A song sung, e.g., by Martin Carthy and found in print, e.g., in A.L.Lloyd, Come all ye bold miners. The lyrics below are slightly different, but the notes are taken from A.L. Lloyd.

Wolfgang

TRIMDON GRANGE EXPLOSION

Let us not think of to-morrow,
Lest we disappointed be;
All our joys may turn to sorrow,
As we all may daily see.
To-day we may be strong and healthy,
But how soon there comes a change,
As we may learn from the explosion,
That has been at Trimdon Grange.

Men and boys left home that morning,
For to earn their daily bread,
Little thought before that evening
That they'd be numbered with the dead;
Let us think of Mrs. Burnett,
Once had sons but now has none,
By the Trimdon Grange explosion,
Joseph, George and James are gone.

February left behind it
What will never be forgot;
Weeping widows, helpless children,
May be found in many a cot,
Homes that once were blest with comfort,
Guided by a father's care,
Now are solemn, sad and gloomy,
Since the father is not there.

Little children, kind and loving,
From their homes each day would run
For to meet their father's coming,
As each hard day's work was done.
Now they ask if father's left them,
Then the mother hangs her head;
With a weeping widow's feelings,
Tells the child that 'father's dead'.

God protect the lonely widow,
Help to raise each drooping head;
Be a Father to the orphans,
Never let them cry for bread.
Death will pay us all a visit,
They have only gone before;
We may meet the Trimdon victims
Where explosions are no more.

Notes: As sung (one verse only) by R. Sewell, of Newcastle (June 1951). Remainder of text from J. Jefferson, Trimdon Grange, Co. Durham. From a ballad by Thomas Armstrong who prescribed for it the tune 'Go and leave me if you wish it'; now it is usually heard attached to the come-all-ye type tune given here. The explosion occured on 16 February 1882. Seventy-four miners were lost (six of them died in the neighbouring East Hetton colliery, due to afterdamp seeping through from Trimdon).