the chorus is something like this

let the rope soap and calico take me
I'll grin and I'll hold me head high
and the devil take him who can make me
bow low for I'd far rather die

It tells the story of a really rebellious guy who keeps getting a bit of luck and then getting into trouble with authority figures. He get's transported, joins the gold rush. Might have been in a gang. The last verse is about him being hanged. I think it's australian. My dad spent a year or two busking around there and he used to sing it a few years back.

there's a bit with "the landlord who fenced in our cottage/was a thief..." or something