G'day Barbara,

John in Brisbane's second posting (with the "Milky Way" reference) immediately pinned it down to the song located by Peace. Quite a lot of songs (especially those coming from poems) used the expression "humping the drum" for carrying a swag ... and this is another beaut example.

(BTW: Your words aren't, exactly, Henry Lawson's original words ... more like the orally-collected version popularised by Dave de Hugard, in the late '60s. Dave's version is interesting ... but, on the whole, I prefer Henry's!

Regards (indeed ... blessings),

Bob