The Cariboo Gold Rush Teacher's Corner

The Dancing Girls of Cariboo

A popular way of finding gold during the Rush was to earn it by entertaining the miners. Most descriptions of the Hurdy Gurdy Girls are from the miners' or newspapers'points of view.

THE DANCING GIRLS OF CARIBOO

(Air.. Young men from the countree.)

We are dancing girls in Cariboo,
And we're liked by all the men,
In gum boots and a blanket coat -
And e'en the upper ten!
We all of us have swee-eet hearts,
But the dearest of all to me,
Is that young man who wistfully
Casts those sheep's eyes at me!

(Chorus. Is that a young man, etc.)

0 ev'ry night at eight o'clock,
We enter the saloon -
Altho' it may be vacant then
'Tis crowded very soon.
Then all the boys they stare at us,
But we do not mind that so,
Like those four and twenty Welshman,
All sitting in a row.

(Chorus. Like those four, etc.)

0 what a charming thing it is,
To have a pretty face -
To know that one can kill as well
In calico as lace;
We steal the hearts of everyone,
But the dearest of all to me,
Is that dear boy with the curly head
Who loves me faithfully!

(Chorus.. Is that dear boy, etc.)

To all the boys of Cariboo
This moral - which is right -
From the dancing gals of Cariboo
You may see on any night -
"Before we either give our hearts,"
Or yet our sympath-ee,
You must be like this dear young man
Who spends his all on me!

Chorus. You must be, etc.)

Find out more about the Hurdy Gurdy Girls!

Barkerville: A Guide to the Fabulous Cariboo Gold Camp." Canadian West Magazine ñ Special Issue. Bruce Ramsey. No.7. 1987. Langley, B.C.: Sunfire Publications. p.26-27.