McAlpine's Fusiliers
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1. As down the glen
came McAlpine's men,
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with their shovels slung behind them.
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It was in the pub that they drank their
sub,
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and up in the spike you'll find them.
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They sweated blood and they washed down
mud,
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with pints and quarts of beer.
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But now we're on the road again,
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with McAlpine's Fusiliers.
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2. I stripped to the
skin with Darky Finn,
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way down upon the Isle of Grain.
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With a Horse-face Toole, then I knew the
rule,
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no money if you stop for rain.
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For McAlpine's God is a well-filled hod,
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with your shoulders cut to bits and
seared.
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And woe to he who looks for tea,
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with McAlpine's Fusiliers.
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3. I remember the day
that the Bear O'Shea,
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fell into a concrete stairs.
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What Horse-face said, when he saw him dead,
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well it wasn't what the rich call prayers.
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I'm a navvy short, was the one retort,
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that reached unto my ears.
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When the going is rough, well you must be
tough,
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With McAlpine's Fusiliers.
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4. I've worked till
the sweat near had me beat,
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with Russian, Czech and Pole.
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As shuttering jams up in the hydro dams,
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or underneath the Themse in a hole.
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I grabbed them hard and I got niggard,
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and many a ganger sits upon me ears.
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If you pride your life, don't join by
Christ,
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with McAlpine's Fusiliers.
(Dubliners)