Iron in the Blood, Steel in the Sky

They dropped into the caissons deep

Where iron walls held back the sea

Mud and rock beneath their feet

Where every breath came painfully

The briggers walked the narrow beams

No harness there to stop their falls

Icy winds tore at their skins

Above the tidal squalls

Iron in the blood steel in the sky

We built a giant so it never dies

Red as the dawn strong as the tide

The Forth Bridge stands and we stand by its side

Young lads worked with red hot steel

With rivets flying through the air

The strong winds could blow them down

As nimble as the catch boys were

From shore to shore the visions grew

And folks watched the beams rise high

Red lead staining hands and lungs

As cantilevers reached for the sky

Iron in the blood steel in the sky

We built a giant so it never dies

Red as the dawn strong as the tide

The Forth Bridge stands and we stand by its side

The tide reclaimed the ones who fell

Names lost and gone from sea and land

But still their labour shapes the world

And their steely work still stands

From men who built with grit and steel

Still the giant holds the shore

Iron in the blood steel in the sky

We built a giant so it never dies

Red as the dawn strong as the tide

The Forth Bridge stands and we stand by its side