Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)

Subject: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Squeazle
Date: 15 Feb 00 - 10:39 PM

Please help! My sister is trying to find the lyrics to "Irish Mining Song", a song that we used to have on an old John Allan Cameron record. We can remember some of the lyrics, but not enough to put the entire song together. I believe it starts out with: "Oh, I'm tired and what's worse--I'm working like a horse Travelin' down the road and back again When I'm down there in the ground, its too dark to see around, ????? If anyone out there can help out, I would greatly appreciate it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Feb 00 - 04:35 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,SavageTaco
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 10:48 PM

Oh, I'm tired and what's worse
I'm working like a horse
Down the road and back again

When I'm down there in the ground
It's too dark to see around
My mind takes me back home so far away

CHORUS: With a spade in my hand
Shoveling sand
Working like a slave
I'm sweating all day
Earning my pay
Sometimes I think I'm digging my grave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Dave'sWife at work
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 11:23 AM

I clicked on this thinking someboody might be asking for that Merle Haggard song, "Dark as a Dungeon' that Vince Gill sang with the Chietains on 'Down the Old Plank Road'. I've had a few people swear to me that 'Dark as a Dungeon' is really an old Irish Trad song after hearing it. Nice song - just not Trad.

I have NO clue about the song being requested!
Sorry!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 09:50 PM

Sorry, I can't help either, but I do want to point out that Dark as a Dungeon
is due to Merle Travis, not Merle Haggard.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: Peace
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 10:07 PM

"My favourite track is next, Denis Conn's 'The Miner's Song', made popular by John Allan Cameron. With the opening "Billy's first breath was the last of his mother/He was born on the shores of a town called Glace Bay", Gunning dedicates the song to the men who died in the Westray mine disaster.   This is a beautiful song; the emotion in Gunning's voice and Cormier's fiddle accompaniment really suit the melancholy, serious message of the song.   I've been to Glace Bay, and I've been in the mine. This song captures the sadness that hangs over it."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 05:30 PM

oops. Mixed up my Merles! Still, a lovely song that works very well in a Irish idiom. I'll go an look for the lyrics. It's on 'Down the Old Plank Road.'

BTW....

Won't somebody please tell Vince Gill to give up his mediocre Country Music and stick to what he should be doing - singing Irish Trad? He has such a wonderful voice and he wastes it singing these stupid gimmicky pop/country songs. When he does anything Trad, be it Irish or American, he really shines. He's also a gifted harmony singer who can blend his voice and phrasing seamlessly with a lead, so much so, you don't always recognise that it's him.

Subject: Lyr Add: DARK AS A DUNGEON (Merle Travis)
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 06:01 PM

Dark as the Dungeon
Merle Travis

Come and listen, young fellers, so young and so fine
And seek not your fortune in the dark dreary mines
It will form as a habit and seep in your soul
'Til the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal

      CHORUS
    Where it's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew
    Where the dangers are double and the pleasures are few
    Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
    It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines

There's many a man who I've known in my day
Who lived just to labor his whole life away
Like a fiend with his dope or a drunkard his wine
A man will have lust for the lure of the mines

    CHORUS

Well I hope when I'm gone and the ages shall roll
My body will blacken and turn into coal
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home
And pity the miner that's digging my bones

    CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Frank Phillips
Date: 07 May 05 - 01:44 PM

Premature posting pleases nobody.

Try to get hold of a copy of "Singin about us" Lorimer 1976 page 70 has "The Irish Miner" by Don Mclennan. I have been searching the Internet but can't find anything about Don.

FrankP

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MINER'S SONG (Denis Conn)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 May 05 - 08:36 PM

Unfortunately, this song doesn't have the lines that Squeazle quoted.

Copied from Dave Gunning's web site: (You can hear an excerpt on this page.)

THE MINER'S SONG
Denis Conn SOCAN

Billy's first breath was the last for his mother.
He was born on the shores of a town called Glace Bay,
And all that he had was himself and his father.
They lived in a house about a mile down the way.

His dad was a big man and worked as a miner.
Billy grew more to be like him each day,
'Cause every boy's dream was to work with his father
In the mine that ran under the bay.

"My son," he said, "don't be a miner,
'Cause it's hard work and too little pay.
You'll dig in that hole for that company's coal
And wind up just digging your grave."

Billy grew older but never grew wiser,
Fighting and drinking his young life away.
He reached for the top but wound up on the bottom
Of the mine that ran under the bay.

They say that it happened one morning in April,
A cave-in at Number Eleven that day.
Billy got there as his dad reached the surface.
In his dying words he did say:

"My son," he said....(etc.)

[Recorded by John Allan Cameron on his album "Glencoe Station," 1997; and by Dave Gunning on "Caught between Shadows," 2000.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Frank Phillips
Date: 13 May 05 - 08:53 PM

The words that Squeazle quoted are from "The Irish Miner" on John Allan Cameron's 1972 vinyl called "Get There by Dawn"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: Beer
Date: 13 May 05 - 09:12 PM

The Working Man by Rita McNeil has been a favourate of mine for some time, but when I heard Dave Gunning's version of "The Miner's Song" I just had to order the c/d. Squeazle, get it. You won't be sorry.

Subject: Lyr Add: HOLE IN THE GROUND (? from The Fureys?)
From: oombanjo
Date: 14 May 05 - 04:45 AM

The Fureys did Hole in the ground.
Dust was thick there was grit in our teeth and we were all pretty dry
By Evans bank we were dying of thirst so we headed straight inside
There we met old George, who came over to tell us a yarn
About the old mining town, he still called home.

Chorus
And they're,- digging the tin from the ground,
And they've,-- left a great hole on the middle of the Town
Won't you buy me a beer, and I'll show you around
cos I worked till the mine closed down.

Creeks were dry and the rivers mud and we were still spitting dust
It had not rained for 8 weeks or more and Easter was not far off
We walked up to the mine old George led the way
He didn't stop talking about the old mining days

Chorus

The mine closed down and the Tin scratches came
And they've dug up the whole countryside
With shovel and pick they could scratch a few quid
And spend it on the other side
They came into town, to buy their supplies
Then head strait for the Bar, to drink with the flies

Chorus

Well old George he must be 80 now, or pretty close to it
He'd lived his whole life in this small town
And he did not want to leave it
And back at the Bar, we shouted a round then said our goodbyes
And headed out of town

Chorus x 2

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 May 05 - 12:13 AM

This isn't about music, but if you have a feeling for miners, then read this book:

Our Story: 77 Hours That Tested Our Friendship and Our Faith
by The Quecreek Miners and Jeff Goodell

It is the true story of the nine miners in Pennsylvania that were rescued after three days underground. It is a great story of courage and companionship. It's also a book you can't put down.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Miner
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jan 06 - 12:32 AM

Subject: Lyr Add: SONS OF MOLLY (Chuck Rogers)
From: DannyC
Date: 27 Jan 06 - 08:19 AM

When the wind blows wild at night past the breakers melancholy,
If you stand in the dark with your ear to the wind, you will hear the sons of Molly
Deep from the dark in the old mine shaft you can smell the smoke and fire,
And the whisper low from the mine below is the voice of Molly Maguire.

I'll tell ya, boys, Jimmy Doyle is my name, and I come from Carbon County.
I shot the boss of the Lansford mine. now my soul is up for bounty;
And I will die with my head held high for I fought for the men below:
Those men who toil and slave and die down in a black hellhole.

I'll tell ya, boys, Eddie Kelly is my name, and I'm hangin' in the mornin'.
I shot Jack Jones for skinnin' my bones. how I hated the sound of his warnings!
And I will die with my head held high for I fought for the men below:
Those men who toil and slave and die down in a black hellhole.

I'll tell ya, boys, Alec Campbell is my name and no pistol did I fire,
But I will fall from the gallows wall just for bein' a Molly Maguire;
And I will die with my head held high, for I fought for the men below:
Those men who toil and slave and die down in a black hellhole.

When the wind blows wild at night past the breakers melancholy,
If you stand in the dark with your ear to the wind, you will hear the sons of Molly.
Deep from the dark in the old mine shaft, you can smell the smoke and fire,
And the whispers low from the mine below is the ghosts of the Molly Maguires
'Tis the ghost of Molly Maguire.
It's the voice of Molly Maguire.


Note: I am told a guy from Philly (PA - USA) wrote this song. I heard it performed by a "Celtic rock" band from there. I altered it a bit and sing it "a cappella" myself. It seems to match the events of the "day of the rope" of a hundred or so years ago in the PA coal region.

It's been near the front of my cluttered mind, as I have been overhearing tactical discussions of bentback coal miners in a Kentucky pain clinic lobby about the recent W.Va. mining tragedies.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Irish Mining Song
From: GUEST,Brian McAuley
Date: 26 Apr 10 - 06:03 PM

Hi,
Can anyone help me get this version of 'The Sons of Molly' by the Irish Balladeers,

Subject: Lyr Add: THE IRISH MINER (John Allan Cameron)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Apr 10 - 07:01 PM

I found a recording at YouTube of THE IRISH MINER sung by Sullivan's Gypsies (later to be known as Ryan's Fancy), from the album "Sullivan's Gypsies" which was later re-released and retitled "Ryan's Fancy Sung by Sullivan's Gypsies" (1970). Got that?

Anyway, here is my transcription. There are a couple of gaps:


THE IRISH MINER
Written by John Allan Cameron
As recorded by Sullivan's Gypsies/Ryan's Fancy

CHORUS: With me spade in me hand,
Shovelin' sand,
Workin' like a slave,
I'm sweatin' all day,
Savin' my pay.
Sometimes I think I'm diggin' my grave.

1. Oh, I'm tired and what's worse,
I'm workin' like a horse,
Diggin' holes all over 'Mericay.
When I'm down there in the ground,
It's too dark to see around.
My mind returns back home so far away.

2. Then I see her in my mind:
The girl I left behind,
Sweet Mary ... dancin' through the heather
With her ... in her hand
Full of soda bread and jam,
She promised me that she would wait forever.

3. Oh, someday I'll go back home,
Never more to roam,
And darling Mary will belong to me.
I will take her for my wife,
And it's there I'll spend my life,
But right now over here I must be.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)
From: GUEST
Date: 11 May 10 - 08:00 AM

This song is actually called "Old George" and is credited on the Furays Winds Of Change album to M. Hoskins. Does anyone know who M.Hoskins is and where he/she comes from? The lyrics would suggest this is about the tin mining industry in USA or Australia.
It's a great song and I've just started to sing it with my band TYNESIDE. It would be interesting to know a little about the composer.
Richard Ridley

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)
From: meself
Date: 11 May 10 - 04:53 PM

Sweet Mary MURPHY dancin' through the heather
With her BASKET in her hand

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD GEORGE (Mick Hodgkins)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 May 10 - 05:39 PM

I found a recording and lyrics of OLD GEORGE performed by Mangrove Jack at the website of ReverbNation. I listened to the recording and made a few corrections in the lyrics:


OLD GEORGE
Mick Hodgkins

1. Dust was thick. There was grit in our teeth. We were all pretty dry.
By Irvenbank, we were dying of thirst, so we headed straight inside,
And there we met old George who came over to tell us a yarn
About the old mining town he still calls home.

CHORUS: Well, they've taken the tin from the ground                
And they've left a big hole in the middle of the town.
Won't you buy me a beer and I'll show you around,
'Cause I worked till the mine closed down,
Worked till the mine closed down.

2. The creeks were dry. The lagoon was just mud. We were still spittin' dust.
It hadn't rained since Anzac day, and Christmas wasn't far off.
We walked up to the mine. Old George led the way.
He didn't stop talking of the old mining days.

3. The mine closed down and the tin-scratchers came and dug up the whole countryside.
With a shovel and pick they could scratch a few quid, spend it on the other side,
Then come into town to buy their supplies
And headed straight to the bar to drink with the flies.

4. Old George he must be eighty now, or headin' pretty close to it.
He's lived most his life in that town, and he doesn't want to lose it.
Well, back at the bar we shouted a round,
Then said our goodbyes and headed out of town.

- - -
Note to Richard Riley. Next time, please be specific instead of saying "this song" when several songs have been discussed in the same thread. I would have figured out what you were talking about a lot sooner if you had been specific.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Miner's Song (John Allan Cameron)
From: GUEST,Fraoch
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 09:00 PM

Does anyone know anything about Denis Conn, the composer of "The Miner's Song" (made famous by John Allan Cameron but also recorded by Dave Gunning)?

Subject: the irish emigrant miner by the irish balladeers
From: GUEST,gm0142
Date: 29 Nov 10 - 07:18 PM

Does anyone know the lyrics to this song

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 08:56 PM

GUEST,gm0142: If you want to discuss a different song than the one this thread is about, it's best to start a new thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)
From: GUEST,Spud Murphy
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:01 PM

The Irish Miner was written by Don McLennan(Sullivan) of Sullivan's Gipsies fame.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Irish Miner (John Allan Cameron)
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 15 - 10:54 AM

HERE ARE THE LYRICS TO THE IRISH MINER, AS RECORDED BY JOHN ALLAN CAMERON FROM HIS ALBUM, GET THERE BY DAWN RELEASED IN 1972

THE IRISH MINER
Written by John Allan Cameron


CHORUS: With me spade in me hand,
Shovelin' sand,
Workin' like a slave,
I'm sweatin' all day,
Savin' my pay.
Sometimes I think I'm diggin' my grave.

1. Oh, I'm tired and what's worse,
I'm workin' like a horse,
Diggin' holes all over 'Mericay.
When I'm down there in the ground,
It's too dark to see around.
My mind takes me back home from far away.

2. Then I see her in my mind:
The girl I left behind,
Sweet Mary Mercy dancin' through the heather
With her basket in her hand
Full of soda bread and jam,
She promised me that she would wait forever.

3. Oh, someday I'll go back home,
Never more to roam,
And darling Mary will belong to me.
I will take her for my wife,
And it's there I'll spend my life,
But right now over here I must be.

JOHN EDWARD O'DACRE 2015