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!"