Seth Lakeman Lyrics
The Colliers
You've heard of the great disaster
Where a terrible price was paid.
One hundred and forty colliers lost, and twenty only saved.
Down in the ground they're lying
With a dirt so thick inside.
There were many lost in the dark and dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The gas in the old deep section
Packed like a wintery drift.
And many a man had a blackened face
before he'd finished his shift.
The manager had been told
"Don't fire that shot, we'll die!"
There were many lost in the dark and dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The firemen report their missing,
Some say forty days.
The manager he ignored them to cover his criminal ways.
Now down in the dark they're lying
With a dirt so thick inside.
There were many lost in the dark and dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The family sent white lillies,
And paid for their Sunday best,
And the manager found, well all comes down
The colliers had their rest.
We'll go one more time unto the mine
To hear those colliers cry!
There were many lost in the dark and dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"