Fishpicker,

You said:

"It also comes back to my mind that the last chorus should be

Poor bush girl when the *winter* is nigh, in the barren hills of Gundagai."

Now knowing that you are in Alaska it would make sense to sing it about winter instead of summer, but here in Oz it is summer which can be extreme and winter is a bit of a relief sometimes from the relentless heat and the lack of rain.

I have heard this song sung in sessions for a couple of decades and I have had the pleasure of seeing John Dengate perform his songs at Folk Festivals. His other songs are well worth checking out as well. And whenever I am in or am travelling through the places or suburbs named in his songs I am always reminded of them.

Oh look, another great John Dengate I just found by Googling:

TERRORIST SONG

I'll have to put this in the Australian Elections thread as well, because Little Johnny has built 90% of his electioneering platform on terrorism paranoia - that is until he started this spending spree of trying at the last minute to buy our votes by promising to supply better health and education - which he should have been doing all along anyway. - Sorry, thread creep.

Copyright 2003 John Dengate
Tune: Knickerbocker Line

As I was walking down the road, he suddenly appeared:
A bloody turbaned Moslem with a big Bin Laden beard;
I asked, "Are you a terrorist, is that your bloody lurk?"
He said, "No, I'm a carpenter, I'm on my way to work."

Chorus

I watched him, tracked him, rang up A.S.I.O.
I dobbed him into Alan Jones on talk-back radio.
I may not be a beauty and I don't have any sense
But, by God, I know my duty to the national defence!

They're going to bomb the Harbour Bridge then quiet as a mouse,
They'll sneak up with explosives and blow up the Opera House.
They're going to blow up Murphy's pub. I've heard about the plot?
I hope they get the pokies 'cause I'm losing quite a lot.

There's terrorism everywhere; it makes a man afraid?
I'm buying a machine gun and I'll build a barricade.
You'll have to know the password if you come and visit me.
Shoot first, ask questions later mate, that's my philosophy.

My Aunty May's eccentric; "You're paranoid," she said.
She doesn't believe the terrorists are underneath the bed.
She reckons it's "hysteria"? I don't know what she meant?
She said she's far more frightened of the Federal Government.

John Howard will protect us; he is very strong and brave;
He's passing legislation that will make you all behave!
You won't be facing Mecca on that silly bloody mat
You'll all be Church of England, Abdul, cogitate on that!