To Rise in the World He Carried a Hod

Hod Carrier: a mason or bricklayer who transports mortar, bricks, or stones balanced in a wooden tray or trough, on a pole borne on the shoulder, called a hod.

"Tim Finnegan lived in Walkin’ Street,
a gentle Irishman mighty odd.
Had a beautiful brogue, so rich and sweet.
To rise in the world, he carried a hod.

Now Tim had a sort of a tipplin’ way;
with a love for the liquor poor Tim was born,
and to help him on with his work each day,
he'd a ‘drop of the craythur’ every morn'."

Tim Finnegan's Wake (a.k.a. The Ballad of Finnegan's Wake)
(19th Century Irish folk song).