The Vocal Miner
[Air: "Do They Miss Me At Home"]
When the miner returns from his labor,
And lays himself own to repose,
He wonders the luck of his neighbor,
And how he got all his good clothes;—
But soon there's a change of sensation;
For sleep, the twin sister of death,
Will whisper a dream of relation
That soon will depart like a breath—
That soon will depart like a breath.
With his shovel and pick on his shoulder,
He starts in the morning to mine;
At noon he sits down on a boulder,
And wishes 'twas still '49;
For then he could do so much better,
But this is what troubles him most:
The mail has arrived - but no letter!
Why shouldn't he give up the ghost?
Why shouldn't be give up the ghost?
He can see the hot cakes in the kitchen,
The innocent children at play,
And see his old mother at knitting,
Who soon will be passing away.
Their letters are always inviting,
No matter how poor, to return;
But some one is a1ways backbiting,
And saying, "He'll come—in a horn!"
And saying, "He'll come—in a horn!"
If his friends, old and young, could behold him.
With frying-pan baking his bread,
A wife or a sister might scold him,
Because it was heavy as lead.
Then one earning more than another,
Is what they don't well understand,
And lay to this, that and t’other,
Conclude he is working in sand —
Conclude he is working in sand.
When the sleigh-bells are merrily ringing,
And music resounds at the ball,
Is some fond heart to him still clinging,
Or is he forsaken by all?
Perhaps they have heard of his stealing,
And wonder what people have lost;
If here they could tell by squealing
And squawking in many a hen-roost—
And squawking in many a hen-roost.
Do they write to his friends that he's drinking,
And gambling his money away—
Pretend it was done without thinking,
Or trying to lead them astray?
From Death with grim visage inviting,
With horror their souls will recoil;
And demons will get them for writing,
And deal with them "'cording to Hoyle!"
And deal with them "'cording to Hoyle!"
A Vain Man's Motto - Win gold and wear it.
Put's Golden Songster, page 9 & 10
Tune and lyrics in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, The Songs of the Gold Rush, pp. 156-157
[Tune notes by Artful Codger]
"Do They Miss Me at Home?", text by Caroline A. Mason (?), music by S.M. Grannis, 1852.
Sheet music [PDF] in the Lester S. Levy Collection.
Digital Tradition: Do They Miss Me at Home (with score and MIDI)
YouTube: oldcremona (banjo) and friends: Do They Miss Me at Home?
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