Hawco, the Hero

DESCRIPTION: Jim Hawco drops his load of wood on the railroad track believing that the train has already passed by. Suddenly, the train comes and he risks his own life to take the wood off. He is arrested for his mistake but found in court to be a hero instead.
AUTHOR: M. A. Devine (1857-1915)
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Murphy, Songs of Our Land, Old Home Week Souvenir)
KEYWORDS: recitation train rescue trial
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doyle-OldTimeSongsAndPoetryOfNewfoundland, "Hawco, the Hero" (1 text): p. 75 in the 2nd edition
ADDITIONAL: James Murphy, compiler/publisher, "(Old Colony Song Book: Newfoundland)," James Murphy, 1904 (available from the Memorial University of Newfoundland web site; the cover is missing, but I suspect it is a copy of "Songs of Our Land"), p. 73, "Hawco the Hero'" (1 text)
Roud #7298
RECORDINGS:
Charles Dawe, "Hawco the Hero" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
NOTES [77 words]: According to Doyle, the song is about a true incident that happened in Harbour Main in Conception Bay around 1905. The song also uses the names of judges that were active during the time of the incident. - SH
Note that the date must in fact have been 1904 or earlier, since the poem was published by Murphy in that year. Murphy attributes the poem to M. A. Devine but offers no hint that it is based on an actual incident. - RBW
Dawe's recording is a recitation. - BS
Last updated in version 6.0
File: Doy75

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