s: This was the game of games he knew and loved,


s: Where a great sea poured out through narrow gates


s: To meet a greater,--came the clang of arms,


s: And drew the nations like a tocsin peal,


s: Till all the sun-white sands ran red, and earth


s: Sweat blood, and writhed in fiery ashes, and


s: Grew sick with all the reek and stench of war,


s: And heaven drew back behind the battle-clouds.


s: And ever, through the clamour of the strife,


s: I heard the ceaseless wailing of a child,


s: And the sobbing, sobbing, sobbing, endless


s: And the hoarse whisper of the War-Lord's voice,--


s: Where legions marched and wound 'mid snowy peaks,


s: And filled it with the reek and stench of war.


s: Where white-capped hosts crept swiftly to the straits


s: Twixt old and new, and drenched the land with blood,


s: Our brother of the North has seized his chance,


s: Where legions poured through the eternal snows,


s: And legions swept o'er every sea to meet


s: Their long-expected onslaught, and the dead


s: Were piled in mountains, and the snows ran red.


s: Or drop your rod of Empire in the dust--


s: Beneath us, legions swarming to the West,


s: Devouring kingdoms till they reached the sea,


s: And filling all the lands with blood and fire.


s: The War-Lord gazed, with eyes that blazed and flamed,


s: And panted like a soul in torment,--"Mine!


s: Of Him who sat and gazed with sorrowing face,


s: While all the earth beneath us reeked of war,


s: And heaven grew dim behind the battle-clouds.


s: And ever, through the clamour of the strife,


s: I heard the ceaseless wailing of a child,


s: And the sobbing, sobbing, sobbing, endless


s: Could cut no sharper than the gentle voice


s: Of Him who bowed with sorrow at the sight


s: I waited, breathless, for the warrior's word.


s: But no word came. His heart was with his men.


s: "_Shall it be Peace or War? Look yet again_!"


s: And at their feet, like mighty map unrolled,


s: Lay all the kingdoms of the earth--at peace.


s: The glad earth smiled beneath a smiling heaven,


s: And brought forth fruit for all her children's needs.


s: The desert lands had blossomed, and the earth


s: Was large enough for all. Her voice came up,


s: Like bees that labour gladly on the comb.


s: The reign of Peace,--and yet an army lay


s: Couchant and watchful, ready for the strife


s: If strife need be,--the strife of quelling strife,--


s: An army culled in part from all the lands.


s: And prompt to quench the first red spark of war.


s: Even as we watched, a frontier turmoil rose,


s: And therewith rose the army, and the fire


s: Died out while scarce begun. The smoke of it


s: Was scarcely seen, the noise scarce heard; for all


s: The lands, sore-spent with war, had welcomed Peace,


s: And bowed to mightier forces than their own;


s: Men cast aside their armour and their arms,


s: And lived men's lives and were no more machines.


s: "_Wars shall there be, indeed, till that last war


s: That shall wage war on War and sweep the earth


s: So spake the voice and ceased. And still we gazed,--


s: A great white building, on its topmost tower


s: A great white flag, proclaimed a World's Tribunal


s: For the righting of the nations' wrongs.


s: And that great army answered its behests


s: Peace reigned triumphant. On the quiet air


s: I heard the merry laughter of the child,


s: And the great sigh of gratitude that rose


s: From all the mother-hearts of all the world.


s: THOU ART THE MAN! _The scales are in_ THY _hand.


s: Think well, and say,--Shall it be Peace or War?


s: As thou, shalt say so shall it be with thee_."


s: But, ere the answer came, all vanished like


s: Then, with a crackling peal, the thick black vail


s: That hangs before the face of men was rent,


s: And in the instant lightning flash I saw,--


s: A chamber hung with black and heaped with flowers,


s: Where candles tall flashed white on watchers' swords.


s: High on a high-raised bier lay one at rest--


s: Head proudly cushioned on his country's flag,


s: Hands calmly folded on his helmet's crest,


s: His back to earth, his mute face turned to heaven,--


s: I strained my eyes upon his face to learn


s: Thereon his answer. But the dark vail dropped,


s: And left me wondering what his word had been.


s: Had I but read his face I should have known


s: Who lay there.--Man, like other men? Or one


s: Who grasped the greater things, and by his will


s: Brought Peace on Earth and drew Earth nearer Heaven.


s: The bells beat softly on the midnight air


s: A voice within me cried and would not cease,


s: "_One man could do it if he would but dare_."


s: mistrustful. On her lies a great responsibility.


s: He for their weakness shall give strength,


s: He sometimes shuts the windows but to open hidden doors,


s: Where all who will may wander bold and free,


s: For His house has many mansions, and the mansions many floors,


s: Lord, when Thou seest that my work is done,


s: Polynesian ballad-metres, ushers in your great theme.


s: Tei te ngai mangúngú--anga no te an ngaru roro'a


s: _I have to thank Mr. Harold Monro, of The


s: Poetry Book Shop, for permission to include


s: in this volume certain poems of which he


s: possesses the copyright; also the editor of the


s: You'll only frown; you'll turn the page,


s: Must winds that cut like blades of steel


s: For something new: "Write something new:


s: Old broken knock-kneed thought will crawl


s: There are old-fashioned folk still like it.


s: "Is that the Three-and-Twentieth, Strabo mine,


s: Marching below, and we still gulping wine?"


s: Cursed, battered on the table. "No," he said,


s: "Not that! The Three-and-Twentieth Legion's


s: Dead in the first year of this damned campaign--


s: The Legion's dead, dead, and won't rise again.


s: Pity? Rome pities her brave lads that die,


s: Whom Gallic spear and Belgian arrow miss,


s: Who live to see the Legion come to this,


s: Grumblers, diseased, unskilled to thrust or shoot.


s: O, brown cheek, muscled shoulder, sturdy


s: Where are they now? God! watch it struggle


s: Is that the Legion, Gracchus? Quick, the


s: "Strabo," said Gracchus, "you are strange tonight.


s: The Legion is the Legion; it's all right.


s: If these new men are slovenly, in your thinking,


s: God damn it! you'll not better them by drinking.


s: They all try, Strabo; trust their hearts and hands.


s: The Legion is the Legion while Rome stands,


s: And these same men before the autumn's fall


s: Shall bang old Vercingetorix out of Gaul."


s: It's pride that makes the heart be great;


s: (From Frise on the Somme in February, 1917, in answer


s: to a letter saying: "I am just finishing my 'Faun's


s: Holiday.' I wish you were here to feed him with


s: That he's killed lions, he's killed bears,


s: With hand thrust back, he cramps one knee,


s: Then ... but there comes a brazen clink,


s: Clang! clang! and clang! was David's last.


s: Come filching lambs from Jesse's flocks.


s: (God's eyes are dim, His ears are shut.)


s: "I'm hit! I'm killed!" young David cries,


s: Throws blindly forward, chokes ... and dies.


s: The ploughshare snaps in the iron ground,


s: O then, be careful, or with sudden clutch


s: You'll hurt the delicate thing you prize so much.


s: Old birds are neither caught with salt nor chaff:


s: They watch you from the apple bough and laugh.


s: But when he nestles in your hand at last,


s: Close up your fingers tight and hold him fast.


s: With white wings beating flitter-flutter,


s: But wings or a sound sleep, why should I care?


s: The bugler sent a call of high romance--


s: "Lights out! Lights out!" to the deserted square.


s: On the thin brazen notes he threw a prayer,


s: "God, if it's _this_ for me next time in France ...


s: Dead in the gas and smoke and roar of guns,


s: Dead in a row with the other broken ones


s: You'll see the grave of Shawn Knarlbrand,


s: You'll see where mountain conies grapple


s: With prayer and creed in their rock chapel


s: Which Ben and Claire once built for them;


s: With five clear toe-marks; and you'll find


s: We'll dress our wounds and learn to smile


s: With easier lips; we'll stretch our legs,


s: We'll catch the Persian rose-flowers' scent,


s: "War's Hell!" and if you doubt the same,


s: Where, propped against a shattered trunk,


s: Dribbling black blood from nose and beard.


s: Near Clapham village, where fields began,


s: It was Christmas morning, the church bells tolled,


s: The old man trembled for the fierce cold.


s: Saint Edward cried, "It is monstrous sin


s: An old grey-beard and the frost so keen:


s: I shall give him my fur-lined gaberdine."


s: He stripped off his gaberdine of scarlet


s: Who clutched at the folds with a muttered curse,


s: Quaking and chattering seven times worse.


s: Said Edward, "Sir, it would seem you freeze


s: Here are gloves and shoes and stockings also,


s: The man took stocking and shoe and glove,


s: Said the saint again, "I have no great riches,


s: Yet take this tunic, take these breeches,


s: Long miles from where he was lodged at Bowe,


s: Praying, "O God! my faith, it grows faint!


s: This damned old rascal's shivering still!"


s: He stooped, he touched the beggar man's shoulder;


s: "Frost!" said the beggar, "no, stupid lad!


s: That island rising from the steamy seas!


s: The candles a tall lightship; my two hands


s: Are boats and barges anchored to the sands,


s: They're full of wine and riches from far lands....


s: _I wonder what it feels like to be drowned?_


s: And storms, and then with head and ears well under


s: Blow bubbles with a monstrous roar like thunder,


s: The seas run high and the boats split asunder....


s: And slithers like a shark under the ships.


s: My toes are on the soap-dish--that's the effect


s: Of my huge storms; an iron steamer's wrecked.


s: He's biting the old sailors, I expect....


s: I root them up because they're my flowers,


s: _Claire has a tea-rose, but she didn't plant it;


s: The beautifulest flowers in the garden._


s: It's carved high up on the beech-tree bark,


s: So don't forget that it's my trade mark;


s: You say you're going to write great music--


s: Besides, now I can't be the greatest painter and


s: I won't be a tailor, I won't be a sailor,


s: It's unfair if you say that you'll write great


s: And Claire will finish her wondrous pictures


s: And I'll be a perfectly marvellous carpenter,


s: Or fit your shaft with a blue jay feather,


s: From that same hour by fate you're bound


s: Then, boys, you'll have to play, all in;


s: Why do you break upon this old, cool peace,


s: With harsh dress hissing like a flock of geese,


s: Why do you churn smooth waters rough again,


s: Leave us to quiet dreaming and slow pain,


s: To the woods, to the woods is the wizard gone;


s: The charms are vain, one wish is enough.


s: Transformed would I be to toad or lizard


s: For a black-browed sorcerer, now," quo' she.


s: "Let Cupid smile and the fiend must flee;


s: With such deep thought, what sense have they?


s: Small friend, with prayer and meditation


s: That shoot ahead, pause, turn and break--


s: In like manner, East, West, North, and South,


s: (_August_ 6, 1916.--Officer previously reported died of


s: wounds, now reported wounded: Graves, Captain R.,


s: That Cerberus guards, and half-way down the road


s: To Lethe, as an old Greek signpost showed.


s: A Cross, a Rose in bloom, a Cage with bars,


s: And a barbed Arrow feathered in fine stars.


s: Float in my nostrils. Oh, may Heaven bless


s: Cleared my poor buzzing head and sent me back


s: Breathless, with leaping heart along the track.


s: After me roared and clattered angry hosts


s: Of demons, heroes, and policeman-ghosts.


s: "Life! life! I can't be dead! I won't be dead!


s: Damned if I'll die for any one!" I said....


s: Wearing three heads--lion, and lynx, and sow.


s: "Quick, a revolver! But my Webley's gone,


s: Bellows, hurls stones.... Not even a honeyed sop ...


s: Stay!... A great luminous thought ... I do believe


s: There's still some morphia that I bought on leave."


s: Then swiftly Cerberus' wide mouths I cram


s: With army biscuit smeared with ration jam;


s: And sleep lurks in the luscious plum and apple.


s: He crunches, swallows, stiffens, seems to grapple


s: With the all-powerful poppy ... then a snore,


s: A crash; the beast blocks up the corridor


s: With monstrous hairy carcase, red and dun--


s: _S_. "Robert, I've lived three thousand years


s: _R_. "But if that's truly so," I cried, "quick, now,


s: Through these great oaks and see the famous bough


s: With skulls and flowers and all things queer,


s: Hatching three eggs; and the next year ..."


s: _S_. "Foaled thirteen squamous young beneath, and rid


s: Wales of drink, melancholy, and psalms, she did."


s: Said he, "Before this quaint mood fails,


s: _S_. "To glorious yellow-bunched banana-trees,"


s: _R_. "Planted in dreams by pious Portuguese,"


s: _S_. "Which men are wise beyond their time,


s: _R_. "Hard by, among old quince and lime,


s: _S_. "And whosoever worships in that place,


s: He disappears from sight and leaves no trace."


s: The roof fell in and crushed them flat."


s: _R_. "Ay, for a roof of subtlest logic falls


s: When nonsense is foundation for the walls."


s: While phantom creatures with green scales


s: The hymn swells; on a bough above us sings


s: A row of bright pink birds, flapping their wings.


s: Walking through trees to cool my heat and pain,


s: All that is simple, happy, strong, he is.


s: A brook goes bubbling by: the voice is his.


s: "Prayer," says the kind voice, "is a chain


s: That draws down Grace from Heaven again."


s: Seven-seventy-one. (Look! there's a plover!


s: It's gone!)  Who's that Saint by the lake?


s: It's pleasant here for dreams and thinking,


s: With shouts that nearly cracked the dish;


s: Strawberries in cream, and mutton chops.


s: Trenches in June make throats damned dry.


s: The youngest poet down the shelves was fumbling


s: From which the ancient poet was mum-mumbling


s: Pulling his long white beard and gently grumbling


s: That rhymes were beastly things and never there.


s: And as I groped, the whole time I was thinking


s: About the tragic poem I'd been writing,...


s: An old man's life of beer and whisky drinking,


s: His years of kidnapping and wicked fighting;


s: Remorsefully he died, his bedclothes biting.


s: But suddenly I saw the bright green cover


s: I snatched it up and turned the pages over,


s: Put it down my neck with quick hands like a lover,


s: And turned to watch if the old man saw it go.


s: The book was full of funny muddling mazes,


s: And most extraordinary and monstrous phrases


s: Knotted with rhymes like a slave-driver's thong.


s: And metre twisting like a chain of daisies


s: With great big splendid words a sentence long.


s: I took the book to bed with me and gloated,


s: Learning the lines that seemed to sound most grand;


s: So soon the pretty emerald green was coated


s: With jam and greasy marks from my hot hand,


s: While round the nursery for long months there floated


s: Wonderful words no one could understand.


s: I've watched the Seasons passing slow, so slow,


s: In the fields between La Bassée and Bethune;


s: Primroses and the first warm day of Spring,


s: To Winter nights knee-deep in mud or snow,


s: Dear, you've been everything that I most lack


s: In these soul-deadening trenches--pictures, books,


s: The broad, full-bosomed ocean, green and black,


s: The greatest pleasure that I derive from this writing is that of


s: There the poet saw the Furies with his own eyes, and what his


s: imagination presented he almost compelled his hearers to behold.


s: "The author of the _Arimaspeia_ thinks these lines terrible:


s: "Here too, is mighty marvel for our thought:


s: 'Mid seas men dwell, on water, far from land:


s: Wretches they are, for sorry toil is theirs;


s: Eyes on the stars, heart on the deep they fix;


s: Oft to the gods, I ween, their hands are raised;


s: Their inward parts in evil case upheaved.


s: "As when a wave by the wild wind's blore


s: Down from the clouds upon a ship doth light,


s: And the whole hulk with scattering foam is white,


s: And through the sails all tattered and forlorn


s: Roars the fell blast: the seamen with affright


s: Shake, and from death a hand-breadth they are borne."


s: imitation, and his comparison of poetry with painting.


s: accurate. Hermagoras affirms that the purpose of rhetoric is


s: Thus classical rhetoric was almost exclusively restricted to the


s: conduct, and in drama is embodied not in action, but in speech.


s: Just as rhetoric is justly carried over into poetic when in the


s: metaphor. At the same time he says that metaphor deserves great


s: attention in prose because prose lacks other poetical adornment.


s: defilements!" But meretricious ornament was popular, and poets,


s: Not only did poetry and oratory suffer from the same bad taste in


s: But although the conventional study of rhetoric in such condensed


s: Within my mouth let dystyll of thy shoures


s: And forge my tonge to gladde myn auditoures.


s: Myn ignoraunce whome clouded hath eclyppes


s: With thy pure bemes illumynyne all aboute


s: Thy blessyd brethe let refleyre in my lyppes


s: So that my mouth may blowe an encense oute


s: With lust delyte, blysse, honour and reverence


s: Eche worde of her myght ravysshe every herte.


s: And many clerke had lust her for to here


s: Her speche to them was parfyte sustenance


s: And illumyned with so parfyte pleasaunce


s: That heven it was to here her beauperlaunce


s: Whiche ben the coulours gay of that connynge


s: Eche thynge endyte how it sholde poynted be


s: Who so thynketh my wrytynge dull and blont


s: And wolde conceyve the colours purperate


s: Within the fyrst parte of his gramer boke


s: Of this mater there groundely may he loke.


s: Gay thynges I made eke, yf than lust to see


s: Of ornate speche there spryngeth up the flood.


s: Farrose pystyls clere lusty fresshe and gay


s: As the monke of Bury, floure of eloquence.


s: And in another place, again addressing Lydgate, he exclaims:


s: O mayster Lydgate, the most dulcet sprynge


s: Rethoryke, she sayde, was founde by reason


s: His wordes to ordre his speche to purify.


s: It has five parts,--and so on. The introduction, however, to the


s: It is noteworthy that the chapter on Elocution (_elocutio_),


s: or style, far outweighs all the others in scope and bulk.


s: Of the 108 seven-line stanzas which Hawes devotes to


s: rhetoric, 20 praise the poets; 7 define rhetoric; 13 explain


s: and 8, _memoria_. "Elocusyon," says Hawes, "exorneth the mater."


s: The depured rethoryke in Englysh language;


s: That the vyle termes should nothing arage


s: But for to speke with rethoryke formally.


s: In the anonymous, _The Artes of Logike and Rhetorike_ (1584),


s: In _The Arcadian Rhetorike_ (1588), Abraham Fraunce treats both.


s: _pronuntiatio_, the use of voice and gesture. And John Barton is


s: worse. In his _Art of Rhetorick_ (1634) he says:


s: There are foure kinds of tropes, substitution, comprehension,


s: and he names over in his jargon the six figures which are of each


s: This perversion of rhetorical theory in the middle ages and early


s: supplemented by the _De oratore, Orator_, and what was known of


s: inventione_, eighty-three of the _Ad Herennium_, forty of the _De


s: Tifernas echo Cicero that the poet and the orator are the nearest


s: There are three virtues of a narration, brevity, probability and


s: poetry by paraphrasing orations in verse. No wonder Luis Vives


s: complained in his _De Causis Corruptarum Artium_,


s: eloquence and harmony into their discourses.


s: Another scholar in classical rhetoric was Roger Ascham, whose


s: _Scholemaster_ (1570) contains the first reference in England to


s: Aristotle's _Poetics_. But except as a teacher of language and of


s: narration" which furnishes the groundplot of poesie. Thus he


s: But truely many of such writings as come under the banner of


s: Although _energia_ does belong to both poetic and rhetoric, as


s: pseudo-Longinus implies, there seems to be here a definitely


s: rhetorical conception of poetic style. Sidney, however, keeps the


s: So is that honny-flowing Matron Eloquence apparalled, or rather


s: therein to be contained γοητεία, an inchantment, as it were to


s: Poetry, therefore, is where any worke is learnedly compiled in


s: Perhaps the author of _The Arte of English Poesie_ (1589),


s: generally supposed to be Puttenham, had in mind to be the


s: passements of gold upon the stuffe of a Princely garment.


s: A Poet (says Jonson) is a Maker, or a fainer: His Art, an Art of


s: imitation or faining, expressing the life of man in fit measure,


s: that an English critic mentions the treatise _On the Sublime_ in


s: As has been shown, the classical critics were in substantial


s: agreement with Aristotle in defining rhetoric as the faculty of


s: The real opinions of Plato are here difficult to discover. In the


s: His reason for favoring the third view is important.


s: His lessons form the child's young lips, and wean


s: The boyish ear from words and tales unclean;


s: As years roll on, he moulds the ripening mind,


s: And makes it just and generous, sweet and kind;


s: Consoles affliction, and disease allays.


s: But as physicians, when they attempt to give bitter wormwood to


s: Plato. The arts are attacked because they are not successfully


s: Clokynge a trouthe wyth colour tenebrous.


s: To dysnull vyce and the vycious to blame.


s: The morall sense they cloake full subtyly.


s: opinions reflect the ideas of Horace in his famous line,


s: Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetae.


s: little--scholastic philosophy and the classical rhetorics.


s: demonstration by the syllogism and by induction; rhetoric aims at


s: permovere_). Several important Italian critics carried this


s: Thus by the end of the sixteenth century, the Italian critics had


s: seriousness. Addressing Gosson he exclaims:


s: must confess with Aristotle that men are greatly delighted with


s: demonstrated, in no way invalidates his claim to distinction. The


s: commeth to you with words sent in delightful proportion, either


s: accompanied with, or prepared for, the well inchaunting skill of


s: accomplishing the moral improvement of society. As late as the


s: _Poetry, with Reference to Aristotle's Poetics_, Ed. A.S. Cook


s: Prickard thinks Aristotle misread in this passage. According to


s: _Ibid._, XV. This is almost exactly Aristotle's phrase in the


s: Wilkin's ed. of Cic. _De oratore_, introd. p. 56.


s: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, _De comp. verb._, XXIII.


s: _Quomodo historia conscribenda sit_, Sec. 8. Trans, of Lucian by


s: Virgilius orator an poeta? quoted by Karl Vossler, _Poetische


s: _Poetria magistri Johannis anglici de arte prosayca metrica et


s: Cf. the _auctor ad Her._, I, 4, who gives them as exordium,


s: narratio, divisio, confirmatio, confutatio, conclusio.


s: I am indebted to my friend Dr. Mark Van Doren for the transcript


s: Trans, of Boethius (1410), quoted by Skeat, _Chaucer_, II, xvii.


s: "Proximum grammatice docet, quae emendate & aperte loquendi vim


s: _Dialecticae libri duo_, A. Talaei praelectionibus illustrati


s: Wilkins introd. to Cic. _De orat._, p. 57.


s: Printed in London by John Day, without a date. The dedication is


s: "Rhetorica est ars ornate dicendi." _Rhetoricae libri duo quorum


s: Dekker and Middleton, _The Roaring Girl_, III, 3.


s: χειραγωγια _Manductio ad Artem Rhetoricam ante paucos annos


s: Erasmus, _Dialogus, cui titulus ciceronianus, sive, de optimo


s: I, 4. Wilson follows the analysis on p. 7.


s: This count is based on the Cicero MSS. listed by P. Deschamps,


s: M. Schwab, _Bibliographie d'Aristote_ (Paris, 1896).


s: Fierville, C. _M. F. Quintiliani de institutione oratorio, liber


s: The pseudo-Demetrius, author of the _De elecutione_.


s: Vossius, _De artis poeticae natura_, II, 3-4.


s: Jacob Pontanus, S. J., _Poeticarum institutionum libri tres_


s: "Tres autem sunt virtutes narrationis, brevitas, perspicuitas,


s: VI, ii, 8 _seq._ Quintilian also uses the Greek terms.


s: III, xix, p. 206 Arber reprint; of. also p. 230, on the figure


s: _Merismus_ or the Distributor, and the remainder of the chapter.


s: _Introd. to Eliz. Crit. Essays_, I, lxx.


s: Poetica est facultas videndi quodcunque accommodatum est ad


s: La poetica è una facoltà, la quale insegna in quai modi si debba


s: _The Women at the Feast of Bacchus_, quoted by Emile Egger,


s: _L'Histoire de la Critique chez les Grecs_ (Paris, 1886), p. 74.


s: _De audiendis poetis_, trans, by F.M. Padelford under the title


s: _Ibid._ XIV. Cf. Harrington in Smith's _Eliz. Crit. Essays_, II,


s: Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae


s: Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae


s: Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis;


s: Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes:


s: Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci,


s: Lectorem delectando, periterque monendo.


s: Hic meret aera liber Sosiis; hic et mare transit,


s: Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.


s: A. Schlemm, _De fontibus Plutarchi commentationum De aud. poet._


s: _Confessions_ (Watts's trans.), III. vi., Lionardo Bruni, _De


s: _Rhetoric_, II, xx. (Weldon's translation).


s: Karl Vossler, _Poetische Theorien in der italienischen


s: "Fabulas poetae quasdam delectandi causa finxerunt, quasdam ad


s: "Una verita ascosa sotto bella menzogna." II, 1.


s: "Vesta di figura o di colore rettorico." _La Vita Nuova_, XXV.


s: "Per nimpham fingitur caro, per iuvenem coruptorem mundus vel


s: "Est furor Eacides ire sathanas," _Ibid_, p. 913.


s: André Schimberg, _L'education morale dans les collèges de la


s: _Opus de divisione, ordine, ac utilitate omnium scientiarum, in


s: Cartier, "L'Esthetique de Savonarola," in Didron's _Annales


s: "Nimirum arbitrantur, quemadmodum Rhetorice ab Aristotele ipso


s: "Inductio delectat, et est vulgo apta, propter similitudines et


s: "Sic dicere versibus, ut doccat, ut delectet, ut moveat." _De


s: _De poeta_, p. 79. Vossius echoes the same idea from the same


s: These two names were frequently connected in the renaissance.


s: Croll, Introd. to ed. of _Euphues_ (New York, 1916), p. vii.


s: Cf. St. Augustine, _Confessions_, III, vi.


s: _De audiendis poetis_, XIV. Plutarch believed that poetry gained


s: Spingarn, _Crit. Essays of the 17th Century_, I, 98, 99.


s: The object of the present publication is to gather together


s: all the old bush songs that are worth remembering. Apart


s: from other considerations, there are many Australians who


s: will be reminded by these songs of the life of the shearing


s: sheds, the roar of the diggings townships, and the campfires


s: of the overlanders. The diggings are all deep sinking now,


s: the shearing is done by contract, and the cattle are sent by


s: rail to market, while newspapers travel all over Australia;


s: so there will be no more bush ballads composed and


s: sung, as these were composed and sung, as records of the


s: early days of the nation. In their very roughness, in their


s: absolute lack of any mention of home ties or of the domestic


s: affections, they proclaim their genuineness. They were collected


s: from all parts of Australia, and have been patched


s: together by the compiler to the best of his ability, with


s: the idea of presenting the song as nearly as possible as it was


s: sung, rather than attempting to soften any roughness or


s: irregularity of metre. Attempts to ascertain the names of


s: the authors have produced contradictory statements, and no


s: doubt some of the songs were begun by one man and


s: finished or improved by another, or several others. Some


s: few fairly recent ballads have been included, but for the most


s: part no attempt has been made to include any of the more


s: ambitious literary productions of modern writers. This collection


s: were sung in the early days, and as such it is placed before


s: Most cordial thanks are due to those who have sent contributions,


s: old songs not included here will forward them for inclusion


s: “All human beings not utterly savage long for some information


s: about past times, and are delighted by narratives which


s: present pictures to the eye of the mind. But it is only in


s: very enlightened communities that books are readily accessible.


s: Metrical composition, therefore, which, in a highly


s: civilised nation, is a mere luxury, is in nations imperfectly


s: civilised almost a necessity of life, and is valued less on


s: account of the pleasure which it gives to the ear than on


s: account of the help which it gives to the memory. A man who


s: can invent or embellish an interesting story and put it into a


s: form which others may easily retain in their recollection


s: will always be highly esteemed by a people eager for amusement


s: and information, but destitute of libraries. Such is the


s: origin of ballad poetry, a species of composition which


s: scarcely ever fails to spring up and flourish in every society


s: at a certain point in the progress towards refinement.”—


s: Australia’s history is so short, and her progress has been so


s: wonderfully rapid, that, seeing things as they are to-day, it is


s: hard to believe that among us still are men who can remember


s: the days when convicts in irons tramped the streets of


s: Sydney, and it was unsafe to go to and from Sydney and Parramatta


s: roaring days of the diggings when miners lit their pipes with


s: five-pound notes and shod their horses with gold; who have


s: exchanged shots with Gilbert and Morgan, and have watched


s: the lumbering police of the old days scouring the country to


s: earn the thousand pounds reward on the head of Ben Hall.


s: So far as materials for ballads go, the first sixty or seventy


s: years of our history are equal to about three hundred years


s: of the life of an old and settled nation. The population of


s: the country comprised a most curious medley. Among the


s: early settlers were some of the most refined and educated,


s: and some of the most ignorant, people on the face of the earth.


s: Among the assisted immigrants and currency lads of the


s: earlier days education was not a strong point; and such


s: newspapers as there were could not be obtained by one-half


s: of the population, and could not be read by a very large


s: percentage of the other half. It is no wonder, then, that the


s: making of ballads flourished in Australia just as it did in


s: England, Scotland, and Ireland in the days before printing


s: was in common use. And it was not only in the abundance


s: of matter that the circumstances of the infant Colony were


s: favourable to ballad-making. The curious upheavals of


s: Australian life had set the Oxford graduate carrying his swag


s: and cadging for food at the prosperous homestead of one


s: who could scarcely write his name; the digger, peeping out


s: of his hole—like a rabbit out of his burrow—at the license


s: hunters, had, perhaps, in another clime charmed cultivated


s: audiences by his singing and improvisation; the bush was


s: full of ne’er-do-wells—singers and professional entertainers


s: and so on—who had “come to grief” and had to take to hard


s: work to earn a crust to carry them on until they could


s: “strike a new patch.” No wonder that, with all this talent


s: to hand, songs and ballads of a rough sort were plentiful


s: Most of these songs, even in the few years that they have


s: been extant, have developed three or four different readings,


s: and not only have the ballads been altered, but many of them


s: have been forgotten altogether. Only one very imperfect


s: song has come to hand dealing directly with the convict days,


s: but there must have been many ballads composed and sung


s: by the prisoners—ballads in which the horrors of Port


s: Arthur in Tasmania, the grim, grey prisons of Norfolk


s: Island, the curse of official tyranny, and the humours of the


s: rum traffic had their share. Possibly some lost singer of


s: convictdom poured out his regrets in words straight from the


s: soul, and produced a song worthy to rank as a classic: but


s: all the songs of that day have been mercifully allowed to


s: drift into oblivion; and their singers, with their grey clothes


s: and their fetters, have gone clanking down to the limbo of


s: The collection begins with two aboriginal songs. These


s: songs were supplied by Mr. S. M. Mowle, a very old


s: colonist, with much experience of the blacks fifty years ago.


s: He writes—“I could never find out what the words meant,


s: and I don’t think the blacks themselves knew.” Other


s: authorities, however, say that the blacks’ songs were very


s: elaborate, and that they composed corroborees which reached


s: a high dramatic level. The question is of interest, and might


s: It is interesting to see how the progress of settlement is


s: reflected in the various songs. Beginning with the crude


s: early days, when there was land and to spare, and when


s: labour was in demand and Australia was terra incognita to


s: all, we find in “Paddy Malone” a fitting chronicle in rhyme.


s: In this ballad a raw, Irish immigrant tells of his adventures


s: in the Australian bush. He was put to shepherding and


s: bullock-driving, which in itself proves that labourers were at


s: a premium, and that instead of a man having to hunt for a


s: job the job had to hunt for the man. He lost his sheep, and


s: the bullocks got away from him. It will be noticed that


s: there is no mention of fences or roads in this ballad, as in the


s: “Paddy Malone” days fences and roads were not very much


s: met with. Compare also “The Beautiful Land of Australia.”


s: In this the settler reaches Sydney, and “Upon the map I


s: chose my land,” which shows that there was land enough and


s: to spare, and that the system of grants to free immigrants


s: was in full swing. It is noticeable that in all the ballads of


s: early days there is a sort of happy-go-lucky spirit which


s: reflects the easy-come, easy-go style of the times.


s: Next in order come the ballads of the days when the


s: squatters had established themselves, and the poorer classes


s: found it harder to live. “The Squatter’s Man” is a balled


s: of these harder times. Compare it with “Paddy Malone.”


s: There is no talk of sending a new-chum out with sheep and


s: bullocks now. The first rush of settlement is over, and the


s: haughty squatter contemptuously offers ten shillings a week


s: as wages to a man for a variety of drudgery that is set out


s: Next come the free-selection days, when the runs of these


s: is quite a pæan of victory in “The Free Selector—a Song of


s: and the good time has come,” and further on the singer says


s: In a home of our own by some clear waterside.”


s: The squatters also had a word to say, and “The Broken-down


s: Squatter” puts their side of the case in a sort of


s: ad misericordiam appeal; while “The Eumerella Shore” is a


s: smart hit at the cattle-stealers who availed themselves of the


s: chances afforded by the new state of things in the country.


s: Later still comes the time when the selectors became


s: employers of labour, and “The Stringy-bark Cockatoo,”


s: though rough in style and versification, is a splendid hit at


s: the new squireens. A “cockatoo,” it should be explained,


s: is a small settler, and the stringy-bark tree is an unfailing


s: sign of poor land; and the minstrel was much worse treated


s: when working for “The Stringy-bark Cockatoo” than when


s: So much for the historical element; now as to the songs


s: themselves. As metrical compositions they cannot be


s: expected to rank high. In all her history England has produced


s: only a few good ballads, and ballads do not get justice


s: from cold print. An old Scotchman, to whom Sir Walter


s: Scott read some of his collected ballads, expressed the opinion


s: that the ballads were spoilt by printing. And these bush


s: songs, to be heard at their best, should be heard to an


s: accompaniment of clashing shears when the voice of a shearer


s: rises through the din caused by the rush and bustle


s: of a shearing shed, the scrambling of the sheep in their pens,


s: and the hurry of the pickers-up; or when, on the roads, the


s: cattle are restless on their camp at night and the man


s: on watch, riding round them, strikes up “Bold Jack


s: Donahoo” to steady their nerves a little. Drovers know


s: that they must not sneak quietly about restless cattle—it is


s: better to sing to them and let them know that someone is


s: stirring and watching; and many a mob of wild, pike-horned


s: Queensland cattle, half inclined to stampede, has listened


s: contentedly to the “Wild Colonial Boy” droned out in true


s: bush fashion till the daylight began to break and the mob


s: was safe for another day. Heard under such circumstances


s: as these the songs have quite a character of their own. A


s: great deal depends, too, on the way in which they are sung.


s: The true bushman never hurries his songs. They are


s: designed expressly to pass the time on long journeys or


s: slow, wearisome rides after sheep or tired cattle; so the songs


s: are sung conscientiously through—chorus and all—and the


s: last three words of the song are always spoken, never sung.


s: There is, too, a strong Irish influence in the greater number


s: of the songs; quite a large proportion are sung to the


s: tune of the “Wearing of the Green,” and the admixture of


s: Irish wit and Irish pathos in their composition can only be


s: One excuse, if excuse be needed, for the publication of this


s: collection is the fact that the songs it contains are fast being


s: forgotten. Thirty or forty years ago every station and every


s: shearing shed had its singer, who knew some of the bush


s: songs. Nowadays they are never sung, and even in districts


s: where they took their rise they have pretty well died out.


s: Only a few years ago, every shearing shed had at least one


s: minstrel who could drone out the refrain of a shearing song—


s: “But, oh, boys, such sheep I never shore,


s: As those that made us knuckle down at Goorianawa”


s: But the Goorianawa sheep are not celebrated in song nowadays,


s: and advertisement has failed to produce a copy of the


s: song. Down in the rough country near the Upper Murrumbidgee,


s: where the bushranger Gilbert was betrayed by


s: a relative and was shot by the police, there was a song about


s: “Dunn, Gilbert, and Ben Hall” It commenced—


s: “Come all ye lads of loyalty and listen to my tale,


s: A story of bushranging days I will to you unveil,


s: ’Tis of those gallant heroes, we’ll bless them one and


s: And we’ll sit and sing long live the King, Dunn, Gilbert,


s: “It’s a thousand pounds alive or dead, for Dunn, Gilbert,


s: Thirty years ago every one in the district had heard this


s: song, and all the sympathisers with the bushrangers (which


s: meant the bulk of the wild and scattered population) used to


s: sing it on occasion; but to-day the most persistent inquiry


s: has failed to reveal one man who can remember more than a


s: few fragments of it; and yet it is only forty years since Ben


s: Hall was shot. It is in the hope of rescuing these rough


s: bush ballads from oblivion that the present collection is


s: Korindabria, korindabria, bogarona, bogarona. Iwariniang


s: iwaringdo, iwariniang, iwaringdo, iwariniang, iwaringdo,


s: iwariniang, iwaringdo, iwaringime. Iwaringiang, iwaringdoo,


s: Buddha-buddharo nianga, boomelana, bulleranga, crobinea,


s: narnmala, yibbilwaadjo nianga, boomelana, a, boomelana,


s: buddha-buddharo, nianga, boomelana, buddharo nianga,


s: boomelana, bulleranga,  crobinea, narnmala, yibbilwaadjo,


s: nianga, croilanume, a, croilanga, yibbilwaadjo, nianga,


s: croilanga, yibbilwaadjo, nianga croilanga, coondheranea,


s: tabiabina, boorganmala, yibbilwaadjo, nianga, croilanoome.


s: Of the above songs Mr. Mowle writes—“I could never


s: find out what the words meant, and I don’t think the blacks


s: Och! my name’s Pat Malone, and I’m from Tipperary.


s: Sure, I don’t know it now I’m so bothered, Ohone!


s: And the gals that I danced with, light-hearted and airy,


s: It’s scarcely they’d notice poor Paddy Malone.


s: ’Tis twelve months or more since our ship she cast anchor


s: In happy Australia, the Emigrant’s home,


s: And from that day to this there’s been nothing but canker,


s: And grafe and vexation for Paddy Malone.


s: Bad luck to the agent that coaxed ye to roam.


s: Wid a man called a squatter I soon got a place, sure,


s: He’d a beard like a goat, and such whiskers, Ohone!


s: And he said—as he peeped through the hair on his faitures—


s: That he liked the appearance of Paddy Malone.


s: Wid him I agreed to go up to his station,


s: Saying abroad in the bush you’ll find yourself at home.


s: I liked his proposal, and ’out hesitation


s: Signed my name wid a X that spelt Paddy Malone.


s: Oh, Paddy Malone, you’re no scholard, Ohone!


s: Sure, I made a cris-crass that spelt Paddy Malone.


s: A-herding my sheep in the bush, as they call it—


s: It was no bush at all, but a mighty great wood,


s: Wid all the big trees that were small bushes one time,


s: A long time ago, faith   I ’spose ’fore the flood.


s: To find out this big bush one day I went further,


s: The trees grew so thick that I couldn’t, Ohone!


s: I tried to go back then, but that I found harder,


s: And bothered and lost was poor Paddy Malone.


s: Oh, Paddy Malone, through the bush he did roam


s: What a Babe in the Wood was poor Paddy Malone.


s: I was soon overcome, sure, wid grafe and vexation,


s: And camped, you must know, by the side of a log;


s: I was found the next day by a man from the station,


s: For I coo-ey’d and roared like a bull in a bog.


s: The man said to me, “Arrah, Pat! where’s the sheep now?”


s: Says I, “I dunno! barring one here at home,”


s: And the master began and kicked up a big row too,


s: And swore he’d stop the wages of Paddy Malone.


s: Arrah! Paddy Malone, you’re no shepherd, Ohone!


s: We’ll try you with bullocks now, Paddy Malone.


s: To see me dressed out with my team and my dray too,


s: Wid a whip like a flail and such gaiters, Ohone!


s: But the bullocks, as they eyed me, they seemed for to say too,


s: “You may do your best, Paddy, we’re blest if we go.”


s: Hoot, Magpie! Gee, Blackbird! Come hither,


s: But the brutes turned round sharp, and away they did


s: And heels over head turned poor Paddy Malone.


s: Oh, Paddy Malone! you’ve seen some bulls at home,


s: But the bulls of Australia cows Paddy Malone.


s: I was found the next day where the brutes they did throw


s: By a man passing by, upon hearing me groan,


s: And wiping the mud from my face that he knew me,


s: Says he, “Your name’s Paddy?” “Yes! Paddy Malone.”


s: I thin says to him, “You’re an angel sent down, sure!”


s: “No, faith, but I’m not; but a friend of your own!”


s: And by his persuasion, for home then I started,


s: And you now see before you poor Paddy Malone.


s: Arrah, Paddy Malone! you are now safe at home.


s: Bad luck to the agent that coaxed ye to roam.


s: This song may require a few notes for the benefit of


s: non-Australian readers. A paddy-melon is a small and speedy


s: marsupial, a sort of poor relation of the great kangaroo family.


s: “Calling at the depôt to get an offsider.”—Female immigrants


s: were housed at the depôt on arrival, and many found


s: husbands within a few hours of their landing. The minstrel,


s: therefore, proposes to call at the depôt to get himself a wife


s: from among the immigrants. An offsider is a bullock-drivers


s: assistant—one who walks on the off-side of the team and


s: flogs the bullocks on that side when occasion arises. The


s: word afterwards came to mean an assistant of any kind.


s: “Jack Robertson.”—Sir John Robertson, as he afterwards


s: became, was a well-known politician, who believed in Australians


s: doing their best to populate their own country.


s: I’ve had all sorts of luck, sometimes bad, sometimes better,


s: But now I have somebody’s luck and my own,


s: For I stooped in the street and I picked up a letter,


s: Which some one had written to send away home.


s: The old adage says, “What you find, you may keep it,”


s: And as most of these old sayings are very true,


s: I straight broke the seal, and then having read it,


s: The contents of this letter I tell unto you.


s: Dear Dermot, I hope when this letter gets to you


s: ’Twill find you in health, as now it leaves me;


s: But I hope you’re more happy than I am in Australia—


s: If not, it’s small comfort that you have, achree!


s: Hard fortune’s been mine since crossing the line,


s: Though that same I ne’er saw, for we crossed it at night;


s: But they say ’twas laid down at expense of the Crown,


s: To divide the wrong side of the world from the right.


s: But what should a boy placed in my situation


s: Know about lines laid across the big sea!


s: But, faith, this I know, and without navigation,


s: I’m at the wrong side of the line, anyway.


s: I’m telling you now how strange seasons fall.


s: We have here rain and sleet in the month of July,


s: And hailstones as big as a small cannon-ball—


s: And they do as much harm—not a word of a lie!


s: But the making of magistrates now all the rage is,


s: And every flockmaster’s a justice of peace;


s: They find it so easy to cancel the wages,


s: The law is their own and they rob whom they please.


s: Pat Murphy’s boy Tim, that married Moll Casey,


s: Lives on the Barcoo that’s away in the bush.


s: Himself and the wife, why they lived mighty aisy,


s: Till one day on Tim, oh, the blacks they did rush.


s: They killed little Paddy, but spared the young baby,


s: Because it was sickly—I think it was that—


s: And while Molly was crying, a gin said, “No habbie


s: Your thin picaninny—well wait till it’s fat.”


s: ’Tis a beautiful country to practise economy.


s: Though the houses out here are not quite waterproof,


s: But they’re illigant houses for studying astronomy—


s: You can lie on your back and read stars through the roof


s: P.S.—This is cramped—if there’s no one to read it,


s: Send for Tim Murphy, he’ll know every stroke.


s: Ye all have my blessing, I know that yell need it,


s: So no more at present from Teddy O’Rourke.


s: The above to an old tune called “Barney O’Keefe,” 1848.


s: Oh, my name is Bob the Swagman, before you all I stand,


s: And I’ve had many ups and downs while travelling through


s: I once was well-to-do, my boys, but now I am stumped up,


s: And I’m forced to go on rations in an old bark hut.


s: In an old bark hut.  In an old bark hut.


s: I’m forced to go on rations in an old bark hut.


s: Ten pounds of flour, ten pounds of beef, some sugar and


s: That’s all they give to a hungry man, until the Seventh Day.


s: If you don’t be moighty sparing, you’ll go with a hungry


s: For that’s one of the great misfortunes in an old bark hut.


s: For that’s one of the great misfortunes in an old


s: The bucket you boil your beef in has to carry water, too,


s: And they’ll say you’re getting mighty flash if you should ask


s: I’ve a billy, and a pint pot, and a broken-handled cup,


s: And they all adorn the table in the old bark hut.


s: Faith, the table is not made of wood, as many you have seen—


s: For if I had one half so good, I’d think myself serene—


s: ’Tis only an old sheet of bark—God knows when it was cut—


s: It was blown from off the rafters of the old bark hut.


s: And of furniture, there’s no such thing, ’twas never in the


s: Except the stool I sit upon—and that’s an old gin case.


s: It does us for a safe as well, but you must keep it shut,


s: Or the flies would make it canter round the old hark hut.


s: In an old bark hut.  In an old bark hut.


s: Or the flies would make it canter round the old bark


s: If you should leave it open, and the flies should find your


s: They’ll scarcely leave a single piece that’s fit for man to eat.


s: But you mustn’t curse, nor grumble—what won’t fatten will


s: For what’s out of sight is out of mind in an old bark hut.


s: For what’s out of sight is out of mind in an old


s: In the summer time, when the weather’s warm, this hut is


s: And you’ll find the gentle breezes blowing in through every


s: You can leave the old door open, or you can leave it shut,


s: There’s no fear of suffocation in the old bark hut.


s: In the winter time—preserve us all—to live in there’s a


s: Especially when it’s raining hard, and blowing wind and


s: The rain comes down the chimney, and your meat is black


s: That’s a substitute for pepper in an old bark hut.


s: I’ve seen the rain come in this hut just like a perfect flood,


s: Especially through that great big hole where once the table


s: There’s not a blessed spot, me boys, where you could lay


s: But the rain is sure to find you in the old bark hut.


s: So beside the fire I make me bed, and there I lay me down,


s: And think myself as happy as the king that wears a crown.


s: But as you’d be dozing off to sleep a flea will wake you up,


s: Which makes you curse the vermin in the old bark hut.


s: Which makes you curse the vermin in the old bark


s: Faith, such flocks of fleas you never saw, they are so plump


s: And if you make a grab at one, he’ll spit just like a cat.


s: Last night they got my pack of cards, and were fighting for


s: I thought the devil had me in the old bark hut.


s: So now, my friends, I’ve sung my song, and that as well as I


s: And I hope the ladies present won’t think my language rude,


s: And all ye younger people, in the days when you grow up,


s: Remember Bob the Swagman, and the old bark hut.


s: Our money’s all spent, to the deuce went it!


s: On the tap-room wall, in a very bad scrawl,


s: But a glass we’ll take, ere the grey dawn break,


s: With a measured beat fall our horses’ feet,


s: When the money’s done, and we’ve had our fun,


s: O’er the far-off plain we’ll drag the chain,


s: We’ll range from the creeks to the mountain peaks,


s: Where foot never trod, we’ll mark with a rod


s: Each lofty crag we’ll plant with a flag,


s: Till with cash hard-earned once more returned,


s: And the very bad scrawl that’s against the wall


s: Such were the ways in the good old days!—


s: If you wouldn’t become an ourang-outang,


s: Oh, we started down from Roto when the sheds had all cut


s: We’d whips and whips of Rhino as we meant to push about,


s: So we humped our blues serenely and made for Sydney


s: With a three-spot cheque between us, as wanted knocking


s: But we camped at Lazy Harry’s, on the road to Gundagai


s: The road to Gundagai!  Not five miles from Gundagai!


s: Yes, we camped at Lazy Harry’s, on the road to Gundagai.


s: Well, we struck the Murrumbidgee near the Yanko in a


s: And passed through old Narrandera and crossed the Burnet


s: And we never stopped at Wagga, for we’d Sydney in our eye.


s: But we camped at Lazy Harry’s, on the road to Gundagai.


s: Oh, I’ve seen a lot of girls, my boys, and drunk a lot of beer,


s: And I’ve met with some of both, chaps, as has left me mighty


s: But for beer to knock you sideways, and for girls to make


s: You must camp at Lazy Harry’s, on the road to Gundagai.


s: Well, we chucked our blooming swags off, and we walked


s: And we called for rum-an’-raspb’ry and a shilling each cigar.


s: But the girl that served the pizen, she winked at Bill and I—


s: And we camped at Lazy Harry’s,  not five miles from


s: In a week the spree was over and the cheque was all knocked


s: So we shouldered our “Matildas,” and we turned our backs


s: And the girls they stood a nobbler as we sadly said “Good


s: And we tramped from Lazy Harry’s, not five miles from


s: “Humped our blues serenely.”—To hump bluey is to carry


s: one’s swag, and the name bluey comes from the blue blankets.


s: To “Shoulder Matilda” is the same thing as to “hump


s: I’ve shore at Burrabogie, and I’ve shore at Toganmain,


s: I’ve shore at big Willandra and upon the old Coleraine,


s: But before the shearin’ was over I’ve wished myself back,


s: I can do a respectable tally myself whenever I like to try,


s: But they know me round the back blocks as Flash Jack


s: I’ve shore at big Willandra and I’ve shore at Tilberoo,


s: And once I drew my blades, my boys, upon the famed Barcoo,


s: But I always was glad to get back again to the One Tree


s: I’ve pinked ’em with the Wolseleys and I’ve rushed with


s: And shaved ’em in the grease, my boys, with the grass seed


s: But I never slummed my pen, my lads, whate’er it might


s: While shearin’ for old Tom Patterson, on the One Tree Plain.


s: I’ve been whalin’ up the Lachlan, and I’ve dossed on Cooper’s


s: And once I rung Cudjingie shed, and blued it in a week.


s: But when Gabriel blows his trumpet, lads, I’ll catch the


s: And I’ll push for old Tom Patterson’s, on the One Tree


s: “I’ve pinked ’em with the Wolseleys, and I’ve rushed with


s: B-bows, too.” — Wolseleys and B-bows are respectively


s: machines and hand-shears, and “pinking” means that he had


s: shorn the sheep so closely that the pink skin showed through.


s: “I rung Cudjingie shed and blued it in a week,” i.e., he was


s: the ringer or fastest shearer of the shed, and he dissipated


s: the earnings in a single week’s drunkenness.


s: “Whalin’ up the Lachlan.” — In the old days there was an


s: army of “sundowners” or professional loafers who walked


s: from station to station, ostensibly to look for work, but


s: without any idea of accepting it. These nomads often followed


s: up and down certain rivers, and would camp for days and


s: fish for cod in the bends of the river. Hence whaling up the


s: The weather had been sultry for a fortnight’s time or more,


s: And the shearers had been driving might and main,


s: For some had got the century who’d ne’er got it before,


s: And now all hands were wishing for the rain.


s: For the boss is getting rusty and the ringer’s caving in,


s: For his bandaged wrist is aching with the pain,


s: And the second man, I fear, will make it hot for him,


s: A few had taken quarters and were coiling in their bunks


s: When we shore the six-tooth wethers from the plain.


s: And if the sheep get harder, then a few more men will funk,


s: But the sky is clouding over, and the thunder’s muttering


s: And the clouds are driving eastward o’er the plain,


s: And I see the lightning flashing from the edge of yon black


s: And I hear the gentle patter of the rain.


s: So, lads, put on your stoppers, and let us to the hut,


s: Where we’ll gather round and have a friendly game,


s: While some are playing music and some play ante up,


s: And some are gazing outwards at the rain.


s: But now the rain is over, let the pressers spin the screw,


s: Let the teamsters back the waggons in again,


s: And we’ll block the classer’s table by the way we’ll put them


s: And the boss he won’t be rusty when his sheep they all are


s: And the wringer’s wrist won’t ache much with the pain


s: Of pocketing his cheque for fifty pounds or more,


s: And the second man will press him hard again.


s: “Another Fall of Rain” is a song that needs a little


s: explanation.   The strain of shearing is very severe on the


s: wrists, and the ringer or fastest shearer is very apt to go in


s: the wrists, especially at the beginning of a season. Hence


s: In Dublin town I was brought up, in that city of great fame—


s: My decent friends and parents, they will tell to you the same.


s: It was for the sake of five hundred pounds I was sent across


s: For seven long years, in New South Wales, to wear a convict’s


s: Then come, my hearties, we’ll roam the mountains high!


s: Together we will plunder, together we will die!


s: We’ll wander over  mountains and we’ll gallop over


s: For we scorn to live in slavery, bound down in iron


s: I’d scarce been there twelve months or more upon the


s: When I took to the highway, as I’d oft-times done before.


s: These were the true associates of bold Jack Donahoo.


s: Now, Donahoo was taken, all for a notorious crime,


s: And sentenced to be hanged upon the gallows-tree so high.


s: But when they came to Sydney gaol, he left them in a stew,


s: And when they came to call the roll, they missed bold


s: As Donahoo made his escape, to the bush he went straight-


s: The people they were all afraid to travel night or day—


s: For every week in the newspapers there was published some-thing


s: Concerning this dauntless hero, the bold Jack Donahoo!


s: As Donahoo was cruising, one summer’s afternoon,


s: little was his notion his death was near so soon,


s: When a sergeant of the horse police discharged his car-a-bine,


s: And called aloud on Donahoo to fight or to resign.


s: “Resign to you—you cowardly dogs! a thing I ne’er will do,


s: For I’ll fight this night with all my might,” cried bold Jack


s: “I’d rather roam these hills and dales, like wolf or kangaroo,


s: Than work one hour for Government!” cried bold Jack


s: He fought six rounds with the horse police until the fatal


s: Which pierced his heart and made him start, caused Donahoo


s: And as he closed his mournful eyes, he bade this world Adieu,


s: Saying, “Convicts all, both large and small, say prayers for


s: ’Tis of a wild Colonial boy, Jack Doolan was his name,


s: Of poor but honest parents he was born in Castlemaine.


s: He was his father’s only hope, his mother’s only joy,


s: And dearly did his parents love the wild Colonial boy.


s: Come, all my hearties, we’ll roam the mountains high,


s: Together we will plunder, together we will die.


s: We’ll wander over valleys, and gallop over plains,


s: And we’ll scorn to live in slavery, bound down with iron


s: He was scarcely sixteen years of age when he left his father’s


s: And through Australia’s sunny clime a bushranger did roam.


s: He robbed those wealthy squatters, their stock he did


s: And a terror to Australia was the wild Colonial boy.


s: In sixty-one this daring youth commenced his wild career,


s: With a heart that knew no danger, no foeman did he fear.


s: He stuck up the Beechworth mail coach, and robbed Judge


s: Who trembled, and gave up his gold to the wild Colonial boy.


s: He bade the Judge “Good morning,” and told him to beware,


s: That he’d never rob a hearty chap that acted on the square,


s: And never to rob a mother of her son and only joy,


s: Or else you may turn outlaw, like the wild Colonial boy.


s: One day as he was riding the mountain side along,


s: A-listening to the little birds, their pleasant laughing song,


s: Three mounted troopers rode along—Kelly,  Davis, and


s: They thought that they would capture him—the wild


s: “Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you see there’s three to one.


s: Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you daring highwayman.”


s: He drew a pistol from his belt, and shook the little toy.


s: “I’ll fight, but not surrender,” said the wild Colonial boy.


s: He fired at Trooper Kelly, and brought him to the ground,


s: And in return from Davis received a mortal wound.


s: All shattered through the jaws he lay still firing at FitzRoy,


s: And that’s the way they captured him—the wild Colonial


s: It will be noticed that the same chorus is sung to both


s: Several versions of both songs were sent in, but the same


s: chorus was always made to do duty for both songs.


s: (Air: “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.”)


s: John Gilbert was a bushranger of terrible renown,


s: For sticking lots of people up and shooting others down.


s: John Gilbert said unto his pals, “Although they make a


s: About our tricks we have never done a tip-top thing in


s: “We have all of us a fancy for experiments in pillage,


s: Yet never have we seized a town, or even sacked a village.”


s: John Gilbert said unto his mates—“Though partners we


s: In all rascality, yet we no festal day have seen.”


s: John Gilbert said he thought he saw no obstacle to hinder a


s: Piratical descent upon the town of Canowindra.


s: So into Canowindra town rode Gilbert and his men,


s: And all the Canowindra folk subsided there and then.


s: The Canowindra populace cried, “Here’s a lot of strangers!!!”


s: But immediately recovered when they found they were


s: And Johnny Gilbert said to them, “You need not be afraid.


s: We are only old companions whom bushrangers you have made.”


s: And Johnny Gilbert said, said he, “We’ll never hurt a hair


s: Of men who bravely recognise that we are just all there.”


s: The New South Welshmen said at once, not making any


s: That Johnny Gilbert, after all, was “Just but one of us.”


s: So Johnny Gilbert took the town (including public houses),


s: And treated all the  “cockatoos” and shouted for their


s: And Miss O’Flanagan performed in manner quite gintailly


s: Upon the grand planner for the bushranger O’Meally.


s: And every stranger passing by they took, and when they got


s: They robbed him of his money and occasionally shot him.


s: And Johnny’s enigmatic feat admits of this solution,


s: That bushranging in New South Wales is a favoured


s: So Johnny Gilbert ne’er allows an anxious thought to fetch


s: For well he knows the Government don’t really want to


s: And if such practices should be to New South Welshmen dear,


s: With not the least demurring word ought we to interfere.


s: Government in 1858, 1859, and 1860 to lecture on the advantages


s: of immigration, and told the most extraordinary tales


s: (Air: “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.”)


s: Now Jordan’s land of promise is the burden of my song.


s: Perhaps you’ve heard him lecture, and blow about it strong;


s: To hear him talk you’d think it was a heaven upon earth,


s: But listen and I’ll tell you now the plain unvarnished truth.


s: Here mutton, beef, and damper are all you’ll get to eat,


s: From Monday morn till Sunday night, all through the


s: And should the flour bag run short, then mutton, beef, and


s: Will be your lot, and whether or not, ’twill have to do,


s: Here snakes and all vile reptiles crawl around you as you


s: But these you never hear about in Mr. Jordan’s talk;


s: Mosquitoes, too, and sandflies, they will tease you all the


s: And until you get quite colonised you’ll be a pretty sight.


s: Here are boundless plains where it seldom rains, and you’ll


s: But should you so dispose your bones, you’ll scarcely be the


s: For there’s many a strong and stalwart man come out to


s: Who never leaves the fatal shore of this thrice accursed isle.


s: To sum it up in few short words, the place is only fit


s: For those who were sent out here, for from this they cannot


s: But any other men who come a living here to try,


s: Will vegetate a little while and then lie down and die.


s: That’s left your homes an’ crossed the sea,


s: Sleeping in the bush, like the sable race,


s: To raise fresh funds I was forced to fly,


s: With ‘Yes, ma’am,’ and  ‘No, sir,’ mind your


s: “You must fetch wood an’ water, bake an’ boil,


s: With Ben Hall or Gardiner I’d rather rob,


s: “Do you know how to snob?”—A snob in English slang is


s: a bootmaker, so the squatter wanted his man to do a bit of


s: “I’ll give ten, ten, sugar and tea.”—The “ten, ten” refers


s: to the amount—ten pounds weight—of flour and meat that


s: made up the weekly ration on the stations.


s: I’m a broken-hearted miner, who loves his cup to drain,


s: Which often times has caused me to lie in frost and rain.


s: Roaming about the country, looking for some work to do,


s: I got a job of reaping off a stringy-bark cockatoo.


s: Ten bob an acre was his price—with promise of fairish


s: He said his crops were very light, ’twas all he could afford.


s: He drove me out in a bullock dray, and his piggery met my


s: Oh, the pigs and geese were in the wheat of the stringy-bark


s: The hut was made of the surface mud, the roof of a reedy


s: The doors and windows open flew without a bolt or latch.


s: The pigs and geese were in the hut, the hen on the table


s: And she laid an egg in the old tin plate for the stringy-bark


s: For breakfast we had pollard, boys, it tasted like cobbler’s


s: To help it down we had to eat brown bread with vinegar


s: The tea was made of the native hops, which out on the


s: ’Twas sweetened with honey bees and wax for the stringy-bark


s: For dinner we had goanna hash, we thought it mighty


s: They wouldn’t give us butter, so we forced down bread and


s: Quondong duff, paddy-melon pie, and wallaby Irish stew


s: We used to eat while reaping for the stringy-bark cockatoo.


s: When we started to cut the rust and smut was just beginning


s: And all we had to sleep on was a dog and sheep-skin bed.


s: The bugs and fleas tormented me, they made me scratch and


s: I lost my rest while reaping for the stringy-bark cockatoo.


s: At night when work was over I’d nurse the youngest child,


s: And when I’d say a joking word, the mother would laugh and


s: The old cocky, he grew jealous, and he thumped me black


s: And he drove me off without a rap—the stringy-bark


s: There’s a happy little valley on the Eumerella shore,


s: Where I’ve lingered many happy hours away,


s: On my little free selection I have acres by the score,


s: Where I unyoke the bullocks from the dray.


s: For you’re running, running, running on the duffer’s


s: When the moon has climbed the mountains and the stars are


s: And we yard the squatters’ cattle in the darkness of the


s: And we have the calves all branded by the day.


s: If we find a mob of horses when the paddock rails are down,


s: Although before they’re never known to stray,


s: Oh, quickly will we drive them to some distant inland town,


s: For it’s easier duffing cattle on the little piece of land


s: If you want a situation, I’ll just tell you the plan


s: To get on to a station, I am just your very man.


s: Pack up the old portmanteau, and label it Paroo,


s: With a name aristocratic—Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: When you get on to the station, of small things you’ll make


s: And in speaking of the station, mind, it’s we, and ours, and


s: Boast of your grand connections and your rich relations, too


s: And your own great expectations, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: They will send you out on horseback, the boundaries to ride


s: But run down a marsupial and rob him of his hide,


s: His scalp will fetch a shilling and his hide another two,


s: Which will help to fill your pockets, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: Yes, to fill your empty pockets, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: When the boss wants information, on the men you’ll do a


s: And don a paper collar on your fifteen bob a week.


s: Then at the lamb-marking a boss they’ll make of you.


s: Now that’s the way to get on, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: A squatter in the future I’ve no doubt you may be,


s: But if the banks once get you, they’ll put you up a tree.


s: To see you humping bluey, I know, would never do,


s: ’Twould mean good-bye to our new chum, Jimmy Sago,


s: Yes, good-bye to our new chum, Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo.


s: A “Jackaroo” is a young man who comes to a station to


s: get experience. He occupies a position much like that of an


s: apprentice on a ship, and has to work with the men though


s: supposed to be above them in social status. Hence these


s: I have come to tell you of the glorious news you’ll all be


s: Of the pleasant alterations that are taking place this year.


s: So kindly pay attention, and I’ll pass the whisper round,


s: The squatters of their own free will this year will pay the


s: For this is a year of great prosperity, that everybody knows,


s: We’ll take no top knots off this year, nor trim them to the


s: But a level cut for a level pound, and the rations thrown


s: That’s how the squatters say they’ll keep their Sovereign’s


s: And kind Providence once more has sent the sweet, refreshing


s: The trefoil and the barley grass wave high upon the plains,


s: The tanks all overflowing and the saltbush fresh and green,


s: It’s a pleasure for to ramble o’er the plains of Riverine.


s: Once more upon the rippling lake the wild swan flaps her


s: Out in the lignum swamps once more frogs croak and crickets


s: Once more the wild fowl, sporting midst the crab-holes, may


s: For prosperity is hovering o’er the plains of Riverine.


s: Yes, ’twill be a year of full and plenty for those back-block


s: Though behind each scrub and saltbush you can spot the


s: And although the price for scalps is not so high as it has been,


s: Yet the bunny snappers they will thrive on the plains of


s: You should see the jolly teamsters how with joy their faces


s: As they talk about the crowfoot, carrots, crab-holes, and


s: They tell you that this year they do intend to steer sixteen.


s: They’ll show the “cookies” how to plough the plains of


s: Yes, in more respects than one it is a year of joy and glee,


s: And the news of our prosperity has crossed the briny sea.


s: Once more the Maorilander and the Tassey will be seen


s: Cooking Johnny cakes and jimmies on the plains of Riverine.


s: They will gather like a regiment to the beating of the drum,


s: But it matters not to us from whence our future penmates


s: From New Zealand’s snow-clad summits or Tasmania’s


s: We’ll always make them welcome on the plains of Riverine.


s: Down from her rocky peaks Monaro will send her champions


s: Victoria will send her “cockies,” too, her honour to uphold.


s: They’ll be here from Cunnamulla, and the rolling downs


s: For this is the real convincing ground, these plains of


s: I have a message to deliver now, before I say farewell,


s: Some news which all the squatters have commissioned me to


s: Your backs well bent, bows long and clean, that’s what they


s: That your tallies may do you credit in this year of Jubilee.


s: “This year will pay the pound.”—A pound a hundred is


s: the price for shearing sheep, and several bitterly fought-out


s: “We’ll take no topknots off this year nor trim them to the


s: toes.”—Owing to the amiability of the squatters and the


s: excellence of the season, the shearers intend to leave some of


s: the wool on the sheep, i.e., the topknots on the head and


s: “To steer sixteen”—sixteen horses in the team.


s: But now the squatters, puffed with pride,


s: Would smoke his pipe and whistle his tune,


s: Come, Stumpy, old man, we must shift while we can;


s: Let us wave our farewells to Glen Eva’s sweet dells


s: And the hills where your lordship was bred;


s: Together to roam from our drought-stricken home—


s: It seems hard that such things have to be,


s: And its hard on a “hogs” when he’s nought for a boss


s: When the bigwigs are brought to the Bankruptcy Court,


s: No more shall we muster the river for fats,


s: Or rip through the scrub by the light of the moon,


s: Leave the slip-panels down, it won’t matter much now,


s: There are none but the crows left to see,


s: Perching gaunt in yon pine, as though longing to dine


s: When the country was cursed with the drought at its worst,


s: Though down on my luck, I kept up my pluck,


s: But the farce has been played, and the Government aid


s: When my dollars were spent they doubled the rent,


s: ’Twas done without reason, for leaving the season


s: For it’s useless to squat when the rents are so hot


s: That one can’t save the price of one’s grub;


s: No odds what I feel, there’s no court of appeal


s: And to you I would dedicate a verse or a song,


s: Rejoicing o’er the victory John Robertson has won


s: Now the Land Bill has passed and the good time has come


s: No more with our swags through the bush need we roam


s: For to ask of another there to give us a home,


s: Now the land is unfettered and we may reside


s: In a home of our own by some clear waterside.


s: On some fertile spot which we may call our own,


s: Where the rich verdure grows, we will build up a home.


s: There industry will flourish and content will smile,


s: While our children rejoicing will share in our toil.


s: We will plant our garden and sow our own field,


s: And eat from the fruits which industry will yield,


s: And be independent, what we long for have strived,


s: Though those that have ruled us the right long denied.


s: Reign’d tyranny, warfare, and every crime;


s: A man-loving soul on its surface had seen;


s: From the ocean it came, with halo so bright,


s: Want, strife, and oppression were lost in its sight.


s: First isle of the sea—brightest gem of the earth


s: In thee every virtue and joy shall have birth.


s: A land of the just, the brave, and the free,


s: Australia the happy, thou ever shalt be.


s: So earth in the flood no place for rest gave,


s: At length a green isle arose from the wave;


s: The dove o’er the waters the olive branch bore,


s: To show that one spot was cover’d no more;


s: Australia thus shall be sounded by fame,


s: And Europe shall echo the glorious name;


s: The brave, wise, and good, wherever oppress’d,


s: Shall fly to thy shores as a haven of rest.


s: Land of the orange, fig, olive, and vine;


s: ’Midst earth’s fairest daughters the chaplet is thine;


s: No sick’ning vapours are borne on thy air,


s: But fragrance and melody twine sweetly there;


s: Thy ever-green fields proclaim plenty and peace,


s: If man doth his part, heaven sends the increase;


s: Independence thy sons for ever must cheer.


s: We often hear men boast about the land which gave them


s: And each one thinks his native land the fairest spot on


s: In beauty, riches, power, no land can his surpass;


s: To his, all other lands on earth cannot even hold a glass.


s: Now, if other people have their boasts, then, say, why should


s: For we can drink our jovial toast and sing with three times


s: For there’s not a country in the world where all that’s fair


s: As here it does in this our land, our sunny New South


s: Our colour’s blue and our hearts are true,


s: Now let us take a passing glance at all that we possess.


s: That ours is such a wealthy land no stranger e’er would guess.


s: Why, we’ve land in store, indeed far more than ever we shall


s: And trees grow thick on every side in spite of axe and fire.


s: Our sheep and cattle millions count, our wool is classed A1;


s: In beef and mutton our fair land is not to be outdone.


s: Why, we’ve lately seen old England, who boasts her stock


s: Has had to send for wholsome meat preserved in New South


s: In childhood California was to us a land of gold,


s: And people said its riches were so vast, immense, untold.


s: But time has proved that mineral wealth exists not there


s: For New South Wales possesses gold in many, many a stone.


s: And when the gold is taken from out its quartzy veins


s: A heap of silver, copper, tin, as a residue remains.


s: In fact we are a mass of wealth in all our hills and dales.


s: There’s not a country half as rich as sunny New South


s: Our climate’s good, that all admit, our flowers are sweet and


s: And scenes abound on every hand so marvellously fair.


s: Shame on the men who went away and of us wrote such


s: Why, when Anthony Trollope came out here he nearly lost


s: Our native girls are fair and good, their hearts are pure and


s: And to their colour stick like bricks, the bright Australian


s: Some never loved a roving life, nor blest the ocean’s gales;


s: But they bless the breeze that blew them to a life in New


s: “Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,


s: Where the dingoes and crows can’t molest me,


s: “Oh! had I the flight of the bronzewing,


s: Carve on them cross, stockwhip, and saddle,


s: For it tolls the death-knell of the stockman


s: And we’ll drink to the next merry meeting,


s: And he’d no more ear than a bald-faced steer,


s: Oh! don’t you remember Black Alice, Sam Holt—


s: The Warrego gin, with the straw through her nose,


s: The terrible sheepwash tobacco she smoked


s: And the grubs that she roasted, and the lizards she stewed,


s: Oh! don’t you remember the moon’s silver sheen,


s: And don’t you remember those big bull-dog ants


s: Oh! don’t you remember the creepers, Sam Holt,


s: And don’t you remember that broken-down colt


s: And don’t you remember that fiver, Sam Holt,


s: When the publican landed your fifty-pound cheque


s: Luck changes some natures, but yours, Sammy Holt,


s: And I fancy I’ll whistle a good many tunes


s: Oh! don’t you remember the cattle you duffed,


s: And the poker you played, and the bluffs that you bluffed,


s: And don’t you remember the pasting you got


s: When Tim Hooligan found a fifth ace in his hand,


s: You were not the cleanest potato, Sam Holt,


s: But you made your pile on the Towers, Sam Holt,


s: They say you’ve ten thousand per annum, Sam Holt,


s: Perhaps you forget you were six months ago


s: But who’d think to see you now dining in state


s: You were flashing your dover, six short months ago,


s: When’s my time coming?  Perhaps never, I think,


s: Will be humping his drum on the Hughenden-road


s: When the merchant lies down, he can scarce go to sleep


s: For thinking of his merchandise upon the fatal deep;


s: His ships may be cast away or taken in a war,


s: So him alone we’ll envy not, who true bushmen are.


s: So him alone we’ll envy not, who true bushmen are!


s: When the soldier lies down, his mind is full of thought


s: O’er seeking that promotion which so long he has sought;


s: He fain would gain repose for mortal wound or scar,


s: So him also we’ll envy not, who true bushmen are.


s: When the sailor lies down, his mind he must prepare


s: To rouse out in a minute if the wind should prove unfair.


s: His voyage may be stopped for the want of a spar,


s: When the bushman lies down, his mind is free from care,


s: He knows his stock will furnish him with meat, wear and tear.


s: Should all commerce be ended in the event of a war,


s: Then bread and beef won’t fail us boys, who true bushmen are.


s: Then fill, fill your glasses, a toast I’ll give you, then,


s: To you who call yourselves true-hearted men.


s: Here’s a health to the soldier and e’en the jolly tar,


s: And may they always meet as good friends as we bushmen are.


s: While some have horses, some have drays,


s: The stockmen of Australia, what rowdy boys are they,


s: They will curse and swear an hurricane if you come in their


s: They dash along the forest on black, bay, brown, or grey,


s: And the stockmen of Australia, hard-riding boys are they.


s: By constant feats of horsemanship, they procure for us our


s: And supply us with the fattest beef by hard work in the


s: To muster up the cattle they cease not night nor day,


s: Just mark him as he jogs along, his stockwhip on his knee,


s: His white mole pants and polished boots and jaunty cabbage-


s: His horsey-pattern Crimean shirt of colours bright and gay,


s: And the stockmen of Australia, what dressy boys are they.


s: If you should chance to lose yourself and drop upon his camp,


s: He’s there reclining on the ground, be it dry or be it damp.


s: He’ll give you hearty welcome, and a stunning pot of tea,


s: For the stockmen of Australia, good-natured boys are they.


s: If down to Sydney you should go, and there a stockman


s: Remark the sly looks cast on him as he roams through the


s: From the shade of lovely bonnets steal forth those glances


s: For the stockmen of Australia, the ladies’ pets are they.


s: Whatever fun is going on, the stockman will be there,


s: Be it theatre or concert, or dance or fancy fair.


s: To join in the amusements be sure he won’t delay,


s: For the stockmen of Australia, light-hearted boys are they.


s: Then here’s a health to every lass, and let the toast go round,


s: To as jolly a set of fellows as ever yet were found.


s: And all good luck be with them, for ever and to-day,


s: Here’s to the stockmen of Australia—hip, hip, hooray!


s: When another stepped up and knocked my hat


s: A club there is established here, whose name they say is


s: From Melbourne to the Billabong, they’re known in every


s: They do not like the cockatoos, but mostly stick to stations,


s: Where they keep themselves from starving by cadging


s: The rules and regulations, they’re not difficult of learning,


s: They are to live upon the cash which others have been


s: To never let a chance go by of being in a shout, sir,


s: And if they see a slant to turn your pockets inside out, sir.


s: They’ll cadge your baccy, knife, and pipe, and tell a tale of


s: Of how they cannot get a job, but mean to start to-morrow.


s: But that to-morrow never comes, until they see quite plainly


s: That it’s completely up the spout with Messrs. Scrase and


s: If, feeling thirsty, you should go to take a little suction,


s: I’ll swear they’ll not be long before they’ll force an


s: One knew you here, one knew you there, all love you like a


s: And if one plan will not succeed, they’ll quickly try another.


s: I knew one poor, unhappy wight, having a little ready,


s: Entered a Smeaton public-house, determined to keep steady.


s: A celebrated loafer there determined upon showing him


s: That he once had the pleasure and the privilege of knowing


s: Through hills and dales, by lakes and streams, he close


s: Until the miserable man confessed that be quite licked him.


s: In vain the quarry tried to turn, pursuit was far too strong,


s: The loafer followed up the scent and earthed him in Geelong,


s: The noble art of lambing down they know in all its beauty,


s: And if they do not squeeze you dry, they’ll think they’ve


s: But, truth to say, they seldom fail to do that duty neatly,


s: And very few escape their hands who’re not cleared out


s: Come, all you jolly natives, and I’ll relate to you


s: Some of my observations—adventures, too, a few.


s: I’ve travelled about the country for miles, full many a score,


s: And oft-times would have hungered, but for the cheek I bore.


s: I’ve coasted on the Barwon—low down the Darling, too,


s: I’ve been on the Murrumbidgee, and out on the Paroo;


s: I’ve been on all the diggings, boys, from famous Ballarat;


s: I’ve loafed upon the Lachlan and fossicked Lambing Flat.


s: I went up to a squatter, and asked him for a feed,


s: But the knowledge of my hunger was swallowed by his


s: He said I was a loafer and for work had no desire,


s: And so, to do him justice, I set his shed on fire.


s: Oh, yes, I’ve touched the shepherd’s hut, of sugar, tea, and


s: And a tender bit of mutton I always could devour.


s: I went up to a station, and there I got a job;


s: Plunged in the store, and hooked it, with a very tidy lob.


s: Oh, yes, my jolly dandies, I’ve done it on the cross.


s: Although I carry bluey now, I’ve sweated many a horse.


s: I’ve helped to ease the escort of many’s the ounce of gold;


s: The traps have often chased me, more times than can be told.


s: Oh, yes, the traps have chased me, been frightened of their


s: They never could have caught me, they feared my cure for


s: And well they knew I carried it, which they had often seen


s: A-glistening in my flipper, chaps, a patent pill machine.


s: I’ve been hunted like a panther into my mountain lair.


s: Anxiety and misery my grim companions there.


s: I’ve planted in the scrub, my boys, and fed on kangaroo,


s: And wound up my avocations by ten years on Cockatoo.


s: So you can understand, my boys, just from this little rhyme,


s: I’m a Murrumbidgee shearer, and one of the good old time.


s: “A Swagman on the Wallaby.”—A nomad following


s: track of the wallaby, i.e., loafing aimlessly.


s: With the flash of their tameless eye, my boys,


s: There’s mischief in you wide-horned steer,


s: To show the way to the well-trained nags


s: Oh! ’tis jolly to follow the roving herd


s: Where the jackass laughs in the old gum tree,


s: The night is dark and stormy, and the sky is clouded o’er;


s: To watch the squatters’ cattle through the darkness of the


s: And we’ll keep them on the camp till break of day.


s: For we’re going, going, going to Gunnedah so far,


s: And we’ll soon be into sunny New South Wales;


s: We shall bid farewell to Queensland, with its swampy


s: When the fires are burning bright through the darkness of


s: And the cattle camping quiet, well, I’m sure


s: That I wish for two o’clock when I call the other watch—


s: Our beds made on the ground, we are sleeping all so sound


s: When we’re wakened by the distant thunder’s roar,


s: And the lightning’s vivid flash, followed by an awful crash-


s: It’s rough on drovers from the sandy Maranoa.


s: We are up at break of day, and we’re all soon on the way,


s: For we always have to go ten miles or more;


s: It don’t do to loaf about, or the squatter will come out—


s: He’s strict on drovers from the sandy Maranoa.


s: We shall soon be on the Moonie, and we’ll cross the Barwon,


s: Then we’ll be out upon the rolling plains once more;


s: We’ll shout “Hurrah! for old Queensland, with its swampy


s: And the cattle that come off the Maranoa.”


s: “River Bend.”—This song certainly cannot boast of


s: antiquity, as it is a parody on a recent sentimental song, but


s: so many correspondents sent it in that it was decided to include


s: it. Perhaps it is to its obvious sincerity of sentiment


s: written by the Hon. Robert Lowe (afterwards Viscount


s: Sherbrooke), while resident in New South Wales.]


s: So he cut off exactly two-thirds of my run;


s: For he said I was making a fortune too fast,


s: And profit gained slower the longer would last.


s: He remarked as devouring my mutton he sat,


s: That I suffered my sheep to grow sadly too fat;


s: That they wasted waste land, did prerogative brown,


s: And rebelliously nibbled the droits of the Crown;—


s: That the creek that divided my station in two


s: Showed that Nature designed that two fees should be due.


s: Mr. Riddle assured me ’twas paid but for show;


s: But he kept it and spent it; that’s all that I know.


s: The Commissioner fined me because I forgot


s: To return an old ewe that was ill of the rot,


s: And a poor wry-necked lamb that we kept for a pet;


s: And he said it was treason such things to forget.


s: The Commissioner pounded my cattle because


s: They had mumbled the scrub with their famishing jaws


s: On the part of the run he had taken away;


s: And he sold them by auction the costs to defray.


s: The Border Police they were out all the day


s: To look for some thieves who had ransacked my dray;


s: But the thieves they continued in quiet and peace,


s: For they’d robbed it themselves—had the Border Police!


s: When the white thieves had left me the black thieves


s: My shepherds they waddied, my cattle they speared;


s: But for fear of my licence I said not a word,


s: For I knew it was gone if the Government heard.


s: The Commissioner’s bosom with anger was filled


s: Against me because my poor shepherd was killed;


s: So he straight took away the last third of my run,


s: And got it transferred to the name of his son.


s: The son had from Cambridge been lately expelled,


s: And his licence for preaching most justly withheld!


s: But this is no cause, the Commissioner says,


s: Why he should not be fit for a licence to graze.


s: The cattle that had not been sold at the pound


s: He took with the run at five shillings all round;


s: And the sheep the blacks left me at sixpence a head—


s: “A very good price,” the Commissioner said.


s: The Governor told me I justly was served,


s: That Commissioners never from duty had swerved;


s: But that if I’d a fancy for any more land


s: For one pound an acre he’d plenty on hand.


s: Feed pigs or for firewood can split up a log,


s: Clean shoes, riddle cinders, or help to boil down—


s: Or whatever you please, but graze lands of the Crown.


s: The saddle was hung on the stockyard rail,


s: And the poor old horse stood whisking his tail,


s: For there never was seen such a regular screw


s: Whilst the shearers all said, as they say, of course,


s: That Wallabi Joe’s a fine lump of a horse;


s: But the stockmen said, as they laughed aside,


s: “I wish I were killed for my hide, my hide;


s: For my eyes are dim, and my back is sore,


s: And I feel that my legs won’t stand much more.”


s: Now stockman Bill, who took care of his nag,


s: Now stockman Bill camped out that night,


s: And he hobbled his horse in a sheltered bight;


s: Next day of old Joe he found not a track,


s: So he had to trudge home with his swag on his back.


s: He searched up and down every gully he knew,


s: But he found not a hair of his poor old screw,


s: And the stockmen all said as they laughed at his woe,


s: “Would you sell us the chance of old Wallabi Joe.”


s: Now as years sped by, and as Bill grew old,


s: It came into his head to go poking for gold;


s: He came on the bones of his poor old horse;


s: The hobbles being jammed in a root below


s: Had occasioned the death of poor Wallabi Joe.


s: I’ll sing to you a fine new song, made by my blessed mate,


s: Of a fine Australian squatter who had a fine estate,


s: Who swore by right pre-emptive at a sanguinary rate


s: That by his rams, his ewes, his lambs, Australia was made


s: Like a fine Australian squatter, one of the olden time.


s: His hut around was hung with guns, whips, spurs, and boots


s: And kettles and tin pannikins to hold the tea he brews;


s: And here his worship lolls at ease and takes his smoke and


s: And quaffs his cup of hysouskin, the beverage old chums


s: And when shearing time approaches he opens hut to all,


s: And though ten thousand are his flocks, he featly shears


s: Even to the scabby wanderer you’d think no good at all;


s: For while he fattens all the great, he boils down all the


s: Like a fine old Murray squatter, one of the olden time.


s: And when his worship comes to town his agents for to see,


s: His wool to ship, his beasts to sell, he lives right merrily;


s: The club his place of residence, as becomes a bush J.P.,


s: He darkly hints that Thompson’s run from scab is scarcely


s: This fine old Murray settler, one of the olden time.


s: And now his fortune he has made to England straight goes he,


s: But finds with grief he’s not received as he had hoped to be.


s: His friends declare his habits queer, his language much too


s: And are somewhat apt to cross the street when him they


s: This fine Australian squatter, the boy of the olden time.


s: Be ye stockmen or no, to my story give ear.


s: Alas! for poor Jack, no more shall we hear


s: The crack of his stockwhip, his steed’s lively trot,


s: His clear “Go ahead, boys,” his jingling quart pot.


s: For we laid him where wattles their sweet fragrance shed,


s: And the tall gum trees shadow the stockman’s last bed.


s: Whilst drafting one day he was horned by a cow.


s: “Alas!” cried poor Jack, “it’s all up with me now,


s: For I never again shall my saddle regain,


s: Nor bound like a wallaby over the plain.”


s: His whip it is silent, his dogs they do mourn,


s: His steed looks in vain for his master’s return;


s: No friend to bemoan him, unheeded he dies;


s: Save Australia’s dark sons, few know where he lies.


s: Now, stockman, if ever on some future day


s: Tread softly where wattles their sweet fragrance spread,


s: Where alone and neglected poor Jack’s bones are laid.


s: So be up first thing, and don’t be slow;


s: So early in the morning, so early in the morning,


s: So early in the morning, before the break of day.


s: Such a night in the yard there never was seen


s: (The horses were fat and the grass was green);


s: Bursting of girths and slipping of packs


s: As the stockmen saddled the fastest hacks.


s: Now the scrub grows thick and the cattle are wild,


s: Who sails through the scrub as a matter of course.


s: A long-haired shepherd we chanced to meet


s: With a water bag, billy, and dog complete;


s: He came too close to a knocked up steer,


s: The crack of the stockwhip drawing near;


s: With the warm contents of the billy can;


s: I hope some day in the drought he’ll croak.


s: The sun peers o’er you wooded ridge and thro’ the forest


s: Its golden edge o’er the mountain ledge looks down on the


s: Looks down, looks down, looks down on the stockyard fence;


s: And dark creeks rush thro’ the tangled brush, when their


s: Until they chime in the rude rough rhyme of the wild


s: Till they chime, ha! ha! till they chime, ha! ha! in the


s: The night owl to her home hath fled, to shun the glorious


s: Of golden day she speeds away to her nest in the tea-tree


s: Away, away to her nest in the tea-tree swamp.


s: The dingo looks with a timid stare as he stealthily prowls


s: And his pattering feet in concert beat with the wild goburra’s


s: Oh! let them boast their city’s wealth, who toil in a dusty


s: Give me the beam on the mountain stream, and the range’s


s: The stream, the stream, and the range’s dark-faced frown.


s: When our steed shall pass o’er the quiv’ring grass, and the


s: Shall bid the startled echoes join the wild goburra’s song.


s: He wore an old blue shirt the night that first we met,


s: An old and tattered cabbage-tree concealed his locks of jet;


s: His footsteps had a languor, his voice a husky tone;


s: Both man and dog were spent with toil as they slowly


s: I saw him but a moment—yet methinks I see him now—


s: While his sheep were gently feeding ’neath the rugged


s: When next we met, the old blue shirt and cabbage-tree were


s: A brand new suit of tweed and “Doctor Dod” he had put on;


s: Arm in arm with him was one who strove, and not in vain,


s: To ease his pockets of their load by drinking real champagne.


s: I saw him but a moment, and he was going a pace,


s: Shouting nobbler after nobbler, with a smile upon his


s: When next again I saw that man his suit of tweed was gone,


s: The old blue shirt and cabbage-tree once more he had put on;


s: Slowly he trudged along the road and took the well-known


s: From the station he so lately left with a swag upon his back.


s: I saw him but a moment as he was walking by


s: With two black eyes and broken nose and a tear-drop


s: Crying, “Mother, quick! take in the clothes,


s: Hurrah for the Roma railway! Hurrah for Cobb and Co.,


s: And oh! for a good fat horse or two to carry me Westward


s: To carry me Westward Ho! my boys, that’s where the cattle


s: On the far Barcoo, where they eat nardoo, a thousand miles


s: Then give your horses rein across the open plain,


s: We’ll ship our meat both sound and sweet, nor care what


s: And frozen we’ll send home the cattle that now roam


s: On the far Barcoo and the Flinders too, a thousand miles


s: Knee-deep in grass we’ve got to pass—for the truth I’m


s: Where in three weeks the cattle get as fat as they can swell—


s: As fat as they can swell, my boys; a thousand pounds they


s: No Yankee hide e’er grew outside such beef as we can freeze;


s: No Yankee pastures make such steers as we send o’er the


s: As we send o’er the seas, my boys, a thousand pounds they


s: From the far Barcoo, where they eat nardoo, a thousand


s: I’m a broken-down old squatter, my cash it is all gone,


s: My cattle are all mortgaged, of horses I have none,


s: And I’ve lost that little freehold on the plain.


s: The stockyard’s broken down, and the woolshed’s


s: My wool it is all damaged and it is not worth a pin,


s: I commenced life as a squatter some twenty years ago,


s: But I speculated heavy and I’d have you all to know


s: That I’ve lost that little freehold on the plain.


s: Chorus: The stockyard’s broken down, &c.


s: I built myself a mansion, and chose myself a wife;


s: For I thought I had sufficient to last me all my life,


s: But I’ve lost that little freehold on the plain.


s: And now I am compelled to take a drover’s life,


s: To drive cattle through the sunshine and the rain,


s: And to leave her behind me, my own dear loving wife—


s: We were happy on that freehold on the plain.


s: You often have been told of regiments brave and bold,


s: We’re called the Tag-rag Band, and we rally in Queensland,


s: When the shearing’s at an end we’ll go fishing in a bend.


s: When you are leaving camp, you must ask some brother tramp


s: Or what sort of a shop that station is to stop


s: You ask me if they want men, you ask for rations then,


s: If they don’t stump up a warning should be made;


s: To teach them better sense—why, “Set fire to their fence”


s: The squatters thought us done when they fenced in all their


s: You’ve only to sport your dover and knock a monkey over—


s: There’s cheap mutton for the Wallaby Brigade.


s: Now when the shearing’s in our harvest will begin,


s: Our swags for a spell down will be laid;


s: But when our cheques are drank we will join the Tag-rag


s: To knock a monkey over is to kill a sheep, monkey being


s: slang for sheep in many parts of the bush.


s: Let Romanists all at the Confessional kneel,


s: Let the mighty Crown Prelate in Church pander zeal,


s: From all these I differ—truly wise is my plan,


s: With my doctrine, perhaps, you’ll agree,


s: To be upright and downright and act like a man,


s: I will go to no Church and to no house of Prayer


s: And in no Courthouse on a book will I swear


s: For parsons and preachers are all a mere joke,


s: But with the poor toiler to share your last “toke”*


s: Let Psalm-singing Churchmen and Lutheran sing,


s: They can’t deceive God with their blarney;


s: They might just as well dance the Highland Fling,


s: The heart that can feel for the woes of another,


s: I laid down my weary head in search of repose


s: On my wallet of straw, which I long shall remember,


s: Night brought relief to my sad, aching brain.


s: I dreamt that I stood on the green fields of Erin,


s: In joyous meditation that victory was won.


s: Surrounded by comrades, no enemy fearing.


s: “Stand,” was the cry, “every man to his gun.”


s: Soon they’ll reel back from our piked volunteers.


s: Three cheers for Father Murphy and the bold cavaliers.


s: I dreamt that I saw our gallant commander


s: Seated on his charger in gorgeous array.


s: He wore green trimmed with gold and a bright shining


s: On which sunbeams of Liberty shone brightly that day.