G'day again,

Well, it's obvious I have not listened to this for some time! It was on a Wongawilli cassette I bought about 12 years ago and, although it is on the Musica Pangaea compilation, in their Undiscovered Australia series ... and on a new compilation CD from Wongawilli called After the Tradition, that they just gave me for review ... I have a sufficiently faint recall of the actual words to miss the fact that the very first word in the title is different ... good working bushman's rum ... not your effete Kiwi's gin! As well, there are a lot of changes, in locale, mostly, taking it to the Kiandra Gold Rush of the early 1860s. (BTW: Does anyone have an accurate date for Martin Curtis's composition? This adaptation was, apparently, collected at Australian National Folk Festival - held in Maleny in 1989.

The notes in the Musica PangaeaCD Wongawilli - Australian Tradition say: "Rum and Raspberry (Traditional)

Set in the last century, this song documents the hardships of mining in the Kiandra area of New South Wales during its substantial, though short-lived, gold rush. It was collected from an unknown performed at the Australian National Folk Festival in Maleny, but seems to be an adaptation of a fine New Zealand song The Gin and Raspberry, written by Martin Curtis."
.
THE RUM AND RASPBERRY
(Originally The Gin and Raspberry, by Martin Curtis, NZ)

Searching for cattle - we first came this way,
From Talbingo township took many long days
To cut through the scrub till we found a good claim
And we called it the Rum and Raspberry.

The rumours went out and thousands poured in;
A handful grew rich while many grew thin.
They all hoped to find their own patch of ground
As rich as the Rum and Raspberry.
Chorus:
Oh but it's hard, cruel and cold
Searching Kiandra for nuggets of gold;
An ounce to a bucket - we'll all sell our souls
For the taste of the Rum and Raspberry.

At first it was summer, we all thought it grand;
No shirts on our backs as we sluiced and we panned -
But then came the snow and the westerly blow
And there's ice down the Rum and Raspberry.
Chorus: Oh but it's hard ...

Jimmy McGrath, he worked hard and worked long
Ready to smile or to sing us a song,
But then he struck gold and was found dead and cold
Down in the Rum and Raspberry.
Chorus: Oh but it's hard ...

I'll work out my time and I'll stay out of strife,
Save all me tin to send home to me wife
And when me time's done, I'll leave on the run
And to hell with the Rum and Raspberry.
Chorus: Oh but it's hard ...

But to hell with the Rum and Raspberry!

Regards,

Bob Bolton