2025 Competition Entry:
Pioneer Days by Tiller’s Folly
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Genre
Folk
Artist
Website
Co-writer(s)
no
Performer(s)
Bruce Coughlan – guitar & lead vocal
Nolan Murray – fiddle & mandolin
Laurence Knight – bass
Chris Nordquist – kit
Gord Maxwell – support vocal
Nolan Murray – fiddle & mandolin
Laurence Knight – bass
Chris Nordquist – kit
Gord Maxwell – support vocal
Description
‘Pioneer Days’ was written by Tiller’s Folly guitarist Bruce Coughlan and was inspired by a visit to the BC Farm Museum in Fort Langley, British Columbia, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. For the previous 25 years the Museum Association had been run entirely by volunteers. They insist they are ‘standing on the shoulders’ of all those who volunteered before them and each adding what they can by using their experience and knowledge. This pioneering spirit is just one reason why the BC Farm Museum could be aptly termed the BC ‘Pioneer Life’ Museum.
Bio
For over twenty-five years, Tiller’s Folly have been uniting the past with the present as modern-day storytellers of lore, singing the West’s pioneer history to life. From the outset, Tiller’s Folly aspired to create acoustic music that is thoughtful, progressive, yet timeless in nature. Music that is representative of their Pacific Coastal home. They set out to preserve a measure of the West’s colonial heritage in stories & songs.
Drawing influence from Scottish, Irish and Maritime Music traditions, Tiller’s Folly have continued to expand and refine their potent blend of Pacific Canadiana, and ‘beyond.’
Drawing influence from Scottish, Irish and Maritime Music traditions, Tiller’s Folly have continued to expand and refine their potent blend of Pacific Canadiana, and ‘beyond.’
Lyrics
PIONEER DAYS
She wakes an hour before the dawn; she pulls her slippers on
Grabs the kindling for the morning fire
Stirring up the coals she’d banked the night before
She fans the embers ‘til the flames grow higher
She does her best with what she has; makes the breakfast, bakes the bread
She’ll have the washing hung before it’s noon
She draws her water from a well, minds the garden; weeds and tills
So little time, so very much to do
That’s why they say “a woman’s work is never done”
The hours of patient toil, that’s how the West was won
It’s milk, churn the butter
Tend the chickens, gather eggs
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
Sharpen up the ploughshare, harness up the team
Eleven miles an acre in mud right to your knees
With just a pair of horses for this three-horse patch of land
Where you make the most of what you’ve got, and do the best you can
It takes calloused hands to work ‘till day is done
It’s grit and perspiration boys, that’s how the West was won
A few more turns around the ‘crown’
And keep your furrows straight
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
Back in the days of iron and galvanized steel
Days of horse drawn implements on narrow wooden wheels
It took determination and it took a constant hand
It took a lot of faith to carve your life out of this land
Here’s to the souls who never quit until the job was done
Through pride and perseverance boys, that’s how the West was won
Deserving of our thankfulness and worthy of our praise
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
She wakes an hour before the dawn; she pulls her slippers on
Grabs the kindling for the morning fire
Stirring up the coals she’d banked the night before
She fans the embers ‘til the flames grow higher
She does her best with what she has; makes the breakfast, bakes the bread
She’ll have the washing hung before it’s noon
She draws her water from a well, minds the garden; weeds and tills
So little time, so very much to do
That’s why they say “a woman’s work is never done”
The hours of patient toil, that’s how the West was won
It’s milk, churn the butter
Tend the chickens, gather eggs
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
Sharpen up the ploughshare, harness up the team
Eleven miles an acre in mud right to your knees
With just a pair of horses for this three-horse patch of land
Where you make the most of what you’ve got, and do the best you can
It takes calloused hands to work ‘till day is done
It’s grit and perspiration boys, that’s how the West was won
A few more turns around the ‘crown’
And keep your furrows straight
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
Back in the days of iron and galvanized steel
Days of horse drawn implements on narrow wooden wheels
It took determination and it took a constant hand
It took a lot of faith to carve your life out of this land
Here’s to the souls who never quit until the job was done
Through pride and perseverance boys, that’s how the West was won
Deserving of our thankfulness and worthy of our praise
Oh, you worked so hard in those pioneer days
You worked so hard in those pioneer days
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