"Look Out Below!" by Charles Thatcher

For our Victorian Gold Rush Inquiry we have been looking at (well, listening to) Charles Thatcher's amazing song from the time - Look Out Below.

It was written about the life of a digger.

We have been learning it this last couple of weeks.

Here's the song:

And the lyrics:

A young man left his native shores,
for trade was bad at home.
To seek his fortune in this land,
he crossed the briny foam.

And when he went to Ballarat,
it put him in a glow,
to hear the sound of the windlass
and cry "Look Out Below!".

Amongst the rest he took his chance,
his luck at first was vile,
but still he resolved to persevere,
and at length he made his pile.

So says he, "I'll take my passage
and home again I'll go,
and I’ll say farewell to the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".

Arrived in London once again,
his gold he freely spent.
And into every gaiety
and dissipation went.

But pleasure, if prolonged too much,
oft causes pain you know,
and he missed the sound of the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".

So he started for this land again
with a charming little wife.
And he finds there's nothing comes up to
a jolly digger's life.

Ask him if he'll go back again,
he'll quickly answer, "No",
for he loves the sound of the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".