Origins: Drover's Dream

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Helen
Date: 30 Oct 22 - 02:10 PM

Drover's Dream

Book: J Meredith, H Anderson, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 1, UNSW Press, 1967, p202, from Chris WilliamsJ Meredith, R Covell & P Brown, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 2, UNSW Press, 1987, p265, from Arthur FosterNotes: This tune is widely known in Australia. It was collected from- Arthur Foster, by John Meredith, NLA Bib ID 645243- Chris Williams, NSW, by John Meredith, NLA Bib ID 1800773- Emu Creek Bush Band, by Peter Ellis, NLA Bib ID 6608412- Harry Cotter, Binalong, NSW, by Colin McJanett, as "Killaloe"- Sally Sloane, Lithgow, NSW, by Harry Kay as "Kilalloe", in Bush Music Club's, Singabout, Dec 1990Many other sources can be found.History: The tune used for the "Drover's Dream" is the "Killaloe March",written by Irishman Robert Martin, for the Royal Irish Regiment, published 1887.Killaloe is a town on the banks of the Shannon River, County Clare. Thescore can be found at Lyrics of the "Drover's Dream" was originally published in Australia as "The Visions OfA Night Watch", in the Kadina & Wallaroo Times, South Australia, 25 Dec, 1889

X:14
T:Drover's Dream
T:Killaloe March (pub 1887)
% NFF Book 2019
% Bush Traditions recording played by Ray Mulligan
C:Robert Martin, (1846 - ?)
H:The tune used for the "Drover's Dream" is the "Killaloe March",
H:written by Irishman Robert Martin, for the Royal Irish Regiment, published 1887.
H:Killaloe is a town on the banks of the Shannon River, County Clare. The
H:score can be found at
H:Lyrics of the "Drover's Dream" was originally published in Australia as "The Visions Of
H:A Night Watch", in the Kadina & Wallaroo Times, South Australia, 25 Dec, 1889
N:This tune is widely known in Australia. It was collected from
N:- Arthur Foster, by John Meredith, NLA Bib ID 645243
N:- Chris Williams, NSW, by John Meredith, NLA Bib ID 1800773
N:- Emu Creek Bush Band, by Peter Ellis, NLA Bib ID 6608412
N:- Harry Cotter, Binalong, NSW, by Colin McJanett, as "Killaloe"
N:- Sally Sloane, Lithgow, NSW, by Harry Kay as "Kilalloe", in Bush Music Club's, Singabout, Dec 1990
N:Many other sources can be found.
B:J Meredith, H Anderson, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 1, UNSW Press, 1967, p202, from Chris Williams
B:J Meredith, R Covell & P Brown, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 2, UNSW Press, 1987, p265, from Arthur Foster
F:https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109097647
O:Australia, Kadina, SA
R:Schottische
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
D2|"G"G>A B>A G2 D>D|"C"E>F G>E "G"D2 D>D|G>G G>A B>B A>G|"D7"A6 D>D|
"G"G>A B>A G2 D>D|"C"E>F G>E "G"D2 D>D|B>B B>G "D7"A>A A>F|"G"G6 A>B|
"C"c>c c>c c2 B>c|"G"d>d d>B G2 G>D|G>G G>A B>B A>G|"D7"A6 D>D|
"G"G>A B>A G2 D>D|"C"E>F G>E "G"D2 D>D|B>B B>G "D7"A>A A>F|"G"G6||

The link in that article with the full original lyrics:

The Visions of a Night Watch

(My notes: 1. I don't quite understand the reference "to the contributor of 'Echoes and Re-echoes' in the Observer"; 2. I don't know who "C. J. O. S." might be. O. S. could possibly be a clue to an Irish surname, perhaps, e.g. O'Sullivan?)

C. J. O. S., of N.S.W., sends the following
clever conception, which he calls a Vision of
a Nightwatch, to the contributor of "Echoes
and Re-echoes" in the Observer:

The Visions of a Night Watch

On watch, with travelling sheep, my comrades all asleep,
Neither moon nor star illumed the summer sky:
My eyes I scarce had closed, tho' I know I must
have dozed When a very strange procession passed me by.

First came a kangaroo, with a "swag" of blanket blue,
With a dingo, likewise loaded, for his mate ;
They saluted me and passed, saying they'd travelled rather fast.
And could not stay, as it was growing late.

An opossum and a crow sung a song,"The long ago,"
A frilled Jew lizard listened with a smile;
An emu, straying near, held his claw up to his ear.
Saying,"The prettiest song I've heard for quite a while"

An iguano and a snake (the latter wide awake)
Struck up "The little cabin in the dell;"
A parrot green and blue, gave " Hoop-de dooden-do,"
While a near-side poler chanted "Ring the bell."

Three bullfrogs from the swamp, where the atmosphere is damp,
Came jumping up, and mounting on some stones,
While they sang "Unfurl the flag," took each one from out his bag
A violin, a banjo, and the bones.

And from a near sheoak the laughing jackass broke
The silence into little, little bits ;
And an owl essayed a joke at a corpulent mopoke,
Who sang "Good by" with many local hits.

A pretty bandicoot played a strathspey on the flute,
Some native bears came up and formed a ring.
A pelican and crane came in from off the piain
And amused the audience with a Highland fling.

Here the even zephyr sighed, rose and fell and sighed,
An affective thing, that zephyrs mostly do,
But departed for the west, I suppose because it's rest
Was broken by the wail of the curlew.

The "damper" we had had - tho' at tea 'twas very bad,
How or whence it came I don't know - re-appeared,
And with tortoise shapen feet on a pannican it beat
Such time, the audience all rose up and cheered.

And a swagman, such a "bag," all hat and beard and swag.
On a log sat, with a billy by his side.
Swayed his hoary head about, and his purple face spread out,
And laughed, and choked, and shook until he cried.

Just here there came a crash, as if creation had gone smash,
And leaping up I found I'd been asleep.
Twas the boss from 'nearth the cart, who woke me with a start,
Crying -"Charlie! where the blazes are the sheep ?"

Notes

This is the original published version of the Drovers Dream also in this collection. It was published the regional South Australian newspaper, the Kadina and Wallaroo Times (SA) Wednesday 25 December 1889 p. 4.

Discovered (and text corrected) by Mark Gregory on 27 August 2013.

Discoveries like this simply were most unlikely before the advent of digitised newspapers through the National Library of Australia pioneering TROVE Project.

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 22 - 10:17 PM

Who actually wrote the lyrics for The Drovers Dream. ?Doug

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Nov 21 - 05:55 PM

Joe - do cleanup

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Sep 21 - 03:09 AM

Mudcat at it's best when various members & friends get together to locate information!

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST,Truthful Jones
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 11:23 PM

Well, this is absolutely marvellous!
I've been hunting around for years, on and off, to find this song which was a staple of ABC morning radio when I was a child in the mid-1950s. I loved it and remembered some of the lyrics but didn't know the title nor the performers.
Russ Tyson played it almost every morning for what seemed like years from mid-1950s to the early 1960s.. I can't remember when it finally drifted off the play-lists.
From Leeneia's mention of You-Tube, I looked it up and found this scratchy, but reasonable, recording from the 78rpm record, and it IS exactly what I remembered and expected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQWhp310tI

Thanks to you all for helping me to find a childhood memory that was special to me.

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Mar 20 - 08:40 AM

Getting the Record Straight. BMC Discography by Bob Bolton, 1983
Articles from Mark Gregory's Australian Folk Songs - a selection

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Bruce D
Date: 13 Mar 20 - 03:13 AM

You need to also have a look at the two Bush Music Club LP's, one of them from memony also had a recording of the Drovers Dream,I no longer have copies as they were given to the BMC Library a few years ago.

and also check the LP that was issued by Larrikin Records on collected works Drovers Dream may be on that with footnotes.

Also from memory I belive there was a Film clip of Duke singing the Drovers Dream, proberly now in the National Sound Archives.

John Meredith also filmed some of the people he collected songs from.

Bruce D

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 05:19 PM

You can hear it on YouTube. Just search for Drover's Dream.

It was not what I expected.

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST,Kerry Doherty
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 08:25 PM

Thanks everyone for getting back to me. I have never been able to find evidence that it was ever on the hit parade but it was very successful in its day. From my research it was most popular in Queensland and others have mentioned it was often played on country radio stations.
Folkies being what they are it is often difficult to find written evidence on anything. As Sandra Nixon will testify trying to research the early history of the Bush Music Club is not an easy task, but as always a big thank you to all those who went out and recorded the memories of those who where there and for the National Library of Australia, which is always a good resource.

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 06:39 PM

thanks, cnd & Tony, I've changed the page reference. I was squinting at a small image & naturally Keith's References refer to the words he used.

sandra (less confused!)

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Tony Rees
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 05:20 PM

No, "A genuine hit" is from the text of Keith's book, his wording. It is this phrase (on his page 154: "Wattle had a genuine hit on their hands...") that is then sourced to the newspaper article entitled "Our folk songs get an airing". Just to clear up the confusion,

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: cnd
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 10:52 AM

Sandra, the newspapers.com numbering is wrong, but you can see that p. 73 is the right page in the bottom corner. After p. 22 it gets all out of order - I imagine Sydney Morning Herlad's archives pull from the same out of order source (which is why theirs is also wrong). But you are right - I don't see the phrase "A genuine hit" in the title or body of the article.

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 06:08 AM

thanks, cnd, Starship & Tony

I appreciate the link to the SMH article& McKenry, we've been looking for that "Top 40" reference for a long time! We have a collection of newspaper clippings, but not this one.

I've added another sticky note to my copy of McKenry

Keith's reference from p.154 is to "A genuine Hit - Our folk songs get an airing", Sydney, Sun-Herald, 15 July 1962, p.73, the Sun-Herald is the Sunday issue of the Sydney Morning Herald, yet newspapers.com says it's page 95.

The Sydney morning herald archives [electronic resource]. Search every edition of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald between 1955-1995. All articles, captions and advertisements are fully keyword searchable and full-text results are returned in an exact digital reproduction of the printed pages as they were originally published. Browse and search is free. Subscription necessary to view articles in full.

here's the direct link Sydney Morning Herald archives, Found 1 result(s) for exact word or phrase: 'Our folk songs get an airing' and from date '1962-07-01' and to date '1962-08-01'. Showing results 1-1 & I've screen shot the image, which is just the title of the article as I haven't paid for it. 'A Genuine hit' is not part of the title.

The Bushwhackers - Australian Bush Songs, Wattle Recordings, 1957 - blog updated with McKenry reference

sandra
BMC Secretary, Librarian & Archivist
Bush Music Club blog

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: cnd
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 08:17 PM

The page Tony Rees mentions can be found here: https://www.newspapers.com/image/121273543

The relevant section reads:

One song, "The Drover's Dream," sung by Alan Scott, has sold about 20,000 copies since it was recorded seven years ago.

"That's more than many hit records sell," he [Peter Hamilton] said. "But hit records don't stay on sale for seven years."

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: Tony Rees
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 05:46 PM

For additional background, here is the full [original band] Bushwhackers recorded output so far as I have found while researching for the relevant article on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bushwhackers_(band)#Discography_and_filmography

The "20,000" figure is mentioned by Keith McKenry in his biography of John Meredith, on p. 153-154. He cites the source "Our folk songs get an airing": Sydney Sun-Herald, 15 July 1962, p. 73.

Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 07 Mar 20 - 10:56 PM

I checked the years 1955 to 1957 and Drover's Dream wasn't in any of 'em. However, it may not have covered all of Australia.

https://tsort.info/music/faq_site_index.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: cnd
Date: 07 Mar 20 - 08:03 PM

I found the following: The Sydney Morning Herald, March 12th 2001, p. 37

"In 1955 the Wattle recording company issued its first disc, the Bushwackers singing The Drover's Dream. The first Australian folk "hit", it sold more than 20,000 copies."

I didn't find anything from the 1950s explicity stating that, but it looks like it was first released on a 33 rpm album titled "Australian Folk Songs" by The Bushwackers rather than Alan Scott on his own

Subject: RE: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 07 Mar 20 - 07:59 PM

"The Bushwhackers made records for Wattle Records from 1955 to 1957 and their Bush Songs helped keep the wolf from Wattle's door for a few years. Their 78 rpm recording of The Drover's Dream, with Alan Scott singing, sold 20,000 copies in 1956!"

Twenty thousand is mucho copies, but enough to make it a hit I don't know.

Subject: Origins: Drover's Dream
From: GUEST,Kerry Doherty
Date: 07 Mar 20 - 07:43 PM

I am a present researching the History of the Bush Music Club in Australia. The song the "Drover's Dream" sung by Alan Scott and the Bushwhackers was released by Wattle Records on a 78 rmp in 1956. I am constantly told it reached the "hit parade" but I am unable to find any evidence of this. Does anyone have evidence of this. Any help would be appreciated.