The Gin and Raspberry

©Martin Curtis

        Larry Carpenter of Minneapolis has sent me many fine New Zealand songs over the years, from friends made while he and his wife were teaching there. This is the title song from an album Martin Cur.tis made with Eric McEachen and Paul Hutchings. Larry quotes from the jacket notes: "In 1862, a group of prospectors searching for the elusive William Fox ... stumbled upon the Cardrona goldfields. Although the Cardrona goldrush was short-lived, the Gin and Raspberry mine continued on for many years, and was the richest in the valley. Legend has it that the mine acquired its name because the miners drank this particular poison when they struck an ounce of gold in a bucket of paydirt." (GB)

While hunting for Fox we first came this way,
From Lake Pembroke township took many long days
To cut through the bush, and we found a new rush
With a mine called the Gin and Raspberry.

The rumors went out and the thousands poured in;
A handful grew rich and many grew thin.
They all hoped to find their own patch of tin
As rich as the Gin and Raspberry.

Oh, but it's hard, cruel and cold,
Searching Cardrona for nuggets of gold.
An ounce to a bucket, and we'd all sell our souls
For a taste of the Gin and Raspberry.

At first it was summer and we all thought it grand;
No shirts on our backs as we sluiced and we panned.
But then came the snow and the southern winds blow
And there's ice in the Gin and Raspberry.

Billy McGrath, he worked hard and worked long,
Ready to smile and to give us a song.
But then he struck gold and was found dead and cold
Down in the Gin and Raspberry.

So, I'll work at the mine and I'll stay out of strife;
I'll save all me tine to send home to me wife.
And when the job's done, I'll leave at the run,
And to hell with the Gin and Raspberry.

The Gin and The Raspberry is recorded on the CD Minneapolis Concert