The "Diggers' Song" is a 17th century ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

, in terms of content a protest song

Protest song

A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...

 concerned with land rights

Land rights

Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these species of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use agreements, including renting, are an important...

, inspired by the Diggers movement, composed by Gerrard Winstanley

Gerrard Winstanley

Gerrard Winstanley was an English Protestant religious reformer and political activist during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell...

. The lyrics were published in 1894 by the Camden Society

Camden Society

The Camden Society, named after the English antiquary and historian William Camden, was founded in 1838 in London to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books....

. It is sung to a version of the family of tunes later used for Sam Hall

Sam Hall (song)

“Sam Hall” is an old English folk song about a bitterly unrepentant criminal condemned to death . Prior to the mid 19th century it was called “Jack Hall”, after an infamous English thief, who was hanged in 1707 at Tyburn...

, Captain Kidd and Admiral John Benbow

John Benbow

John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.Benbow...

, which according to Roy Palmer

Roy Palmer

Roy Palmer was a U.S. jazz trombonist.Palmer was born in the Carrollton neighborhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. Early in his career he also played violin, guitar and trumpet. He worked with brass bands including the Tuxedo and the Onward, with Papa Celestin, and with Richard M...

 was first printed in 1714. The English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 band Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...

 recorded a version of this song on their 1988 album English Rebel Songs 1381-1914.

It is often thought that "The World Turned Upside Down" (not to be confused with the 17th century ballad of the same title

The World Turned Upside Down

The World Turned Upside Down is an English ballad. It was first published on a broadside in 1643 as a protest against the policies of Parliament relating to the celebration of Christmas. Parliament believed the holiday should be a solemn occasion, and outlawed traditional English Christmas...

), composed by Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, in the BBC's topical TV programme of the early 1960s, That Was The Week That Was...

 in 1975, taken into the charts in 1985 by Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg

Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...

, and performed by several other artists, is a version of "Diggers' Song". In May 2009 Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, in the BBC's topical TV programme of the early 1960s, That Was The Week That Was...

 corrected this belief in the Guardian newspaper:

I wrote the song in 1974 ... It's the story of the Digger Commune of 1649 and their vision of the earth as 'a common treasury'. It's become a kind of anthem for various radical groups, particularly since Billy Bragg recorded it [1985], and is not adapted from any other song. The title is taken from Christopher Hill's

Christopher Hill (historian)

John Edward Christopher Hill , usually known simply as Christopher Hill, was an English Marxist historian and author of textbooks....

 book about the English revolution.

Chumbawamba also released a version of Rosselson's composition on their 1993 single Timebomb

Timebomb (Chumbawamba song)

"Timebomb" is a single from Chumbawamba's album Anarchy. It reached #59 on UK Charts in 1993. It was supported by a music video which can be seen...

.