The Blantyre Explosion

By Clide's bonnie banks
As I sadly did wander
Among the pit heaps
As evening grew high
I spied a young maiden
All dressed in deep mourning
A weeping and wailing
With many a sigh
I stepped up beside her
And this I adressed her
"Pray, tell me fair maid
Of your trouble and pain

Sobbing and sighing
At last she did answer
"Johnny Murphy, kind sir
Was my true lover's name
Twenty-one years of age
Full of youth and good looking
To work down the mine
Of high Blantyre he came
The wedding was fixed
All guests were invited
That calm summer's evening
My Johnny was slain
The explosion was heard
All the women and children
With pale anxious faces
Made haste to the mine

When the truth was made known
The hills rang with their mourning
Three hundred and ten
Young miners were slain
Now husbands and wives
And sweethearts and brothers
That Blantyre explosion
They'll never forget
And all you young miners
Who hear my sad story
Shed a tear for the victims
Who were laid to their rest