Graham Bell and Anne Lamb at The Bridge Folk Club - Coalworking Man (Written by Graham)

Graham Bell and Anne Lamb at The Bridge Folk Club, 15 April 2024
Coalworking Man (Written by Graham)
Graham has written a lot of songs about pits and coalmining. He says that it is a bittersweet subject for him, and this is one of the songs that is more sweet than bitter
Anne is wearing the traditional dress of the Geordie woman, the pinnie (apron). Pinnies weren’t worn so much out of doors but there’d be very few Geordie women who didn’t wear a pinnie all day at home, from getting dressed in the morning to going to bed at night
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Graham’s lyrics are below, and here is a short glossary of most of the terms he uses:
* Bank - is the surface world at the top of the mine shaft, very different from underground
*Putt - A putter takes the full coal tubs from where they have been loaded to the bottom of the shaft so they can be taken to the surface. Putting can be manually pushing the coal-tubs, or driving them with a pony
* Hew - is to use a pick to bring coal out of the (coal)face
* Shull - shovel
* Limmers - are the shafts that hitch the pony to the coaltub
* Subs are union subsciptions
* Hyem - home
* Dandle - bounce up and down playfully
* Bairn - child
* Gill - usually half a pint of beer
* Cree - a type of shed, usually one where pigeons are kept
* The Durham big meet - the annual Miners’ Gala in Durham, a terrific day out
* Banners - lots of beautifully illustrated banners from the various pits are paraded through Durham at the Gala
* Shuggy boats - a large old-fashioned fairground ride
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Coalworking Man (Graham Bell)
Chorus
Aa’m a coal working man
To the pit Aah will gan
On fore shift or back shift
Aah divn't mind which
And Aa’ll putt or Aa’ll hew
Cos there's plenty to do
For a hard-working coal working man
Through the dark and the damp
Aah will gan with me lamp
Me shull Aah shall shoulder with pride
From bank to the face
Aah will gather some pace
When sat on the limmers Aah ride
When put to the test
As te whee can putt best
There's nee one can match uz at aal
Aa’ll fill up the tubs
Aye and Aa’ll pay up me subs
Cos united we stand and divided we fall
Chorus (wife singing)
He's me coal working man
To the pit he will gan
On fore shift or back shift
He doesn't mind which
And he'll putt or he'll hew
Cos there's plenty to do
For me hard-working coal working man
And when his shift's done
He'll come hyem tiv ees son
And his bonny wife Annie, that's me
Aa’ll fill the tin bath and he'll mek a bit splash
When he dandles the bairn on his knee
And when Sunday falls
He'll play quoits with his pals
And call into the pub for a gill
But what he loves most
Is me Sunday joint roast
With tatties and yorkshires
We'll aall eat wor fill
Chorus (miner singing)
Aa’m a coal working man
To the pit Aah will gan
On fore shift or back shift
Aah divn't mind which
And Aa’ll putt or Aa’ll hew
Cos there's plenty to do
For a hard-working coal working man
Then after me tea
Aa'll gan doon to the cree
Me pigeons set skyward in flight
Then Aa'll rattle the tin
And they'll aall flee back in
And Aa'll bar them aall up for the night
And we'll dee alreet at the Durham big meet
There’ll be bands and banners galore
And we love to see
The expressions of glee
As the bairns on the shuggy boats soar
Chorus (miner singing)
Aa’m a coal working man
To the pit Aah will gan
On fore shift or back shift
Aah divn't mind which
And Aa’ll putt or Aa’ll hew
Cos there's plenty to do
For a hard-working coal working man
Enjoy more of Graham Bell’s songs on his UA-cam channel. Go to / @grahambell2101