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Blackleg Miner by Traditional

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Traditional, from Northumberland (north-eastern England). 
There have been many miners' strikes over the years,
and it's unclear which one this dates from - perhaps from the strikes of 1844,
which collapsed after 20 weeks thanks to strike-breaking (blackleg) miners. 
It enjoyed a revival thanks to the miners' strikes of the 1980s 
under Margaret Thatcher's government.

Various artists have recorded this; this version is from the oral tradition 
of Forest School Camps.


     Dm              C
It's in the evening, after dark
    Dm              Am
The blackleg miner gangs ta wark
       Dm                 C
In his moleskin pants and dirty shirt
      Dm       C        Dm
There goes the blackleg miner

   Dm                 C
He takes his pick and down he goes
   Dm                Am
To hew the coal that lies below
        Dm             C
There's not a woman in this town row
      Dm        C        Dm
Would look at a blackleg miner

Dm           C
For Deleval is a terrible place
     Dm                Am
They rub wet clay in a blackleg's face
 Dm                  C
Around the pits they run a foot race
   Dm        C        Dm
To catch the blackleg miner

    Dm                C
And don't go near the Seghill mine
 Dm                    Am
Across the top they've stretched a line
   Dm                   C
To catch the throat and break the spine
       Dm    C        Dm
Of the dirty blackleg miner

          Dm                C
Well they take his pick and duds as well
         Dm                 Am
And they hurl them down the pit of Hell
   Dm             C
So off you go and fare thee well
    Dm    C        Dm
You dirty blackleg miner

   Dm             C
So join the union while you may
      Dm             Am
Don't wait till your dying day
    Dm              C
For that may not be far away
    Dm    C        Dm