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Origins: Granite Mills / Granite Mills Fire DigiTrad: THE GRANITE MILL FIRE |
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Subject: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Ed. Date: 13 Jan 04 - 02:30 PM I'm trying to find the source for the words of 'Granite Mills' as recorded by Cordelia's Dad There's a version of the song in the DT: The Granite Mill Fire from the book 'Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia' The words to the Cordelia's Dad version are somewhat different: Granite Mills In this vain world of trouble, many accidents occur I'm going to sing about one, as sad as you ever heard It was in Fall River city, they were all burned up and killed Imprisoned in a factory known as the 'Granite Mills' Now it was my opinion, and it's my opinion still They might all have been saved, had the truth been told From the flames of the burning mill The first scene was a cruel one, the girl so young in years She was standing at the window, and her eyes were bathed in tears She was standing at the window as she called her mother's name "Oh mother, mother, save me!," and she fell back in the flames The next scene was a hard one, as she passed before my eyes She was leaping out a window, down from the roof so high With a crack, she fell down on the ground, she was bruised and burned and killed Three hundred people lost their lives in the flames of the burning mill One poor girl tried to escape by sliding down a rope But when she got but halfway down, the burning strands they broke I hope her soul has gone to rest in a place that's dearer still Above, above, in heaven above, far away from the burning mill Any ideas? There's a contemporary account of the incident on this page Ed |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Charlie Baum Date: 13 Jan 04 - 06:32 PM From the Liner Notes from Cordelia's Dad's CD Spine: 1. Granite Mills Watching TV in the USA you'd think Canada was somewhere beyond the moon. We certainly don't hear much about the history of conflict and cultural and economic ties between New England and the Maritimes and Quebec. A lot of the people who worked in the Massachusetts mills in the late 19th century came from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Quebec, many of them young girls (especially well documented in all that's been written about the mills in Lowell). After a concert last year we talked with a man whose family had worked the mills in Fall River for several generations. He said the fast and furious nature of the mill work meant the machines had to be oiled frequently, often carelessly. The combination of oilsoaked pine floors with inadequate exits, fire fighting equipment, and alarms, was a recipe for disaster. The fire this song is about was burning for 15 minutes before the alarm was even sounded. I made the tune for this one. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Ed. Date: 13 Jan 04 - 06:41 PM Thanks Charlie, but I was already aware of those notes. They don't mention where Tim Eriksen got his set of words from, which was my question. Yes, I have tried emailing him... |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Ed. Date: 14 Jan 04 - 04:00 PM Refresh. Anyone? |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Sooz Date: 15 Jan 04 - 04:09 AM Great version by Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman! |
Subject: DT Correction: The Granite Mill Fire From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Dec 09 - 03:47 PM Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry for this song: Burning of the Granite Mill, The [Laws G13]DESCRIPTION: Workers in a Fall River factory are routinely locked into their workplace. The mill catches fire and the workers -- who could have been saved if conditions had been better -- die in agonyAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia) KEYWORDS: fire death disaster HISTORICAL REFERENCES: Sept 19, 1874 - Burning of the Granite Mill in Fall River, Massachusetts. The tragedy, in which 20 died, three disappeared, and 36 were injured, was aggravated by the failure to sound a fire alarm for twenty minutes FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar) REFERENCES (3 citations): Laws G13, "The Burning of the Granite Mill" Creighton-NovaScotia 118, "Granite Mill" (1 text, 1 tune) DT 675, GRANITML Roud #1823 File: LG13 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2009 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. Here are the Digital Tradition lyrics, with correction of OCR errors: THE GRANITE MILL FIRE The above is an exact transcription of the version in Helen Creighton's Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, #118, pp. 257-258. Note that Fall River is mistakenly identified as being in New York. The fire actually occurred in Fall River Massachusetts, 19 September 1874. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Dec 09 - 04:24 PM It might be worthwhile to post the news account that Ed linked to above. It came from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ussnei/GraniteFire.htm Unfortunately, the original source3 is not cited. Fall River MA, 19 September 1874 FIRE AND GREAT LOSS OF LIFE! DESTRUCTION OF GRANITE MILL NO. ONE! A TERRIBLE CALAMITY! This morning, a little before 7 o'clock, an alarm of fire was sounded from boxes 72 and 74, and it was soon found that Granite Mill No.1 was on fire in the central part - the spooling room in the fifth story. The fire is supposed to have been occasioned by the friction of one of the mules. It spread so rapidly that the help were immediately bewildered and panic stricken, and could not avail themselves of the fire escape, which was ample to save all. The room was instantly filled with smoke, and the help huddled into the south end where the flames had not come. |
Subject: ADD Version: The Burning of the Granite Mill From: Joe Offer Date: 16 Dec 09 - 05:45 PM Here, after almost six years, is the answer to Ed's original question. THE BURNING OF THE GRANITE MILL In this world with care and trouble Many accidents occur. I am going to sing about one The saddest you ever heard. 'Twas in Fall River City Where the people were burned up and killed, Imprisoned in a factory Known as the Granite Mills. At seven o'clock the fire bell rung; The alarm it was too late. The fire it was a-raging. It was at a fearful rate. Men and women were in it, Children I suppose as well. They all might have been saved had the truth been known From the flames of the burning mill. The first scene was a cruel one. A girl so young in years, She was standing at the window And her eyes were bathed in tears. She was standing at the window And she called her mother's name, "O mother, mother, save me." And she fell back in the flames. The next scene was a horrid one And as she passed my eyes She was leaping out of a window And from the roof so high. There was a poor creature who tried to escape By sliding down a rope And when she got about halfway down Those burning strands, they broke. Crash, crash she came upon the ground. She was bruised, burned and killed. Three hundred people lost their lives In the flames of the burning mill. And now I am going to conclude my song And if you will all agree I will try and please you one and all And all this company. It was my opinion It is my opinion still They all might have been saved had the truth been known From the flames of the burning mill. [When we have undergone such a terrible scene, I think the singer continues the torture by withholding "the truth"!] [Recalled later as first half of last stanza.] I hope her soul has gone to rest In a place that is dearer still Above, above in heaven above And away from the burning mill. The Granite Mill, in Fall River, Massachusetts, was built in 1863, and was burned on September 19, 1874; the fire started in an unoiled mulehead. It was a five-story building, 378 feet long by 70 wide, with a pitch roof and a tower in the center front. The fire alarm was not sounded for twenty minutes and in the meantime over fifty persons were trapped in the attic, of whom the Boston Traveller of September 20 reported twenty known dead, three missing, and thirty-six injured. A version of "The Burning of the Granite Mill," with the air, is in Creighton's Ballads and Songs from Nova Scotia, pp. 257—258. Many of the employees of the Fall River Mills came from Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. We find the ballad sung, therefore, quite where we should expect to find it, in Maine and Nova Scotia, as well as in Vermont. A different song, "The Burning Granite Mill," to the air, "Wreck of the London," sung with great applause by Johnny Gibbons, is in Maud Beverly's Don't Leave Your Mother, When Her Hair Turns Grey Songster, p. 23 (Barry Collection of Ballad Prints). We may quote the last stanza: "Oh! Where is my three children," the widowed mother cried; "Where is Katy, Maggie, Annie, they were my only pride!" Thus mournfully the mother wept, as a group moved slowly on Bearing the bodies of her children from the Granite Number One. Source: The New Green Mountain Songster (Flanders, Ballard, Brown, Barry, 1939), pp. 229-231 Sent in by Mrs. A.A. Mills, Florence, Vermont Click to play |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Ruth Archer Date: 16 Dec 09 - 06:33 PM Thanks for that, Joe. I used to sing this song, which I also got from Cordelia's Dad, and wondered where the specific version Tim Eriksen sings had come from. Anyone fans of Tim/Cordelia's Dad might be interested to know that the band is doing a reunion gig at Sidmouth FolkWeek 2010. It's got to be about 10 years since their last UK gig, so this is a very special opportunity. Tim Eriksen will also give some Shape Note singing workshops and solo performances. And if you ask nicely, he might just sing Granite Mill. :) |
Subject: RE: Origins: Granite Mills (Granite Mill Fire) From: Ed. Date: 01 Jul 10 - 05:39 AM Well, thanks from 6 years later! Noted from the top link: Summer 2010 Tuesday, August 3: Cordelia's Dad rock reunion at Sidmouth Festival in England. Tim Eriksen, Peter Irvine, Cath Oss and guests plug in for a retrospective electric set. Wish I could be there. Play loud guys and scare a few people away! |
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