Remember the Miners' Strike

BLACK-FACED BLACKLEG

have you any Coal...

tired of working

down the mine

get your kicks

on the picket line

NO

coal's expensive

life is cheap

& it's fun to grovel

in the dark dank deep

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

pack those colliers

in a cage

some of us want to

earn a wage

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

sink another shaft

thru strata of the earth

seek black diamonds

for all you're worth

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

find a rich new seam

& drill drill drill

drudge like the devil

with a will

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

cut that coal now

lickety-split

increase production

or close the pit

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

can't be a chooser

cheeky beggar

go cap in hand

to Boss MacGregor

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

years of slaving

for old King Coal

then past-it as a pony

you're in clover on the dole

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

surly burly pitmen

are too defiant

women & children

were more compliant

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

striking miners

should know their place

down on their knees

at a fresh coal face

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

it's hard labour

you must be robust

fill your lungs

with pure black dust

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

it's noisy noisome

hot as hell

there's a tell-tale dead canary

but all is well

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

thanks to Sir Humphry

   for the Davy Lamp

   helps prevent explosions

   of infernal firedamp

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

barring odd disasters

it's as safe as can be

you just suffer from nystagmus

& a bad case of beat knee

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

(whose leg are you trying to pull)

look at lifelong miners

skins scarred blue

ingrained coaldust

makes a fine tatoo

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

(whose leg are you trying to pull)

with pneumoconiosis

you get short of breath

cough cough cough

& choke to death

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

(whose leg are you trying to pull)

so customer come home

to a real fire

put another miner

on the funeral pyre

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

(whose leg are you trying to pull)

warm yourself

by that merry blaze

you bought the coal

you're the one who pays

yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

(whose leg are you trying to pull)

coal's expensive

life is cheap

O what fun to grovel

in the dark dank deep

NO

remember '26

& Auld Lang Syne

stand up for the miners

on the picket line

 

 

 

(My grandfather was a miner in South Wales. Took part in the 1926 Strike. He contracted Silicosis, an Industrial Disease, & died, coughing up his lungs, bit by bit, into a bucket.)

My Dad, who was born & grew up in that South Wales Mining Valley, wrote the following powerful piece about COAL:

Coal Patterns

 

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