[Page 65]
NINE MILE RIVER ELECTION SONG.
1
This event occurred somewhere about 1856-59.
Ye sons of bold St. Patrick,
2I pray you to draw near,
And Father Welsh of Windsor,
I wish that you were here
To give us absolution,
And pray for all our sins,
And pray for Gourlay’s shanty,
3And all that is therein.
(2)
I think I see old Kennedy
A-peeping from his cell,
And hear him say "Come prey for me
For what has me befell.
I murdered poor young Wallace
At twelve o'clock at night,
And rifled all his pockets,
Before the morning light
(3)
The sons of bold St. Patrick.
As they raom from shore to shore,
And get them safely landed
All on our peacefull shore,
They roam to seek employment,
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Like many a thousand more,
Living on the railroad they frequently obtained,
With nothing but a shanty,
To keep them from the rain.
(4)
But always gay and happy,
And nothing do they fear,
Though oft
4 they meet with trials,
Yet always they get clear.
They spree and fight the live-long night,
And Sunday in its turn.
They always strive to beat their wives,
And Irish fashions learn.
(5)
Of all things best, I must confess,
The Irish do like rum
And where it flows they're sure to go,
On purpose to get some.
And when they are encouraged
By natives of cur soil,
They're no ways slow their teeth to show,
In raising of a broil.
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(6)
Promiscuously we often see
Poor Paddy at the bar,
With awful slews of Irish crews,
Most always in a jar.
His clothing shows he's been exposed
To both the mire and mud,
And oft by Gob: he gets a daub
Of real Hibernian blood.
(7)
We had a bad example
Of this some weeks ago.
Both rum and beer were sent up here,
By Johnson's party crew,
With all the men that they could send,
And drunken railroad rakes,
The Indian's 8 crew they brought them too,
And niggers from 'round the Lake.
(8)
They came to Nine Mile River,
Three or four hundred strong,
With gallons of good rum and beer,
To help their crew along.
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When they got here, the rum and beer
Did make these heroes strong,
And you might hear them curse and swear,
As they did pass along.
(9)
They would fight to get their rights
In spite of Joseph Howe,
5And Tupper would do all he could,
For to assist them now.
These men of note they came to vote
For to assist a man,
Who told them they should shortly see
Ascendancy at hand;
...
...
(10)
That he would serve and strain all nerve,
If once put into power,
For to exclude the word of God
From common schools of ours.
The Irish now did raise a row,
The way they often do,
Thinking that they would clear the way,
With their infernal crew.
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(11)
Their clubs and sticks those Irish Micks
Did flourish in the air,
But steady blows soon brought them low,
When they were brought to bear.
Big Evans' fist it never missed
To bring a Paddy down,
And Donal Mac did cuff and whack
Those Irish bullies round.
(12)
Big Jim Densmore did lay them o'er,
By pattering their pates,
And Thompson's blows were no ways slow,
To make them lay out straight.
The Irish fell like drops of hail,
Most dismal to behold.
At every blow their clarer flew
Disfiguring their mould.
(13)
They did disgrace the human race,
In every shape they choose,
Except in moral character -
They had not that to lose.
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In a short time they closed the shine,
The Paddies had to clear,
And they that could, took to the wood,
Possessed with fright and fear,
(14)
Big waggons then were soon prepared,
To bear away the slain,
Their bloody shirts lay in the dirt,
With all that they contained.
Bit Eraser then he drove a span,
And cleared with all his might,
In half-on-hour the Papal
6 power
Had vanished out of eight.
(15)
We trust that we may never see,
On Nine Mile River's plain,
The rebel race come back to face
The Protestants again.
For if they do, they'll ever rue,
The day they left the sod,
For we will stretch them in the ditch,
To sprawl amongst the mud.
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(16)
And what is more, we'll send them o'er
And let the priests their souls release,
Even for the Virgin's sake.
If Bishop Hughes
8 should hear the news,
He'd sail across the sea,
And invite France for to advance,
And take the count-er-ee.
...
...
(17)
May Protestants
9 not pull down the fence,
But side through to a man,
Nor tell them plain, "Here take the reins
You'll get the upper hand."
Ye dregs of Paddy nation,
For God's sake, don't come here,
For we will smash your bloody trash,
Like rats another year.
I would advise your men and boys,
"Be civil and behave",
For we have men who will you kill,
And send prayerless to your graves.
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(18)
For want of space, I must release
This subject from ny mind,
We’ll not forget the hallowed spot,
All in the olden time.
Deserters now we don’t allow
To meddle nor molest.
The negro race we will not chase,
Nor whip the boys to death.
Finis
Johnson, Tupper's
10 assistant against Howe,
coerced the negroes and sheltered deserters.
...
...
Notes
1
Research Findings: Research provided no
findings pertaining to “Nine Mile River Election Song”. However, Nine Mile River
is a long river that runs through Nova Scotia. Additioanlly, Nine Mile River is
a community located in Municipal District 9 of East Hants. However, prior to
1922 the community of Timberlea located in Halifax Regional Municipality was
called Nine Mile River. This document is most likely referring to the community
of Timberlea given the period it was written.
2
Saint Patrick: Saint Patrick was a
5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland - known as
the "Apostle of Ireland". To mark his death a cultural and religious celebration
occurs annually on 17 March - Saint Patick's Day.
3
Gourlay’s Shanty:This event was a bloody
riot that occurred in 1856 in Nova Scotia. The principal cause was an
altercation between Catholic and Protestant labourers working on the government
railways.
4
oft: archaic, poetic/literary, or jocular
form of often.
5
Joseph Howe: A Nova Scotian journalist,
politician, and public servant. He formed a coalition with Conservative leader
James William Johnston in 1840.
6
Papal: of or pertaining to the Roman
Catholic Church.
7
Purgatory: An intermediate state after
physical death in which those destined for heaven "undergo purification, so as
to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven".
8
John Joseph Hughes: An Irish-born prelate
of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the fourth Bishop and
first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his
death in 1864.
9
Protestant: Protestantism a form of
Christian faith and practice which originated with the Protestant Reformation, a
movement against what the Protestants considered to be errors in the Roman
Catholic Church. It is one of the major divisions of Christendom.
10
Charles Tupper: Sir Charles Tupper was a
Canadian father of Confederation as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to
1867.
