When Miners Sang

The Grass Valley Carol Choir
(Nevada County Pioneers Series)
by Gage McKinney
300 pages, Paperback
Comstock Bonanza Press, January 1, 2001

Before the California gold rush began in 1848, a unique English tradition of glee clubs and carol singing led to the creation of vocal music that, in Cornwall, was sung with gusto by men from the underground mines. When the tin mines in Cornwall began to fail and the Cornish workers immigrated to South Africa, America and Australia in search of work, they brought their songs along. This book is the history of how their music began, who composed the words and melodies, and who has been performing it.

In Grass Valley, California, a famously rich gold-mining community, the music had a public premiere in 1875, when the Thomas Brothers’ Silver Cornet Band presented a Christmas Eve concert of Cornish carols. From that impetus the first community carol choir began—as a matter of fact, in the past 125-plus years there have been a series of choirs with different names, but with shared memberships and directors.

The tradition is rich-and full of contradictions! As McKinney puts it, “People believe the carol tradition is old in Grass Valley, but few realize it’s as old as the city itself. Many people think of the Cornish carols as ancient, when intact they are not. … People think of it as an ethnic choir, though in a strict sense it probably never was (and certainly isn’t today). Many people think of the Cornish carols as a male tradition, without realizing that women have stepped forward more than once to keep the carols alive.”

Over the years the Cornish carols have been heard throughout Northern California, from the steps of the capitol to the sanctuaries of churches and the stages of theaters. The Grass Valley Carol Choir, originally made up almost entirely of Cornish gold miners, became nationally recognized when the singers’ voices were heard from down inside a gold mine on an NBC radio broadcast in 1940. Today, in the 21st century, the choir continues to sing, both here and abroad, and its tradition is synonymous with the town and its mining heritage.

Note: A companion set of 2 CDs containing historic recordings of the Grass Valley Carol Choir made in 1946, 1959, and 2001 is available at bookstores—or directly from Comstock Bonanza Press.

“Thank you gage for giving us a chance once more to hear their voices. Your book should have a proud place in the library of everyone who loves the gem that is Grass Valley,” -Shirley Ewart, author of Highly Respectable Families.