Tank's Poetry
Tank's Poetry |
united states mine rescue association
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Girlhood days are done Now she'll never feel the summer rain ‘til it's running underground Never see a winter sun And never question that the likes of her are bound Bound before her birth, faither paid tae tie his family Worked them half tae death, aff the day level mine And she cairried coals and climbed, up the stair and doon the ladder Shifting mair than fifteen ton afore she was nine Girlhood days are done Now she'll never feel the summer rain ‘til it's running underground Never see a winter sun And never question that the likes of her are bound Darker than the night were the days that she endured She never learned tae write, but she kent aa her psalms And the oors were lang and drear, breathing in the foul carbolic Wishing for a lad to come and take her in his arms Girlhood days are done Now she'll never feel the summer rain ‘til it's running underground Never see a winter sun And never question that the likes of her are bound Mairried for her strength, mair than for her passing beauty, Wrought wi him the length o the dark, dusty seams For a man must hae a wife tae cairry creels and redd the coals And raise the bonnie bairnies that will haunt her dreams Since her man was taen, still she's had tae work her seam And leave the youngest bairn by the dark stoop side And she gies the bairn the breast, cauld stoved tatties tae the rest Starts her auldest lassie working by her side Girlhood days are done Now she'll never feel the summer rain ‘til it's running underground Never see a winter sun And never question that the likes of her are bound [Repeat] The sleeve notes for MacAlias’ album Highwired say, "In the early days of coal-mining in Lochgelly, Fife, women and children worked underground from an early age. Paired up with the men who hewed the coal, the women carried it to the surface in large baskets on their backs. Gill’s song was inspired by an account written by Archibald Cook (born 1837) which tells the story of his grandmother.
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