By Jim Connell.
Air: Deep in Canadian Woods We're met.
Deep In the gloom of the great earth's womb
We force the birth of coal,
The power that moves the nation's wheels
To that furnace fires we roll.
We dig out wealth at the cost of health
To guild oppression's shrine ;
'Twill aye be so
For a wage of woe
Till the miners own the mine.
Till the miners own the mine.
We furnish forth to the south and north
The force that drives the mill ;
We make the snorting engine dash
Through forest, fen, and hill ;
We rush the lordly ocean craft
Across the bounding brine ;
'Twill aye be so
For a wage of woe
Till the miners own the mine.
Till the miners own the mine.
We move the ranks of the cogs and cranks
Which grind out food and clothes ;
We warm the walls of the festive halls
When the wintry tempest blows ;
We cook the fare and we make the glare
Where lords and ladies dine ;
'Twill aye be so
For a wage of woe
Till the miners own the mine.
We take the risk of the awful whisk
When the rotten cable breaks ;
We pierce the deadly after-damp
When the shattered ceiling shakes ;
We search the wreck for mangled mates
And health and life resign ;
'Twill aye be so
For a wage of woe
Till the miners own the mine.
But we seen light through the breaking night
And a smiling dawn we greet.
We'll toil no more in the planet's core
For a crust and a winding sheet;
We'll drive despair from the bright'ning air,
And hands and hearts combine ;
And we'll find our health
In the Commonwealth
When the miners own the mine.
Notes
From the NSW Newspaper The International Socialist 14 Dec 1912 p. 1.
The Irish trade unionist Jim Connell became world famous for his song "The Red Flag". Greame Smith points out that the tune described as "Deep in Canadian Woods we've met" is the tune to the Irish patriotic song Ireland boys, Hurrah.
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