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BROMWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (214) Telephone: Mr. Jonathan Wolfer, Principal |
How the Cornish Miners Came to ColoradoThis play was one of many written for a "student festival" that surveyed a number of ethnic groups and their relationship to our state's history.
As you'll see, it includes a scene during which the performers lead the audience to
separate "learning stations" for various hands-on exercises. This part of the play can
be dropped or expanded as needed.
Our group of nine performers begin by forming a straight line in front of the audience... 1: At the bottom of every hole... All: ...you'll find a Cornish miner! The group breaks up and starts digging and hammering. Everyone gets a turn to say something about Cornwall and mining... 2: That's an old saying from my land -- Cornwall, the westernmost part of Britain. 3: As long as there has been a Cornwall, my family has lived here! 4: And as long as we've lived here, we've worked in the mines. 5: You might say it gives us an advantage over other miners, havin' so much experience and all! 6: You better say it, or I'll bust ya in the chops! 7: Because we're the best, our services are in demand all over the world. 8: Our lads travel to America and to Africa to work their magic on the mines. 9: In fact, Jack here, he's a-headin' over to America today. He's tired of working for the bloody English! 1: That's right! In America you can find your own mine, and hire the English to work for you! G'bye, lads -- I'm off to seek my fortune!
The other eight yell out a wordless farewell, kind of like a football team leaving the
huddle... 2 - 9: RAAAH! #1 leaves and they all turn back to their work with a muttering growl: 2 - 9: Mrrrrrmmmm... 2: He's a great bloody fool, headin' away off into the Unknown. 3: You'll never get me to leave the land that I love. 4: Cornwall today, Cornwall tomorrow! Cornwall forever! 5: Eh... well... um... 6: You better say it, or I'll bust ya in the chops! 5: Uh, Cornwall forever! 7: You'll never get me on a bloody boat! 8: You'll never take me away from my family and friends! 9: Lads! Lads! I've got terrible news! The mine is being closed! 2 - 8: CLOSED!?! They all through down their tools in dejection... 2 - 9: AWWWW.... 2: The mines are closin' all over Cornwall... everywhere there's men out of work! 3: The mines have been worked to death... It's the fault of the bloody English! They've bled this country dry! 4: What will we do now? Where can we work? 5: How will we live? 6: It's like gettin' busted right in th' chops! 7: Jack went to America, but I could never cross the sea in a bloody boat! 8: I could never leave my family and friends! Not for anything! 9: By the way, I got a letter from Jack today... 1: GOLD! GOLD IN AMERICA! 2 - 9: GOLD! All happy again -- rushing about, talking energetically... 2: In America, there's jobs for everyone, especially miners! 3: Goodbye to the bloody English! 4: Goodbye to the land of my father and my father's father! 5: With our skills, we'll be running every mine between New York and San Francisco! 6: Don't get all sentimental now, mother, or I'll bust ya in the chops! 7: Let me on that boat! I'm in a hurry! When do we sail? 8: I'll send for my wife and kids once I'm settled! 9: I'll get a new wife and kids once I'm there! 2 - 9: ALL ABOARD! They climb into a boat and sail across the sea... 2 - 9: NEW YORK! They all stagger about, looking up at the skyscrapers, of course! 2: What a great city! 3: Where are the mines? 4: Where's the gold? 2 - 9: UHHH-OH...! All look panic-stricken and worried, and huddle together for comfort... 5: Dear Mother, Little did we know when we embarked upon this great journey that the Gold Rush would practically be over by the time we got across the sea. What will we miners do now? Your loving son, Jack. 6: By the late 1850's, the California Gold Rush was over... 7: By the late 1860's, the Colorado Gold Rush was over... 8: But then, in the early 1870's... 1: SILVER! SILVER IN COLORADO! 9: Colorado! Okay, then! Let's go! 2 - 8: Let's go! They begin making their way across the country... 2: No matter what route we took to Colorado, we were met with trials and tribulations... 3: We couldn't start too early in the Spring, or the rivers would still be swollen and there'd be no grass for the animals to forage! 4: We couldn't start too late in the Summer, or the grass would all be gone, and we might get caught in bad weather, or even snow! 5: Travelers often died of cholera from drinkin' from tainted water... 6: And we had to watch out for Indians who might bust us in the chops! 7: I took ship from New York to New Orleans, and then came up the Mississippi, and then went overland through Arkansas and here to Colorado! 8: I took the Erie Canal to Chicago. We went to the Missouri River, followed it west to the Platte, and came here to Colorado! 9: I don't know which way I came! I gave almost all my money to an overland wagon company and they brought me here. Uh, this is Colorado, isn't it? All: COLORADO! All stand happily, surveying the countryside with beaming smiles... 1: The boss of the mine came to me, and he said, "I need some more men, but I don't want just anybody! Do you know anybody with your kind of skills?" And I said, "Sure, you need another Cornish miner! Well, then, meet my cousin Jack! He's just the man you're lookin' for, and he's family, too!" Pats #2 on the shoulder... 2: And whenever another Cornish miner came along, we'd introduce him as a cousin, and he'd get a job right away... Pats #3 on the shoulder...and then he pats #4 who pats #5 and so on... 3: Here ya go! Meet my cousin, Jack! He'll work those mines for ya! 4: And meet MY cousin, Jack! He'll sniff out the silver! 5: And meet MY cousin, Jack! He drills deeper than anyone I know! 6: And meet MY cousin, Jack! He'll bust ya in the chops! 7: And... meet MY cousin, Jack! 8: And... meet MY cousin, Jack! 9: And... meet MY cousin... All: Jack! 1: At the bottom of every hole... All: ...you'll find a Cornish miner! All start working the mines again, as at the beginning... 1: So we started working the mines in Central City, and and Cripple Creek, and all over this bloody territory! Separate to form the "mines" group... 2: And we started settling down and we helped build the towns, and some of us even bought homes... Separate to form the "home" group 3: And late at night we'd tell stories about the strange going's-on in the mines... Separate to form the "folk tales" group... 4: Or we'd play music and dance until dawn! Separate to form the "dance" group. The " mines" group steps forward... 5: If ya come visit us, we'll tell you about mining and see if can follow a vein of silver properly! Or, you could go visit my cousin Jack!... Gesture to the next group and freeze. The "homes" group steps forward... 6: If ya come visit us, we'll tell you all about the food the miners ate and the homes they lived in. Or, you could go visit my cousin Jack!... They gesture and freeze. The "folk tales" group steps forward... 7: If ya come visit us, we'll tell you about the Tommyknockers and the ghosts of the mines. Or, ya could go and visit my cousin Jack...! They gesture and freeze. The "dance" group steps forward... 8: If ya come visit us, we'll teach you a dance that will make ya merry, whether you're name is Jack or not! They freeze. 9: The Cornish are better than any of ya, but that don't mean we can't be hospitable once in a while. So come on! 6: Or I'll bust ya in the chops! The performers draw members of the audience to each of the learning stations as best they are able... One performer should act as the timekeeper. When the time is up, that person should say "Uh-oh!" in a loud voice, alerting the other, who say "Uh-oh!" each in turn and move back to the center or the front, leaving their stations... Back in a straight line... 1: It's almost the Eighteen-Nineties...The Silver Rush is panning out, just like the Gold Rush did before it... 2: Some of us will stay, and work the coal and tin mines... 3: I think I'll become a farmer, and raise Cornish hens! 4: Some of us will move on, to work other mines in other places... 5: Alaska...
6: New Zealand...
7: South Africa... 8: And some of us are still digging in these places, or other places, generation after generation, the best miners in the world. 9: That's why the old saying goes like this... All: At the bottom of every hole... you'll find a Cornish miner! The end!
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