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11 Feb 22 - 04:03 AM (#4136168) Subject: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: BoatinWend DOes anyone know of any songs about the coal mining industry from the woman's point of view. I know Keith Marsden's Morley Main but would like one more. Thanks, Wendy Freer |
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11 Feb 22 - 04:15 AM (#4136170) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GerryM Redwinged Blackbird, by Billy Edd Wheeler (also recorded by Judy Collins, by Herdman-Hills-Mangsen, Kathy Mattea, probably others). The Testimony of Patience Kershaw, written by Frank Higgins, recorded by Roy Bailey, The Unthanks, probably others. |
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11 Feb 22 - 06:27 AM (#4136189) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Reinhard Collier Lassie, just posted here a few days ago. |
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11 Feb 22 - 07:39 AM (#4136193) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: gillymor Coal Mining Woman by Cathy Fink, acutally written by a man, Si Kahn. |
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11 Feb 22 - 07:57 AM (#4136198) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: cnd Jean Ritchie's West Virginia Mine Disaster |
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11 Feb 22 - 09:44 AM (#4136208) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Roderick A Warner From the 1984 UK Miners Strike: Women Of The Working Class |
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11 Feb 22 - 09:47 AM (#4136209) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: G-Force Jez Lowe 'The Last of the Widows'. |
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11 Feb 22 - 11:55 AM (#4136223) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: RTim How about this one - one of my favorites and I sing it often Tim Radford THE NORTH COUNTRY MINER'S WIFE. Bob Davenport. One day while in the North Country A lassie there I spied All dressed in deep mourning So bitterly she cried She lost her man killed down the pit Crushed by a fall of stone So short a time she lay with him So long she'll lie alone. Now they were 17 years old When their married life began And at the age of 19 years She bore to him a son A few more months she had To be for him a wife So short a time together Before he lost his life. Long as she lives she'll never forget That cruel winter's day Long as she'll live she'll curse the pit That took her man away The owners think one day her bairn Will take its father's place But she'd sooner see him go to jail Than go hewing at the face. |
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11 Feb 22 - 01:39 PM (#4136237) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Jeri Miner's Lullbye, Utah Phillips |
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11 Feb 22 - 02:38 PM (#4136246) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,IS The book 'Bonny Collier Lads and Lasses: Songs of Scottish Coalmining' by Ewan McVicar might contain one or two such songs... |
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11 Feb 22 - 06:25 PM (#4136257) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: cetmst Album,They'll Never Keep Us Down: Women' Coal Mining Songs Coal Mining Woman, Hazel Dickens Draglines Blue Diamond Mines, Phyllis Boyens Coal Miner's Grave, Hazel Dickens Hello Coal Miner, Sarah Ogen Gunning Dream of A Miner's Child, Phyllis Boyens Coal Tattoo, Hazel Dickens The Battle of Jericol Lawrence Jones, Phyllis Boyens What She Aims yo Be, The Reel World String Band Which Side Are You On?, Florence Reece They'll Never Keep Us Down, Hazel Dickens |
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12 Feb 22 - 05:11 AM (#4136298) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,santaci Miners' Wives by Joe Corrie put to music by Alan Reid. The Battlefield version segues into I am the Common Man and is a classic. |
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12 Feb 22 - 05:23 AM (#4136301) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Raggytash Weepin' an' Wailin' by Ted Edwards. It starts:- I'm going now Mary I'm off down to pits in an hour I'll be at the coal I'll be makin' good brass for our Jenny and thee does't remember when I was on dole so gi'us me tin, put a smile on thee face I'll be back before ending of day but don't let it show love, let nobody see as tha's weepin' an' wailing' away Weepin' an' wailin' away weepin' an' wailin' away the men at the coal and the women at homw and they're weepin'an wailin' away |
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12 Feb 22 - 08:24 AM (#4136326) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Tom Patterson A great example would be The Collier Laddie's Wife written by Billy Mitchell and performed wonderfully by Anne Lamb on Youtube. |
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12 Feb 22 - 06:09 PM (#4136376) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Tinker from Chicago Tom Paxton's "Johnson: is sung by a woman who lost her man in an underground fire. |
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12 Feb 22 - 08:42 PM (#4136392) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Tattie Bogle "Winter Sun" by Gill Bowman, about women and children going down the Scottish pits. Set to Ivan Drever’s tune “Leaving Stoer”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_AsNQ3tfJ0 |
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12 Feb 22 - 08:55 PM (#4136393) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Tattie Bogle More info about the above song: Winter Sun |
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13 Feb 22 - 09:37 AM (#4136436) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar Some from my book and sctssangsfurschools website THE LITTLE COLLIER SLAVE By Ewan McVicar Tune The Handloom Weaver and the Factory Maid I'm a handloom spinner, and my tale is sad I fell in love with a collier lad My father slighted him and his, and so I went to live down in the Collier's Row My mother tore her hair and wrung her hands She cried aloud to hear the wedding banns But still she helped me when my time had come And I brought forth my little collier son My little collier, born to be a slave To wear his master's collar and be brave To delve below the ground all alone And listen every day for falling stone. Until 1799 Scottish colliers were slaves, they and their families could not leave their employment. WORKING AT THE WASHING RAKE By Ewan McVicar Tune Original When you work at the washing rake Picking out stones while your fingernails break Your hair gets grubby and your muscles ache Working at the washing rake Up at the big house, I've been told Are fine young ladies decked in gold Dining on tea and cake Not like here at the washing rake Take take take me away Over the hills and far off Take take take me to where I can't hear old miners cough Broken old miners, cheeky young boys Noise and dirt, dirt and noise God have pity, come and take me Far away from the washing rake. THE COLLIER LAD Collected by Stravaig member Phyllis Martin from 87 year old Agnes Mclean, a miner's daughter, at Kirkconnel. O the collier lad he's my delight He comforts me baith day and night And though he's black his money's white And ah dearly lo'e the collier o O ma mither sent me tae the well Tae get some water for ma tea Ah tripped on a stane an doon ah fell And a collier lad cam coortin me O ah wish ah was a collier's wife Then ah would live a happy life A happy live as a collier's wife And a lang lie in the mornin o Ma mither warned me awfu weel A wee wee bag would haud ma meal And we'd aa gae mairchin tae the deil The day ah merrit a collier o |
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13 Feb 22 - 09:39 AM (#4136437) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar Some more OME VERY OLD VERSES When I was engaged a coalbearer to be When I was engaged a coalbearer to be Through all the coal pits I maun wear the don brat [apron] If my heart it should break I can never win free The collier has a dochter And oh, she's wonderous bonnny A laird he was that sought her Rich baith in lands and money She wadna hae a laird Nor wad she be a lady But she wad hae a collier The colour o her daddie O when she come ben she bobbit fu law O when she come ben she bobbit fu law O when she come ben she kissed Cockpen And syne she denied she did it at aa And was na Cockpen right saucy withaa And was na Cockpen right saucy withaa In leavin the cdochter o a lord And kissin a collier lassie an aa O never look down, my lassie, at aaa O never look down, my lassie, at aaa Thy lips are as sweet and thy figure complete As the finest dame in castle or haa Tho thou hast nae silk and holland sae sma Tho thou hast nae silk and holland sae sma Thy coat and thy sark are thine ain handywark And Lady Jean was never sae braw |
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13 Feb 22 - 09:41 AM (#4136438) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar And one more. Collier Sweetheart My mother said I could not have a collier If I did it would break her heart I didn’t care what my mother told me I had a collier for my sweetheart But one day up Cadger’s Loan The siren screamed at Pit Four head All of Plean ran to find out How many living, how many dead? Lowsing time in the Carbrook Dook The young shotfirer fired his shot Dynamite blew up the section Twelve lads dead, seventy caught Their holiday bags were lying waiting The men were lying down below The wee canaries they died too Salty tears in the sad Red Rows The young shotfirer had no certificate My young collier gave his life Fate was cruel to my sweetheart And I will never be a wife My mother said I could not have a collier If I did it would break her heart I didn’t care what my mother told me I had a collier for my sweetheart Ewan McVicar was asked by the Tolbooth Project in Stirling to write songs with the P5 class in East Plean Primary School. Ewan’s mother was born in Plean and Ewan remembered that his grandfather, Hugh Reynolds, had told him about being in a mining disaster. Ewan's grandfather had heard the sound of the 1921 explosion when he was hewing (cutting coal) in the next-door pit. Ewan looked up old newspapers to get details of what happened. Then he and P5 wrote this song. A collier is a coal miner. Cadger’s Loan ran from Plean village up the hill to where the coal pits were. The Loan has been renamed President Kennedy Avenue. The shotfirer is the man who bores a hole, packs it with dynamite, then fires the dynamite to open up a new area of rock for the miners to get the coal from. The men expected to come up after their shift and collect their holiday bags for their annual two weeks' holiday from work. The miners lived in streets called the Red Rows, because they were built of red brick. The first verse is from a traditional song about a girl who wants to marry a coal miner. The tune is sometimes called 'Willie Taylor'. 'Collier Sweetheart' is performed by Ewan McVicar, accompanying himself on guitar and mouth organ. |
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13 Feb 22 - 04:03 PM (#4136500) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Tattie Bogle Great stuff, Ewan! Hope the OP comes back and tells us what she has chosen. |
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14 Feb 22 - 06:27 AM (#4136566) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Splott Man How about Scrubbing the Miner's Clothes by John Warner? https://mainlynorfolk.info/danny.spooner/songs/theminerswashing.html Splott Man |
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14 Feb 22 - 07:27 AM (#4136569) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler I have a recording of Sam Stevens and Anne Lennox-Martin singing "The Sun and the Moon" which I think fits in with this. Robin |
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14 Feb 22 - 05:29 PM (#4136627) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: cujimmy The Testimony Patience Kershaw, about a 17yr old girl working in a mine in Halifax in 1842. There are threads discussing this with words etc, but when I tried to create a blue link it did not work sorry, but just search yourself and you should find it easy enough. Coal not Dole - written by Kay Sutcliffe, a miners wife from Kent The link didnt work for this either sorry, but its in the threads if you just search. |
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15 Feb 22 - 01:58 AM (#4136678) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GerryM Splott Man, the John Warner song is called Miner's Washing. |
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16 Feb 22 - 08:50 AM (#4136859) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: GUEST,Jenny Catherine Shaw - think I may have learned this from the singing of Frankie Armstrong? Come all of you young females That like to sit at home With your parents by the fireside And have no thought to roam I was brought up in Staffordshire But there I dwell no more I'll tell you the adventures Of pretty Catherine Shaw I was taken into service At just thirteen years of age And as a lady's chamber maid I firstly did engage But how my mistress treated me Well I am ashamed to say And scarce twelve months I stayed with her Before I ran away Well I wandered north and I wandered south And I roamed the country round Until I came to Derbyshire Where there's coal beneath the ground Where the men they earn good wages And there's lots of gold in store And so I got to thinking That's the life for Katy Shaw So I bought me a pair of moleskin pants And a pair of boots beside With my waistcoat tightly buttoned up My female charms to hide Then I cut off my yellow hair And to the pit did go And enlisted as a soldier In the ranks of down below Well it's many a day I've toiled away With shovel, pick and blade And I've worked as hard as any man Tho I was but a maid I've worked in seams as hot as hell Or Egypt's burning drought But I darestn't take my waistcoat off For fear they'd find me out Until one day a fall of stones Had me pinned to the ground And all the lads came rushing up And quickly gathered round And as they tried to pull me clear Well you should have heard them shout For my waqistcoat was all ripped away And so they found me out So they took me to the deputy And he did laugh and smile To think of how this collier lass Had fooled them all the whole then he took me to the gaffer and he made it very clear That as far as mining was concerned T'was the end of my career But the gaffer's son he fancied me And he marrioed me out of hand So now I live in luxury With servants, house and land And there's many a collier shakes his head As he passes by my door And he thiks of the time he used to work With pretty Catherine Shaw |
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19 Feb 22 - 05:00 AM (#4137155) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Coal mining from woman's point of view From: cujimmy The Blantyre Explosion is another good one, about the disaster of 1877. BLANTYRE EXPLOSION By Clyde's bonny banks where I sadly did wander Among the pit heaps as evening drew nigh; I spied a young woman all dressed in deep mourning A-weeping and wailing with many a sigh. I stepped up beside her and thus I addressed her: "Pray tell me the cause of your trouble and pain." Weeping and sighing, at last she made answer "Johnny Murphy, kind sir, was my true lover's name." "Twenty-one years of age, full of youth and good looking To work down the mines of High Blantyre he came, The wedding was fixed, all the guests were invited That calm summer evening young Johnny was slain. The explosion was heard, all the women and children With pale anxious faces they haste to the mine. When the truth was made known, the hills rang with their mourning Three-hundred-and-ten young miners were slain. Now husbands and wives and sweethearts and brothers That Blantyre explosion they'll never forget; And all the young miners that hear my sad story Shed a tear for the victims who're laid to their rest. |