(Performed by Bob Fox at the Trimdons Festival, September 17th 1988).
Words by Thomas Armstrong, pitman-poet, written in 1882, immediately after the explosion.
This version is substantially the same as that noted by A. L. Lloyd, in 1951.
Originally set to the tune of Go and Leave Me If You Wish It. (The Cottage By The Sea).
Oh, let’s not think of tomorrow lest we disappointed be.
Our joys may turn to sorrow as we all may daily see.
Today we’re strong and healthy, but tomorrow comes a change,
As we may see from the explosion that’s occurred at Trimdon Grange.
Men and boys set out that morning for to earn their daily bread,
Not thinking that by evening they’d be numbered with the dead.
Let’s think of Mrs. Burnett, once had sons but now has none
By the Trimdon Grange explosion, Joseph, George, and James have gone.
February left behind it what will never be forgot;
Weeping widows, helpless children may be found in many a cot.
They ask if father’s left them, and the mother hangs her head,
With a weeping widow’s feelings, tells the child its father’s dead.
God protect the lonely widow and raise up each drooping head;
Be a father to the orphans, do not let them cry for bread.
Death will pay us all a visit. They have only gone before,
And we’ll meet the Trimdon victims where explosions are no more.
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