Another version that I transcribed from Spotify:


THE DIGS IN BIRMINGHAM
As sung by Curly Sullivan on "Classic Irish Songs" (2005)

1. I left my home in Dublin not so many days ago.
I paid my fare to England, where all o' the Irish go.
To the capital of Warwickshire, my quest for riches led.
That's where I had to sleep with seven others in a bed.

CHORUS: Oh, pull down your legs there, Paddy; shove in a bit there, Joe.
Let go the blankets, Michael, and don't dislocate my toe.
Let go the blankets, Johnny, and don't strip my perished gam.
That's what you'll hear in England in the digs in Birmingham.

2. I wasn't long in Birmingham till I was in a job.
I got the digs to share the bed and pay my fifty bob.
Like sardines used to feel the crush as seven in did cram,
That's what you'll hear in England in the digs in Birmingham.

CHORUS; INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

3. Oh, I slept in many places since I left my mother's knee.
Some casual wards and doss-houses it was my plight to see;
But since I left old Ireland, it's always been my plan
To let the people see that I'm a decent Irish man. CHORUS