Sceilp Level

They were Lilly Whites from Kildare, And Boggers from County Clare, Herring Gutters from Donegal And Dubliner Jackeens. They were Goat Suckers, Slaneysiders, Magpies and Rossies. They were Kellys, and Murrays, O’Carrols, and Moores, They were Campbells, MacMurphys, and Dunns. One claimed he’s from the Hill of Tara, Another, from Tyrone among the brush. They came for the work on the Schuylkill Canal. They came for the work on the railway. They came for the love of those lonesome Colleens They left at the dockside in Derry. They worked and they drank, And they gambled and swore, And they prayed for the saints’ intercession. A few sought the balm of a comforting whore, Then mumbled their sins at confession. They offered their immigrant muscle and sweat, Like Hercules hard at his labors, And carved out the tunnels and fashioned the locks That helped build their grandchildren’s nation.