The Pit Boys (Neil Balfour)

Neil Balfour performing The Pit Boys. Words by G.P. Codden and arrangement by Kathryn Davidson.
The audio & video in this performance was a continuous LIVE recording for artsongstory.

Apologies for the misspelling of 'whose' in the opening text! Unfortunately, YouTube won't let me replace the video.

Music & Performance: Neil Balfour (www.neilbalfour.com)
Audio & Video: Ben Rawles

ABOUT
On 20 December 1851, an explosion occurred at Warren Vale Colliery, South Yorkshire, and more than fifty men and boys were killed. The lyrics for this song were written to raise funds for the survivors of this explosion, and they tell of a son whose father was killed in the tragedy.

A quote from 'The Annals of Yorkshire' by Henry Schroeder states: 'Some idea may be formed of the effect of the explosion, when it stated that a man standing at a door of a cottage, upwards of a mile distant, was completely blackened!'

The melody was written by Kathryn Davidson for Silver Folk, an ensemble that meets as part of The Sage Gateshead's Silver Programme.

LYRICS
The sun is sinking fast, mother, behind the far blue hills,
The signal bell has ceased, mother, the breeze of evening chills:
They call me to the pit , mother, the nightly toil to share:
One kiss before we part, mother, for danger lingers there.

My father’s voice I hear, mother, as o’er his grave I tread,
He bids me cherish thee, mother, and share with thee, my bread,
And while I see thee smile, mother, my labour light shall be:
And should his fate be mine, mother, heaven will comfort thee.

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