I was wondering whether anyone might have any information about an old, humorous little song about the Panama Canal. My father, who was born and raised in Miami, FL, frequently sang it to my siblings and I when we were children, and claims he learned it in elementary school (this would have been in the late 1950s/early 1960s). I sing it with my children now, and they enjoy it. I've never been able to find any information about the song until recently, when I found a post on a discussion board with some of the lyrics, saying that it was heard as part of a BBC radio program called "Singing Together" (which I had never heard of). Further searching led me to this site, and a post stating that the song was included as part of the program in 1990, 1993, and 1996 (https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=154766)

The lyrics, as I know them, are as follows:

VIVA PANAMA

I went to town to sell my pig
the morning after Christmas
They gave me a pick and told me to dig
a ditch across the isthmus.

(Chorus)
Qué viva - ¡viva Panama!
Qué viva - ¡viva Panama!
Qué viva viva viva via - Panama!
Qué viva - ¡viva Panama!

We dug and we dug, the dirt just flew
The digging was terrific
We dug a canal to join the blue
Atlantic and Pacific

(Chorus)

Now I sit beneath the trees
and watch the ocean liners
Float through the canal from sea to sea
from sunny Spain to Chiners

(Chorus)

I would love to know where the song came from, and check whether the lyrics and melody that father has passed down to us are correct (he isn't musically inclined, and I'm pretty sure this is the only song he has memorized!). Any information would be most appreciated!