I recently read in depth about the old practice of sending kids up red hot (and sometimes burning) chimneys and in all honesty it was one of the most horrific and disturbing things I've read about. We were always told as kids that children were once sent up chimneys to clean them, obviously basic education glosses over the gory details and now I'm aware that it was one of the most evil instances of child slavery in history. Anyway, it occurred to me that I've never heard mention of these kids in folk songs anywhere, which at first seems strange since there were quite large numbers of them and they had quite a unique experience of life (not in a good way, obviously). Could it be that the whole subject is just too horrific a topic for the songwriter's pen?