Blackleg Miner chords by Traditional

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