G'day all,

Bill D: Lazy Harry's is a fine example of the sort of Australian song that leaves you with a map of half the country (and often a character reading of every boss ... or publican ... along the way). The Bushwacker, for a wonder, haven't mucked this one up but (if I remember correctly) their notes are atrociously inaccurate ... suggesting they consult a bottle more assiduously than a New South Wales map.

I have an extra interest in this one because, in the late 1960s, my Brother Eric, along with folklorist John Meredith (who passed away late February) came across a bloke who claimed to be the son of 'Lazy Harry'. He had never heard of the song, but gave details of the shanty his father operated near the Gundagai goldfields - selling grog obtained through his father's licensed hotel back in Gundagai. I published this material in Mulga Wire some time in the '80s.

There is a related song The Road to Omeo, possibly the source of Lazy Harry's, to much the same tune but telling of a group of roadworkers who have quit a job with a roughneck road contractor and " ... won't go back with Jacksons, on the road to Omeo ...". This contains a number of common phrases and could be of common origin or one is the parent of the other version.

I will look it up and post the words ... maybe before the National Festival, over Easter ... but then again ...

Regards,

Bob Bolton