Hi freda,

I looked at the page that Peace linked to and then got Google to translate it. (What a giggle! A "Google-giggle". For some reason one of the books is called an Orgy.) The song listings are for each book "respectively" so I am assuming that the book with the Ballarat Horse Auctioneer in it is the Essential Aussie Songbook, which can be bought as a sheet music book and CD set. (Beware of a CD called Essential Aussie Backpackers Songbook, which comes up in response to the search for the E A Songbook).

BUT NO, I went back and checked the song listings and the list seems to match the other book better, i.e the Great Australian Songbook, but then there is a problem because there is a new edition with 300 songs and that one is available in lots of places but the older edition with 250 songs is harder to find and it appears that the song you are looking for is not in the new edition.

The Essential book is published by Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd.
This book shop says they will order it from the publisher and that supplies are limited so I'd contact the publisher direct, maybe, or you could order it at your local bookshop or, obviously, see if you local library can get a copy for you on Inter-Library loan.

But now I'm not sure which book it is in. Inter-Library loan would be a good option for the GAS 250 book.

Do you have any more details about the song? How did you find out about it, do you know any of the words, who sings it, etc?

And, pattyClink, it is possible that there is a historic connection between the Australian Ballarat and the Californian one. There were gold diggers who worked in both Oz & the US in the goldrushes. It's be interesting to find out which one came first, or whether there is a connection.

Helen