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03 Aug 20 - 06:08 PM (#4067180) Subject: DTStudy: Bright Fine Gold From: Joe Offer We have two versions of this song in the Digital Tradition. Vectis sang it at the singaround. Needs some research and refinement. Here are the DT lyrics. BRIGHT FINE GOLD Bright fine gold Bright fine gold One-a-pecker, Tuapeka Bright fine gold Spend it in the winter, or die of the cold, One-a-pecker, Tuapeka, bright fine gold It cannot light a lantern, it cannot cure a pain, But still we go on searching although we search in vain Some are sons of fortune, and my man came to see, But the riches of the river are not for such as we I'm weary of Otago, I'm weary of the snow Lord, let my man strike it rich, and then we can go Notes: The chorus is an adaptation of "One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns" Verses largely from Ruth Park's book "One-a-pecker, two-a-pecker" This song originates in the winter of 1863 at Gabriel's Gully, Lawrence, Otago west of Dunedin in New Zealand's South Island. Temperatures were so low that goldminers' families frequently found themselves sleeping in ice. @Australian @mining filename[ BRTFINE MG oct99 BRIGHT, FINE GOLD Bright, fine gold. Bright, fine gold. Wangapeka, Tuapeka, bright, red gold. Spend a day in the winter, or die of the cold. Wangapeka, Tuapeka, bright, fine gold. I'm weary of Otago. I'm weary of the snow. If I should strike it rich, away I shall go. Bright, fine gold. Bright, fine gold. Wangapeka, Tuapeka, bright, red gold. It cannot light a lantern. It cannot cure a pain. But still I'll go on searching, although its all in vain. I came to make my fortune, far across the sea, but the riches in the river were not for such as me. Bright, fine gold. Bright, fine gold. Wangapeka, Tuapeka, bright, red gold. RECORDINGS: Phil Garland / Songs of Old New Zealand / Kiwi-Pacific 191 (NZ, 1986) Gerry Hallom / A Run a Minute / Fellside 36 (UK, 1983) The Cat's Been Spayed (group) / Down the Hall... / Kiwi-Pacific 231 (NZ, 1993) COPYRIGHT: Trad / Park / Niland / Colquhoun / Garland NOTES AND TERMS: Excerpts from album notes by Phil Garland: "Gold was discovered in 1861 [in NZ] in the Wangapeka Valley... no sooner had this field settled down, than the rush to... the Tuapeka district of Otago was on. A large migration south began, giving rise to the chorus 'Gold, gold, fine bright gold,Tuapeka, Wangapeka, bright red gold', the 'red' referring to the gold-bearing quartz at Wangapeka, which had a reddish tinge. A variant of this chorus has survived...[as] a children's skipping rhyme, sung to the tune of 'Hot Cross Buns' and used as the title theme for a book 'One-A-Pecker, Two -A-Pecker' by the Australian novelest, Ruth Park. The song, as it stands today, is the perfect example of the creative folk process still at work, adapting and gathering extra verses from Ruth Park, D'Arcy Niland, Neil Colquhoun and others..." @NewZealand @mining filename[ BRTFNGLD ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GM oct96 |
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03 Aug 20 - 09:01 PM (#4067201) Subject: RE: DTStudy: Bright Fine Gold From: Stewie The 'NZ Folk Song' site has extensive information on this song: Bright Fine Gold The first version in the DT - the one without extra verses - is included in Neil Colquhoun's 'New Zealand Folksongs: Song of a Young Country' Bailey Bros & Swinfen 1972, p29. Colquhoun reconstructed the tune. The NZ Folk Song info doesn't appear to include the note from Colquhoun: In Dunedin, the prices of goods, clothing, board and lodging and building sections were rising. Carpenters were building rows of cottages to rent; new shops and warehouses were opening. Otago province was going to become the richest place in New Zealand. The first gold rush of this country was to be in the steep-sided gullies in the Tuapecka district. Colquhoun also includes this quote from Vincent Pyke 'Early Gold Discoveries': ...he who is unable to draw on his memory and personal experience cannot possibly conceive of the absolute solitariness which in those days pervaded the interior of Otago - the solemn loneliness of the mountains ... where the profound stillness was painful in its prolonged intensity ... such was the country, devoid of path or track over which the courageous gold-seeker, sometimes with his family, had to conduct his prospecting tours. The previous song in Colquhoun's book, 'Tuapeka Gold' had this note: In May, 1861, Gabriel Read discovered a large deposit of alluvial gold while prospecting along the Tuapeka River in Otago. He reported his find to the authorities in Dunedin. And this quote from Colin Hemingsen 'Reminiscences of a Gold Digger': Overnight the city was transformed and men left all kinds of occupations to hastily buy tools ... provisions and to set out for the goldfield. Within one week a city of tents and lean-to's appeared, stretching for miles along the Tuapeck. Perhaps of interest to some Mudcatters, the song was recorded by Gordon Bok on his 'In the Fine Land' CD. He had the song, with extra verse, from the Australian folk singer, Phyl Lobl. --Stewie |