McAlpine's Fusiliers is an Irish ballad set to a traditional air, popularised in the early 1960s by Dominic Behan. The song relates to the migration of Irish labourers from Ireland to Britain during the 20th century. The ballad's title refers to the eponymous construction company of Sir Robert McAlpine, a major employer of Irish workmen at the time. John Laing and Wimpey (also referred to in the opening monologue; an integral part of the ballad although not included in some cover versions of the song) were other major construction companies employing Irish 'navvies' (a British term referring to building labourers and originally coined for the labourers who built the British canals or 'navigations').