Chorus.
So therefore I’ll lay up my money in store,
And I never will play the wild rover any more;
Wild rover, wild rover, wild rover, any more,
And then I will play the wild rover no more.
I went to an ale house where I used to resort,
I began for to tell them my money got short;
I asked them to trust me, but their answer was nay,
Such customers as you we may have every day.
Then my hands from my pockets I pulled out straightway,
Pulled a handful of gold out to hear what they’d say,
O! here’s ale, wine, and brandy, here’s enough of the best,
It was only to try you, I was but in jest.
Begone you proud landlord, I bid you adieu,
For the devil of one penny will I spend with you;
For the money I’ve got boys, I’ll take better care,
And I never will play the wild rover any more.
So now I’ll go home to my sweet loving wife,
In hopes to live happy all the days of my life;
From rambling and roving, I’ll take better care,
Unless poverty happens to fall to my share.
THE DIGGINS, O![66]
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”[67] 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 nought,
At the diggins, O!
Five shillings a four pound brick,[68]
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!