Poor Old Horse The Boatmen British Canal Folk

POOR OLD ‘ORSE
John Grace Vocal, banjo; Eric Blackburn Vocal, Guitar; Pat Slattery mandolin.
This mournful ditty is known among sailing barge men. Thames men and canal boaters have heard of a version from the Grand and Royal Canals of Ireland, but this version is the canal one.
Athersone and Exhall are on the Coventry Canal. The section between Hartshill and Huneaton has long been notorious because of silting from the nearby granite quarries. A ‘number one’ is a boatman who owns his own boat. To ‘bacca’ means to let the horse work on his own with no driver.