Cat. #1502 (MFH #15) - As sung by Lula Davis, Fayetteville, Arkansas on February 14, 1963
VERSE 1
Come people all both far an near
I pray you all take heed
An' listen with attention while,
Th truth to you I'll tell
About this awful cavin' in
Th mines of Avondale
VERSE 2
Th fifth day of September
In eighteen-eighty-nine
Th miners all received th call
To work down in th mines
But little did they think that day
That death would doom their vail
That they never would return alive
From th mines of Avondale
VERSE 3
Th women and th children all
Their hearts were filled with joy
To see their men go work again
An' likewise every boy
Great dismal sight, in broad daylight
That soon did turn th tale
To see their grates a burning o'er
Th mines of Avondale
VERSE 4
It's here an' there an' everywhere
Their gathered in a crowd
Some tearing off their clothes and hats
An' crying out aloud
Pray, where's my husband and my son
For death is going to steal
Their lives away without delay
In th mines of Avondale
VERSE 5
The consultation soon begin
For two men to go down
Go down into th dismal doom
Seven hundred feet or more
Two Welchman brave, without delay
-- -- -- -- -- without fear
Go down into that dismal shaft
To seek their comrades, dear
VERSE 6
An' when they landed upon th bottom
They could not made their way
One of them died for the want of air
The other in great dismay
He gave th signal to hoist 'im out
To tell that dreadful take
They all are lost forever more
In th mines of Avondale
VERSE 7
Sixty-seven was th number
All in one heap was found
The others, they were further back
An' scattered all around
A Father had his only Son
Clutched in his arms, so pale
An' wasn't that heart rending
In th mines of Avondale
VERSE 8
To now conclude an' make an end
Th number all pinned down
A hundred an' ten, of brave stout men
All amothered in under-ground
They end their graves, to death must ----
Th widows may bemown
Th awfulest screams that rends th skies
All around through Avondale