"Either way, it is pretty shit"
Bert was fairly obscure over the source of many of his songs; whether that was deliberate or not I couldn't say. I always found him a rather private individual, difficult to pin down.
I can say that many of the songs he introduced into the revival have turned up in unpublished collections, though not necessarily where he gave the impression they were from.
Typical was the rather nice bawdy song, The Weaver, which I always thought was British, but I now believe he got it from Edith Fowke's Canadian collection.
As an entertainer Bert was superb, and did nothing with his songs that anybody in his position hasn't done a thousand times.
The jury's still very much out on his scholarship; waiting for Dave Arthur's biography on him is like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Personally, the pleasure and the encouragement to go and find out more about this music Bert, MacColl and the others gave to me and my generation of folkies makes me happy to wait and see.
Like everybody else here, I have no idea if Blackleg Miner is fake or genuine.
Lloyd gives a source for it;
William Sampey, Bishop Auckland. Co Durham 1949
It is possible he adapted it from Korson's 'Coaldust on the Fiddle': If he did so, he did a brilliant job.

THE YAHIE MINERS
[Text contributed by Stuart McCawley, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. "This 'come-all-ye is sixty years old and still sung in District 26 (Nova Scotia)"—McCAWLEY.]

Early in the month of May when all the ice is gone away
The Yahies they come down to work
With their white bags and dirty shirt,
The dirty Yahie miners.

CHORUS
Bonnie boys, oh won't you gang!
Bonnie boys, oh won't you gang!
Bonnie boys, oh won't you gang!
To beat the Yahie miners.

They take their picks and they go down
A-digging coal on underground,
For board and lodgings can't be found
For dirty Yahie miners.

Into Mitchell's they do deal,
Nothing there but Injun meal,
Sour molasses will make them squeal,
The dirty Yahie miners.

Join the Union right away,
Don't you wait till after pay,
Join the Union right away,.
You dirty Yahie miners.

Mrs. McNab, she keeps a hall
Where the Yahies they do call,
You'll see them flock around the hall,
The dirty Yahie miners.

Don't go near McDonald's door,
Else the bully will have you sure,
For he goes round from door to door
Converting Yahie miners.

Jimmie Brimick he jumped in
Caught MacKeigan by the chin,
"Give me Maggie though she's thin
For I'm no Yahie miner."

From Ricky Boston they do come,
The damnedest Yahies ever found,
Around the office they do crowd,
The dirty Yahie miners.

The Lorway road it is now clear,
There are no Yahies on the beer,
The reason why they are not here,
They're frightened by the miners.


No, it isn't a shitty song - it's a bitter, vindictive song that fits the situation it deals with perfectly.
Lloyd's collection is housed in Goldsmith's College - it's not beyond the realms of possibility to pursue the song further should those interested raise their bums out of their armchairs for long enough to do so.
It has been my experience that armchair knockers fit the old building trade adage that it's far easier to pull down something someone else has built than put something up yourself.
One thing I do know for certain - Lloyd's contribution was a million times greater than these demolition squads, flawed as his scholarship might have been.
Jim Carroll