Verse 1:
D
In the summer of 1832
A
The sailing ship John Stamp
Em G
Tied up into the port of Pennsylvania
D
Up the ladder from the cargo deck
A
Men and women crept
Em Bm
Into the open skies above
Verse 2:
D
Dia is Muire Dhuit agus Failte Romhat
A
Duffy’s my name, I cut through stone
Em
Work for me, I’m one of your own
G A7
In dollars I will pay you
Verse 3:
D
57 men signed up,
A
Duffy promised to fill their cup
Em
If they cut the Malvern Valley up
G Bm G A
Mile 59 had to be on time for the railway line
From Ballyshannon and The Glenties
D
They sailed right into hell
D G A
They suffered like the weeping Christ
G A
Down Duffy’s Cut they sweat their blood
Bm G
Into his wishing well
Bridge:
D
Were they taken by the sickness?
D
Were they hunted down like scum?
D G A
Was there poison in the water?
A G A
Was it cholera or murder?
Bm G
The smoke that hid the bullets
G D G Bm A
From the barrel of the boss’s g u n
Verse 4:
D
The Blacksmith and the Holy Sisters
A
Good people through and through
Em
Whispered prayers into the victim’s ears
G
It’s all that they could do
Verse 5:
D A
How come the bosses had silence on their lips
A Em G
As 57 Irish Navies were buried in a pit
A Em
No stone to mark their resting place
Bm G A
No one to mourn their passing
A D
From Ballyshannon and The Glenties
D
They sailed right into hell
D G A
They suffered like the weeping Christ
G A
Down Duffy’s Cut they sweat their blood
Bm G
Into his wishing well
Verse 6:
D
Were they taken by the sickness?
D
Were they hunted down like scum?
D G A
Was there poison in the water?
A G A
Was it cholera or murder?
Bm G
The smoke that hid the bullets
G D G Bm A
From the barrel of the boss’s g u n