Mannington Number Nine

   Most of the songs performed at Old Time Jams are lighthearted.  However, once in a while our songs can be very serious.  Mannington Number 9, composed by Keith McManus, is one of the most powerful songs performed at the Brew Pub.  It tells the true story of a mine disaster at the #9 Mannington Mine in 1968, in which 78 miners were killed in an explosion.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVkuuQ0KKio

This version by the Woodticks has Bob Shank on hammer dulcimer, Rachel Eddy on fiddle, Karen Wade on guitar and Keith McManus on banjo.  Other versions are on the Woodticks' album as well as Liv and Howl by Stewed Mulligan.   You can also download versions by Rachel Eddy and the Hotpoint Stringband on Amazon.com and other distributors.  

   
     In West Virginia,  mine accidents are part of life.  Miners are not some faraway faceless people to us, they are our friends and neighbors.  So whenever there is a mining accident, even in another part of the world, we feel it. 

    When this song is performed locally, it is not uncommon for people to shed tears.  This song really hits home for a lot of people. 

    Several versions have been recorded over the years, including versions by Stewed Mulligan, Rachel Eddy, the Hotpoint Stringband and most recently the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3GUmuuokws


Mannington #9 (key of D)



Way down in the cold mine,
Way down where the sun don't shine.
Seventy eight men lost their lives,
Way down in the cold mine.  

Brothers and Dads went down,
Uncles and cousins too,
Never again to see the sunshine

Daddy went down to work that day,
And never came home that night.  
The blast was heard for miles around,
And some folks say up to Morgantown.

Brothers and Dads went down,
Uncles and cousins too,
Never again to see the sunshine.

Mothers and sisters wept and moaned,
Fathers and brothers cried alone.  
Never again to see their loved ones,
Way down in the coal mine.

Brothers and Dads went down,
Uncles and cousins too,
Never again to see the sunshine


Way down in the cold mine,
Way down where the sun don't shine.
Seventy eight men lost their lives,
Way down in Number 9 coal mine.  

Their fate was sealed
Never again to see the sunshine.
Their fate was sealed
in the tomb that was the coal mine.

Brothers and Dads went down,
Uncles and cousins too,
Never again to see the sunshine.

Here is another version, also by the Woodticks, with the additon of bass player Joey Damiano.