelling tinker, at Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. John McLaverty omitted this introduction and sang only three refrains, but the tinker had a refrain after each of his six verses. 'Peeler' is a slang term for a policeman and 'duidin' is Irish for a small tobacco pipe.
A considerable number of Irish street ballads have been composed to this tune, perhaps the best known ballad being "Let Mister Maguire Sit Down." There is also a march called "Napoleon Crossing the Alps."
John McLaverty, Belfast, N. Ireland, rec. P. Kennedy and S. O'Boyle, 1952: BBC 18310
from Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (Peter Kennedy, editor, 1975)
Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:
Hot Ash-Pelt, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer McGuire leaves the farm for the asphalt crew. A peeler insults the men, and the singer knocks him into the boiler. They pull him out but the tar won't come off; now he hangs in the National Museum, "an example of the dire effects of hot ash-pelt"AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (collected from John McLaverty)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer McGuire leaves the farm to be boss of the asphalt crew. A peeler (policeman) asks to light his pipe on the boiler fire; he insults the men, and the singer hits him, knocking him into the boiler. They pull him out and scrub him, but the asphalt won't come off; now he hangs by his belt in the National Museum, "an example of the dire effects of hot ash-pelt"
KEYWORDS: fight violence work humorous boss worker police technology
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 225, "The Hot Ash-Pelt" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 26-27, "Hot asphalt" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOTASPLT
Roud #2134
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(70a), "Hot Ashfelt," unknown, c. 1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hot Asphalt
NOTES: Although we tend to think of paved roads as a modern contrivance (with, perhaps, the exception of the Roman roads), paving has been around for quite a while. The first modern paved roads were built by John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), who as paving commissioner of Bristol from 1806 began using crushed rock to build solid surfaces ("macadam").
The idea caught on quickly; by the mid-nineteenth century, most "turnpikes" in the United States were paved. (A fact which could have important historical effects, e.g. during the Civil War. It's often stated that the Battle of Gettysburg took place where it did because it was a road center -- which is true, but there are plenty of road centers in Pennsylvania. Gettysburg was especially noteworthy because no fewer than three turnpikes -- the Baltimore, Chambersburg, and York Pikes -- met there.)
The earliest macadamized roads were made simply of rock, but by the end of the century, bitumen was being used as a binder, requiring a device to keep the asphault hot. - RBW
File: K225
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