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SINGING THE LEAD

by Tony Morris

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1.
Chorus Getting the old galena, It is our daily task. Extracting the old galena, The only thing we ask. With jumper and pricker and powder too, It’s the daily job that we all do, With pick and mell and shovel too, Getting the old galena. Our hope our seam does not pinch out But that it bellys broad and stout And most of all, we don’t break out Into where the old man’s been. Our hope our seam, with many a bing, Will make our fortunes so we can sing Every day we go to work. Chorus Up the addit, as we go, A bit of chafe and a bit of craic With the candles on our hats Giving the rocks a glow. Some they sparkle in the light, Some are dark as dark of night But in our place the galena’s bright And our hopes they ever grow. Chorus Sometimes a river of silver Runs through our seam of lead, Some promise us silver teapots, Perhaps when someone’s wed. Sometimes, when our bargain fails, We end up owing t’mine But then we bargain once again To change that ‘thine’ to ‘mine’. And so we gamble every day, Gambling is the miners’ way, Gambling on the galena. Getting the old galena, It is our daily task. Extracting the old galena, The only thing we ask. With jumper and pricker and powder too, It’s the daily job that we all do, With pick and mell and shovel too, Getting the old galena.
2.
LADY BEAUMONT’S BOAST Lady Beaumont, laughing, said, To her friends at tea, “I’ll tell you a tale Of a silver river, a silver river, A silver river from a Weardale mine Flowing through the room where we all dine. There are funny little men, In funny little hats Burrowing underground, Hammering and banging with a will And many an explosive sound. They work with candles on their caps To give them a little light And when they surface from the mine They are a very strange sight. Lady Beaumont, laughing, said, To her friends at tea, “I’ll tell you a tale Of a silver river, a silver river, A silver river from a Weardale mine Flowing through the room where we all dine. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Along the addit, up the drift, Down the sump, Sweating men get every lump, With pick and shovel. Mel and jumper. Pricker and powder, And, shattering, Louder, Explosion down the mine. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, laughing, said, To her friends at tea, “I’ll tell you a tale Of a silver river, a silver river, A silver river from a Weardale mine Flowing through the room where we all dine. These men, they want to look for lead Beneath my Husband’s land. They pay him for the privilege, A bargain that is grand. Sometimes, among the lead they seek, Some silver ore is found, And then it comes to me, Another silver teapot For my cup of tea. Lady Beaumont, laughing, said, To her friends at tea, “I’ll tell you a tale Of a silver river, a silver river, A silver river from a Weardale mine Flowing through the room where we all dine. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. There’s a lot of men, a lot of boys, A lot of toil with very few joys, A lot of dirt and much disease, A short life with little ease, In frost and snow the washer children shiver To source the Silver River, To fill that Silver River. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. Lady Beaumont, laughing, said, To her friends at tea, “That’s the tale Of a silver river, a silver river, A silver river from a Weardale mine Flowing through the room where we all dine. Lady Beaumont, do you know, do you know. (Repeat and fade)
3.
Isaac Holden 03:56
Chorus Isaac, Isaac, Isaac Holden, Buy my teas they’ll warm you up. Isaac Holden, Isaac Holden, All my teas will you embolden. No need for the Demon Drink. As a lead miner he started life Until he took himself a wife, Ann Telfer was her name. She said that lead was bad for health; She said that lead was bad for wealth, So a grocer he became. Chorus Well, Ann she said fine folk liked tea, “Now, Isaac, just you listen to me.” So, across the moors he made his trails In all weathers, rain snow or hail, From mansion house to mansion house, A dealer in fine teas. Chorus Not all in Weardale had good lives; Not all in Weardale had good wives, So, to the mansion folk he’d sell Little gifts for ‘char-i-tea’, Little gifts for ‘char-i-tea’, Isaac’s little joke. Chorus At Allenheads a well was made That all might drink the crystal stream, Part of Isaac’s daily dream Of healthy living in the Dale, And, if healthy living, it should fail, He gave a hearse as well. Chorus Now the tale of Isaac’s told, Isaac with a heart of gold For too soon, For Isaac, in his hearse, The Chapel bell tolled. So, praise the Lord for Isaac Holden, Isaac Holden, Isaac Holden, Isaac with a heart so golden. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Brothers and Sisters, Hallelujah! Chorus
4.
THE BONNY HOUNDS OF WEARDALE Chorus They’re bonny hounds and brave hounds That race across the fell: They’re bonny lads and brave lads That breed and train ‘em well. At crack o’ dawn with chores all done It’s a bright clear day, No scent to find till the frost is gone, We’ll still be on our way. We’ll bring our hounds to the meeting point And old Ralph will hunt them well With horn and holloa, And we’ll all follow, To find a hare on the fell. Chorus Well Puss is up an away she gans, Flying across the moor, Wi yan lug up an’ yan clept back, She’s viewed to a mighty roar Of screams and shouts from all the lads, It gets the hounds heads up: It makes old Ralph quite sore. Chorus So, Ralph he casts them once again Till hounds pick up the scent. Noses down, lemon and white, Black and tan, away they gan, With bell like cry,the Dale is rent. Chorus Well, Puss has gone by Cauldknockles And up past Pumpyhall. She’s run the waters of Burnhope burn And over brow she twists and turns. And in the heather she’s clapped down. Chorus Whey another hare is up and away As if it were all arranged. So, off go hounds with a hullaballoo, And off go lads with a great to do And the brave lads and the bonny lads Don’t know their hare has changed. Chorus Well, the bonny lads, they carry on Until its long past noon When they retire to the Hare and Hounds For craic and song and bumper rounds And the bonny hounds make their own way home Where Missus will feed them well, For the bonny lads of Weardale Will not give up song, ale and tale, Till the Moon has lit the fell. They’re bonny hounds and brave hounds That race across the fell: They’re bonny lads and brave lads That breed and train ‘em well. They’re bonny hounds and brave hounds That race across the fell: They’re bonny lads and brave lads That breed and train ‘em well.
5.
THE BATTLE OF STANHOPE Chorus “Bang!” with the piece, the moorhen’s shot, The bonny moorhen, the bonny moorhen, Off with the feathers and into the pot. This was the way of Weardale, This was the way of the Dale. Prince Bishop was in Durham, saying his prayers Suddenly, Bailiffs and Keepers came bursting in, Interrupting psalm and hymn, To tell him of this terrible sin. A terrible sin, his Grace, declared, To poach his game to feed the bairns, The lead miners must be caught and tried For the killing of his Grace’s pride. Chorus Up the Dale, in dark of night, Sneaked the Bishop’s men, Fathers and sons from their homes they took And in the Bull Inn locked them up But did they weep and did they wail? No. For the lads of Stanhope were having none And fetched their fists and sticks and guns And so was a bonny battle begun And from the Bull Inn The Miners were sprung. Chorus So, the Bishop’s men, all black and blue, Broken boned and broken nosed, Went back to Durham where the Bishop dozed, Woke him up to tell him that it was still, “Bang!” with the piece, The moorhen’s shot, The bonny moorhen, the bonny moorhen, Off with the feathers and into the pot. This was the way of Weardale, This was the way of the Dale. Well, the Bishop prayed and the Bishop roared While the lads of Stanhope cheered and cheered And went off again to hunt and sing Of the Battle of Stanhope and the bonny moorhen, Of how the Bishop was beaten By the lead mining men. “Bang!” with the piece, The moorhen’s shot, The bonny moorhen, the bonny moorhen, Off with the feathers and into the pot. This was the way of Weardale, This was the way of the Dale. (repeat)
6.
Three 'P's 01:53
THREE ‘P’S Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. Me Dad, he plants Po tate-oes, Po tate-oes, Po tate-oes Me Dad, he plants Po tate-oes. One of the ‘P’s is potatoes. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. One of the ‘P’s Is a tree, Is a tree, Is a tree. One of the ‘P’s Is a tree, A tree with feathers and eggs, Pole-tree, pole-tree, A tree with feathers and eggs. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. The third ‘P’ has a curly tail, A curly tail, a curly tail. The third ‘P’ has a curly tail, A grunt and a little pink snout, A grunt and a little pink snout. A piggy-wig-wig, a piggy-wig-wig, Our piggy is getting stout. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow. Three ‘P’s in a row, Three ‘P’s in a row, It’s these three ‘P’s that help us grow.
7.
ALLENHEADS’ LULLABY Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. The curlew calls across the fell, The pit is chiming like a bell That rings with pick and shovel. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. There’s grit and grime and dust and mud, Looking for lead that scours the blood, Lucky to live past forty. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. If the kibble falls when full of stones, It’s broken heads and broken bones And then we’re on the Parish. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. If tha Daddy canna gan ti work We’ll have nought ti eat and have ti walk And beg our bread from strangers. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. I hope that thou’ll not have ti dig for lead Ti feed thy bairns on little bread. I hope thou’ll lie on a featherbed And have a taste of tea. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes. If thou goes ti sleep at night, If thou gets thy lessons right, Maybe you’ll get away from t’ Dale And make thy mark without a pick and shovel. Hush ma bairn, the water rushes. Tha Daddy’s workin’ at the hushes.

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Rare Lead Mining Songs written by Tony Morris. The songs are set in Weardale, UK. Character songs with character.

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released October 20, 2014

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Tony Morris Whitby, UK

TONY MORRIS is an Own Brand Performer and Entertainer who performs his own songs and music.".
Currently running Covideo Folk Club Facebook Group.
About 200 rough and ready warts and all videos on his Facebook Profile Site, Be amazed.
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