ACT OF GOD
(Pete Bond)

Beyond black Barnsley’s smoky sprawl,
Where crows perch on the winding wheel,
Past Tanyard Wood and Throstle Hall,
There lies a peaceful ragged field
Where now the gentle waters flow.
The bugle and the speedwell grow.
Time pours her balm on the shame below
They called an act of God,
They called an act of God.

It was high summer’s drowsy hours,
With trees to climb and hoops to pole.
The favoured children gathered flowers.
The poor man’s kids were picking coal.
And when the thunder-thickened air
Chased those above like startled hare,
Down in the day hole unaware,
They faced an act of God.
They faced an act of God.

The innocent stream beside the mine
With wild worn tears of rain grew bold.
High against the air-shaft doors it climbed
Where children dragged their master’s coal.
And when the doors were opened wide
To reach the wagon way outside,
The torrent could no longer be defied.
They died by act of God.
They died by act of God.

The Silkstone slaves and sinners mourn.
The fledgling souls the flood had claimed.
The pious people raised a stone
To mark their fate and lay the blame.
These children died by deed divine.
And broader back can bear the crime
That sends a child of seven down a mine
And blames an act of God,
And blames an act of God.

Still Rachel for her children pines
And knows not why they fell from grace.
The righteous quote prophetic lines
To prove their blessed pride of place.
And for the poor a prayer is said:
“Give us this day their daily bread,
Then exorcise the echoes of the dead.
We too were acts of God.
We too were acts of God.”

The last line of each verse is repeated. Great song indeed.
The monument to the children, from which Peter gained his inspiration, still stands in Silkstone churchyard.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 19-Jan-02.