THE DIGGINS, O!*

I’ve come back all skin and bone
From the diggins, O!
And I wish I’d never gone
To the diggins, O!
Believe me, ’tis no fun,
I once weighed fifteen stone,
But they brought me down to one,
At the diggins, O!

I thought a good home could be found
At the diggins, O!
But soon I found I got aground
At the diggins, O!
The natives came one day,
Burnt my cottage down like hay,
With my wife they ran away,
To the diggins, O!

I built a hut with mud
At the diggins, O!
That got wash’d away by flood
At the diggins, O!
I used to dig, and cry
It wouldn’t do to die,
Undertakers charge too high
At the diggins, O!

I paid for victuals with a frown,
At the diggins, O!
Three potatoes, half a crown,
At the diggins, O!
Sprats five shillings a dish,
If for Dutch Plaice you wish,
Two dollars buys that fish,
At the diggins, O!

A Crown a pound for Steaks,
At the diggins, O!
Ditto Chops, and no great shakes,
At the diggins, O!
Five “hog”** a small pig’s cheek,
If a herring red you’d seek,
One will keep you dry a week,
At the diggins, O!

Table beer two bob a quart,
At the diggins, O!
Get your eyes gouged out for naught,
At the diggins, O!
Five shillings a four pound brick,***
Butter a shilling a lick,
They never gives no tick,
At the diggins, O!

They tied me to a tree,
At the diggins, O!
With my nuggets they made free,
At the diggins, O!
I escaped from bodily hurt,
Tho’ they stole my very shirt,
I had to paint myself with dirt,
At the diggins, O!

I felt quite a ruined man,
At the diggins, O!
Thinks I, I’ll get home, if I can,
From the diggins, O!
I was always catching cold,
And I’ve been both bought and sold,
Like many more, for gold,
At the diggins, O!

But now I’m safe returned
From the diggins, O!
Never more I mean to roam
To the diggins, O!
It some people’s fortune mends,
Much on the man depends—
I’d sooner be here with my friends,
Than at the diggins, O!

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