One well-known song and verse maker from Cape Breton Island in the 1920s is Donald “Dawn” Fraser. Born on July 1, 1888 in Oxford, Nova Scotia, he moved with his family to Glace Bay in 1901 when the Cape Breton industrial communities were booming with coal and steel development.
His name was Eddie Crimmins
And he came from Port aux Basques,
Besides a chance to live and work
He had nothing much to ask;
No, not a dream he ever had
That he might work and save—
Was quite content to live and die
And be a working slave.
And yet, he starved, he starved, I tell you,
Back in nineteen twenty-four,
And before he died he suffered
As many have before.
When the mines closed down that winter
He had nothing left to eat,
And he starved, he starved, I tell you,
On your dirty, damned street.
The papers told of how the prince
Had caught a little cold,
And how the princess’ youngest kid
Was nearly four years old;
Such news is featured foremost
In every yellow sheet,
But they don’t tell when workers die
Standing on their feet;
Standing on their feet because
Nowhere to lay their head.
No, such news ain’t featured much—
I bet you never read
How for days young Crimmins
Wandered round the street,
And how a half-froze apple
Was the last he had to eat.
Too poor to buy, too proud to beg,
He sunk down like a log,
You never threw the lad the crust
You’d throw a lonely dog.
Oh Capital! oh Capital!
You’ve an awful debt to pay—
Oh Capital, I hope it’s true
There is a judgment day;
And when the great judge calls you up,
May I be there to see,
And if he wants a witness
I hope he calls on me.
If I have wings, I’ll gladly fly,
If not, I’ll use my feet,
And then I’ll tell how Crimmins died
Upon your damned street.
Cape Breton musician, Shane O’Handley, is known for his solid bass playing with the Tom Fun Orchestra, Carmen Townsend, Ladyslippers and other Island groups, but also plays a mean guitar and writes his own tunes as is demonstrated here in ” He Starved, He Starved I Tell You.”