In the back-breaking colliery town of Blacklaw, the mine-owner Houston Lamont squeezes the last ounce of profit from his pitmen, until the coalfields erupt in violent and bloody riot...

With her father and two brothers dead in the Blacklaw mine disaster, Mirrin Stalker, the restless firebrand of the family, takes to the road.

Through tinker camp and hiring fair, she finally emerges on the stage of the music-hall in its brightly-lit heyday...