211
The Ore Knob
There is no Ore Knob mine or town in atlases of North Carolina.
The informant's home, Vox, is in Alleghany county. The nearest
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 497
place with a name similar to Ore Knob is Orebank, close to Kings-
port, Tennessee. The Century Atlas (c. 191 1) locates a village
named Oreknob in Pike county, eastern Kentucky. In 1896 there
was an Ore Hill in Chatham county, North Carolina. The Chatham
Record (Pittsboro) for May 28, 1896, reports the organization of
a company to set up a furnace and "get the mine at Ore Hill in
shape for mining ore," and in its issue of June 4 it reports progress
of the project. O. Strickland and Raymond Campbell, of Pittsboro,
both of whom once worked in coal mines within the Chatham-Lee
counties area, state that there was considerable mining until about
1927, when operations ceased in consequence of several disasters.
All of the places named are in mining country, and any of them
might have been the .scene of this coronach.
'The Ore Knob.' From Miss Lura Wagoner, Vox, in a "MS book of
songs loaned F. C. B. in August 1936. Several of the songs are dated,
some 1911, some 1913. Many . . . were copied by F. C. B. without
name, date, or place" (N. I. W.).
1 Come, blooming youth in the midst of day
And see how soon some pass away.
There was two men that worked with us here.
What became of them you soon shall hear.
2 They worked all day until evening tide
Before the ground it made a slide.
At fifty minutes after five
They was healthy men and yet alive.
3 Before the whistle blew for six
Their death was cast, their doom was fixed ;
The rocks and dirt came tumbling down,
And under it those men were found.
4 Both cold and dead and could not live
For God had took the spark he gave.
They was brought to the top, a dreadful sight.
How lonesome was that Tuesday night.
5 Poor Sherley and Smith, how much we miss them
Around the Ore Knob today.
We hope they are gone to a world of bliss,
But none of us we dare to say.
6 But with the Lord there's nothing strange;
He can their hearts in a moment change.
We hope he did their hearts renew
And receive them in that heavenly care.
7 Poor Sherley had a wife and children dear,
And Smith had a mother this news to hear.
We hope they all for consolation
To read and believe John's Revelation,
498 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
8 That says the dead will one day rise
And saints will mount them upward skies
And sing with the angels and adore,
Where friends that meet will part no more.
9 Let us take heed when the scripture say
That we must watch as well as pray,
For in a hour when the least if thought.
The summons of death it may be brought.
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211
The Ore Knob
'The Ore Knob.* Sung by anonymous male singer. Recorded ; no date or place
given.
Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: a. Structure: abcc^ai (2,2,1,1,2) =
ab (4,4).