Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:

Few Days

DESCRIPTION: "Well, I pitched my tent on this campground, Few days, few days, And I give old Satan another round, And I am going home. I can't stay in these diggings, few days, few days, I can't stay in these diggings And I am going home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad mining
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 644, "Tree in Paradise" (3 short texts; the "A" version combines "Few Days" with a "Tree in Paradise" text; "B" is too short to classify easily; "C" seems to be mostly "All My Trials"; there may also be influence from "Is Your Lamps Gone Out" or the like)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 566, "Few Days" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, (FEWDAYS -- the mining parody)
Roud #15561
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Zaccheus Climbed the Sycamore Tree" (lyrics)
Notes: This originated as a hymn, and later was adapted by miners to describe their lives. Since, however, the miners' version took over the hymn in its entirety, simply tacking new verses on the end, we really can't separate the pieces.
Spaeth lists a song by Albert Holland, "Few Days" or "I'm Going Home," from 1854. It certainly sounds like the same song, but I can't prove it. - RBW
File: LxA566

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2007 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.