I'm a hard working miner, you can see by my hands
Although I am honest and free
And a dollar a day is a very small pay
For a man with a large family

Oh, I work in the mines where the sun never shines
Nor daylight does ever appear
With my lamp burning red on the top of my head
And in danger I never know fear

Pay the poor man, who works in the mines
With the mules and the rats underground
And the air is so thick you can cut it with a stick
You can weigh it on scales by the poun

Oh, I work in the mines where the sun never shines
Nor daylight does ever appear
With my lamp burning red on the top of my head
And in danger I never know fear

Oh, my face it is black from the dust of the coal
Though my heart it is open and free
I would share my last loaf with the man who's in want
Though I earn it so hard you see

Oh, I work in the mines where the sun never shines
Nor daylight does ever appear
With my lamp burning red on the top of my head
And in danger I never know fear

And now my kind friends, I must bid you good-bye
For I cannot stay here anymore
I will peck up my pack, throw it over my back
And I swear I will now see no more

Oh, I work in the mines where the sun never shines
Nor daylight does ever appear
With my lamp burning red on the top of my head
And in danger I never know fear