Well, after that, reckon we could all do with a nice Cup of Tea, eh!


Billy of Tea

From The Native Companion Songster, c.1889

You can talk of your whiskey, talk of your beer,
There's something much nicer that's waiting us here.
It sits on the fire beneath the gum tree:
There's nothing much nicer than a billy of tea.

Ch.
So fill up your tumbler as high as you can,
And don't you dare tell me it's not the best blend.
You can let all your beer and your spirits go free,
I'll stick to my darling old billy of tea.

I rise in the morning as soon as it's light
And go to the nosebag to see it's alright,
That the ants on the sugar no mortgage have got
And straight away sling my old black billy pot.

And while it is boiling the horses I seek,
And follow them down as far as the creek.
I take off their hobbles and let them run free,
Then haste to tuck into my billy of tea.

And at night when I camp, if the day has been warm,
I give to my horses their tucker of corn.
From the two in the pole, to the one in the lead,
A billy for each holds a comfortable feed.

Then the fire I make and the water I get,
And corned beef and damper in order I set.
But I don't touch the grub – though so hungry I be –
I wait 'til it's ready; the billy of tea.


This version by Bruised Knees : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHwYolLLuIc


Cheers! (and it's Time for Tea), R-J