Digging In The Dark

Lyrics

1
I'm digging in the dark in a Gannister Pit,
It's nearly time to put away my spade,
In my fireside chair I want to sit, 
But there's a noise and I?m suddenly afraid 

Chorus
Oh, digging in the dark, Oh, digging in the dark Oh,
dig-ging in the dark, dig-ging in the dark. 

2
My hopes collapse as the roof falls in,
There's no way out for me to see.
All I've got is tobacco in my tin,
No food, no drink no help for me.

3
I've only one match and a small piece of candle,
I light it and I take a look around,
My only hope is in this pick axe handle,
Will I die or will I be found?

4
I'm thinking of my family above the ground,
As I'm trying to dig my way out,
I just can't sit and wait to be found,
But now, I think I hear a shout!

5
Hands reach in to drag me from the ground,
And I stand up blinking in the sun,
My wife and kids come laughing around,
So glad that help has come.

6
And now as I sit by my fireside at night,
With my children playing around.
No-one should have to dig with all their might,
And die deep underground

This is a contemporary song about Yorkshire.

Provenance

Is a song about Gannister Miners who worked in Bell Pits, - holes in the ground which splayed out underground as the miners dug out the Gannister. The Bell Pits had a bad tendency to collapse without warning, burying the miners and this song is about one of those events, fortunately the miner concerned escapes. Gannister is a soft, silica-rich rock which was used to make fire bricks for the steel works' furnaces.

This song was produced as part of a schools-based industrial heritage project - for more information see industrial-heritage.epip.org.uk/