1. |
Bucket of Coal
03:35
|
|||
|
Jimmy Brown was a fireman on a coal company train
The tracks run by the front of our house I remember likes its yesterday
The times were hard and the money was tight and the winters were long and cold
The engineer would look the other way Jim would kick off a bucket of coal
Chorus
He started kicking at the crossing when the train went slow
I used to walk the tracks with my brother and my dad and pick up a bucket of coal.
You could here the train whistle blowing all the way from Royston Road
I can close my eyes and still see Jim standing on top of the load
Daddy said the train is coming run and get the bucket son
Used to chase my little brother down the tracks man that little bugger could run.
Chorus
Now there's fine trimmed lawns all along where the railway used to run
They're sitting out there in their easy chairs in the afternoon sun.
If you listen real hard you can still hear that steam whistle blow
And old Jimmy yelling from the top of the load Carter come and pickup that coal.
Chorus
|
||||
2. |
Coaldust
04:27
|
|||
|
On the east side of Vancouver Island in 1889
They dug for coal up in this valley
And so was born the Cumberland mines
And the workers, they came from China and the islands of Japan
They came from Italy and the Ukraine
The British Isles and France
Chorus
You can still smell the coal dust
As if it were suspended in time
In our hearts we remember the miners
Who worked their lives
In the Cumberland mines
They cut a road from the beach at Royston
They built a pier at Union Bay
They built the tipples and the railroad
To haul the coal away
There were strikes, fires and cave ins
There were men lost below
But the people here we stand together
If you haven't lived here you wouldn't know
Chorus
As of men and the time we're given
As we know turn to dust
The shafts are sealed and the tunnels are flooded
And all the rails have turned to rust
Chorus
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
The Union Colliery number four was a ten wheeled Baldwin loccie
Built in 1896 back in old Philadelphia.
Sold to Mister Dunsmuir to haul coal from his mines
She should have had wings for she could surely fly
Nine people climbed on board that train that ill fated August day
The Engineer Mr. Walker pulled the train away
Francis Horne was in the cab that's where she liked to ride
And listen to the rails and watch the hills go by.
Chorus
He slowed down for the corner and he hauled back on the steam
Francis reached up for that whistle she loved to hear it scream
But the trestle gave away and to this day its a reason nobody knows
The whole thing fell into the Trent River below
Well they hauled that loccie up the bank with a steam powered donkey winch
They put her all back together started haulin' coal again
As for those left behind all they could do was cry
And pray for the souls of the seven out of nine that died
Chorus
She's sitting down in Snoqhalmie in the State of Washington
Forty more years of hauling logs before her working days were done
Sometimes in the middle of the night that steam whistle screams
The Trent River Trestle still haunts the old girl's dream
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
Pit Pony's Tale
04:49
|
|||
|
My parents were sent here from a farm back in Wales
They smelt the salt sea air felt the wind in the sails
I was born on the beach in the rocks and the sand
We were all sold at auction to work in this land
Side by side with the miners we worked every day
For one pail of grain and a handful of hay
We live in a stable right next to the shaft
Two hundred feet down in the dark and the damp
Chorus
I am a pit pony I’ve worked all my life
In this dark old coal mine where there’s no day or night
All I’ll ask when its over and worked through my time
Lift these tired old bones back to the light
The miners they work for the same poor pay
But they get to leave at the end of the day
The dreams they dig for will never be found
Just like ponies weren’t born to live underground
Chorus
I hope there’s a place where pit ponies go
When we’re done with the work
We’re too weak and too slow
No muck to your knees coal slag or gas
Just the warmth of the sunlight on a field of green grass.
Chorus
|
||||
5. |
Yorkshire Boy
04:59
|
|||
|
We came here from Yorkshire I was just a child
We got here in April this town was young and wild
My father had worked in those hellish pits back in Denneby Main
We said goodbye to all we knew and never went back again.
He cut mining props for old Jock Hutton he didn't mind the rain
They broke him in the rigging crew and he loved those logging trains
He learned to climb the wooden spar and hang the block and line
The toughest man I ever knew when he was in his prime.
I worked a while at he Japanese Mill a white kid on the crew
Till the war came and they shipped them out in 1942
I can't forget those sorrowful eyes and the sadness of that time
When the vultures came for what was left and robbed those people blind.
I signed up one August day to fight the German threat
They dropped us in behind the lines went toe to toe with death
We fought on to victory in 1945
When they sent me back to Cumberland I was lucky to be alive.
As I recall I was surprised how everything had changed
Everything that I held dear to me had all been rearranged
The girl I loved she couldn't wait she married some other guy
Even after all these years sometimes its makes me cry.
Looking back 90 years there's few things I regret
I lent my hand and gave my heart to all I could effect
No matter where I hung my hat in duty, toil or rest
Its this old town that holds me close
Its her I love the best.
We came here from Yorkshire I was just a child
We got here in April this town was young and wild.
|
||||
6. |
Wagner's Waterloo
03:35
|
|||
|
On the twenty third of March nineteen thirteen
The Coal Port of Union Bay was quiet and serene
Constable Ross and Westaway were making their rounds
Nothing ever happened in this quiet little town
In the Fraser Bishop Store they saw a strange light
They went in to check it out it was just another night
Without fear or apprehension they both walked through the door
Westaway came face to face with a deadly forty four.
Chorus:
Henry Wagner was an outlaw he robbed them banks and trains
He rode with the Wild Bunch on the Colorado Plains
Cassidy and Sundance they disappeared its a mystery to this day
But Wagner met his waterloo right here in Union Bay
The outlaw raised his pistol and fired it in the dark
As if guided by the devil's hand the bullet found its mark
With brute force and a billy club Ross brought that outlaw down
And in the fight followed he laid him on the ground
Bridge
Goodbye Harry Westaway goodbye my friend
Your memory lives in our hearts until we meet again
The preacher at the service and the town folks gathered round
They all cried for Westaway when they laid him in the ground
As for Henry Wagner they sentenced him to die
They hung him in Nanai
mo upon the gallows high.
Chorus
|
||||
7. |
South Wellington
04:45
|
|||
|
I was born in South Wellington my father he worked in that mine
My mother did laundry for the manager's wife she worked hard all of her life
My older brother he worked with my dad and one night they did not come home
An explosion took them to heaven and we were left on own.
Chorus
I remember the words of my father
Son don't work in that mine
The air is as black as number nine coal
Every breath will take some of your life
So we packed up and moved to Cumberland
Got a job at the Union Hotel
They let us a room off the alley
But my mother she did not fair well
For she longed for the love of her husband
And grieved for the loss of her son
One night the angels took her
And her mortal days were done.
Chorus
Now the alders have grown up on the railroad tracks
All the slag heaps are covered with moss
When those coal barons counted all their millions
Did they ever consider the cost
Now the ghost of old Dunsmuir still rattles around
In the halls of Craigdarroch Castle
All the money that he made on the miner's that he fleeced
Sure didn't buy him any peace
Chorus
Gonna live out my days in Royston
Let the sea breeze fill up my lungs
I remember my mother my father and my brother
In the words that I wrote them in this song
Chorus
Repeat last two lines of chorus
|
||||
8. |
Cumberland Miner
02:58
|
|||
|
Chorus
I am a Cumberland Miner lived here all my life
Like my daddy before me I worked in number five
First in the hole last at the gate always on time
If you can find something wrong with that
Kiss my coal mining behind
Sometimes on a Saturday we'd take the train to Union Bay
See those coal ships loading up watch them sail away
I must admit there were times I'd think about the rest of the world
But I am just a Cumberland boy that married a Cumberland girl
Chorus
Nineteen and twelve came down to a strike
We were all working men nobody wanted a fight
But the Government moved the militia in
They put a gun at the top of this street
God help the scab or the company goon
That lays a hand on me
Chorus
Gino Martinelli he died in the mine today
The company sent somebody by
To tell his wife she couldn't stay
She was standing with her children crying at he door
They said its too bad its a company house
He don't work for us no more
Chorus
|
||||
9. |
We're Still Here Grandpa
03:32
|
|||
|
My Grandfather farmed this land when the last century was still a baby
He fought in the African War came to this island to raise a family
A farmer and a miner the weigh man at number five
Bending his back to keep his family alive.
Chorus
We're still here Grandpa we're still on the land
We're still here Grandpa everyday working men
And we help each other whenever we can
My three brother's and my old man
The wheels of time rolled on your only son had to go to war
And when he returned you weren't there to help him anymore.
You gave him your love and you left him your pride
And though I never knew you Grandpa I think I realize
Why we're here Grandpa we're still on the land
Why we're here Grandpa everyday working men
And we help each other whenever we can
My three brother's and my old man
My three brothers and my old man
|
||||
10. |
Common Ground
02:24
|
|||
|
Once a year we gather on miners row
And lay at the stone a wreath and a rose
Pray for a better day and when it comes around
we'll all be standing on common ground
Where the poorest of people have all that they need
And all men are free from the talons of greed
On that morning we'll awake to the sound
Of people rejoicing on common ground
Where nobody cares about he color of your skin
Which God you choose or the country you live in
When all the battles are already won
We'll bury the sabre and silence the gun
Once a year we gather on miners row
And lay at he stone a wreath and a rose
Pray for a better day and when it comes around
We'll all be standing on common ground
We'll all be standing on common ground
|
||||
Gordon Carter Courtenay, British Columbia
If you like Gordon Carter, you may also like:
Mind, Man, Medicine
by The Secret Sisters
The Alabama duo's fifth album exults in dusty Americana, showcasing rich vocal harmonies alongside blissful folk instrumentation.
go to album
More contemplative folk from the Minnesota singer-songwriter, sustained by raw full-band arrangements and philosophical lyrics.
go to album
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality.
go to album
Various Artists - Gaza Calling
by Nuovo Canzoniere Partigiano
featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 15, 2024
go to album
Space Bath
by Sami Freeman, feat. James Jackson, Beaunoise, Mia Pixley
A gorgeous journey through a kaleidoscopic array of sonic approaches melted together that feels old and new at the same time.
go to album
Ship To Shore
by Richard Thompson
The legendary Richard Thompson's new solo album exemplifies his many musical paths, from pop and cabaret to jazz to traditional folk.
go to album
Sparkling and knotty indie rock from this Australian group with interlocking guitars and shifting rhythms.
go to album
