Blackleg Miner

"Blackleg Miner" is a 19th-century English folk song, originally from Northumberland (as can be deduced from the dialect in the song and the references in it to the villages of Seghill and Seaton Delaval). Its Roud number is 3193. The song is one of the most controversial English folk songs owing to its depiction of violence against strikebreakers.

The song is believed to originate from the miners' lockout of 1844. Although this was a national lock-out, the language of the song suggests that it refers to the dispute in the north-east coalfield, which lasted roughly 20 weeks. The lockout largely collapsed as a result of "blackleg" labour.

The village of Seghill, mentioned in the song, was the site of a mass eviction of striking miners during the 1844 lockout. Thomas Burt wrote of the situation:

The song depicts the determined, uncompromising stance against strikebreakers adopted by unionized strikers. The term blackleg for a strikebreaker has its origins in coal mining, as, for reasons not easily understood, strikebreakers would often neglect to wash their legs, which would give away that they had been working whilst others had been on strike. The coal-mining sector in the UK was always heavily unionised, and mining strikes such as in 1926, 1974 and 1984-5 have had big impacts on British society. The strikes caused bitterness both within and between pit communities, but also gave rise to expressions of solidarity such as sympathy strikes, material assistance such as food, and a feeling of belonging to a proud and powerful community of workers.

The lyrics describe tactics common for attacking strikebreakers in the 19th century. Across the way they stretch a line/ To catch the throat and break the spine/ Of the dirty blackleg miner describes how a rope was often stretched across the entrance to a colliery to catch strikebreakers by the throat and flick them backwards, often causing them to injure themselves through falling. Strikebreakers were often stripped of their clothes and working tools once caught.

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