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If you listen to me for a very short time,
I'll tell you a story which happened in 1939,
When the good news had reached St. Lawrence town, boy,
They had opened up a fluorspar mine.
Oh, the people of our town were all fishermen,
They gave up the fish for the mine,
Not thinking some twenty-six years later,
They'd be leaving their families behind.
Then in 1956 things bust' wide open,
When the sad news had reached St. Lawrence town,
That a radiation was raging,
In the Newfoundland fluorspar underground.
Oh, the people of our town were broken-hearted,
And there was nothing that really could be done,
They were dying like rats in our town, boys,
They were dying from radiation of the lungs.
So goodbye for a while, little darling,
I know it's forever that's true,
But remember each night, little darling,
I died for my family and you.
So the mine's gotta face dark and dreary,
And the hardship we had to go through,
Pray to God that life will be cheery,
For you know I won't come back to you.
You go in to Doctor Von Hollywood,
He will give you a checkup and sound,
But when he shakes his head at the last word he says,
"I gotta take you up from down underground."
He'll send you down there to St. John's, boy,
And you'll give consent happily, thank-you,
And you know when that knife is stuck in you,
That your rambling days they are through.
He'll send you back home to your family,
And there you will sit night and day,
Just a-looking around, just a-viewing our town,
Before you goes under the clay.
So all ye young fellows take a warning,
Don't you never go down in the mine,
Just think on your fathers and brothers,
And the families that they left behind.
Go to school and get good education,
And try to get out of our town,
For you know when you're here what's ahead of you, boy,
You've got to go down underground.
So goodbye for a while, little darling,
I know it's forever that's true,
But remember each night, little darling,
I died for my family and you.
So the mine's gotta face dark and dreary,
And the hardship we had to go through,
Pray to God that life will be cheery,
For you know I won't come back to you.
This song was originally sung by Hughie Clark of St. Lawrence, and filmed in the mid 1970s for the Ryan's Fancy television show in St. Lawrence, NL.
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
From the Memphis Archaeological and Geological Society's glossary of terms: Fluorspar — also called fluorite, a transparent or translucent mineral, composed of calcium and fluorine, that occurs in many colors. It is used for fusing metals, making glass, etc., and is a source of fluorine.
