In eighteen hundred and forty-one,
I put my cord'roy breeches on,
Put my cord'roy breeches on
To work upon the railway.

(Chorus)
Billy me-oo, re-eye, re-aye,
Billy me-oo, re-eye, re-aye,
Bil-y me-oo, re-eye, re-aye,
To work upon the railway.

In eighteen hundred and forty-two,
I left the ould world for the new,
Bad 'cess to the luck that brought me through
To work upon the railway.

Our boss's name it was Tom King,
He kept a store to rob the men,
A Yankee clerk with ink and pen,
To cheat Pat on the railway.

It's "Pat do this" and "Pat do that",
Without a stocking or cravat,
Nothing but an old straw hat,
And Pat worked on the railway.



abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Singing Together, Spring 1975, BBC Publications

Notes:
As this song only mentions 'Pat' and 'railway' and is normally called some minor variation of 'Paddy on the Railway' I am at a loss to explain why the BBC decided to call it 'Patrick on the Railroad'. My best guess is that Pat 'left the old world for the new' is the rationale for changing Railway to Railroad and some concern about giving offence is the reason 'Paddy' became 'Patrick'.

Roud: 208 (Search Roud index at VWML)
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