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The Old Miner
[ Roud 1136 ; Mudcat 6258 ; trad.]
The Singing Tradition (Julie West, Martyn Briggs, Bob Lapworth, Mick Nash) sang The Old Miner in 1971 on the Topic album of songs, stories and tunes from the central countries, The Wide Midlands, produced by Roy Palmer. He noted in the sleeve notes:
An old miner at Haunchwood Pit, Nuneaton [Warwickshire], made up this song to a tune he had learned in his native Durham. John Moreton heard it in the early 1960's.
A year later, Roy Palmer included the song in his book Songs of the Midlands (EP Publishing 1972).
The Silly Sisters (Maddy Prior and Jone Tabor, accompanied by Dan Ar Braz, guitar; Huw Warren, keyboards; Jim Sutherland, percussion) recorded The Old Miner in 1988 for their second album, No More to the Dance. This recording was included in 2000 on the English folk anthology And We'll All Have Tea.
And John Kirkpatrick, accompanied by himself on accordion and Sue Harris on hammered dulcimer, sang The Old Miner in 1989 on their Topic album Stolen Ground. This track was also included in 1994 on his anthology CD A Short History of John Kirkpatrick. They also sang it in 1993 for the 2 cassette miner's benefit compilation, Undefeated.
Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton sang Old Coal Miner on their 1998 album The Bee-Loud Glade.
Lyrics
The Silly Sisters sing The Old Miner | John Kirkpatrick sings The Old Miner |
---|---|
Oh who'll replace this old miner |
Oh who'll replace this old miner? |
Oh who will wield this heavy pick | |
Oh who will ride the miners' train |
Oh who will ride the miners' train? |
Who'll wield my pick that now I hoe | |
Oh who will load this great iron top |
Oh who will bow beneath the wait? |
Oh who will cry when the roof caves in |
Oh who will cry when the roof caves in |
For forty years I've loved the mine |
For forty years I've loved the mine, |