To be a Sheffield grinder it is no easy trade;
There's more than you'd imagine in the grinding of a blade.
The strongest man amongst us is old at thirty-two,
For there's few who brave such hardships as we poor grinders do.

Every working day we are breathing dust and steel
And a broken stone can give us a wound that will not heel
There's many a poor blinder struck down with such a blow
There's few that brave such hardships as we poor grinders do

There's many a poor grinder who's thus been snatched away
Without a moment's warning to meet his Judgment day
Before his Judge he must appear, his final doom to know
There are few who brave such hardships as we poor grinders do

Thus many a poor grinder, whose family is large
With all his best endeavours, cannot his debts discharge
When children cry for bread, how pitiful the view
There's few brave such hardships as we poor grinders do.

But now I must conclude these few humble lines
Success to all grinders that suffer in hard times
I wish them better fortune, their families the same,
There's few brave such hardships as we poor grinders do.