Ballads Of The Frontier Partisans — Breakfast In Hell

Breakfast in Hell

By Slaid Cleaves

In the melting snows of Ontario where the wind’ll make you shiver
‘Twas the month of May up in Georgian Bay near the mouth of the Musquash River
Where the bears prowl and the coyotes howl and you can hear the osprey scream
Back in ’99 we were cutting pine and sending it down the stream

Young Sandy Gray came to Go Home Bay all the way from P.E.I.
Where the weather’s rough and it makes you tough, no man’s afraid to die
Sandy came a smilin’, 30,000 Islands was the place to claim his glory
Now Sandy’s gone but his name lives on, and this is Sandy’s story

Young Sandy Gray lives on today in the echos of a mighty yell
Listen close and you’ll hear a ghost in the story that I tell, boys
This story that I tell

Now Sandy Gray was boss of the men who’d toss the trees onto the shore
They’d come and go til they’d built a floe 100,000 logs or more
Then he’d ride ’em down toward Severn Sound to cut ’em up in the mills for timber
And ships would haul spring summer and fall til the ice came in December

One Sabbath Day big Sandy Gray came into camp with a peavey on his shoulder
With a thundercrack he dropped his axe and the room got a little bit colder
Said, “Come on all you.  We got work to do. We gotta give ‘er all we can give ‘er”
“There’s a jam of logs at the little jog near the mouth of the Musquash River”

With no time to pray on the Lord’s day, they were hoping for God’s forgiveness
But the jam was high in a troubled sky and they set out about their business
They poked with their poles and ran with the rolls and tried to stay on their feet
Every trick they tried and one man cried, “This log jam’s got us beat!”

But Sandy Gray was not afraid and he let out a mighty yell:
“I’ll be damned, we’ll break this jam, or it’s breakfast in Hell, boys,”
“Breakfast in Hell!”

Now every one of the men did the work of ten and Sandy scrambled up to the top
He’s working like a dog heaving 30 foot logs and it looked like he’d never stop
They struggled on these men so strong til the jam began to sway
Then they dove for cover to the banks of the river all except for Sandy Gray

Now with thoughts of death they held their breath as they saw their friend go down
They all knew in a second or two he’d be crushed or frozen or drowned
They saw him fall they heard him call just once and then it was over
Young Sandy Gray gave his life that day near the mouth of the Musquash River

But Sandy Gray was not afraid and he let out a mighty yell:
“I’ll be damned, we’ll break this jam, or it’s breakfast in Hell, boys,”
“Breakfast in Hell!”

East of Giant’s Tomb there’s plenty of room, there’s no fences and no walls
And if you listen close you’ll hear a ghost down by Sandy Gray Falls
Through the tops of the trees you’ll hear in the breeze the echos of a mighty yell:
“I’ll be damned, we’ll break this jam, or it’s breakfast in Hell!”

And Sandy Gray lives on today in the echoes of  a mighty yell:
“I’ll be damned, we’ll break this jam, or it’s breakfast in Hell, boys,”
“Breakfast in Hell!”