"Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" is an American

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

first published in 1888 and attributed to Thomas Casey (words) and later Charles Connolly (music). The song is a

work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

, and makes references to the construction of the American railroads in the mid-19th century. The title refers to Irish workers, drilling holes in rock to blast out railroad tunnels. It may mean either to tarry as in delay, or to terrier dogs which dig their quarry out of the ground,
Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong
' (1980, 2000) by Norm Cohen, University of Illinois Press, p. 555, or from the French word for an auger, ''tarière''. The song has been recorded by

The Chad Mitchell Trio The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable for per ...

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...

and

Makem and Clancy Makem and Clancy was an Irish folk duo popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The group consisted of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, who had originally achieved fame as a part of the trailblazing folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s ...

, among many others.

Lyrics

One version runs: Every morning at seven o'clock There's twenty tarriers a workin at the rock The boss comes along and he says, "Keep still And come down heavy on the cast iron drill." ''Chorus:'' ''So drill, ye tarriers, drill'' ''And drill, ye tarriers, drill'' ''Oh it's work all day for the sugar in your tay'' .e. tea''Down beyond the railway'' ''So drill, ye tarriers, drill.'' Our new foreman is Dan McCann I'll tell you sure, He was a blamed mean man Last week a premature blast went off And a mile in the air went big Jim Goff. ''

horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

' Next time payday comes around Jim Goff was short one buck he found "What for?" asked he, then this reply "You were docked for the time you were up in the sky." ''

' A verse sung by The Easy Riders circa 1956 runs: The boss was a fine man down to the ground And he married a lady six foot round She baked good bread and she baked it well But she baked that bread just as hard as hell

References

External links

Drill Ye Tarriers Drill
(lyrics and embedded

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

tune)
Traditional Ballad Index
California State University at Fresno {{authority control American folk songs Songs about trains Songs about labor Songs about occupations 1888 songs Songwriter unknown

Lyrics

See also

References

External links