©
1999 M.J. O'Connor
Author Mike O'Connor, OBE, says "'The Crowns' was a famous tin mine on the Cornish coast. Its main shaft was started in 1858. Unlike most shafts it sloped at an angle of about 45° leading to a labyrinth of about 60 miles of tunnels under the Atlantic. Men were carried up and down the shaft in a gig, a purpose-built wheeled box, which was also used to raise ore.
"The incident I describe is true. When the last shift came up, in 1914, all the families gathered at the pit head. Long before the wagon carrying the men came into sight their voices could be heard singing in harmony, the sound echoing up to the surface from beneath the ocean."
Gordon – Spanish guitar
When the Crowns closed
And the last shift returned
from the shaft beneath the sea
We heard them first, for
every man was singing
As each in turn rose to
the sunset glow
On harmonies born from the
gates of Hell
That even drowned the
breakers on the granite far below
I asked the last man
What he remembered from
his years beneath the ground
He said, at the end of
shift when all was quiet
The drill was stopped, the
pumps were far away
Before going to the shaft
with all its singing
In silence he would listen
and in silence he would pray
What did you hear?
"Seas braking over,
close above the mine"
He'd catch the water from
the tunnel roof
He'd taste for salt, then
silently he'd pray
For all who worked 'neath
ocean and 'neath granite
He said the sound of waves
above would haunt him all his days
What of today?
Crown's engine-house is a
silent, empty shell
The shaft is gone and all
who sang so fine
I never felt the granite
tremble 'neath the swell
But I heard the last shift
rising to the sunlight
And I still remember
singing out of the Gates of Hell
Last Shift at the Crowns is recorded on the album In Concert