Song Description

true story of gold mining days in Australia - death of a child in a storm whilst her father was mining his claim

Lyrics

LITTLE RED BIRD
Come all ye here & gather round, to hear a tale sad & profound
A tale that's true & was told to me, it's a tale of loss & tragedy
On Pigeon Hill or so I'm told, back in the days of the search for gold
There camped a miner with his only child, in a lonely place so bleak and wild

He worked his mine all through the day, & the little girl whiled the hours away
Roamin the hills til the daylight's end, & a little red bird was her only friend
Through valleys deep & rocky springs, the red bird led her she could hear it sing
In her scarlet coat that she loved to wear, the child and the bird made a handsome pair

Oh the little red bird (2)

One winter's day the clouds rolled in, thunder & lightning made an awful din
The wind it howled through the drivin rain, he called for the child but he called in vain
He searched all night til the break of day, in his darkest hour he stopped to pray
All the gold in the world I'd freely give, if my sweet child would only live

Oh the little red bird (2)

In the cold grey light of the early morn that miner cursed the day that he was born
He found her body on the cold wet ground & the little red bird was hovering round
He buried her there right where she lay, picked up his swag & he ran away
To the end of the earth to the end of the world, he'd always mourn his little red bird

Oh the little red bird (2)

Now a lonely grave the place does mark &if you go there before its dark
And if you're silent, don't say a word, you just might see that little red bird
Oh the little red bird (2) TO END