THE SHEARING’S COMING ROUND
(Wright/Jessett)

There's a sound of many voices in the camp and on the track
And letters coming up in shoals to stations at the back
And every boat that crosses from the sunny other side
Is bringing waves of shearers for the swelling of the tide

(Chorus)
And the shearing's coming round, boys, the shearing's coming round
The stations of the mountains have begun to hear the sound

They'll be talking up at Laghmor of the tallies that were shore
And the bloke who broke the record is remembered at Benmore
And the yarns of strikes and barneys will be told till all is blue
And the ringers and the bosses will be passed in long review

Chorus.

The great Orari muster and the drafting of the men
Like a mob of ewes and wethers will be surely told again
And a lot of heathen places that will rhyme with kangaroo
Will be named along with ringers and the things that they can do

Chorus

At last the crowds have gathered for the morning of the start
And the slowest of the jokers will be trying to look smart
And a few will get the bullet, and high hopes will have a fall,
And the bloke that talks the loudest stands a show of looking small

Chorus

With the arrival of Australian shearers working under contract on high country stations during the 1890s, NZ locals were exposed to Australian songs and especially the verse of Lawson and Paterson. The latter inspired Kiwi balladeers such as David McKee Wright who has been described as New Zealand’s ‘outback laureate’. His fine poem, 'The Shearing’s Coming Round,' references 3 large Canterbury stations – Laghmore, Benmore and Orari Gorge. The tune is by Michael Jessett.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.