ANDY’S GONE WITH CATTLE (H.Lawson/Trad) Our Andy's gone to battle now 'Gainst drought, the red marauder Our Andy's gone with cattle now Across the Queensland border He's left us in dejection now Our hearts with him are roving It's dull on this selection now Since Andy went a-droving Who now shall wear the cheerful face In times when things are slackest And who shall whistle round the place When fortune frowns her blackest Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now When he comes round us snarling His tongue is growing hotter now Since Andy crossed the Darling. The gates are out of order now In storms the ‘riders’ rattle For far across the border now Our Andy's gone with cattle Poor Aunty's looking thin and white And Uncle's cross with worry And poor old Blucher howls all night Since Andy left Macquarie Oh, may the showers in torrents fall And all the tanks run over And may the grass grow green and tall In pathways of the drover And may good angels send the rain On desert stretches sandy And when the summer comes again God grant 'twill bring us Andy Above is the full text of Lawson's poem. Most of the YT clips omit a couple of stanzas. The recording by one of my all-time favourite singers, Jean Redpath, is fairly close to the original. Redpath A couple of other clips: Wyndham-Read Herdman --Stewie.
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