13. The Fairie Blonde

Music and lyrics by Mark Despault, 1998

From bow to stern she was wood and steel
This lake had seen no better
With wood to burn she'd steam along
With a boom of logs behind her
6 inch beams and 2x4s
With sheets of steel beneath her
A winch to pull her up on shore
Across both land and water

Built she was in twenty six
Or was it twenty seven?
By Morses men...old Joe Lapine
And I think Ernie Collins
From Devon camp they hauled her down
To the shores of Browns Bay water
In Wakami she'd chug along
No other tug could catch her
With paddle, steam and a winch to pull
At the other end a cable
Wrapped round a tree to bring her out
And that's the way we moved her.

It was big Frank Brown who drove the tug
He was the Blondes true master
And Harry Clause down in the hold
Would make the boat move faster
With a curse and poke the fire he'd stoke
And make the flames go higher
Keep her in steam so she sweats her beams
And her boiler does blow over

Well from time to time the boys they would fight
For Harry liked his liquor
Frank'd send him ashore for a day or more
With a stack wood and a sober head
In a place where there's no spirit
And some time to think things over
He’d climb on board and they's head for shore
And toast the Blonde soon after