Martin Carthy Springhill Mine Disaster Lyrics

In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia
Deep in the heart of the Cumberland Mine
There's blood on the coal and the miners lie
(In) roads that never saw sun nor sky. (x2)

In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy
Often the earth will tremble and roll
When the earth is restless, miners die
Bone and blood is the price of coal. (x2)

In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia
Late in the year of fifty-eight
The day still comes and the sun still shines
(But it's) Dark as the grave in the Cumberland mine.
(x2)

Down at the coal face, miners working
Rattle of the belts and the cutter blades
And the rumble of the rock and the walls closed round
Living and the dead men two miles down. (x2) Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang
Long hot days in the miner's tomb
(It was) Three foot wide and a hundred long. (x2)

Three days past and the lights gave out
When the leading man got up and said
There's no more water, nor light, nor bread
(So we'll) Live on songs or hope instead. (x2)

Listen for the shouts of the barefaced miners
Listen through the rubble for the rescue team
Six hundred feet of coal and slag
Hope imprisoned in a three foot seam. (x2)

Eight days passes and some were rescued
Leaving the rest to die alone
Through all their lives they dug a grave
Two miles of earth for a marking stone. (x2)