The Men of the Deeps is more than a world renowned singing group - it is a social institution. The Men of the Deeps is a choir of working and retired coal miners from the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Organized in 1966 as part of Cape Breton's contribution to Canada's Centennial Year (1967), the group's inception was an effort by the people of Cape Breton to preserve in song some of the rich folklore of that island's coal mining communities. To belong to the singing group a man must have worked in the mine. The ages of the men range from the mid-thirties to the upper-seventies, about one-quarter of which have been with the group since it was organized in 1966. Since then, the group has been singing of the work and lifestyle of the Cape Breton coal miner to audiences throughout most of Canada and the world. The musical repertoire of the Men of the Deeps is gathered from mining communities around the world. Many of the group's songs are "home grown" - composed by contemporary Cape Breton bards, or traditional songs which trace their roots to their Celtic fore-bearers in the old country.