Mark Gillett [ NZ 1953 – 2007 QLD ] – see Mudcat obit.

A sort of bluesy, down-home, banjo groove, that was a Mark favourite – but not yet found online!
It was a bit of a travelling number, with verses as remembered – or made up - at the time of singing!!


DAGGIN’ ROUND SUGARTOWN

Mark Gillett

Dag-Dag Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga, Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga, Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga.....

Cut cane while days are bright, crush it and cook it right
Mills roarin’ through the night
Old Sugartown Namba,
There’s Ted from up the hill, workin’ at Moreton Mill
All dressed in ~King-Gee drill
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Chorus :
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

Tourists with a vide-cam, takin’ snapshots of the sugar tram
~Lorry Loco’s goin’ bam-bam
Old Sugartown Namba,
They’re tryin’ not to stare, at that safari-suited lair
With a beer gut and surfie hair
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

Steppin’ out for pizza snacks, across the railway tracks
In Ugg boots and trackie daks~
Daggin’ round in Namba,
That Westie’s off his face, he’s decked out in perfect taste
Checked shirt around his waist, he’s
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

A victim of the piercin’ craze, rings and studs in his face
His Dad thinks he’s a disgrace, he’s
Daggin’ round in Namba,
A young girl with style to spare, pants got one little tear
Sure enough, that tattoo there, she’s
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

Street childrens doin’ wrong, window glass in their thongs
Spray cans and OJ bottles, they’re
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Down by Petrie-side, banks all wet and wide
Long grass where the travellers hide
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

Black smokestack paints the sky, cinder flakes floatin’ by
They bring tears to my eye, I’m
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Where did the good times go, don’t ask me coz I don’t know
My memory’s as black as snow, I’m
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

I’m goin’ back some day, hope and sometimes I pray
Like I never went away, to go
Daggin’ round in Namba,
I will forget my cares, don my kaftan and flares
Boogie on down to Cemetery Square, I’ll be
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

I’ll do just what I please, hang it all out in the breeze
Just like the 70s, I’ll be
Daggin’ round in Namba,
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown
Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round – Daggin’ Round in Sugartown

Dag-Dag Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga
Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga Dagga ……………………… YEAH!



‘Namba’ (officially, Nambour*), on Petrie Creek in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, was known for its landmark Moreton Central Mill – crushing the sugar cane in the centre of town. Until 2003, the cane ‘trains’ ran regularly in season through the town’s streets, carrying the cane from the outlying farms to the crusher. The strong smell on the air, belching steam, noise and night lights when the Mill ran 24/7 in the Crushing Season (July-December) ….. and the smoke and cinders when the farms were burning the cane thrash* ….. all the traffic giving way to the whistle of the little haulage trams, trundling along the tramway in the centre of the road - it’s all consigned to history now.
And the farms? Well, some are now wasteland (but still with venomous snakes) – while many are turf farms, light industry, or particularly, housing estates optimistically built on the flood plains :) And the Mill (crushing for 106 years), is now a supermarket site, while many vacant shops line the town’s streets and the regional hospital is rebuilt elsewhere. However, a few rail engines and parts of the Mill history were saved for the Museum, built on the nearby old school site https://nambourmuseum.org.au/look-inside/ and the steel Crushers and enormous cogged wheels, have been welded into street sculptures!   Nambour's a little sultry (surrounded by hills); but a town where daggy dressing and cumfy flannos (checked flannel shirts) were unashamedly okay - it's just the way it was …….
Namba wouldn’t die though and there are signs of it at last regenerating ……. perhaps even as a Regional Centre for The Arts, with performance venues and galleries, plus quirky shops and more cafes now opening up – so could be interesting!!

* the name “Naamba” is from an Aboriginal word describing the bark of a prolific red-flowering bottlebrush.
* just like in that great Mary Gauthier song “(Burning the) Sugar Cane” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIQgzCai3EQ
~King Gee – is an iconic, longtime Aussie workwear brand.
~trackie daks – comfortable track suit pants (often worn low-slung, resulting in an “attractive” baggy bum! :)
~Lorry Loco - from kids storybook, plus : https://www.bundysugar.com.au/education/kot.html

A song by Penny Davies for Nambour, which she sings here with partner, Roger Ilott : “Don’t Let ‘Em Close Our Mill (the Sugar Mill’s the Heart of Town)” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHKl1n-mIc0

Just found this documentary called “The Last Crush : Closure of the Moreton Sugar Mill” and the flow-on effects of, first up, global issues (falling price of sugar) - plus all the rest - on the millworkers, the cane farmers, and the town itself : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHKl1n-mIc0

On a historical note, from 1863-1904, some 62,000 South Sea Islanders (men, women, children - known as Kanakas, from Melanesia) were mostly kidnapped/tricked/blackbirded to forcibly work the canefields, cottonfields, coffee plantations of Qld and Nthn NSW. Due to the new Aust'n Federation laws in 1901, the majority were forcibly deported after 1906. By all accounts, life did not improve for those who were shunted back to an island (not necessarily their original one), nor for those who got to stay :   https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/discover/exhibitions/australian-south-sea-islanders


R-J