Jackleg Boogie Poem by Paul Henry Dallaire

A jackleg weighs about 65 pounds about three feet long. You put steel at the end 2,4,6.8.10 feet long to drill the rock to make a tunnel. It's hard to operate and very dangerous cause it's got an air powered leg about 6 feet long attached by a 2 inch heavy rubber hose with a lot of pressure. Many men have been crushed by it's power.
And remember if he looks like a miner and talks like a miner he probably is one. And what does a miner look like? Well he walks a little slow with an air of being tuff and sometimes a little bowlegged and he doesn't talk much.
Richard Roy age 28 of Chelmsford Ontario Canada was killed by a jackleg on Jan 7th at the Kidd Creek Copper Mine in Timmins ON.


When you work in the mines you take your life in your hands
Breakin the rock and work as fast as you can
It takes an eight hour shift to drill an eight foot round
Slavin like a dog a thousand feet underground
At two thousand feet with the devil you bond
Gotta make the footage or the bonus is gone


You ain't nuthin but a miner till the day that you die
Livin like a mole for the rest of your life
Payin your bills cause the wolf's at your door
The finance company's the world biggest whore
And when payday comes you take the cage to daylight
Pick up your money to feed the kids and the wife

Chorus:
Well it's the jackleg boogie (jackleg boogie)
It's the jackleg boogie (jackleg boogie)
Well it's the jackleg boogie at the Dome mine all shift long

Verse:
First you muck out the round with a muckin machine
Connect all the hoses for the air that you'll need
You lay down the track and then you start to drill
Slap down the lever and then you shake and you reel
Then you dance all around with your boots on your feet
And do the jackleg boogie to send the Orr to the mill

Chorus:
Well it's the jackleg boogie (jackleg boogie(
Itls the jackleg boogie (jackleg boogie)
Well it's the jackleg boogie at the Dome mine all shift long

Paul Henry Dallaire
Paul Henry Pub. SOCAN