The Happy Miner
[Air: I Get in a Weaving Way]

1
I am a happy miner, I love to sing and dance;
I wonder what my love would say, if she could see my pants,
With canvas patches on the knees, and one upon the stern;
I'll wear them while I'm digging here, and home when I return.

CHORUS
So I get in a jovial way, I spend my money free,
And I've got plenty, will you drink lager beer with me?

2
She writes about her poodle-dog, but never thinks to say,
"O, do come home, my honey dear. I'm pining all away."
I'll write her half a letter, then give the ink a tip;
If that don't bring her to her milk, I'll coolly "let her rip."

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

3.
They wish to know if I can cook, and what I have to eat,
And tell me should I take a cold be sure to soak my feet;
But when they talk of cooking, I'm mighty hard to beat-
I've made ten thousand loaves of bread the d---l could not eat.

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

4
I like a lazy partner, so I can take my ease,
Lay down and talk of going home, as happy as you please;
Without a thing to eat or drink, away from care and grief,
I'm fat and saucy, ragged too, and tough as Spanish beef.

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

5
The dark-eyed señoritas are very fond of me,
You ought to see us throw ourselves when we get on a spree;
We are as saucy as a clipper ship dashing round the horn;
Head and tail up, like a steer rushing through the corn.

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

6
I never changed my fancy shirt, the one I wore away,
Until it got so rotten I finally had to say,
"Farewell, old standing collar, in all thy pride of starch,
I've worn thee from December till the seventeenth of March."

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

7
No matter whether rich or poor, I'm happy as a clam,
I wish my friends at home could look and see me as I am,
With woolen shirt and rubber boots, in mud up to my knees,
And lice as large as Chili beans fighting with the fleas.

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

8
I'll mine for half an ounce a day, perhaps a little less;
But when it comes to China pay I cannot stand the press;
Like thousands here, I'll make a pile, if I make one at all,'About the time the allied forces take Sevastopol.

CHORUS- So I get in a jovial way, &c.

Put's Golden Songster, pages 43-45
Lyrics only in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, page 87.

Chapman Family Papers, summary p. 4: "There are two ballads included in the papers, one titled, "Things I don't like to see," which was sent by John Chapman to his son in the army, saying it was a song "a old clown sung under the shade tree on the grindstone bench at my house one Evening...", the other titled "When I get in a weaving way," sent by James Chapman to William in the army, and said to be a Negro song." http://tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/69-009.pdf

Michelle Shocked sings a song, Weaving Way, but from the lyrics, I doubt that it is the same one.
      __________________________

The father and mother of Mirabeau, the celebrated French writer, lived very unhappily together, and finally separated, much to the scandal of the Count de Mirabeau, pere, who thereupon employed his son to write a pamphlet in his defence.
For this service, the son received one hundred louis d'ors. The pamphlet reflected somewhat severely upon the conduct of Madame, and she upbraided the writer as ungrateful and unfilial. "You misunderstand me, Madame, said Mirabeau, "I am still your devoted son; give me one hundred louis d'ors and I will earnestly vindicate your cause in another pamphlet against Monsieur le Compte, my honored father."

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[Tune notes by Artful Codger]
The tune for "I Get in a Weaving Way" remains elusive, though I think I've identified the intended song as "Sally is de Gal for Me"; see details in this message below.

Mudcat thread: The Happy/Unhappy Miner (Old Put)

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