Ore Knob

DESCRIPTION: "Come, blooming youth in the midst of day And see how soon some pass away." Just before their shift ended, two miners, Sherley and Smith, die in a rockfall. The singer quotes the New Testament and says that it is all God's plan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: mining disaster religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 211, "The Ore Knob" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 211, "The Ore Knob" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Sam E. Phiher, "True Stories and Tall Tales of Early Mining in North Carolina," Vol. VI, No. 1 (Jul 1958), p. 11-12, "The Ore Knob" (1 text)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, (Ed Cray), "Three Folksongs from North Carolina" Vol. XI, No. 1 (Jul 1963), pp. 1-2, "The Ore Knob Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6556
NOTES [69 words]: The editors of the Brown collection are unable to link this to any actual event, though it appears to be based on reality. Cray quotes a writing of the collector as saying, "The two men mentioned in 'The Ore Knob Song, Shirley and Smith, were killed in a mine at Ore Known in Ashe County, North Carolina, about 1897 or '98." The song probably would have been more successful if it weren't so sickeningly blatant. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: BrII211

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography