The Log Driver's Waltz

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"The Log Driver's Waltz" is a Canadian folk song, written by Wade Hemsworth.

The song celebrates the profession of log driving, a practice in the lumber industry which involved transporting felled timber by having workers walk or run on the logs as they floated down rivers. This occupation required a great deal of strength and physical agility, and Hemsworth was struck by how much the sight of log drivers at work resembled dancing.

The song's chorus is:

For he goes birling down a-down the white water
That's where the log driver learns to step lightly
It's birling down, a-down white water
A log driver's waltz pleases girls completely.

The lyrics are often misheard as "whirling" instead of "birling". "Birl" is an old Scots verb meaning "to revolve or cause to revolve", and in modern English means "to cause to a floating log to rotate by treading". Today, birling survives as a competitive sport.

Many artists have recorded renditions of the song, which is an enduring classic of Canadian music. The most famous version, by Kate and Anna McGarrigle and the Mountain City Four, was the soundtrack for a 1979 animated short film by the National Film Board. Captain Tractor's version of the song was also a popular alternative rock hit in the late 1990s. The NFB have also produced a French version of the film.