G'day Jim Dixon,

The full item is reproduced below. Unfortunately, the rest of the poem (not a song - despite the chapter heading) goes on with more general advice for a young bloke on survivng as a 'swagman'. That is, an itinerant worker living on rations (sometimes grudgingly) provided by the property owners - who needed a good labour force for seasonal work such as sheep-shearing, stock mustering, harvesting, etcetera. The opening lines are obviously yet another partial quote from what must have been a popular piece of "folk poetry" back in the lat 19th century!

In the past, I have tended to be the copyright contact for 'Duke's copyright material - especially where it was first published in Bush Music Club journals ... as I am currently editor of our magazine and publications officer. For a while I was out of touch with Duke's descendants - but I've now made contact with the next generation, so I can refer anything that has a bit of money attached to his Grandson Don (Croydon) Tritton.

ADVICE TO A YOUNG SWAGMAN

Harold Percy Croydon ('Duke') Tritton

When you're stoney broke and walking
An' your tucker bag is flat,
It will never get you nowhere
If you start to whip the cat,
For there aint no time for weepin'
When you're on a hungry track,
An' we have no use for squealers
On the roads that run outback.

You must keep your independence
An' if a squatter snarls at you,
You snarl back an' tell him
What you think he ought to do;
You can query his ancestry
Which will mostly start a brawl,
Win or lose, it shows the squatter
That you're never one to crawl.

But when the grass is long and dry
You will find them all polite,
An' you'll get a good hand out
If you work your noddle right.
You just flash a box of matches
An' speak of the 'Wild Red Steer',
He'll most likely call you 'mister',
He might even shout a beer.

An' if ever you are short of meat,
It really is not a sin
For to knock a jumbuck over,
But be sure you plant the skin.
For if they catch you with it,
You'll surely get it hot,
For the magistrates a squatter
And he'll hand you out the lot.

You may be busted up and broke,
Well, you are not the first
To shove a cheque across the bar
To satisfy your thirst.
You'll have plenty other troubles,
But keep them under your hat;
One thing no dinkum swagman does
Is whip the flamin' cat.

Duke of the Outback , the stories, poems and songs of Duke Tritton, by John Meredith, Red Rooster Press, Ascot Vale, (Victoria, Australia) 1983, Studies in Australian Folklore, no. 5 Duke of the Outback,:
2. Songs That He Wrote      page 56

Regards,

Bob