G'day ('ee there?) Ickle Ruthie,

Here are the words as first published in Mulga Wire / Singabout in 1983. I was surprised that I didn't have the words on file ... and that I sing it a little differently from this set of words. I guess I learned it from later recordings - not from my dubious typing [the reason for the (~)].

I will post these words here, so that you have them. I may check back against some other versions (Ted's singing on later recordings) and possibly post them as a new lyric thread ... with a MIDIText of the tune.

BTW: I would have to slightly niggle about Helen's not about a general practice. It was unfortunately not a one-off occurrence in the frontier regions of the Australian Outback.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

THE DROVER'S BOY
Words & Music: Ted Egan © 1983

Couldn't understand why the drover cried
As they buried the drover's boy
For the drover had always seemed so hard
To the men in his employ
A falling horse
A stirrup lost
And the drover's boy was dead
Shovelled dirt and a mumbled word
And it's back to the road ahead
And forget about the drover's boy.

Couldn't understand why the drover cut
A lock of the dead boy's hair
Put it in the band of his battered old hat
As they watched him standing there
And he told them "Take the cattle on
I'll sit with the boy awhile"
In silence thought, piped a smoke
And it's ride another mile
And forget about the drover's boy.

They couldn't make out why the drover and the boy
Always camped so far away
For the tall white main and the slim black boy
Had never had much to say
And the boy would be gone at break of dawn
Tail the horses
Carry on
While the drover roused the sleeping men
Daylight - hit the road again
And follow the drover's boy
Follow the drover's boy.
(Wail)

In the Camooweal pub they talked about
The death of the drover's boy
They drank their rum with the stranger who'd come
From the Kimberley round Fitzroy
And he told of the massacre in the west
Barest details - guessed the rest
Shoot the bucks - grab a gin
Cut her hair - break her in
And call her a boy,
The Drover's boy, The Drover's boy
And call her a boy the drover's boy.
(Wail)

So when they build that Stockmen's Hall of Fame
And they talk about the droving game
Remember the girl who was bedmate and guide
Rode with the drover side by side
Watched the bullocks flayed the hide
Faithful wife but never a bride
Bred his sons
For the cattle runs
Don't weep for the drover's boy
Don't mourn for the drover's boy
But don't forget the drover's boy.
(Wail)


The (Wail) is a 4 or 8 bar refrain that is hard to score. I will see what I can do.
(~) From Singabout, p.S2/3 (supplement to) Mulga Wire #40, December 1983, Bush Music Club, Sydney