Silver & Gold
John Gates was a miner in South Wales, near Bridgend, before he was made redundant at the age of 50 when the pit in his local town closed down. There was virtually no chance of getting a job in the area and so he turned to a hobby which he had for years - embroidery. He is now a successful teacher and lectures on the subject all over the place.
I first heard his story on Woman's Hour, whilst travelling back from Bridgnorth Folk festival. Immediately I arrived home I started to write the song. After I had written it I managed to trace John and sent him a recording of the song to make sure he was happy about my performing it. Thankfully he was, and what's more he sent me some photographs of the wedding dress which features in the song and also an embroidered badge, which I treasure.
Vin Garbutt heard me perform this song at the Woodman Folk Club, and asked me for the words. He has recorded it on his album "Persona ... Grata" and has performed it at concerts and gigs all over the world until his untimely death in 2017. I will always be grateful to Vin for giving this song so much exposure. The song has also been recorded by some other artists:
Anthony John Clarke (Laughing at Clowns)
Tony Portlock & Becky Menear (Hands of a Working Man)
Keith Judson (Find Your Song)
Fairfield (We Are Songs)
My name is John Gates and I worked down the pit
Til they closed it a few years ago
It was all that I knew, it was all I could do
I was broken apart by the blow
Most of my pals were in the same boat
When they closed that colliery down
And at fifty years old I knew I was through
There was no work for me in the town
Chorus
Give me the silver and gold
Give me the silver and gold
My hands must be clean
When I'm picking the seam
Not black with the dust of the coal
Oh give me the silver and gold
We still met at the club but it wasn't the same
The comradeship somehow had gone
I remembered the time on that cold picket line
When our union bond made us strong
And I never thought I would see grown men cry
They were hard men, proud and true
Their eyes filled with tears as they sipped at their beer
And I shared their despairing too
chorus
Now all I had left was thoughts of the thread
The thread of the silver and gold
An interest for years, it now held back the tears
I gave it my whole heart and soul
Then an advert for a dressmaking class caught my eye
I enrolled as the only man there
And as my skill grew, I finally knew
I had something so precious to share
chorus
I laboured for months on my girl's wedding dress
Stitching dreams in the silk with the thread
Intricate patterns of silver and gold
All thoughts of that colliery lay dead
And as we walked arm in arm down the aisle
She smiled as I caught her eye
But that moment of love - it was too much to bear
As once more I started to cry
chorus