A Shropshire Lad

The gas was on in the Institute
The flare was up in the gym
A man was running a mineral line
A lass was singing a hymn
When Captain Webb the Dawley man
Captain Webb from Dawley
Came swimming along the old canal
That carried the bricks to Lawley
Swimming along -
Swimming along -
Swimming along from Severn
And paying a call at Dawley Bank while swimming along to Heaven

The sun shone low on the railway line
And over the bricks and stacks
And in at the upstairs windows
Of the Dawley houses' backs
When we saw the ghost of Captain Webb
Webb in a water sheeting
Come dripping along in a bathing drеss
To the Saturday evening meeting
Dripping along -
Dripping along -
To thе Congregational Hall;
Dripping and still he rose over the sill and faded away in a wall

There wasn't a man in Oakengates
That hadn't got hold of the tale
And over the valley in Ironbridge
And round by Coalbrookdale
How Captain Webb the Dawley man
Captain Webb from Dawley
Rose rigid and dead from the old canal
That carries the bricks to Lawley
Rigid and dead -
Rigid and dead -
To the Saturday congregation
Paying a call at Dawley Bank on the way to his destination