The Gresford Disaster Track

You've heard of the Gresford Disaster
The terrible price that was paid
Two hundred and forty-two colliers lost
And three men of the rescue brigade.
It occurred in the month of September
At three in the morning that pit
Was racked by a violent explosion
In the Dennis where dust lay so thick.
The gas in the Dennis deep section
Was packed like snow in a drift
And many a man had to leave the coal-face
Before he had worked out his shift.
A fortnight before the explosion
To the shot-firer Tomlinson cried
"If you fire that shot we'll be all blown to hell!"
And no one can say that he lied.
The fireman's reports they are missing
The records of forty-two days
The colliery manager had them destroyed
To cover his criminal ways.
Down there in the dark they are lying
They died for nine shillings a day
For working their shift they now lie
In the darkness until Judgement Day.
The Lord Mayor of London's collecting
To help both the children and wives
The owners have sent some white lilies
To pay for the colliers' lives.
Farewell our dear wives and our children
Farewell our dear comrades as well
Don't send your sins in the dark dreary mines
They'll be damned like the sinners in hell.