The Diggins-Oh

Words: Anonymous
Tune: Nicole Murray



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

I built a hut with mud
At the diggins-oh.
That got washed away by flood
At the diggins-oh.
I used to dig and cry,
It wouldn't do to die,
Undertakers charge too high
At the diggins-oh.

I paid for vittles with a frown
At the diggins-oh.
Three potatoes half a crown
At the diggins-oh.
Five shillings a four-pound brick
Butter at a shilling a lick,
They never give no tick
At the diggins-oh.

They tied me to a tree
At the diggins-oh.
With my nuggets they made free
At the diggins-oh.
I escaped from harm and hurt
Though they stole my very shirt
I had to paint myself with dirt
At the diggins-oh.

I felt quite a ruined man
At the diggins-oh.
Thought, I'll get home if I can
From the diggins-oh.
I was always catching cold,
And I've been both bought and sold,
Like many more, for gold
At the diggins-oh.


From cloudstreet's 2004 album, The Fiddleship.