2. Wiseman's Level (Hannam)

We found it up yon brist on t' top,
In an outcrop of shiny rock
There's grouse an' sheep in t' mist an' rain
When we've finished it waint be t'same!


We followed t'vein on t'top o' t'ground,
Hushed the soil an' dug around,
Plumbago was our silvery goal
Sunk shafts, dug levels, clawed like moles...

Down into t'ground wi' out a rest,
We stoped out t'rock like men possessed,
Then far below 'a cave in's cried
Someone shouts ' a man has died!'


There's blood and rubble, lights and sound
Owd Jimmy's head it has been found,
The rest was crushed by a big white stone,
Broken flesh and splintered bone.....


Up they came, one at a time,
Broken men from a broken mine,
Me brother's leg were off at t'knee,
Owd Willy screamed ' I cannot see!'


The mine closed down, unsafe they said,
Six were maimed, owd Jim were dead.
It's still on the tops for all to see,
No trees, no grass, just gangue and scree...


The scars we left in profit's name,
The blind, the crippled, the dead an' the lame,
We dug it out, fate filled it in,
Our children say it was a sin.....


This dramatic little song was written by Keith Hannam, who was once a member of the Upper Wharfedale Cave Rescue Team. Keith took me into many caves/mines back in the 1970’s. This song is about the Moorend Mine.

Jim Jarratt. Mytholmroyd. 2006

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Copyright Jim Jarratt. 2006