G'day,

Nutty's link (above) was quite interesting ... and covered many of the points I had from Ted Egan's book (actually called The Overlanders ... an Australian term specific to those drovers who took beasts across vast tracts of wild land).

Sorry about the paste - but this is part of what Ted's collaborator Peter Forrest had to say about the suitability of the Scots for this work:

The Overlanders Songbook, Faces of Australia Series, Ted Egan, 1984.
Pages 13 /14 - text by Peter Forrest (part of chapter 1, The Overlanders):

The contribution and influence of these people of Scottish origin or descent to Australian overlanding has been so powerful that an explanation must be sought

As early as 1359, two Scottish drovers were given safe conduct to bring cattle into England and, ten years later, the Scots Parliament imposed customs dues on cattle exported to England. By the early years of the sixteenth century, cattle were coming from the Western Isles and the Highlands toward the Lowlands and thence as far afield as London. The drover was already celebrated in song and verse - none more than Rob Roy, who was a drover and honest cattle dealer before living as an outlaw and cattle thief. Sir Walter Scott, the grandson of a drover, wrote 'The Highlanders, in particular, are masters of this difficult trade of droving, which seems to suit them as well as the trade of war. It affords exercise for all their habits of patient endurance and active exertion. They are required to know perfectly the drove roads which lie over the wildest tracts of country, and to avoid as much as possible the highways which distress the feet of the bullocks, and the turnpikes which annoy the spirit of the drover, whereas on the broad green or grey track which leads across the pathless moor, the herd not only moves at ease and without taxation but if they mind their business, may pick up a mouthful of food by the way.'

Others describe the Scottish drovers as 'great stalwarts, shaggy and wild, their clothing and physique suited to the hardships of their lives'. Of necessity, they were heavily armed against cattle raiders and dressed usually in homespun tweeds, smelling of heather and peat smoke. A coarse plaid and a ram's horn filled with whisky had to suffice for warmth even on the coldest nights. The drover's food was a bag of oatmeal and a few onions, replenished every few days as opportunity offered.

A nineteenth century visitor compared favourably the skill and organising ability of a Scottish drover to that of the Duke of Wellington. "To purchase a thousand cattle from a multitude of individuals and march them, in one or more great battalions, from the extremity of Scotland into the centre of England, at the expense of only a few shillings each, is an undertaking that requires genius, caution and provision for many contingent circumstances, beside the knowledge which is requisite to their disposal to such advantage as may encourage the continuance of the trade.'

Regards,

Bob