GOLD FOR MY LADY


ch  Singing gold for my lady, silver for the maid, 
    Copper for the coppersmith who’s cunning at his trade,
    But says the iron miner pickin' up his fall 
    A big churn of brush ore, is better than them all.

Down in the brown rock way  beneath the turf, 
You’ll find  the iron miners hacking at the earth,  
Chipping for a living their hand drills beating proud 
Ringing out the rhythm of this song they're singing loud - singing
ch
Think on one poor miner  lanky Jubut Kear 
So worn  were his old bones they creaked for all to hear 
As he walked to work, they say, you'd hear his joints go crack, 
Swinging his old weary frame clear down the Clearwell track - singing
ch
Many an old  miner, knew Elijah Brain
So skilled was he in each hand he used 'em  both the same 
Without he'd miss a beat he'd lean the other way, 
Catch hammer in his drill hand and - swap like that  all day - singing 
ch
Down in the brown rock way  beneath the turf, 
You’ll find  the iron miners hacking at the earth,  
Chipping for a living their hand drills beating proud 
Ringing out the rhythm of this song they're singing loud - singing
ch
A big churn of brush ore, is better than them all.

Imagine a dank day in the Forest of Dean, where would you go? Clearwell Iron Mines seem like a 
good idea. Those beginnings of inspiration are tickled by the carved bedrock and drawings of 
miners gripping wooden candle holders in their teeth. The museum personnel are pestered for 
more information or at least a source book. Finally when Cresby hints at some lyrical purpose, 
they reveal true stories of 2 men who worked there and an old poem. As an after-thought they 
admitted, almost apologetically, it was not a poem, the men used to chant it to time their 
hammer blows. The effect of this revelation must be similar to those S. Baring-Gould & C. Sharp 
felt when they saw a crown of gleaming gold in what the rural labourer treated like a sweaty, 
moth-eaten felt hat.
  The chant became a chorus and the stories shuffled themselves into place. The tune?  Well it 
just seems to fit, two hammer blows per bar. In true antique trade tradition, one might be able 
to claim it as traditional because more than 50% of the material is 100 years old. But we 
won’t!  Mr Kipling might disapprove.
The hand drills referred to are 4/5 ft. iron chisels with a leather ferrule near the hand-hold 
to divert the water away from the hand. The drill technique was blow & rotate, blow & rotate 
using water to soften and remove limestone debris. The deep holes were then charged with 
explosives and detonated. A churn is a cavern or chamber. Brush ore looks like rounded hollow 
rocks the size of large potatoes or rugby balls which when cracked open revealed crystals of 
black iron oxide. The crystals grow from the limestone shell straight inwards looking just like 
a hair brush.

http://cresby.com   Words & Music © Cresby Brown  2nd Aug  1985