The Bells of Rhymney, A Lamentation

West Virginia Coal Miner (Public Domain)

Both of my grandfathers worked in the West Virginia coal mines for a short period of their lives. As anyone who has read about life in those underground coal mines one hundred years ago, it was "dark as a dungeon" down in those mines, and the work was dangerous.

My mother's father would leave for the mines on Sunday night and return home on Saturday morning. My grandmother boldly did the unthinkable by heading to the mine on Friday night so she could be with her man two nights a weekend and not just the one. 

On one occasion a section of mine collapsed and my grandfather and others barely escaped with their lives. He told the other miners not to say a word to anyone, because his wife would not approve of him working in the mines if it was going to cost him his life.

Nevertheless, my grandmother was an exceedingly intuitive woman and the evening of the near-disaster (no one was killed) she sat up in bed and sensed that something had happened at the mine. When she later confronted my grandfather he initially denied it, but when she presented the exact day and time of her sense that something had occurred, he admitted that yes, there had been a mining accident.

The Bells of Rhymney is about mining disasters, mining accidents that cost men their lives. Pete Seeger recorded the song, but its words were penned by a Welsh poet, Idris Davies. I first heard the song when the Byrds recorded it and later included it on their Greatest Hits album.

It's a sorrowful song about a sorrowful reality, many laborers lost their lives while providing for their families (and making rich people richer.)

In listening to the song last night, George Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier was fresh in my mind. The book goes into great detail regarding life for the hardships of the working class in pre-WW2 England. While living with the miners of Manchester, Orwell saw close the grittiness of a life where nearly every dignity has been stripped away. His description of what was involved in simply going to work (walking nearly a mile underground while hunched over) is vividly made tangible.

The church bells of Rhymney are sad bells because men have lost their lives. It's not a Sunday morning call to worship. They are funeral bells. The poem then cites other mining towns where bells have tolled for those who were lost--Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Newport, Caerphilly, Swansea, Neath and Wye.

The Byrds version of the song was recorded in April 1965. Roger McGuinn's trademark 12-string Rickenbacker and the group's harmonious melancholy vocals popularized the song. But it's especially poignant when you hear Pete Seeger's rendition. You can listen to The Byrds' version of the song here and a Pete Seeger performance of the song here. 

* * * 

The Bells of Rhymney

Oh, what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
"Is there hope for the future?"
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
"Who made the mine owner?"
Say the black bells of Rhondda
"And who killed the miner?"
Say the grim bells of Blaina

They will plunder will-nilly
Cry the bells of Caerphilly
They have fangs, they have teeth
Shout the loud bells of Neath
Even God is uneasy
Say the moist bells of Swansea
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

"Throw the vandals in court"
Say the bells of Newport
"All will be well if, if, if, if, if-"
Say the green bells of Cardiff
"Why so worried, sisters, why?"
Say the silver bells of Wye
"And what will you give me?"
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

"Oh, what will you give me?"
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
"Is there hope for the future?"
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
"Who made the mine owner?"
Say the black bells of Rhondda
"And who killed the miner?"
Say the grim bells of Blaina

Songwriters: Pete Seeger / Idris Davies