The First Carols by Candlelight

It was hard in the Moonta Mines that year

For the miners, down in the pit,

It wasn’t a place for a weak man, but

The Cornish Miners had grit,

They burrowed deeper with every day

Extracting the copper ore,

And the skimps grew high in the heaps that piled

Not far from the Moonta shore.

 

They wore their helmets deep in the mine

With a candle fixed to the brim,

And worked in the glow of the candlelight

While the pumps pumped out and in,

They pumped for water, they pumped for air

For the air in the mine was rank,

And water seeped at the lowest lode

Where the atmosphere was dank.

 

They built their cottages out of lime

And mud, with a building board,

On Sundays, that was the only time

Once they had prayed to the Lord,

The Cornish Miners were Methodists

Built numerous churches there,

And Cap’n Hancock had said, ‘Attend!

Or your job is gone - Beware!’

 

Those men of flint had hearts of gold

And they raised their children fine,

Sons would follow their fathers then

And go to work in the mine,

One Christmas Eve they were gathered there

By their hundreds, on the green,

A candle lit on their helmets each

Like a glittering starlit scene.

 

The wives and children were there as well

With their voices raised in praise,

The swelling sound of an angel choir

With their humble miners ways,

They called it Carols by Candlelight

And the movement grew apace,

It spread all over the world from this

The Moonta Miners grace.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Leigh]

Metal ore mining must have been the hardest graft ever and you have captured this tough way of life in its simple and unforgiving way so well here. Whenever I visit Cornwall there are many reminders of that forgotten way of life in the form of tin mine and other building ruins scattered along the coast, which look so beautiful and so surreal now. Another great one David, I can relate to this and appreciate the history you have included. Leigh

[A Soap Mess Stories]

You know how to tell stories about different issues...good story about miners...

[Daniel Sala]

Lovely poem about the mining trade with a cheerful, positive ending.

[Dhaye]

How difficult it is for those miners working with those candle lights only.
But you have pictured here a wonderful scene of celebration...
Awesome piece, Sir!

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

I love how you have linked a modern practice into Moonta myth. The visual at the end is just lovely.

[Marie]

THis is just wonderful...all those candles shining like stars...

My church decided not to have our usual candle light service this Christmas Eve, and I missed it very much...

[Bob Sherunkle]

Great write Mr Pagent,great history intertwined.Happy New Year to you and your kin.