Springhill Mine Disaster
Martin Carthy Lyrics

In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia
This song is about a mining tragedy that took place in Springhill, Nova Scotia.

Deep in the heart of the Cumberland Mine
The tragedy took place inside the Cumberland Mine.

There's blood on the coal and the miners lie
Many miners lost their lives in this tragedy.

In roads that never saw sun nor sky
The mining tunnels were very deep and dark, with no access to sunlight.

Roads that never saw sun nor sky
This line repeats the previous one to emphasize how deep and dark the mining tunnels were.

In the town of Springhill you don't sleep easy
Living in Springhill was not easy due to the constant danger of mining accidents.

Often the earth would tremble and roll
The ground would often shake, making life even more precarious for the miners.

When the earth is restless miners die
Mining accidents often happen when the ground is unstable.

Bone and blood is the price of coal
Mining coal is a dangerous and deadly job.

Late in the year of 58
The tragedy took place in the year 1958.

The day still comes and the sun still shines
Life goes on even after tragedies like this one.

But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine
Despite the outside world being bright, life inside the mine was pitch black and full of death.

Down at the coal face miners working
The miners were hard at work extracting coal from the earth.

Rattle of the belts and the cutter blades
The sound of mining equipment can be heard in the tunnels.

Then a rumble of rock and the walls close round
A cave-in occurred, trapping the miners inside.

Living and the dead men two miles down
Some miners survived the cave-in, but many did not.

Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft
Twelve miners were trapped two miles underground.

Twelve men lay in the dark and sang
Despite their dire situation, the miners sang to lift their spirits.

Long hot days in the miner's tomb
The miners were trapped underground for days without food, water or light.

It was three foot wide by a hundred long
The space where the miners were trapped was only three feet wide but stretched for a hundred feet.

Three days passed and the lights gave out
The miners' only source of light ran out after three days.

When the leading man got up and said
One of the miners took charge and addressed the group.

There's no more water nor light nor bread
The miners had run out of essential supplies.

So we'll live on songs of hope instead
The miners decided to sing songs to keep their spirits up instead of waiting for rescue.

Listen for the shouts of the bareface miners
The outside world listened for any signs from the trapped miners.

Listen through the rubble for the rescue team
Rescue teams worked to dig out the trapped miners.

Six hundred feet of coal and slag
The rescue team had to dig through 600 feet of coal and debris to reach the trapped miners.

Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam
Despite the difficult digging conditions, there was still hope that the miners could be rescued.

Eight days passed and some were rescued
After over a week underground, some of the trapped miners were finally rescued.

Leaving the rest to die alone
Unfortunately, some of the miners did not survive and were left to die alone.

Through all their lives they dug a grave
The miners spent their whole lives digging coal, and in the end, it was their grave.

Two miles of earth for a marking stone
The miners' grave was marked by the two miles of earth that they had been trapped under.