About The Railroad Boy

      First, let's clear up some confusion. "The Railroad Boy" on the album is not the same song as Buell Kazee's "Railroad Boy" (aka The Butcher Boy). Our song is not about death and violence, but rather a gentle complaint of a young girl in love with a railroad boy. It is based on an Irish song The Bonny Labouring Boy:

As I walked out one morning being in the blooming spring,
I heard a lovely maid complain, so grievously to sing;
Saying, "Cruel was my parents, they did me so annoy,
And will not let me marry with my bonny labouring boy.

Young Johnny was my true love's name as you may plainly see
My parents did employ him their labouring boy to be;
To harrow, reap, to sow the seed to plough my father's land
And soon I fell in love with him as you may understand.

My father stepped up one morning and he seized me by the hand
He swore he'd send young Johnny unto some foreign land.
He locked me in my bedroom, my comfort to annoy
And to keep me there to weep and morn for my bonny labouring boy.

My mother stepped up next morning these words to me did say:
"Your father has intended to appoint your wedding day,"
But I did not make no answer, nor I dared not complain
But until I wed my labouring boy then single I'll remain.

Oh, his cheeks are like the roses, his eyes as black as sloes
He smiles in his behaviour whever my love goes.
He's manly, neat and handsome, his skin as white as snow
In spite of my parents with my labouring boy I'll go.

So fill this glass up to the brim, let the toast come early round,
Here's a health to the labouring boy that ploughs and sows the ground;
And when his work is over, his home he will enjoy
Oh how happy is the girl that weds with a bonny labouring boy.

These words were collected from Robert Barratt, Dorsett GB, in 1905 (Laws M14). In the British version, the father is less forgiving, locking the young lassie in her bedroom until her infatuation passes (verse 3). The Canadian variant is more subtle, with the mother merely suggesting a dry goods clerk would be a more suitable choice. (I'm not quite sure how to interpret this...). Yet the similarities between the two songs are clear, especially verse 1 ('cruel parents' appear in both), the Labouring Boy's verse 5 which is close the our verse 2 (e.g., cheeks like roses) and the last verses of both (filling glasses to the brim).

Edith Fowke, in Canada's Story in Song suggests our Railroad Boy is also related to "The Roving Shanty Boy." Here the story is set after the girl made her choice which, fulfilling her parent's deepest fears, turned out very badly:

Oh, now he's gone and left me, his vows they all did break
My parents oftimes told me they thought he was a rake
And now for satisfaction I may sit down and sigh
And whisper in my baby's ear, "Your daddy's a shantyboy."

It appears that our Railroad Boy is set sometime around 1890 when a railroad was being built through the northern lumber woods from Ottawa to the shore of Lake Huron.

It's a bit humbling to find parts of the same song scattered about from Britain to central Canada. We sometimes forget how mobile people were and how music, before TV and IPods, was a critical part of how folks dealt with their dislocations, borrowing and adapting whatever they could to make their lives richer and more meaningful.

This brief resource is a "work in progress." If you have any suggestions for corrections or additions please let us know.

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