"Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" is a folk song that became influential during the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on the traditional song, "Gospel Plow", also known as "Hold On", "Keep Your Hand on the Plow", and various permutations thereof. "Mrs. McGrath" (also known as "Mrs. McGraw") is an Irish folk song. the song probably dates from the time of the Peninsular Wars between 1807 and 1814, the earliest account of it in Ireland was in 1876. It was also popular with soldiers during the American Civil War . The song tells the story of a woman whose son enters the British Army, and returns seven years later having lost his legs to a cannonball fighting against Napoleon in the Peninsular War (presumably at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, fought between May 3rd and 5th, 1811). The general theme of the song is one of opposition to war, the mother claiming that she would rather have her son as he was. Low Bridge (song) The popular song "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal" was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen after Erie Canal barge traffic was converted from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic. The tune is sadly nostalgic. Also known as "Low Bridge, Everybody Down," "The Erie Canal Song," "Mule Named Sal," and "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal," the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State