Chorus
Rap 'er to bank, me canny lad!
Wind 'er away, keep turnin!
The back-shift men are comin' hame,
They'll be back here in the mornin'.

My father used to call the turn
When the lang shift it was all over.
And comin' by, ye'd hear him cry;
You know it's after four? He cried:

Rap 'er to bank, me canny lad!
Wind 'er away, keep turnin!
The back-shift men are comin' hame,
They'll be back here in the mornin'.

And when that awful day arrived,
On the last shift for me father,
A fall of stones and broken bones,
But still above the clatter, he cried:

Rap 'er to bank, me canny lad!
Wind 'er right slow, that's clever!
This old lad he's taken bad,
He'll be back here never.