“The Miner”

Description

The miner goes to work "With his calico cap and his old flannel shirt, his pants with the strap round the knee, His boots watertight and his candle alight His crib and his billy of tea." He works to support his family, and hopes to have money for tobacco

Notes

Manifold comments, "This is one of the few songs from the later period of gold-mining, after the alluvial gold was finished." In other words, it is a true mining song, not a prospecting song. Such things are not rare in America, of course, but they do seem to be unusual in Australia. - RBW

References

1. Fahey-Eureka, pp. 74-75, "The Miner" (1 text, 1 tune -- collected as a fragment inserted into another piece)
2. Manifold-PASB, p. 43, "The Miner" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 131-134, "The Miner" (1 text, collected as a conflation of "The Miner" and "The Dream of the Miner's Child")
4. BI, FaE074