Blackleg Miner

It’s in the evening, after dark
The blackleg miner gangs ta work
In his moleskin pants and dirty shirt
There goes the blackleg miner

 So join the union while you may
 And don’t wait till your dying day
 For that may not be far away
 You dirty blackleg miner


He takes his pick and down he goes
To hew the coal that lies below
There’s not a woman in this town row
Would look at a blackleg miner

For Deleva is a terrible place
They rub wet clay in a blackleg’s face
Around the pits they run a foot race
To catch the blackleg miner

And don’t go near the Segal mine
Across the top they’ve stretched a line
To catch the throat and break the spine
Of the dirty blackleg miner

Well they take his pick and duds as well
And they hurl them down the Pit of Hell
So off you go and fare thee well
You dirty blackleg miner