THE DYING FETTLER A strapping young fettler lay dying With a shovel supporting his head The ganger and crew round him crying As he let go his pick-handle and said: Ch. Wrap me up in a tent or a fly, boys And bury me deep down below Where the trolleys and trains won’t molest me To show there’s a navvy below. There’s tea in the old battered billy-can Place the dogs spikes out in a row And we’ll spike to the next merry meeting To show there’s a navvy below. Hark, there’s the wail of a trolley Far, far away it seems It sounds like the inspector is coming And hopes to see us all here. So back to your shovels, my boy-lads And bend your backs with a will For this inspector has no time of judgement But there is a navvy below. “The Dying Fettler” was collected at Lappa Junction, N.Q., August 21, 1966. It will be readily recognised as a parody on “The Dying Stockman”. It was sung by Vic Leonard, who in turn had learned it from Frank Stock of Koorboora, a now extinct mining centre.” Ron Edwards, To the North – Pt 5 of The Overlander Songbook, 1966 The town of Koorboora (east of Herberton), was in an area of Tin and Wolfram (Tungsten) mining, extant from the late 1800s to maybe 1930s. A Fettler (in this song), is someone who repairs or maintains a Railway. ***[Horace Flower, 1st published, Portland Mirror, 1885]. “The Dying Stockman”*** has collected a fair few parodies and the tune (and its variations) is, I think, very well-known, but I have included two links. One to Dave de Hugard’s singing : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxZ5EARLsQ8 And one, from a more classical voice. I am not normally drawn - at all - to the use of this type of singing style in folk music, but, I suspect that is probably a Baby Boomer penchant!! This chap, as well as being a singer and writer, is a geologist and Australia does a pretty good line in Singing Geologists!! So here is Robert Pyper : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INCf9_YXFYA I might post his own song about gold mining in 1930s Meekatharra, sometime soon. R-J
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