The Blantyre Explosion (Scotland)

Sung by Jimmy Connell

1
By Clyde’s bonnie banks as I slowly did wander
Among the pit heaps as the evening drew nigh
I spied a young woman all dressed in black mourning
Weeping and wailing with many a sigh.
2
I stepped up beside her and slowly addressed her
Would it help you to talk of the cause of your pain
Weeping and wailing she slowly did answer,
“Johnny Murphy kind Sir was my true lover's name.”
3
“Twenty-one years of age full of youth and good looking
To work down the mines of High Blantyre he came
The wedding was fixed and the guests were invited
On a calm Autumn evening my Johnny was slain.”
4
The explosion was heard by the women and children
With grey painted faces they ran to the mine
When the news was made heard all the hills cried with mourning
Two hundred and ten Scottish miners were slain.
5
So mothers and daughters and sweethearts and lovers
The Blantyre explosion you'll never forget
Come all you good people who hear my sad story
Remember the miners who lie in their rest.