The Testimony of Patience Kershaw

[Verse 1]
It's good of you to ask me, sir
To tell you how I spend the day
Well in the coal-black tunnel, sir
I hurry corves to earn my pay
The corves are full of coal, kind sir
I push them with my hands and head
It isn't ladylike, but sir
You've got to earn your daily bread

[Verse 2]
I push them with my hands and head
And so my hair gets worn away
You see this baldy patch I've got
It shames me like I just can't say
A lady's hands are lily white
But mine are full of cuts and segs
And since I'm pushing all the time
I've great big muscles on my legs

[Verse 3]
I try to be respectable
But sir, the shame, God save my soul
I work with naked sweating men
Who curse and swear and chew the coal
The sight, the smell, the sound, kind sir
Not even God could sense my shame
I say my prayers but what's the use?
Tomorrow will be just the same

[Verse 4]
Now sometimes, sir, I don't feel well
My stomach's sick, my head it aches
I've got to hurry best I can
My knees feel weak, my back near breaks
And then I'm slow and then I'm scared
These naked men will batter me
They can't be blamed, for if I'm slow
Their families will starve, you see

[Verse 5]
All the lads they laugh at me
And sir, the mirror tells me why
Pale and dirty, can't look nice
It doesn't matter how I try
Great big muscles on my legs
A baldy patch upon my head
A lady, sir? Oh no, not me
I should've been a boy instead

[Verse 6]
I praise your good intentions sir
I love your kind and gentle heart
But now it's 1842
And you and me we're miles apart
A hundred years or more will pass
Before we're walking side by side
But please accept my grateful thanks
God bless you sir, at least you tried