G'day,

Sourdough: I don't know if Denis O'Keefe, whose site you (presumably) refer has his rendition available.

Actually, I dispute some of his interpretation ... Christina's third line doesn't add up and we spent a while making sure we understood her intentions when the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission ... [then ... Corporation now]) contacted me to have the tue performed for a programme back in 1988 (Australia's Bicentenary year).

I can send a MIDI, to anyone who is interested, of the various stages of deveolpment of this tune from W S Barr's 1805 tune for Craigielea through to Marie Cowan's arrangement of Christina McPherson's tune, which is the well known tune today.

GUEST,Finny (and BillD): The Coolibah is indeed far from shady. Like most hot, dry country eucalypts, eucalyptus microtheca it has more sense than let its leaves boil in the sun. It turns its leaves in response to sun and keeps then edge-on to the direction of the sun and so provides very sparse shade ... but it is the native tree (aka "Flooded Box") of the (occasional) floodplains where you find seasonal billabongs.

Rangersteve: What gives you the silly idea that we are not already flooded with your American Cowboys songs? If you turned up at Tamworth for the big annual Country Music bash (the weeks surrounding Australia Day, 26 January, to add insult to injury), you wouldn't know you had left America. Do you want a shipment of spare C/W singers?

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton