--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till…" description: "\"“Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining pits, chipping flint with picks, drilling schist with drills, striking it rich mining zinc. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/christian-b-k-33906_pilgrims_pilgrims-digging-in-shifts-dig-till-midn_1127393.jpg" --- # Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining… ![“Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining pits, chipping flint with picks, drilling schist with drills, striking it rich mining zinc. Irish firms, hiring micks whilst firing Brits, bring in smiths with mining skills: kilnwrights grilling brick in brickkilns, millwrights grinding…” quote by Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/christian-b-k-33906_pilgrims_pilgrims-digging-in-shifts-dig-till-midn_1127393.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/christian-b-k-33906_pilgrims_pilgrims-digging-in-shifts-dig-till-midn_1127393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/043/christian-b-k-33906_pilgrims_pilgrims-digging-in-shifts-dig-till-midn_1127393.jpg) > ““Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining pits, chipping flint with picks, drilling schist with drills, striking it rich mining zinc. Irish firms, hiring micks whilst firing Brits, bring in smiths with mining skills: kilnwrights grilling brick in brickkilns, millwrights grinding grist in gristmills. Irish tinsmiths, fiddling with widgits, fix this rig, driving its drills which spin whirring drillbits.”” [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid, rhythmic depiction of labor, migration, and industrial toil highlighting the relentless grind of workers and the cultural mix in mining communities. **In simple terms:** Hard work and cultural exchange in mining. Key Takeaway Recognize the value of diverse labor. Themes labor migration industry culture exploitation Mood gritty reflective Type poetic social commentary When to use this quote - construction sites - mining operations - historical labor studies - immigrant workforce management Key Concepts industrialization social dynamics economic pressure Questions to Reflect On - How does labor shape identity? - What ethical responsibilities arise from exploiting migrant workers? A Different Perspective May romanticize harsh conditions, overlooking workers’ suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Irish Tinsmiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irish-tinsmiths-3079626/) [Mining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mining/) [Mining Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mining-skills-3079625/) [Picks Drilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picks-drilling-3079628/) [Pilgrims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pilgrims/) [Shifts Dig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shifts-dig-3079627/) ## Related quotes > [We are all pilgrims on an elusive and endless road... Despite our attempts to build lives on stone foundations, our spirits continuously flow. Endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lawlor/we-are-all-pilgrims-on-an-elusive-and-endless-road-despite-our/) [Anthony Lawlor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lawlor/) > [Courage you have, and the knowledge that we are all pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-you-have-and-the-knowledge-that-we-are-all-pilgrims-together/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In dreams we stand in this great democracy of the possible and there we are right pilgrims indeed. There we go forth to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/in-dreams-we-stand-in-this-great-democracy-of-the-possible-and-there/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Next to of course god America i / love you land of the pilgrims and so forth oh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/next-to-of-course-god-america-i-love-you-land-of-the-pilgrims-and-so/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [The Pilgrims came to America not to accumulate riches but to worship God, and the greatest wealth they left unborn generations was their heroic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-moyle-tippett/the-pilgrims-came-to-america-not-to-accumulate-riches-but-to-worship/) [Harry Moyle Tippett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-moyle-tippett/) > [Politics is like navigation in a sea without charts, and wise men live the lives of pilgrims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/politics-is-like-navigation-in-a-sea-without-charts-and-wise-men-live/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [“Far out on the desert to the north dustspouts rose wobbling and augered the earth and some said they'd heard of pilgrims borne aloft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/far-out-on-the-desert-to-the-north-dustspouts-rose-wobbling-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Pilgrims were people glad to take off their clothing, which was on fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/pilgrims-were-people-glad-to-take-off-their-clothing-which-was-on-fire/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [“Many members of that early band of twentieth-century pilgrims must have yearned for the honesty of Southern landscapes where even if they were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/many-members-of-that-early-band-of-twentieth-century-pilgrims-must/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“In the truest sense, Christian pilgrims have the best of both worlds. We have joy whenever this world reminds us of the next, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/in-the-truest-sense-christian-pilgrims-have-the-best-of-both-worlds/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [It is imperative that the past of the pilgrims' progress be intentionally carried forward into the present as we work into our future. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/it-is-imperative-that-the-past-of-the-pilgrims-progress-be/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [“Overcome and sobbing, the young woman sank down before the cross at the side of the road, where thousands of pilgrims had lain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigrid-undset/overcome-and-sobbing-the-young-woman-sank-down-before-the-cross-at/) [Sigrid Undset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigrid-undset/) > [“The pilgrims continue to come. Only God knows what each one of us brings, and with what kind of heart. We come mystically to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-basil-pennington/the-pilgrims-continue-to-come-only-god-knows-what-each-one-of-us/) [M. Basil Pennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-basil-pennington/) > [Pilgrims travel to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land, and the foundations of their faith. People go to Washington, D.C. to see the workings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/pilgrims-travel-to-jerusalem-to-see-the-holy-land-and-the-foundations/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [Like so many pilgrims before us, we kneel in wonder and adoration before the ineffable mystery which. was accomplished here... In This Child -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/like-so-many-pilgrims-before-us-we-kneel-in-wonder-and-adoration/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) ## More by Christian Bök > [“Blond trollops who don go-go boots flop pompoms nonstop to do promos for floorshows. Wow! Hot blonds who doff cotton frocks show off soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/blond-trollops-who-don-go-go-boots-flop-pompoms-nonstop-to-do-promos/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Hassan can watch, aghast, as databanks at NASDAQ graph hard data and chart a NASDAQ crash - a sharp fall that alarms staff at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/hassan-can-watch-aghast-as-databanks-at-nasdaq-graph-hard-data-and/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Hassan at Arab talks can canvass all satraps and ask that Arab banks back what grand plans Hassan has (dams and canals at Panama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/hassan-at-arab-talks-can-canvass-all-satraps-and-ask-that-arab-banks/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Plasma blasts scald asphalt; napalm blasts parch macadam (glass shards act as haphazard abradants that sandblast all landwrack)...A mad labman at a lab crafts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/plasma-blasts-scald-asphalt-napalm-blasts-parch-macadam-glass-shards/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“The creeks wend between beech trees, then end where freshets feed the meres (there, the speckled perch teem; there, the freckled newts rest). The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/the-creeks-wend-between-beech-trees-then-end-where-freshets-feed-the/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Thinking within strict limits is stifling”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/thinking-within-strict-limits-is-stifling/) [Christian Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Hassan drafts a Magna Carta and asks that a taxman pass a Tax Act - a cash grab that can tax all farmland and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/hassan-drafts-a-magna-carta-and-asks-that-a-taxman-pass-a-tax-act-a/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Profs who go to Knossos to look for books on Phobos or Kronos go on to jot down monophthongs ( kof or rho )…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/profs-who-go-to-knossos-to-look-for-books-on-phobos-or-kronos-go-on/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Scots from hogtowns or cowtowns work from cockcrow to moondown -- to chop down woodlots, to plow down cornrows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/scots-from-hogtowns-or-cowtowns-work-from-cockcrow-to-moondown-to/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“A bacchant asks a madam (as drachmas pass hands): 'what carnal acts can a man transact?' A gal can grab a man's balls and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/a-bacchant-asks-a-madam-as-drachmas-pass-hands-what-carnal-acts-can-a/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Gulls churr; ducks cluck. Bulls plus bucks run thru buckrush; thus dun burrs clutch fur tufts. Ursus cubs plus Lupus pups hunt skunks. Curs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/gulls-churr-ducks-cluck-bulls-plus-bucks-run-thru-buckrush-thus-dun/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Hassan can, at a handclap, call a vassal at hand and ask that all staff plan a bacchanal - a gala ball that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/hassan-can-at-a-handclap-call-a-vassal-at-hand-and-ask-that-all-staff/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) > [“Hassan gags and has an asthma attack - a catarrh as fatal as lhasa and hanta. Cramps as sharp as darts and barbs jab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/hassan-gags-and-has-an-asthma-attack-a-catarrh-as-fatal-as-lhasa-and/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) [Explore all 14 Christian Bök quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) ## More Mining quotes > [In that sense, I became politicized because the people in the coal mining villages who were involved in the struggle knew why they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/in-that-sense-i-became-politicized-because-the-people-in-the-coal/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) [Alexander Agassiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-agassiz/) > [The investment in our mining industry has been very positive for Australia but we need to be doing more if we want, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-rinehart/the-investment-in-our-mining-industry-has-been-very-positive-for/) [Gina Rinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-rinehart/) > [There's a lot of money to be made by strip-mining and drilling the dirtiest oil on the planet. But why should the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/there-s-a-lot-of-money-to-be-made-by-strip-mining-and-drilling-the/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [We accept it as normal that people who have never been on the land, who have no history or connection to the country, may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/we-accept-it-as-normal-that-people-who-have-never-been-on-the-land/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [“I am a citizen of this country,” I declare, “and Mr. Mayor, tonight I will be a citizen of this city when I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ash/i-am-a-citizen-of-this-country-i-declare-and-mr-mayor-tonight-i-will/) [Jerry Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-ash/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [If it can't be proven that mountaintop removal mining is safe, we shouldn't allow it to continue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-yarmuth/if-it-can-t-be-proven-that-mountaintop-removal-mining-is-safe-we/) [John Yarmuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-yarmuth/) > [“That’s got to stop,” says I. “The idea of any blood-thirsty pirate (Mexican President Diaz) sitting on a throne and reaching across the border…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ash/that-s-got-to-stop-says-i-the-idea-of-any-blood-thirsty-pirate/) [Jerry Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-ash/) > [Programming today is the opposite of diamond mining. In diamond mining you dig up a lot of dirt to find a small bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simonyi/programming-today-is-the-opposite-of-diamond-mining-in-diamond-mining/) [Charles Simonyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simonyi/) > [“Go home now,” says I. “Keep away from the saloons. Save your money. 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Acting is just tedious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-knoxville/coal-mining-is-tough-acting-is-just-tedious/) [Johnny Knoxville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-knoxville/) [Browse all 236 Mining quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mining/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining pits, chipping flint with picks, drilling schist with drills, striking it rich mining zinc. Irish firms, hiring micks whilst firing Brits, bring in smiths with mining skills: kilnwrights grilling brick in brickkilns, millwrights grinding grist in gristmills. 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