"The Blantyre Explosion" is a Scottish song about the Blantyre mining disaster, which happened on the morning of October 22, 1877, in Blantyre, Scotland. It was Scotland's worst ever mining accident. Pits No. 2 and No. 3 of William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery were the site of an explosion which killed 207 miners, the youngest being a boy of 11. It was known that firedamp was present in the pit and it is likely that this was ignited by a naked flame. (Firedamp is flammable gas found in coal mines, especially coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous.) The accident left 92 widows and 250 fatherless children. Blantyre was also the scene of two further disasters in 1878 and 1879. The exact origin of the song is unknown, but it is thought to have been collected by A. L. Lloyd from an unnamed local singer. The text first appears in A. L. LLoyd's 1951 book Come All Ye Bold Miners. It appears in the Roud Folk Song Index as #1014. It was printed in Laws' American Ballads from British Broadsides: A guide for students and collectors of traditional song (1957) (as "The High Blantyre Explosion"), Morton's Folksongs Sung in Ulster (1970), Morton's Come Day, Go Day, God Send Sunday (1973), Korson's Pennsylvania Songs and Legends (1949) (as "The High Blanter Explosion"), MacColl's Personal Choice (1962). It was recorded by Ewan MacColl on Shuttle and Cage (1957), Steam Whistle Ballads and The Real MacColl, The Ian Campbell Folk Group on Coaldust Ballads (1965), Christy Moore on Ordinary Man (1985).