THE RAILROADS BUILT AMERICA
Narrator 1: American folklore, poetry and song owes much to the railroads and their builders for inspiration.
I've been workin' on the railroad,
All the live long day.
Narrator 2: In 1830 the first steam locomotive was put into service, but it wasn’t until the 1840’s that rails really started pushing West from the Atlantic coast.
I've been workin' on the railroad,
Just to pass the time away.
Narrator 3: Between 1850—1860, 21,000 miles of track were built with hard human labor, mostly in Northern states
Don't you hear the whistle blowing?
Rise up so early in the morn.
Don't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your horn?"
Narrator 4: The work was harsh and dangerous, and Irish, Chinese and African-American workers who mostly did the building, suffered from low wages, discrimination, and sickness.
Narrator 5: "Drill Ye Tarriers” tells about Irish rock drillers who burrowed into the earth to construct tunnels for the railroads, kind of like terrier dogs, which is how they got their nickname.
Drill Ye Tarriers
Early in the morning at seven o'clock
There are twenty tarriers a drilling at the rock
The boss comes around and he says, "Keep still,
Come down heavy on your cast iron drill.
And drill, ye tarriers, drill"
Chorus:
Drill, ye tarriers, drill
Well you work all day for the sugar in your tay
Down beyond the railway
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
And blast, and fire.
Now our new foreman was Jim McCann
By golly, he was a mean boss man
Last week a premature blast went off
And a mile in the sky went big Jim Goff.
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
Chorus:
Drill, ye tarriers, drill
Well you work all day for the sugar in your tay
Down beyond the railway
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
And blast, and fire.
And when next payday came around
Jim Goff a dollar short was found
When asked the reason came this reply
"You were docked for the time you were up in the sky."
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
Chorus:
Drill, ye tarriers, drill
Well you work all day for the sugar in your tay
Down beyond the railway
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
And blast, and fire.
Narrator 6: As time went on automation and the age of machinery threatened the livelihoods of many black railroad workers.
Narrator 7: John Henry, a former slave, won a race with a steam drill around 1870 on the Chesapeake and 0hio Railroad in West Virginia but he gave his life in the contest.
Narrator 8: His prodigious feat of strength was immortalized in the many ballads of "John Henry" that followed after his death
John Henry…
