As sung by Martyn Wyndham- Read.

TOMAHAWKING FRED

Now some shearing I have done, and some prizes I have won
Through knuckling down so close against the skin
But I'd rather tomahawk every day and shear a flock
For that's the only way to make some tin

Chorus
I am just about to head for the Darling River shed
To turn a hundred out I know the plan
Just give me sufficient cash and you'll see me make a splash
For I'm Tomahawking Fred, the lady's man

Put me on a shearing floor and I’ll lay you five to four
That I'd give any ringer ten sheep start
Oh when I’m on the whipping side then away from me they glide
Just like any bullet or a dart

Chorus

Oh of me you might have read for I'm Tomahawking Fred
In shearing sheds me fame has travelled far
I'm the don of the Riverine, amongst the shearers cut a shine
And our tar-boy says I never call for tar

Chorus

Wire in and go ahead, for I'm Tomahawking Fred
In a shearing shed, my lads, I cut a shine
There is Roberts and Jack Gunn, shearing laurels they have won
But my tally's never under ninety-nine

Chorus

Youtube clip

This belter of a shearing song was preserved for us by the self-styled 'last of the bushrangers', Jack Bradshaw, who had done a bit of shearing when he wasn't horse stealing or planning bank robberies. He served 20 years from 1880 for bank robbery and some business over a stolen cheque. In jail, he put together his 'Highway Robbery Under Arms Without Shedding Blood' and 'Twenty Years of Prison Life in the Gaols of NSW'. These included a number of traditional songs, including this one. It appears in Stewart and Keesing' edition of 'Old Bush Songs' under the title 'Some Shearing I Have Done'. Evidently, the ballad is based on a music hall song 'Fashionable Fred'.

--Stewie.