In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia,
Down in the dark of the Cumberland Mine
There's blood on the coal and the miners lie
In the roads that never saw sun nor sky
Roads that never saw sun nor sky
In the town of Springhill you don't sleep easy
Often the earth will tremble and roll
When the earth is restless miners die
Bone and blood is the price of coal
Bone and blood is the price of coal
In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia
Late in the year of fifty-eight
The day still comes and the sun still shines
But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland mine
Dark as the grave in the Cumberland mine
Down at the coal face miners working
Rattle of the belts and the cutter's blade
Then a rumble of rock and the walls close round
Living and the dead men two miles down
Living and the dead men two miles down
Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang
Long hot days in the miners' tomb
It was three foot high and a hundred long
Three foot high a hundred long
Three days passed and the lamps gave out
And Caleb Rushton got up and said
There's no more water light or bread
So we'll live on songs and hope instead
Live on songs and hope instead
Listen for the shouts of the bare-face miners,
Listen through the rubble for the rescue team
Six hundred feet of coal and slag
Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam
Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam
Eight long days and some were rescued
Leaving the dead to lie alone
Through all their lives they dug their grave
Two miles of earth for a marking stone
Two miles of earth for a marking stone
