Lesson 8 document 8
"The Lousy Miner,"
first published in John A. Stone's Original California Songster (1855).
The opening stanza begins:
"It's four long years since I reached this land,
In search among the rocks and sand;
And yet I'm poor when the truth is told,
I'm a lousy miner,
I'm a lousy miner in search of shining gold."
The final refrain:
"Oh, land of gold, you did me deceive,
And I intend in thee my bones to leave;
So farewell, home, now my friends grow cold,
I'm a lousy miner,
I'm a lousy miner in search of shining gold."
"The Lousy Miner," published in "Put's Original California Songster," by John A. Stone. 4th Edition. San Francisco: D.E. Appleton & Co., 1868. California Historical Society, North Baker Research Library, Melville Schweitzer Memorial Collection, gift of Mrs. Elsa Hunt Roach. FN-30707.
