This one was a favourite in the Darwin folk scene.   Martyn Wydham-Read put a tune to Matt O'Connors' poem.

THE SHEARER'S LAMENT
(O'Connor/Wyndham-Read)

We finished shearing sheep
Out west of the Paroo
But now it's rained three inches
We don't know what to do.
A week ago the sand was loose
And dust blew every day
But now the mud is three feet deep
And we can't get away

I've just been talking to the boss
You all know Hector Cole
He says the Bulloo's two miles wide
To cross it there's no hope.
You hear a lot of people swear
About the dough we make
But they forget the price of beer
And all the combs we break

Well, why I took this job on
I just can't understand,
If the bloody sheep ain't waterlogged
The cows are full of sand
A man is doubled up all day
Half-blinded by his swea;
And when the darkness comes around
Cooped up in a mozzie net

It might have been a good job once
Those old hands had their breaks
They pushed a bike from shed to shed
And lived on johnny cakes
They had more time to do the job
They worked nine hours a day
And after paying for their grub
One pound a hundred paid

I think I'll give this job away
I'm sick of being a greasy
I've heard about a fencing job
They tell me it's dead easy

Youtube clip

Martyn noted: 'Some bush poems definitely invite a tune. "A shearer's lament" came from Matt O'Connor who contributed the odd ballad to the "Singabout" magazine in the 60s. This was his last contribution prior to his death in 1965.'

--Stewie.