Looking for the impossible!!

[Irene]

Hi
I had an email from a lady - see below.
Can anyone help her out? She doesn't have much of the poem at all, but just maybe, it will jog someone's memory.
thanks
IRene

Hello there & Happy New Year
I am trying to help an elderly gentleman find the words to some sort of poem or ballad or somesuch that he heard years ago.

We don't know the name just some of the words -

one line has something like
"? comes on (or onto) a building site

another line is
The foreman asks can he run putty

I know this is a big ask but thought someone may have heard of it.

Thank you for your time, and Happy New year
Meg Little

[Peely]

G'day Irene

I managed to find a short yarn on the Trove website along those lines, but not a poem unfortunately. I would guess that the poem would have been based on the yarn. Please see below for the yarn.

Regards


John Peel

Amusing Stories.

ANXIOUS TO RUN.

An Irish athlete who was out of work came over to a big firm of contractors in England. On seeing the foreman, he asked him for a job of any kind.

The foreman replied, "Well, Pat, what can you do?"

"Oh, shure, sir, I can do anything."

"Can you run putty, Pat ?"

"Yes, sir, I'll run Putty, or any other man in the works."

"No, no, my man, you don't understand; but come in the morning, and you shall have a start."

"Oh, never mind the start, sir; I'll run him level."

The day after Pat came with a big black bag in his hand, and a smile on his face. On entering the yard he went into a cabin, and in a few minutes came out in full running costume, inquiring for Putty.

"Why, man, I mean running putty down a hole," said the foreman.

Pat replied, much to the amusement of the workmen : "I'll run him either down a hole or up a gaspipe, I'll run him anywhere."

29 April 1899 - Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle