One night in hell and he never drank again

HERE follows a cautionary tale from the collected Black Country Stories of T.H. Gough, compiled back in the 1930s but dating back, in many cases, to Victorian times ...

A party of colliers going to the pithead to start in the night shift came across one of their mates who should also have been on his way to work, but who was helplessly drunk.

They decided to give him a lesson, with a view to getting him to mend his ways. They carried him to the cage at the pithead, and smuggled him down the mine.

During an interval for a bite of bread and cheese, the miners sat round the man, who was gradually reviving from his drunken orgy, and having each placed his safety lamp on his head, awaited the effect. Their drunken colleague, suddenly sitting up with dread and fear in his eyes, enquired his whereabouts. He was informed that he was in Hell, and his one chance to be let out was on a promise never to touch drink again. He promised, and he kept the promise, so scared was he by the fright to which his colleagues had subjected him by the trick they had played.

He was informed that he was in Hell, his one chance to be let out was to promise never to drink again