Down In The Coalmine

I am a jovial collier lad as blithe as blithe can be
And let the times be good or bad, it’s all the same to me
It’s little of the world I know and care less for its ways
For where the dog star never glows I wear away my days

Down in the coalmine, underneath the ground
Where a gleam of sunshine never can be found
Digging up the dusky diamonds all the season round
Deep down in the coalmine, underneath the ground

Me hands are horny, hard and black through working in the vein
And like the clothes upon me back my speech is rough and plain
Well if I stumble with my tongue I’ve one excuse to say
It’s not the collier’s heart that’s wrong, it’s the head that goes astray

Down in the coalmine, underneath the ground
Where a gleam of sunshine never can be found
Digging up the dusky diamonds all the season round
Deep down in the coalmine, underneath the ground

How little do the great ones care who sit at home secure
What hidden dangers colliers dare, what hardships they endure
The very fire they sit beside to cheer themselves and wives
Mayhap was kindled at the cost of jovial miners lives

Down in the coalmine, underneath the ground
Where a gleam of sunshine never can be found
Digging up the dusky diamonds all the season round
Deep down in the coalmine, underneath the ground

Then cheer up lads and make the most of every joy you can
And always let your mirth such as best befits a man
For let the times be good or bad, we’ll still be jovial souls
For where would Britain be without the lads who look for coals

Down in the coalmine, underneath the ground
Where a gleam of sunshine never can be found
Digging up the dusky diamonds all the season round
Deep down in the coalmine, underneath the ground