The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #105200 Message #2280900
Posted By: Rowan
06-Mar-08 - 01:34 AM
Thread Name: songs on emigration
Subject: RE: songs on emigration
"Look out below!" Although this version, as posted on Mudcat, mentions the Lachlan as the digger's location (it was collected from the singing of Sally Sloane in NSW), it is usually sung in Victoria with Ballarat as the location, as it was written by Charles Thatcher, who was a great writer of songs on the Victorian goldfields.
The relevant verse would thus be; And when he came to Ballarat His heart was in a glow To hear the sound of the windlasses And the cry 'Look out below'
Subject: Look Out Below From: GUEST,radriano - PM Date: 14 Apr 00 - 11:15 AM
Here's a great little song about the Australian gold rush days:
Look Out Below
A young man left his native town Through trade being slack at home To seek his fortune in this land He crossed the briny foam
And when he came to the Lachlan His heart was in a glow To hear the sound of the windlasses And the cry 'Look out below'
Wherever he turned his wandering eyes Strange sights he did behold Of full and plenty in the land And the magic power of gold
He says now I am young and strong And a digging I will go For I like the sound of windlasses And the cry 'Look out below'
So now he's settled down again With a charming little wife He says there's nothing can compare To a jolly digger's life
Ask him if he'll go home again And he'll quickly answer no For he likes the sound of windlasses And the cry 'Look out below' ABC notation:
One of Charles Thatcher's songs from the goldrush days of the 1850's. Charles Thatcher was an English music hall entertainer during the gold rush period in Victoria. This version was given to John Meredith by Ida Fielding (a friend of Sally Sloane) of Dripstone NSW who got it from her father. The tune is from Sally Sloane and is also used for the ballad 'Peter Clarke'. Sally Sloane was a great old singer who was recorded in the 1950's and 1960's by folklorists searching for Australian songs. The Lachlan is a river in Australia.
If anyone needs a GIF for the music contact me at radriano@consrv.ca.gov and I'll send one off to you. The melody is also the same tune as the song Peter Clarke, which is in the Mudcat database.