New Chums at the Diggings

DESCRIPTION: "New chums start off for the diggings, But some of them never get there," and others despair on arrival. New chums miss their comfort, and arrive with many un-helpful items. Often they lose them (sometimes with help)
AUTHOR: Words: portions from "The Wakamarina for Me" by Charles R. Thatcher (1831-1878)
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Thatcher, "Songs of the War"); this conflate version from Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry,1972
KEYWORDS: New Zealand gold work hardtimes theft
FOUND IN: New Zealand
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 54, "New Chums at the Diggings" (1 text, 1 tune, probably composite) (p. 32 in the 1972 edition)
NOTES [101 words]: The description of this in Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry is confusing; it is "an adaptation of two distinct songs collected by Rona Bailey: One... from Mr. Butterworth of Westport; and the other, clearly derived from a longer song by Charles Thatcher, The Wakamarina for Me." But from the notes at the back it appears to have been collected from Geoffrey Butterfield. So which part came from where? I don't know.
For brief background on Charles Thatcher's career, see the notes to "Where's Your License?" For an extensive collection of his songs, see Anderson-StoryOfAustralianFolksong. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.4
File: Colq032

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