There were sounds of sobs and crying as the daylight floods the sky,
The hour of life has vanished and the long night passes by,
I lift my eyes to heaven and in tears I'll call her son,
Who was taken from his mother by the crack of someone's gun.
Yes, in the hour of sorrow there's one thing I can't conceal,
For my heart is always longing and my thoughts will often steal
Across the bush to Rothbury whose surface leaves a track
To the boys who went on picket and the boy who'll never come back.
There was music at the graveside and in grief the mourners stood,
Still the wind a hymn was humming with the trees upon the hill,
The sun was shining brightly on sad friends from every town,
And the minister started praying for our dead pal Norman Brown.
Yes, in the hour of sorrow there's one thing I can't conceal,
For my heart is always longing and my thoughts will often steal
Across the bush to Rothbury whose surface leaves a track
To the boys who went on picket and the boy who'll never come back.
Notes
I found this on the web among the Reason in Revolt resources at http://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/bib/PR0000181.htm where it was titled Tragedy at Rothbury, which it says was: from the song "A Sad Day on the Coalfields", by R. Grant, a miner of those years.
Many thanks to folklorist Brad Tate who sent me the tune and more details of this song. Many Thanks to folklorist Alan Musgrove for permission to use this track from his 1999 CD 'A young man and able'
In February 1929 the coalowners of the Hunter Valley NSW demanded a 12.5% wage cut. When the workers refused, the bosses, supported by a conservative State Government, locked them out of the mines for 15 months. Towards the end of 1929 the coalowners tried to open some pits with scab labour. Miners decided to take them on. Around 4000 of them made their way to Rothbury on December 16th and the police opened fire killing the young miner Norman Brown and wounding many others.
More than 7000 miners attended Norman Brown's funeral in his home town of Greta, NSW. His death was commemorated by numerous songs and poems including this one.
There are three songs about Rothbury in this collection and the lockout has been featured in a recent book, The Great Lockout (2006), and a film, Lockout (2006). The lockout was also featured in a 2002 Hindsight program on ABC radio. This program was released on a CD "Working for Coal" by the Mining section of the CFMEU
I found this on the web among the Reason in Revolt resources at