To the darkness of the world below the men of Lanarkshire marched in their thousands to the hundreds of pits that scattered the braes of Lanarkshire’s landscape every day to earn a wage. It was during industrial revolution that we saw the building of communities and societies founded on the work of those who put their lives on the line everyday to forge the wealth of a nation and reap the resources of natures bounty that lay deep beneath our feet.
From these days grew the foundations of the union movement and political change that saw advances in workers rights and greater health and safety legislation in protecting the miners and indeed a national workforce that previously saw deaths among the working classes as a daily occurrence not just for men, but women and children too who worked to earn a pittance in an industry that few saw their pensions.
These songs are the stories of those men and women of Lanarkshire who shaped our environment and forged communities around the comradeship and friendship bound through their work and experiences down the pits. With the passing of the coal mining industry in Scotland, this production is a tribute to those who carved their way through Auld Nick’s larder to provide us coal for our ships, fuel for our industries and coal for the roaring fires that awaited them when they returned home.
