Peg and Awl/Banish Misfortune/Blarney Pilgrim

from In The Ruins They've Left Us, We'll Plant Gardens Still by Wooden Shoe Ramblers

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about

Peg and Awl is a traditional song dating to the early Industrial Revolution about the displacement of traditional shoemakers (along with all other craftspeople) by mechanization. It is commonly played as an upbeat and optimistic (if not a little cheeky) "I don't have to work anymore!" kind of song. Some years ago Bruce Molsky released a beautiful, haunting, lamenting version which takes a much more honest view of that history. Strangely enough, at the time R was introduced to that version, they were working as a shoe repairer and experiencing many of the same issues over again; only this time in the context of 21st century globalization and hyper-mechanization. This version falls somewhere between these two interpretations, as if to say "Well, fuck. What am I gonna do now?" It is followed by the traditional jigs "Banish Misfortune" and “Blarney Pilgrim.”

lyrics

In eighteen hundred one
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred one
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred one
Peggin' shoes was all I done
I'm gonna lay me down my awl, my peg and awl

In eighteen hundred two
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred two
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred two
Peggin' shoes was all I'd do
I'm gonna lay me down my awl, my peg and awl

In eighteen hundred three
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred three
Peg and awl
In eighteen hundred three
Peggin' shoes was all you'd see
I'm gonna lay me down my awl, my peg and awl

They've invented a new machine
Peg and awl
They've invented a new machine
Peg and awl
They've invented a new machine
I peg one shoe, it pegs fifteen
I'm gonna lay me down my awl, my peg and awl

In eighteen hundred four
peg and awl
In eighteen hundred four
peg and awl
In eighteen hundred four
pegging shoes I'll do no more
I'm gonna lay me down my awl, my peg and awl

credits

from In The Ruins They've Left Us, We'll Plant Gardens Still, released December 23, 2020
Vocals and Guitar: R Young
Mandolin: Emmett Doyle
Accordion: Sam Adams
Arr.: R Young

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Wooden Shoe Ramblers Minneapolis, Minnesota

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