"Oh My Darling, Clementine!"

A "miner forty-niner"

Although this song seems to have been written by one Percy Montross and published in 1884, most  people think it's an American folksong. Its slightly silly lyrics tell of the singer's "darling" who drowned because the singer couldn't swim.

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In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine.
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner,
And his daughter, Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Light she was, and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes, without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Drove she ducklings to the water,
Ev'ry morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter
Fell into the foaming brine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles, soft and fine,
Alas, for me! I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

In a churchyard, near the canyon,
Where the myrtle boughs entwine,
There grow roses, and other posies,
Fertilized by Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Then the miner, forty-niner,
Soon began to peak and pine,
Thought he "oughter jine" his daughter,
Now he's with his Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments soaked in brine;
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead, I'll draw the line.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.