Song of the Pipeline
by Alan Ferguson
Way over the desert the daylight is fading
The campfires grow bright at the close of the day
And over the Darlings, our loved ones are waiting
Beyond the Great Ocean, in Ireland far away.
Way out in the diggings, the miners are toiling
Dry blowing gold in the bright blazing sun
They’re cursing the price of the water they’re drinking
And praying O’Connor will get the job done.
300 miles we have toiled for O’Connor
Swinging our hammers and heaving the lines
A desert in front and a pipeline behind us
And C. Y. O’Connor will get there in time.
Political wrangles have led to this pipeline
And I cursed the day that I joined on meself
To Kalgoorlie, soon, the water is flowing
But that damned Irish foreman will see me in Hell.
From Mundaring we’re known as the wild pipeline navvies
We sing and we booze ’round the campfire at night
Through all the long days of typhoid and sickness
Laying this pipeline for O’Connor’s lone fight.
Way over the desert, the daylight is fading
The campfires grow bright at the close of the day
And over the Darlings, our loved ones are waiting
Beyond the Great Ocean, in Ireland far away.
Pipeline Construction – photo SLWA
Moya Sharp
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Hi from Ireland. I love the words in “Song of the pipeline”, its a new one to me.
So glad you liked it!
As kid I lived off the O’Connor pipeline on the Goldfields, while the schools educated us to praise the Lord, in fact, we should’ve been praising C Y O’ connor. WA greatest engineer bar none, true miracle man & life saver;
Merv Kennedy;