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Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 30 Dec 20 - 08:46 PM R-J, here's a kiwi one for you: NO WARSHIPS (Gumboot Tango) I’ll tell you a tale about my little town Well, it looks like the whole place is just closing down With the shops disappearing and businesses folding And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden The hospital’s closed and the factory’s been sold And the milkman and the mailman are collecting the dole So take me some place where the future is golden And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden Now everyone’s going ‘round holding their breath Saying, ‘what can we sell when we’ve got nothing left?’ Give back the hopes and the dreams that you’ve stolen And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden Now they tell me that the government is the servant of the people But the people they’re serving they aren’t my people And I don’t care how high the percentage they’re polling And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden Now where is the voice that once was so loud Of nuclear freedom of which we’re so proud When the Aussies and the Yanks can treat us like children And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden Now everyone’s going ‘round holding their breath Saying, ‘what can we sell when we’ve got nothing left?’ Give back the hopes and the dreams that you’ve stolen And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden You can give back the hopes and the dreams that you’ve stolen And I’ve painted ‘No Warships’ on the back of my Holden Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 31 Dec 20 - 09:23 AM Continuing some music in the Australian Atomic Age : Two very different approaches in songwriting, about the (on-going) disasters of Maralinga. First up is Pitjantjatjara band, The Wedgetail Eagles, and the second, Midnight Oil. But meanwhile, more on THE GREAT SHAME JOBBERY (and sorry for the long post ….) Scholar, poet, author, visual artist, musician, Judith Nangala Crispin, has written ***Five Threnodies for Maralinga published here : https://www.axonjournal.com.au/issue-c1/five-threnodies-maralinga (recommended reading) and on this webpage : http://demosjournal.com/maralinga/ has included a 1952-1963 timeline and comprehensive list of Britain’s nuclear tests in Australia, including the quantities contained of Plutonium, Uranium, Beryllium, and so on ** in comparison to the small quantities in the devastating bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which is illuminating, to say the least. Also included are the names, ages and death-dates of 68 babies and young children buried in Woomera Cemetary during the years of the Tests, many of whose deaths have been attributed to the 10 years of “minor” trials (some 550) of nuclear weapons at Maralinga, which ultimately, generated more contamination than the major tests. Those people who lived and worked at the long-range missile-testing “Woomera Rocket Range” (open to tourists these days but a “closed town” from 1947-1982), had signed the “Official Secrets Act” and their pleas for a proper explanation of their family deaths were met with either silence, lies, or sealed records. 68 babies and children lost to their families. Something to think on. Read about “Project Sunshine” testing for Strontium 90 : “…. Young bones were chosen because they were particularly susceptible to accumulating the Sr-90 isotope. Around 1,500 exhumations took place, in both Britain and Australia — often without the knowledge or permission of the parents of the dead…..” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-24/maralinga-nuclear-tests-ground-zero-lesser-known-history/11882608 “The Advertiser” in Adelaide reported in Sept 2001 about these tests - AND the payments made to pathologists and morticians to persuade them to provide the bones – almost 22,000 in Australia and Papua-New Guinea between 1952 and 1978 : https://nuclear.foe.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Advertiser-Maralinga-Dossier.pdf It has been estimated that some 17,000 servicemen from Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Canada, and civilians, were exposed (many deliberately) to the atomic testing and radiation during the period from 1952 to 1963 the vast majority of whom, were never compensated in any way for resulting ill health. For most, any records were edited, hidden or destroyed, meaning they could never even prove they had been present. The 1985 McClelland Royal Commission report : read the Conclusions from page 7 https://nuclear.foe.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Royal-Commission-conclusionsrecs.pdf [ and in 2020, Govts and MSM wonder why folk would rather believe “conspiracy theories” than TRUST politicians, bureaucrats and scientists, et al : I mean, REALLY???!!! ] There are many short documentary films and clips on YT concerning the history of atomic testing in Australia and elsewhere. I missed the documentary film “Maralings Tjarutja” earlier this year, but maybe it can be found somewhere….. : “The film shows the experiences of the Maralinga Tjarutja people, in which the elders "reveal a perspective of deep time and an understanding of place that generates respect for the sacredness of both", their ancestors having lived in the area for millennia.[185] Despite the disregard for the traditional homelands of the Maralinga Tjarutja shown by the British and Australians involved in the testing, they have continued to fight for their rights to look after the now-contaminated land..[190] : Meanwhile, this 50min one is on YT “Australian Atomic Confessions” but not yet watched by me : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WMsJxTe-hU&list=PL1Wo0ifL6HBeESJaotuaEmlQRPfcXPfnP Footnotes : *** A threnody is a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. WIKI ** also radioactive Cobolt 60 tracer pellets, found scattered all over the landscape after one test, not listed “MARALINGA” was an Aboriginal word meaning "thunder", but not in the Western Desert language of the local people; it came from Garik, an extinct language originally spoken around Port Essington in the Northern Territory.[28] BtW, Happy New Year! [I think I’m almost ready to move on from this particular research – it’s just too depressing] To The Music!! MARALINGA – WEDGETAIL EAGLE BAND The Wedgetail Eagles were a popular central desert Aboriginal rock band from the Pitjantjatjara tribe in Australia. Pumani Michael / Amos Lennon / Victor Tunkin c.1984 Where the red dust blows across the land Is the place where my people used to stand Where the Maralinga bomb went off that day And now Mamu*** roams everywhere And Anangu wait to go back there Where the Maralinga bomb went off that day They came across our land that day Our food and homes they took away It seemed as though we might just fade away By Anangus strong and living still We'll make the white man pay the bill Till the Maralinga people go back home The wind it blew, the stormclouds grew And when the sky went dark we knew That the Maralinga bomb went off that day It's my fathers land you see And its calling out inside of me It's the land my people still call "back home" They came upon our land that day Our food and homes they took away It looked as though we might just fade away By Anangus strong and living still We'll make the white man pay the bill Till the Maralinga people go back home Where the red dust blows across the land Is the place where my people used to stand Where the Maralinga bomb went off that day And now Mamu*** roams everywhere And Anangu wait to go back there Where the Maralinga bomb went off that day They came upon our land that day Our food and homes they took away It looked as though we might just fade away By Anangus strong and living still We'll make the white man pay the bill Till the Maralinga people go back home *** The Maralinga Tjarutja people, refer to the land around ground zero as "Mamu Pulka", Pitjantjatjara for "Big Evil". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nEhzQn6-Ek The Wedgies MARALINGA – MIDNIGHT OIL James Moginie and Peter Garrett , c.1983 Spoken : I come from a land of wide open spaces Where the world turns around us and we just follow suit There's heat in the air and peace reigns supreme Got white flags on the clothes lines and the deals are clean In the wind, the ashes fly The poisoned crown, the charcoal ground And if you can't see the smile in me That's where I wanna be There's only god, there's only christ Think I'll lie down, for just a while And if you can't see the smile in me Well, that's where I wanna be Spoken : And the grass became granite And the sky a black sheet Our bed was a graveyard We couldn't feel our blistered feet And the moaning and groaning and sighing of death And the silence that followed And the very harsh reality So we watch and check them out and listen as we learn Throw the pearls before the swine, ebb and flow and turning tide Yeah we watch and catch them up no matter how they jump The pigs will have to come to ground,we got to make it happen Well, it's not really that new, yeah, try and make it happen now What are we to do, yeah, maybe there's a chance for you All around, an eerie sound Their dreams a cloud, their world in shrouds Coz in the wind, those ashes fly Not much time, but time to try And if you can't see the smile in me, that's coz I wanna be I wanna be here at the end, Yes I want to be here at the end Well, we have to be here at the end ….. I got to be here at the end, We must be here at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66FeJzGvfTg The Oils R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 31 Dec 20 - 07:34 PM Here's a cracker of a song about coping with Covid. WE ALL COPE IN DIFFERENT WAYS (Darren Hanlon) I had a ground breaking idea but I forgot to write it down Now every thought starts to distort and they chase themselves around Every concept loses meaning when you look at it too long Today’s amazing line becomes tomorrow’s awful song Well time’s longer than rope I once heard somebody say There’s nowhere to tie the end on to so I just float away It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve seen the cheeks of friends I’s goodbye kissing Now I feed the magpie mince and hope he’ll stay a while to listen Chorus: We all cope in different ways So don’t be too hard on yourself A hopeless string of empty days Like standing on an arctic shelf Staring deep into the void Of your undiscovered mind Searching desperately to find Some comfort from the malaise We all cope in different ways We now watch the kind of films our former selves would not believe Old dvds of Keanu Reeves as we sneeze into our sleeves I make calls to my great aunty and file tax 10 quarters old But each receipt reminds me of when we were free and bold Then I got lost in Jane Austin, her posthumous work ‘Persuasion’ She’s the early 1800’s poster girl for isolation Her characters claim love if from some wealthy socialite But Jane retained her single life and stayed at home to write Chorus They say the world’s been granted this chance for collective Zen But I keep refreshing to find more death and my heart it breaks again But statistics are just fish sticks without their human faces How can I empathise with all the lives that each number embraces When the behaviours of my own neighbours are making me suspicious They prance around all over town like mobile Petri dishes So I lock all the doors and windows and pull the blinds to make a blinker I’ve become my own worst nightmare - anti-social over-thinker We all cope in different ways So don’t be too hard on yourself A hopeless string of empty days Like standing on an arctic shelf Staring deep into the void Of your undiscovered mind If you’re lucky you might find Some comfort from the malaise We all cope in different ways Youtube clip Darren Hanlon --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 01 Jan 21 - 04:23 AM MYRTLE THE TURTLE © Bernard Bolan "Eric Bogle once said: 'And I thought I was half mad until you started writing songs about turtles running banks.' He's probably right." - Bernard Bolan I've got a little pet and his name is Frank He's always very wet, 'cos I keep him in a tank In my office, in a city bank, A long-necked turtle is my little mate, Frank. A long-necked turtle, his mother called him Myrtle, 'Til he started doing what a Myrtle doesn't do But the bank's been booming since he came on deck 'Cos he isn't just a pretty face and one long neck. I got him as an egg at a very early age. I thought he'd be a budgie, so I put him in a cage. Got a little ladder, and a little bag of seed, And a book on budgies for my wife to read. When she saw him hatch out, she saw there was a catch out - "Funny bloody colour, and he's got four wings! "Isn't very cuddly, in fact he's bloody ugly, "Falls off his ladder, and he never sings." But once in my office, and swimming in his tank He soon became immersed in the business of the bank Noted each deposit, and every payment made, Who was overdrawn or who had not been paid. He continued learning, soon he showed a yearning To influence decisions that I had to make. So if you were penniless and had a loan to take His neck would waddle and his head would shake. Last week, Frank created quite a stink When his pocket calculator went upon the blink Banging on his window, water everywhere, Threw his bowler hat in my maiden hair. Soon he got a better one, albeit a wetter one Back in business was my little mate Frank. Tap tap tapping, he was underway, We took over Westpac the following day. Very soon the profit of the company had soared. Frankie was appointed as the Chairman of the board. A company tank with water weeds and lights A little lady turtle to warm his nights When he started wooing, nearly brought us ruin His mind was of'n'on the job, - and he was too! But the phase soon passed, and we all gave thanks, Now there's lots of little turtles, little Franks and Myrtles, Shaking and a'nodding all the livelong day. So if you're having trouble with your banks, Be sure to be kind to the turtles in the tanks. And if you get your money, you can all give thanks To the little Myrtle turtles and their long-necked Franks. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Can't find any videos online. More Bernard Bolan lyrics. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 01 Jan 21 - 07:31 AM I haven't heard Myrtle for many years, what a wonderful song. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Sad Day on the Coalfields (Tragedy At Rothbury) A Song by Roger Grant (1929) There were sounds of sobs and crying as the daylight floods the sky, The hour of life has vanished and the long night passes by, I lift my eyes to heaven and in tears I'll call her son, Who was taken from his mother by the crack of someone's gun. Yes, in the hour of sorrow there's one thing I can't conceal, For my heart is always longing and my thoughts will often steal Across the bush to Rothbury whose surface leaves a track To the boys who went on picket and the boy who'll never come back. There was music at the graveside and in grief the mourners stood, Still the wind a hymn was humming with the trees upon the hill, The sun was shining brightly on sad friends from every town, And the minister started praying for our dead pal Norman Brown. Yes, in the hour of sorrow there's one thing I can't conceal, For my heart is always longing and my thoughts will often steal Across the bush to Rothbury whose surface leaves a track To the boys who went on picket and the boy who'll never come back. Lyrics, history & audio - sung by Alan Musgrove from his 1999 CD 'A young man and able' |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 01 Jan 21 - 07:45 AM I thought we had Norman Brown, but it had been omitted! Ballad of Norman Brown by Dorothy Hewett, ©1962 There was a very simple man, Honest and quiet, yet he became The mate of every working man, And every miner knows his name. Chorus Oh Norman Brown, oh Norman Brown The murderin' coppers they shot him down, They shot him down in Rothbury town, A working man called Norman Brown. "An honest man," the parson said, And dropped the clods upon his head, But honest man or not, he's dead And that's the end of Norman Brown. Coal bosses wiped their hands and sighed, "It is a pity that he died." It will inflame the countryside, And all because of Norman Brown. At pit-top meetings and on strike In every little mining town, When miners march for bread and rights There marches honest Norman Brown. He thunders at the pit-top strike, His voice is in the women's tears, With banner carried shoulder-high He's singing down the struggling years. A miner's pick is in his hand, His song is shouted through the and, A land that's free and broad and brown, The land that bred us Norman Brown. Last chorus Oh Norman Brown, oh Norman Brown, The murderin' coppers they shot him down. They shot him down in Rothbury town, To live forever ... Norman Brown. lyrics video ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Rothbury songs - The Country Knows the Rest by Graham Seal, posted 08 Sep 20 - 03:51 AM A Sad Day on the Coalfields (Tragedy At Rothbury), by Roger Grant (1929), posted 01 Jan 21 - 07:31 AM |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 01 Jan 21 - 03:43 PM Sandra - I posted both those songs (and anothr one) on 16th December. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 01 Jan 21 - 07:00 PM oops, that was the day I sent my list to Rich-Joy & I missed them (blush) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 01 Jan 21 - 07:10 PM Legendary Torres Strait Islander, Seaman Dan, has died aged 91. Like Uncle Dave Macon, he didn't begin making recordings until late in life. He was 70 when he made his first recording. Click I couldn't find any lyrics for 'Old Man Blues' so this is my transcription: OLD MAN BLUES (Seaman Dan) Chorus I got no time for old man blues So many things I love to do Got no time for old man blues One of those things is singing for you When I was a young man I rambled around Just couldn’t keep my feet on the ground Turn of the tide, off I’d be gone Sailing the ocean with a cargo of song I’m eighty-seven, some days I feel young I still recall every song that I’ve sung The glad ones, the sad ones, the ones in-between Flow like a river, run through my dreams Chorus And when the day is over, sun is sinking low I trust in luck tomorrow, that’s all I need to know Instrumental break Now that I’m older, no spring in my step I still remember, I never forget With Georgie and Terry, Izzy and Ray All us old ramblers still rambling today And when the day is over, sun is sinking low I trust in luck tomorrow, that’s all I need to know Chorus (x2) Youtube clip Rest easy, Dan. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 01 Jan 21 - 08:04 PM Sorry guys. It is my intention to get those Alphabetical & Date listings of the first 4+ 1/2 months of song postings (almost 620 of them!), out to you today (Sandra, Stewie, Gerry). Jennie, if you could PM me an email addy for the 2 x Excel spreadsheet attachments, you could get a copy too! Plus any other interested readers?! Gerry and Myrtle the Turtle will start the Next Edition listing, from 01Jan2021. [back to you now, Sandra, hehe] We are having 'Woodford Withdrawals' here in Maleny and missing the Music and Community, and the Fire Event (first festival missed since 1992, bar one, in my case!), but after breakfast, I promise I will do my darnedest to finalise these spreadsheets! I SO HOPE there are no errors, but that mouse can get a bit wayward in a spreadsheet, so I can't realistically promise that :) Meanwhile, Wishing All of Us a New Improved 2021, Cheers! Rich-Joy :) |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 01 Jan 21 - 09:00 PM new year, new anthem? Anthem. The lyrics for this revised anthem were written by Judith Durham, Kutcha Edwards, Lou Bennett, Camilla Chance and Bill Hauritz. video performed by Kutcha Edwards during the KAGE Team of Life theatre production. Australia, celebrate as one, with peace and harmony. Our precious water, soil and sun, grant life for you and me. Our land abounds in nature’s gifts to love, respect and share, And honouring the Dreaming, advance Australia fair. With joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair. Australia, let us stand as one, upon this sacred land. A new day dawns, we’re moving on to trust and understand. Combine our ancient history and cultures everywhere, To bond together for all time, advance Australia fair. With joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair. Australia, let us strive as one, to work with willing hands. Our Southern Cross will guide us on, as friends with other lands. While we embrace tomorrow’s world with courage, truth and care, And all our actions prove the words, advance Australia fair, With joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair. And when this special land of ours is in our children’s care, From shore to shore forever more, advance Australia fair. With joyful hearts then let us sing, advance . . Australia . . fair. Campaign to make Anthem our national anthem Would you like this revised anthem to become our Australian official anthem? If so, we welcome your involvement in having this version sung and performed in your local community. No matter how small your action we’d then like to hear about it. In the comments section below, please tell us the story of how you talked about this with friends, in your workplace, had it sung in your child’s school, at your sporting event and so on. Thanks! |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 01 Jan 21 - 09:35 PM r-j, Sandra has my email addy and keeps me updated! Re the version of the national anthem......I would like to chuck it completely and start afresh. It's a dreary tune and nobody knows the words - mumble mumble Straya fair mumble - a new tune with new words. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 02 Jan 21 - 01:34 AM a fantastic session song - I wonder when we will hear it again! That’s Not The Way, by Leon Rosselson, additional words by Robin Connaughton sung by Robin Connaughton ON THE PEOPLE HAVE SONGS (2001) “I am an occasional songwriter, Tech teacher, singer and unionist. Exasperated by the rise of economic rationalism and the sustained move to the right in the major Australian political parties, I wrote new words to ‘The Plan’, a song by Leon Rosselson that I’d learned and couldn’t get out of my head. Don’t try for an exact birthday for the current version, the song keeps acquiring and losing new verses as needed!” That’s not the way it’s got to be There should be jobs for you and me Hiring not firing should be the master plan The workers shouldn’t have to pay Just to keep the boss at bay The world shouldn’t turn just to please a wealthy man I don’t like Keating, I didn’t like Hawke All they bloody did was talk And fight with each other while the country went to pot The Labour party doesn’t seem To know what the word labour means Retrenchment and recession They are now the workers’ lot We’ve got John Howard for a year or three Captain mediocrity Cutting back on welfare and the poor old ABC Costello, Reith and Vanstone too And a Labour rat to spice the brew Senate rat or rationalist they’re no friends to you or me In NSW we’ve got Bob Carr More like a Liberal every hour Fighting with his workers, nurses, teachers and police Who said the DLP was dead? The Labour right lifts up his head He’s just a Labour squatter And we're cockies on his lease Victoria ran under Kennett’s rules Closing down the government schools Sacking public servants and stealing their back pay Victoria is on the dole And Kennett thought he was on a roll If you want to help the workers mate there is a better way Economic rationalism, now there’s another sacred cow Sane as scientology, and as fallible as the pope I don’t like trickle-down, y’see No money trickles down to me Meanwhile me wages goes on trickling up like smoke the first verse is repeated as a chorus. I didn't know the original song, & found the first part of the video very confusing! The familiar words arrive at 2.14 wot a shame this old song refers to a prehistoric world ... |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Jan 21 - 08:36 PM Several songs about Ben Hall have been posted above, but not the ballad that John Meredith collected from Sally Sloane. BEN HALL (Anon) Come all you young Australians and everyone besides I'll sing to you a ditty that will fill you with surprise Concerning of a ranger bold whose name it was Ben Hall But cruelly murdered was this day which proved his downfall An outcast from society. he was forced to take the road All through his false and treacherous wife who sold off his abode He was hunted like a native dog from bush to hill and dale Till he turned upon his enemies and they could not find his trail All out with his companions men's blood he scorned to shed He oft-times stayed their lifted hands with vengeance on their heads No petty mean or pilfering act he ever stooped to do But robbed the rich and hearty man and scorned to rob the poor One night as he in ambush lay all on the Lachlan Plain When thinking everthing secure to ease himself had lain When to his consternation and to his great surprise And without one moment's warning a bullet past him flies And it was soon succeeded by a volley sharp and loud With twelve revolving rifles all pointed at his head Where are you Gilbert, where is Dunn, he loudly did call It was all in vain they were not there to witness his downfall They riddled all his body as if they were afraid But in his dying moment he breathed curses on their heads That cowardly hearted Condel the sergeant of police He crept and fired with fiendish glee till death did him release Although he had a lion's heart more braver than the brave Those cowards shot him like a dog no word of challenge gave Though many friends had poor Ben Hall his enemies were few Like the emblems of his native land his days were numbered too It's through Australia's sunny climb Ben Hall will roam no more His name is spread both near and far to every distant shore For generations after this parents will to their children call And rehearse for them the daring deeds committed by Ben Hall You can hear Chloe and Jason Roweth's fine rendition at about the 1-hour mark of this video: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 02 Jan 21 - 09:35 PM My favourite ballad of Ben Hall is one that I have recited over many years. I have been unable to find any audio or video of it as a song. Graham Jenkin put a tune to it which you can find at page 100 of his 'Great Australian Balladists'. Stewart/Keesing printed it in their 'Australian Bush Ballads'. In an early edition, they attributed it to 'anon', but in a subsequent edition attributed authorship to the great Will Ogilvie. Jenkin rejects this attribution claiming that there is no evidence to support it and that it is nothing like Ogilvie's style. I like to think it is by Ogilvie who is one of my favourite bush balladists. THE DEATH OF BEN HALL (Anon/W.Ogilvie?) Ben Hall was out on the Lachlan side With a thousand pounds on his head A score of troopers were scattered wide And a hundred more were ready to ride Wherever a rumour led They had followed his track from the Weddin’ heights And north by the Weelong yards Through dazzling days and moonlit nights They had watcher him over their rifle sights With their hands on their trigger guards The outlaw stole like a hunted fox Through the scrub and stunted heath And peered like a hawk from his eyrie rocks Through the waving boughs of the sapling box As the troopers rode beneath And every night when the white stars rose He crossed by the Gunning Plain To a stockman's hut where the Gunning flows And struck on the door three swift, light blows And a hand unhooked the chain And the outlaw followed the lone path back With food for another day And the kindly darkness covered his track And the shadows swallowed him deep and black Where the starlight melted away But his friend had read of the big reward And his soul was stirred with greed He fastened his door and window-board He saddled his horse and crossed the ford And spurred to the town at speed You may ride at a man's or maid's behest When honour or true love call And steel your heart to the worst or the best, But the ride that is ta'en on a traitor's quest Is the bitterest ride of all A hot wind blew from the Lachlan bank And a curse on its shoulder came; The pine-trees frowned at him, rank on rank, The sun on a gathering storm-cloud sank And flushed his cheek with shame. He reined at the court and the tale began That the rifles alone would end Sergeant and trooper laid their plan To draw the net on a hunted man At the treacherous word of a friend False was the hand that lifted the chain And false was the whispered word 'The troopers have turned to the south again, You may dare to camp on the Gunning Plain' And the weary outlaw heard He walked from the hut but a quarter mile Where a clump of saplings stood In a sea of grass like a lonely isle And the moon came up in a little while Like silver steeped in blood. Ben Hall lay down on the dew-wet ground By the side of his tiny fire And a night breeze woke, and he heard no sound As the troopers drew their cordon round And the traitor earned his hire And nothing they saw in the dim grey light But the little glow in the trees And they crouched in the tall, cold grass all night Each one ready to shoot on sight With his rifle cocked on his knees When the shadows broke and the dawn's white sword Swung over the mountain wall And a little wind blew over the ford A sergeant sprang to his feet and roared ‘In the name of the Queen, Ben Hall!’ Haggard, the outlaw leapt from his bed With his lean arms held on high ‘Fire!’ And the word was scarcely said When the mountains rang to a rain of lead And the dawn went drifting by They kept their word and they paid his pay Where a clean man's hand would shrink; And that was the traitor's master day As he stood by the bar on his homeward way And called on the crowd to drink He banned no creed and he barred no class And he called to his friends by name But the worst would shake his head and pass And none would drink from the bloodstained glass And the goblet red with shame. And I know when I hear that last grim call And my mortal hour's spent When the light is hid and the curtains fall I would rather sleep with the dead Ben Hall Than go where that traitor went Paul Slade printed a truncated version on his murder ballad site. However, he also presented extensive research on the Ben Hall story. It is well worth a read: Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 02 Jan 21 - 10:13 PM As promised: Mururoa Mon Amour – David O'Connor Je suis annoye about the Mururoa tests: Dans mon opinion ce n'est pas la best. J'ai un bon suggestion pour toute la France: If you wanna make a mess, mess your own damn pants. Chorus: Drop it in Paris, c'est votre bombe: If it's so darn safe, test it at home: Stick it up the Eiffel Tower, or stick it up your vest: Use the Champs Elysees for your nuclear tests. Tous le monde ecoute the crack of doom: Quand votre bombe va boom! Boom! Boom! Permettez-moi de vous assure, When you're radio-active, il y a no cure. Chorus: Drop it in Paris, c'est votre bombe: If it's so darn safe, test it at home: Stick it up the Eiffel Tower, or stick it up your vest: Use the Champs Elysees for your nuclear tests. Ne droppez pas votre bombe dans my backyard: Makes normal living tres, tres hard. Pick up your installations both old and new: Have your next explosion chez vous. Chorus: Drop it in Paris, c'est votre bombe: If it's so darn safe, test it at home: Stick it up the Eiffel Tower, or stick it up your vest: Use the Champs Elysees for your nuclear tests. Cher monsieur, ecoute what I say, Pas plus tests, take them away. Cher monsieur, do this for me: Make the South Pacific nuclear free! Chorus: Drop it in Paris, c'est votre bombe: If it's so darn safe, test it at home: Stick it up the Eiffel Tower, or stick it up your vest: Use the Champs Elysees for your nuclear tests. The tune is in the same family as 'Midnight Special'. David writes: "This was obviously written when the French were still testing their nuclear weaponry on Mururoa, and after they sank the 'Rainbow Warrior' in Auckland Harbour. I have always felt that the normal of deeply committed protest song helps the committed to express their feelings, but doesn't help the target to change. I think that maybe humour will at least get the target to think a bit. I have even sung it to French people; it made them laugh as well." |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 02 Jan 21 - 11:46 PM Ah, thank you, JennieG! I found a version of David's excellent song, sung by Fay White and co, while a "going backwards getting nowhere" dance was done, in Hobart : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfKpdUO7F-k "This dance is supposed to symbolise that when dealing with politicians, and “The Establishment” in general, all we achieve is a lot of puff, getting nowhere. We danced it when the French were yet again testing their bombs in the South Pacific. You progress backwards … how we often feel when dealing with governments!" There is also a different song of the same name, by Robert Danielson, also protesting the French tests at Mururoa : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbcKL1RLXUA Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 03 Jan 21 - 07:10 AM THE PLAINS OF WOOMERA ~ Phil Underwood ~ © 2015 It’s 10,000 miles from Scratchell Bay where the cliffs of the white do shine To the red red sand of Australia’s land where there’s a thing (??) opal mine. We tested our rockets at High Down, and we all went out by air Through Bahrain and Singapore, to Australia’s southern shore. And the Plains of Woomera. The sun beats down on the barren ground, as far as the eye can roam “Black Arrow” she did stand on the native’s sacred land Of the Plains of Woomera. We could not launch when the wind blew up and the dust around did fly The Aussies they did chaff : “did the wind blow out your match?!” On the Plains of Woomera. But the very next day was fine and clear and her engines roared with fire And shining like a star she rose into the air Above the Plains of Woomera. The Government had said : The Project’s Dead – but we launched her anyway And “Prospero” will orbit for a hundred years Above the Plains of Woomera. It’s 44 years since I stood there, and now I have returned My spirit it does fly like “Black Arrow” in the sky Above the Plains of Woomera. My spirit it does fly like “Black Arrow” in the sky Above the Plains of Woomera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVy6993jnI sung by Phil Underwood, composer and folk performer. Dedicated to his father, John Underwood (1930 – 2014) “who helped pioneer British spaceflight …. and bluegrass music on the Isle of Wight” :) “A song composed and played by me, Phil Underwood, December 2015. My father John Underwood was a senior engineer on the Black Arrow rocket programme which, despite successfully launching satellite Prospero into orbit in 1971, was cancelled. Black Arrow was tested at Highdown on the Isle of Wight and launched from Woomera rocket range in Australia. Dad and his colleagues appeared on BBC Television's flagship programme Coast in 2010. He was also a fine folk singer and morris dancer. I play his banjo in the video. Prospero still orbits.” HIGH DOWN was the British Rocket Testing Facility, on the western end of the Isle of Wight, near the famous Needles. Whatever still remains now, is a National Trust precinct. Most design and static test firing was done at High Down in the UK, and then transported and launched at Woomera, in South Australia (an enormous tract of land – 270,000 square kilometres in those days). Geographically, the UK was less than ideal to do final launches and the two most likely places investigated for satellite launches were UIST ( islands in Scotland’s Hebrides), and, on the north coast of Norfolk. However, the closeness of the trajectories to the North Pole, and to the North Sea oilrigs, (and to mainland Europe!), easily won the toss for the vast “Plains of Woomera” instead!! Those with a yen for this interesting slice of history, and why it eventually stopped at both locations, should delve into this website : http://www.spaceuk.org/ Of course, it wasn’t just about the space race, the arms race was also intertwined…… Meanwhile, try this rocket tests clip from Woomera’s local museum : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x80sNNusBs&t=14s And this one too, for some alternative shots of tests and collisions - and also the local Aboriginals : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5khcr8DO34 Here is the Dept of Defence explanation of Woomera’s history and its current purpose : https://www1.defence.gov.au/bases-locations/sa/woomera/about but checkout this 2010 story from the Australian Geographic magazine : https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/travel/travel-destinations/2010/05/woomera-nuclear-danger-zone/ Plenty more historical clips on-line. [I didn’t mention that it was also a shame job Govt Detention Centre for a while too, for “unauthorised” refugees…… ] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera_Immigration_Reception_and_Processing_Centre Finally, just came across the legendary adventurer, JACK ABSALOM! : “Red Dirt And Rockets”, 1993 – if you’re pushed for time, the Woomera segment starts at 22:20 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akQSZ071f2k&list=PLDa33Rs7vBKojDLOkDaCzfIns0g_n1DLL&index=6 Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Jan 21 - 07:28 PM A none too flattering historical snapshot of my birth city. ONE MORE BORING NIGHT IN ADELAIDE (John Schumann) Well it's one more boring Thursday night in Adelaide And it looks like everybody must have died There's no one on the streets and nothing on TV Well I think I'll go and burn my TV guide Doesn't Ernie Sigley bring you down? Don't you think Mike Willesee's a clown? Oh well I think I'd like to go and hear some rock'n'roll music played So I'll check the amusement pages of the paper Reggae bands doing one night stands at the Lion Hotel and Arkaba And the girl at the bar thinks I'm going to take her home in my MG and Hanging out at discos brings you down Hanging out at discos brings you down Down on Anzac highway in my rusty old FV And I'm looking for some food to take away Finger lickin' kitten and a double fisted bun Well I've chewed and spewed and so I'm here to say Orange laminex pizza bars bring you down Orange laminex pizza bars bring you down Yes we know it was the festival of art and all that stuff And the culture vultures still sat on the fence Before you put your bum on those plush red seats take a look in your backyard Don't we need some changes in this town? Arty farty cities bring you down Don't we need some changes in this town? Before you put your bum on those plush red seats take a look in your backyard Don't we need some changes in this town? Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 03 Jan 21 - 07:48 PM I couldn't resist posting this one: STEWIE (John Schumann) Ward 8 at the Q.E., somewhere down Woodville A smoky grey Thursday - take out your sword Stewie was born, there was blood on the sheets The doctor was drunk and the sister was bored Home was a weatherboard housing trust unit A low cyclone fence and a sparse gravel drive Dad was a truckie from Adelaide to Melbourne Two trips a week just to keep them alive The first sentence for Stewie was going to school In prison-grey trousers he marched in the yard His mum shed a tear at his vaselined pushback Clutching a ruler, his name on a card ‘Step forward Stewart Bedson’, the headmaster said It seemed like Stewie was always in strife ‘Step forward Stewart Bedson’, the magistrate said ‘This time 10 years... next time, life’ Grades 1 through 7 passed pretty quickly Detention and caning and one million lines Stewie could write just enough to get by Stewie could read all the shoplifting signs There was a bond for a biro and a fine for some fags Another kid's bike, leading up to a car Photographs, fingerprints, juvenile courthouse A year in McNally's for going too far ‘Step forward Stewart Bedson’, the magistrate said Over pine-panelled wood leaned the face of the law ‘We think you're a threat to property and justice Three years up the creek, while we make sure’ A robbery with violence for retaliation For beatings and bashings at the hands of the screws Time in and time out and time and again Is this what they mean by paying your dues? Some people had plenty while others had none For the same working week it seemed year after year Worked over by coppers for tipping the scales Life wasn't meant to be easy. ‘Step forward Stewart Bedson’, the magistrate said Over pine-panelled wood leaned the face of the law ‘We think you're a threat to property and justice Three years up the creek, while we make sure’ Ward 8 at the Q.E., somewhere down Woodville A smoky grey Thursday - take out your sword Stewie was born, there was blood on the sheets The doctor was drunk and the sister was bored Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 04 Jan 21 - 05:57 AM The Little Sparrow Music: John Meredith, words: Launcelot Harrison There was a little sparrow, And he was out of work So he put his bluey on his back And he set out for Bourke. He walked until he had bunions, Then thought he would enquire, But found that he had only got As far as Nevertire. He was hungry and so weary He could hardly drag along When suddenly along the track He found an Emu egg. He boiled it in his billy can, And chuckled in his glee While by his Waterbury watch He counted minutes three. And when the minutes three were gone He thought it time to stop. He took his little tomahawk And he cut off the top. 'Twas a pity that he boiled it, 'Twould have been much better fried, For as he stooped to sup it up, He tumbled down inside. And when he fell inside the egg, He to his sorrow found Three minutes wasn't long enough And the poor little chap drowned. The moral of this story is, If Emu eggs you seek For supper, you should take great care To boil them for a week. First published in Singabout, Journal of Australian Folksong, Volume 5(2), December 1964 No video, but dots are here |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 04 Jan 21 - 06:34 AM Train Trip To Guilford , A song by John Dengate (1975) John Dengate - guitar and vocals. Waiting, waiting for the twenty past four to arrive; Mate, the twenty past four doesn't run any more, The next train's the quarter past five. Time means money, they say, And I must get to Guildford today Did he say platform nine for the Liverpool line? Do I have to change trains on the way? Indicator, please won't you indicate soon With your little round light that this platform is right; I've been waiting at Central since noon. This old fellow here next to me Caught the bus up from Circular Quay; He scratches his arse with his pensioner's pass But he's on the wrong line for Narwee. Waiting, waiting, for the twenty past four to arrive; Mate, the twenty past four doesn't run any more, The next train's the quarter past five. Come on you timetable mob, I'm desperately short of a bob, I'm in my good gear and I'm right off the beer And at Guildford they say there's a job. Indicator, please won't you indicate soon With your little round light that this platform is right; I've been waiting at Central since noon. The service is worse than a fraud And the fare's more than I can afford But I'll never complain - here comes the train to Guildford And now I'm aboard. But it's Wentworthville, Pendle Hill; We're rattling towards Emu Plains. I should have got out when I heard someone shout At Granville, "You have to change trains." Waiting, waiting for the twenty past eight to go back, But the twenty past eight is half an hour late And I think I'll lie down on the track. video |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 04 Jan 21 - 08:02 AM Darcy Dugan (1920 – 1991) was an Australian criminal who gained notoriety for his many daring escapes. This song is a paraphrase of his evidence before a Royal Commission into the brutal treatment of prisoners at Grafton Jail. DARCY DUGAN ~ Bob Campbell ~ Trad Tune : Jim Jones at Botany Bay My name is Darcy Dugan, I’ve spent 40 years inside I’ve never robbed the needy man, my record testifies Non-violent escapeologist, in the papers I’ve been named Despite my reputation, my pride I’ve still maintained. I’d like to tell you people what it’s like in Grafton Gaol The screws they beat you day and night, they’re brutes that never fail They aim to break your spirit and they torture just for fun They’re the dregs of all humanity, the warders with the guns. I won’t forget the night they threw hot water on my back The scalding raised up blisters, but I vowed that I’d never crack They beat me in the morning; it was freezing cold at night But I won’t look down for any screw, I’ll not give up the fight. They beat me 10 nights in a row, but they couldn’t make me break I looked each warder in the eye and that’s the thing that they hate I tried to keep my sanity, the hardships to endure Though my body was in agony, my heart took 10 times more. They killed off Kevin Simmonds, in the passion for revenge He made them look like fools, although they caught him in the end They hated how the working people cheered him down the road That awful day in Kurri Kurri, Kevin proudly strode.*** The prison’s burnt at Bathurst and there’s more of that to come For liberty and justice words, can still stir a spark up in some! The sadists in their uniforms are worse than any crim But! The bastards who have put them there, are even worse than them. *** the Kevin Simmonds story : http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/simmonds-kevin-john-11690 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRGKjvpPVUI&t=184s DARCY DUGAN sung by Bob Campbell SAME SONG, THOUGH WITH SOME DIFFERENCES (+ more pics on HR clip) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bJ_6dJKYhA Darcy Dugan sung Bob Campbell with Home Rule http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dugan-darcy-ezekiel-25998 Darcy Dugan’s bio http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AltCrimJl/1978/1.pdf The Royal Commission reports THE LEGEND OF DARCY DUGAN http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65338 Bernie Mathews Born to a world of prisons outliving a life of strife, They called him gunman and gangster and labels equally concise. In a world of grog shops and bookies with cockatoos on the fence* - his pockets overflowed with pounds, shillings and pence*. There were trams And Trocaderos* and shootings up the Cross; when the Darlo beak* full-stopped him and hit him with the lot*. He escaped the tram And the cells And the prison on the Bay*. Then they moved him up to Grafton* and bashed his sins away. With spirit unbroken he led the riot of sixty-three then tried to do a runner but they smashed him to his knees. Served up with batons*, and boiling water too, he took his lumps without a whimper as they flogged him black and blue. I miss the old man and our walks upon the yard it was there, deference got paid, to the hardest of the hard. A success among failures, in that place of the living dead. His caged memories, stifle reality, in a seventy-five-year head. A decade has passed since they put him in the ground but the legend that is Dugan, now roams freely, all the prisons of this land. • *the Darlo beak is NSW prison jargon for a judge at Darlinghurst Criminal Court in Sydney, NSW, Australia. • *the lot is NSW prison jargon for a life sentence. • *the Bay is the former Long Bay State Penitentiary in Sydney, NSW, Australia. • *cockatoos on the fence is prison jargon for somebody who is the lookout. • *pounds, shillings and pence was Australian pre-decimal currency. • *The Trocadero was a Sydney dance hall circa 1940s & 1950s. • *Grafton Jail was the Alcatraz of the NSW prison system 1943-1976. • *Served up with batons is NSW prison jargon for a baton-whipping by prison guards. “Darcy Ezekial** Dugan was a Sydney bank robber and jail-breaker. He was the last man sentenced to death in NSW after being convicted of shooting a bank manager during the armed robbery of the Ultimo Commonwealth Bank in 1950. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he served over 30 years inside NSW prisons. [He] was a serial jail-breaker who escaped from the prison tram, escort vans and NSW prisons. He was sent to The Alcatraz of the NSW prison system at Grafton during the 1960s where he was brutalised by prison guards for his repeated escapes. He led a mutiny inside Grafton Jail and tried to escape from the jail. Dugan suffered a stroke in 1987 and was released from prison. Darcy Dugan died in a nursing home in August 1991 [with Parkinson’s Disease]. He is buried in Sydney’s Rookwood cemetery.” http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65338 N.B. This fascinating site reveals things that thankfully, most of us will likely never experience, but, also things we will rarely be allowed to know of, particularly if you live in the sunny, secretive state of Queensland (who said JOH was dead??) ** EZEKIAL is a Hebrew name meaning “God’s strength” – and how he needed it, to survive the brutal and corrupt prison system for so long! viz https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hard-man-tamed-by-poetry-and-time-20120803-23khh.html “BLOODHOUSE : Darcy Dugan (1920-1991) with Michael Tatlow” – published posthumously in 2012. 'Mike, a lot, sometimes rot, has been written about me. Please hold this, my real story, to edit and present to a new generation, after I and the crooks we've exposed have turned to dust.' Darcy Dugan "Written in secret during his long years in jail and smuggled out to keep it safe from his enemies until now, Bloodhouse is Darcy Dugan's brutally honest and gripping story of his extraordinary life and times." R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 04 Jan 21 - 09:41 AM JIM JONES AT BOTANY BAY Oh listen for a moment lads and hear me tell my tale How o'er the sea from England's shores I was compelled to sail The jury says he guilty sir and said the judge says he For life, Jim Jones, I'm sending you across the stormy sea. And take my tip before you ship to join the iron gang Don't be too gay at Botany Bay or else you'll surely hang Or else you'll surely hang says he, and after that Jim Jones It's high upon the gallows tree the crows will pick your bones. You'll have no chance for mischief there, remember what I say They'll flog the poaching out of you, out there at Botany Bay The waves were high upon the sea; the wind blew up in gales I'd rather have drowned in misery than come to New South Wales. The winds blew high upon the sea and the pirates came along But the soldiers on our convict ship were full five hundred strong They opened fire and somehow drove that pirate ship away I'd rather joined that pirate ship than come to New South Wales. For day and night the irons clang and like poor galley slaves We toil and toil and when we die, must fill dishonoured graves But bye and bye I'll break my chains, into the bush I'll go And join the bold bushrangers there Jack Donahue and Co. And some dark night when everything is silent in the town I'll kill the tyrants one and all, and shoot the floggers down I'll give the law a little shock - remember what I say They'll yet regret they sent Jim Jones in chains to Botany Bay. ROUD 5478 anon Transport Ballad, dating from late 1820s, but first published c.1890s by Charles MacAlister. The tune is “Irish Mollie, Oh!” (OR is sometimes “Skibbereen” - apparently) A very popular number with upcoming generations investigating folk music! But here is The Bushwackers and Bullockies band rendition which apparently uses a Mick Slocum tune and which many a British folkie picked up after their 1974 tour : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVkYnRy5JF4 Which I quite like. However, I am far more used to this tune : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sCZp1lIMMk sung in 1964 by Marian Henderson for the famous PIX magazine recordings - (but which is NOW known as “The Hateful Eight” Song – such is the power of Hollywood!!!!) Old Crow Medicine Show has this take, c.2010 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kD3wYO8MHk (only they used to think that it was a Dylan song!) Any More?! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: GerryM Date: 05 Jan 21 - 03:25 AM Sandra, surely that's not the best video you could find for Train Trip to Guilford! |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 05 Jan 21 - 03:45 AM but I like it! Train trip to Guilford - Jason & chloe Train trip to Guilford - Cj Shaw |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Jan 21 - 05:24 AM “A shearer's song from the Forbes district, that drives on at the pace of a ringer [master shearer] on the long blow in a busy shed. The Ward and Paine's mentioned in the song are a brand of shears. Jackie Howe, likewise mentioned, shore 321 wethers at Alice Downs, Central Queensland, in 1892. His record stood until 1947, when Daniel Cooper shore 325 at Glenara, Langkoop, Victoria. The tune, best known in Australia in association with the words of The Shearer's Cook, is a Scottish melody sometimes called Musselburgh Fair (It also exists in America, as The Cruise of the Bigler).” A.L.Lloyd on : “The Old Bush Songs” sleeve notes. LACHLAN TIGERS Well, at each gate each shearer stood as the whistle loudly blew, With eyebrows fixed and lips set tight and the tigers all fed too. You can hear the clicking of the shears as through the wool they glide And see the ringer already turned and on the whipping side. A lot of Lachlan tigers, it's plain to see they are, And the ringer goes on driving as he loudly calls for tar. “Tar here, you dozy loafer,” and quick the tar boy flies, “Broom here and sweep them locks away,” another loudly cries. The scene it is a lively one and ought to be admired, There's never been a better board since Jacky Howe expired. Along the board the contractor walks, his face all in a frown, And passing by the ringer he says, “My lad keep down.” I mean to have those bellies off and topknots too likewise, My eye is quick, so stop your tricks or from me you will fly. My curse on that contractor by flaming day and night To shear a decent tally here in vain I've often tried. I have a pair of Ward and Paine's that are both bright and new, I'll rig them up and let you see what I can really do. For I've shore on the Bogan where they shear them by the score, But such a terror as this to clip I've never saw before. A lot of Lachlan tigers, it's plain to see they are, And the ringer goes on driving as he loudly calls for tar. The scene it is a lively one and ought to be admired, There's never been a better board since Jacky Howe expired. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZZSa0aEjM This is Gary Shearston in 1965 displaying his A.L.Lloyd vocal influence!, with Les Miller on banjo. Ah, Folk in the 70s!! Here are the Bushwackers Band in London, 1977 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vhahHg0FNo Yay! That’s Mick Slocum singing lead (and still singing I believe); Dobe Newton murdering the lagerphone with great energy and style; the lovely late Louis McManus Jnr on fiddle #1; ; must be Davey Kidd on fiddle #2; Jan Wositsky on that dual bodhran – and bones (speaking of great energy and style!); leaving the late Pete Farndon on bass. [ I’m relying on the Comments section of the clip + the website Roll of Renown, coz some players I don’t recognise …...] Notes on Gary’s recording by Edgar Waters : “LACHLAN TIGERS goes to the same tune as The Station Cook. It is a good tune, and it seems to have come from Scotland. It is one of the few Scottish folk-song tunes used in the bush. This version comes from A. L. Lloyd. Jackie Howe was a famous shearer, in fact the most famous shearer of them all. He shore 321 sheep in one day in 1892, and his record stood until 1947. gate - the gate of the pen in which sheep are held alongside each shearer's work place in the shed. whistle - as a signal to begin or end work. tigers - as in the common Australian colloquial phrase, "he's a tiger for work,' meaning a very hard and enthusiastic worker. ringer - the fastest shearer in the shed. whipping side: - the second side of the sheep to be shorn, after the finnicky work of shearing legs, head and so on was over. tar - antiseptic used for cuts given sheep in shearing. contractor - shearers are not generally employed directly by the stations, hut by a middleman who contracts with the stations to see that their sheep are shorn. topknots - the wool on the head of the sheep. Ward and Paine's - a brand of shears. Bogan - river in western New South Wales.” R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 05 Jan 21 - 07:04 PM Another little ripper from the Duke. THE GOOSE-NECK SPURS (Duke Tritton) I’ve been in lots of trouble, I’ve been in tons of strife But the fix I was in at the Shingle Hut was the toughest of my life I’d dumped a mob of weaners at a place called Leaning Gum I sang a ditty to my horse, ‘Oh, Sydney here I come' But I pulled up at the Shingle Hut, a little wayside pub Tired of mutton and damper, I wanted some decent grub The barmaid was a buxom lass, I thought her very nice You wouldn’t think to look at her, but her heart was made of ice I handed her my hard-earned cheque, it was over fifty quid There was a quick gleam in her eye, but her thoughts she quickly hid She smiled at me so sweetly and said, 'It’s getting late I cannot cash your cheque today, now would you care to wait?' 'My husband won’t be home tonight, so stay you really must I’d feel much safer with you here, for you’re a man I’d trust' Then away went all my chances of seeing Sydney town For that barmaid was a trimmer at lambing fellows down I had one drink, or maybe two, I’m sure it was no more, And I came to in the ‘dead house’, feeling sick and sore. It was the barmaid woke me, with the toe of her little shoe 'Get out!', she said, 'you drunken mug, three days is enough for you' A big bloke stood behind her, a nasty looking brute I was too crook for brawling or I’d have jobbed the coot And the barmaid said, 'Your cheque’s cut out, you’d better make a shift Here is a bottle for the road, it is my parting gift' 'All right', I said, 'I’ll get my horse, tonight I’ll travel far' 'Oh no!', she laughed, 'you can’t do that, your horse has jumped the bar' And so it had, my saddle too, likewise my swag and dog No doubt she had me cornered like a possum in a log I wandered off into the scrub, I heard a dingo calling And soon I knew that I was lost and a heavy frost was falling I opened up the bottle and had a swig of rum, It hit me like a hammer, my legs went weak and numb I knew that I had been stung again, my head went round and round I thought I saw the barmaid before I hit the ground And I awoke ‘neath a barbed-wire fence in a patch of Bathurst burrs With nothing to cover my freezing hide but a pair of goose-neck spurs You can hear Duke Tritton sing his song and read a piece by Warren Fahey about 'lambing down' here: Click You can also find recordings on Bob Rummery 'The Man with the Concertina' and Alan Musgrave & His Watsaname Band 'Behind the Times'. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 05 Jan 21 - 07:22 PM Sara Storer was raised on a wheat farm in Victoria, but began writing songs whilst working as a teacher in Katherine, NT. She now lives near Albury, NSW. RAINING ON THE PLAINS (Sara storer) The galahs they know that it's that time Upside down on the power lines Making a family on their minds Raining on the plains again Can you hear it drumming on that old tin sheet No better sound to make you fall to sleep To dream of tonne crops and big fat sheep Raining on the plains again Haven't seen the Warrumbungles all day There's a fair chance so the old blokes say Reminds them of the start back in '58 Yeah thunder on the plains again Looks like the break that we've been looking for And the dogs are doing donuts on the lawn Chasing their tails they can smell the storm Raining on the plains again You can't make money out of dirt that's dry Bring on the rain from that stormy sky Grab a beer from the fridge And raise it high 'Cause it raining on the plains again Instrumental break The last time the dog did that Couldn't get to me ute for the fences and logs Couldn't sleep with noise of the mozzies and the frogs What a storm on the plains again The galahs they know that it's that time Upside down on the power lines Making a family on their minds Raining on the plains again No you can't make money out of dirt that's dry Bring on the rain from that stormy sky Grab a beer from the fridge And raise it high 'Cause it raining on the plains again No you can't make money out of dirt that's dry Bring on the rain from that stormy sky Grab a beer from the fridge And raise it high 'Cause it raining on the plains again Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 05 Jan 21 - 08:26 PM THE 'RAJAH' QUILT – Cathy Miller We set sail on the 'Rajah', transportation had begun On the 5th of April in 1841. Bound for far Australia with our great and public shame It was the 19th of July before we'd walk on land again. Farewell to our future, goodbye to kith and kin, Good riddance to old England's towns, will I ne'er see them again? And the crossing would be risky – maybe some of us would die - I thank God for my safe passage, and I thank God for Elizabeth Fry! She gave to us one thimble, a single ounce of pins, One hundred needles and one small bodkin, Nine balls of sewing cotton, a pair of scissors and some thread, Two pounds of patchwork pieces, and a Bible To earn our daily bread. Some said we were evil, some said we were no good, So they shipped us off around the world like we were cords of wood. No thought to our future, out of sight and out of mind, No other reformation save the work of Mrs Fry. She knew we'd fall on hard times with nothing else to do - We might have to sell our bodies when our prison time was through, But with new skill at the needle there's no lack of honest toil, And it filled our days along the way to Van Dieman's soil. She gave to us one thimble, a single ounce of pins, One hundred needles and one small bodkin, Nine balls of sewing cotton, a pair of scissors and some thread, Two pounds of patchwork pieces, and a Bible To earn our daily bread. By the time we got to Rio several quilts were done, We sold them for a guinea each and shared with everyone. It was the first honest money some of us had ever made, And the first thing of beauty we ever had to trade, For the last half of our journey we sewed with loving touch A quilt for the woman who had given us so much With broderie Perse, the finest patches we could clip, The hours quickly passed aboard the convict ship. She gave to us one thimble, a single ounce of pins, One hundred needles and one small bodkin, Nine balls of sewing cotton, a pair of scissors and some thread, Two pounds of patchwork pieces, and a Bible To earn our daily bread. For we were whores and we were mothers, young and healthy, old and frail, We were ripped out from our homeland and sent to Hobart's gaol. With loneliness and sorrow there was no lifeline and no rope, But each one carried with her a bundle filled with hope. It was such a small investment for the future of a land To pull the desperate up with such a gentle caring hand, With Mrs Fry's conviction in faith and industry We started our new lives with some respectability. All that with just one thimble, a single ounce of pins, One hundred needles and one small bodkin, Nine balls of sewing cotton, a pair of scissors and some thread, Two pounds of patchwork pieces, and a Bible To earn our daily bread. Cathy Miller is a Canadian singer/songwriter who has lived in Australia. The 'Rajah' quilt is the only such known quilt in existence; it was found in an attic in Scotland in the 1980s and is now in the collection of the National Library of Australia, Canberra. Mrs Fry's society to reform conditions for female prisoners eventually became known as the 'British Society of Ladies' and it was they who ensured that each prisoner was given a small bag containing the items (plus a small pair of spectacles if required) described in the song, with the idea that a woman with sewing skills could earn a respectable living. Quilts made along the voyage were indeed sold, there is a record of one made on the 'Wellington' being sold in Rio for one guinea. We know the story of this quilt – in reality a 'top' only; it would have been used as a summer bedspread rather than a padded quilt – because of a meticulously embroidered label on one side which reads: “To the Ladies of the Convict Ship Committee This quilt worked by the convicts of the ship Rajah during their voyage to Van Dieman's Land is presented as a testimony of the gratitude with which they remember their exertions for their welfare while in England and during their passage and also as a proof that they have not neglected the ladies kind admonitions of bring industrious * June * 1841 *” Due to its age and fragility the 'Rajah' quilt is not exhibited very often, but I was lucky enough to see it several years ago. As would be expected the stitching varies from exquisite to not very good. 'Broderie Perse' mentioned in the song is a technique of cutting motifs from fabric (a spray of flowers or a bird on a leafy branch) and stitching it to a background, thereby making a small piece of expensive printed fabric stretch further; the quilt centre is made using this technique. The 'Rajah' quilt |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 05 Jan 21 - 09:39 PM Oh that's a good post, JennieG! I came across another song to do with the quilt about a month ago and had thought of adding it to my list of possibles (wonder where it was?? :) but too may good songs and good ideas and not enough time, eh!! I know Cathy Miller ("The Singing Quilter") was in Darwin awhile and wrote a song about the almost overnight destruction of the iconic Hotel Darwin, too. Cheers, R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: JennieG Date: 05 Jan 21 - 10:05 PM Thanks, r-j! Yes indeed, Cathy's song about the hotel demolition was very popular. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 06 Jan 21 - 01:53 AM Stewie - Visit to Tritton Hall by Duke Tritton's daughter and one of his grandsons Harold Percy Croydon (Duke) Tritton, 1886 - 1965 Chris Woodland's presentation on Duke Tritton, NFF 2005 on the 40th anniversary of his death (Chris knew Duke) We applied for a presentation on Duke, The Time Meas Tucker Man for the 2019 National, but were unsuccessful. sandra |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 07 Jan 21 - 07:27 PM Sandra, many thanks for the links. Warren Fahey recorded an interesting variant of 'Wild Rover' from Sally Sloane. I’VE BEEN A WILD BOY (Traditional) Oh, my father he died and he left me his estate I married a lady whose fortune was great And through keeping bad company, I've spent all my store I have been a wild boy but I'll be so no more Oh, there was Bill, Tom and Harry, and Betsy and Sue And two or three others belonged to our crew We sat up till midnight and made the town roar Oh, I've been a wild boy but I'll be so no more I was always too fond of treating ladies to wine Till my pockets grew empty, too soon I would find Twenty pounds in one night, oh, I've spent them and more Oh, I've been a wild boy but I'll be so no more Oh, it's first down to Newgate, a prisoner I stand I had on cold irons, I had to lament And I had to find comfort as I lay on the floor Oh, I've been a wild boy but I'll be so no more Oh, the next, down to Newgate a prisoner I stand And what I have longed for, is now out of hand And if ever I gain my liberty as I've had before I will be a good boy as I have been before Oh, bad luck to all married men who visit strange doors I have done so myself, but I'll do so no more I'll go home to my family, I'll go home to my wife And I'll be a good boy all the rest of my life Youtube clip The version printed in Stewart and Keesing's 'Old Bush Songs' is closer to the more familiar one that was doing the rounds in the revival. You can find it on Mark Gregory's marvellous site: Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 08 Jan 21 - 03:54 AM CITY OF BRISBANE Gary Rose The year was 37, and the month was February and the 19th day, had just begun On a warm and windy morning the Stinson’s engines fired, its last humming song was sung She climbed from Brisbane town and flew on her way to Lismore with passengers and mail But the clouds they were a gathering and the cyclone hit them hard with a force enough to break her soul. And somewhere on her way she was plucked from the sky like a giant hand had pushed her to the ground On a high and lonely ridge in the wild McPherson range the City of Brisbane died And eight days had gone and the search was scaling down when O’Reilly started out anew Reports had placed the wreck far out to sea with no hope left for passengers or crew. But Bernard O’Reilly was convinced that he must help and set out in the bush where he was bred For two days he trekked through that harsh mountain range in the hope he’d find them somewhere up ahead From the top of a ridge he saw a sentinel, a burnt-out tree standing stark It was eight miles ahead on the course that she flew, on through the forest dark. Well three men had survived and Jim Westray went for help, but died from a fall along the way John Proud lay there with a badly shattered leg and Joe Binstead tended him for days Then ten days had gone when O’Reilly heard their calls and rushed on renewed in his quest And there he found those two men just barely alive where City of Brisbane lay at rest. I’ll bring a Doctor and a hundred men he cried as he left and rushed off down the mountain side Only three hours had passed when the word was ringing out and an army of rescuers arrived For eight hours they climbed through the rain that night, O’Reilly in the lead throughout And another day and night they battled at their task and carried the survivors out. And the memory lingers on for all those brave men O’Reilly, Binstead and Proud And the five lonely graves on that rugged mountain side where the City of Brisbane died. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQWPILJqTDA "City of Brisbane" - Briagolong Bush Band - from Gippsland in Victoria. From their album "seventeen" The Stinson Model A airliner : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_Model_A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk6XcvbIF1Y The Riddle of the Stinson This “rare” 1987 Australian film (which I am just about to view and which has good reviews), concerns the crash and rescue attempts of the ‘City of Brisbane’ Stinson model A airliner in 1937 in the exceedingly rugged McPherson Ranges in what is now Lamington National Park (one of many), on the Qld-NSW border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riddle_of_the_Stinson - Jim Conway (Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band) is responsible for the harmonica score (along with many other film and radio projects.) Some other stories from the Crash and related people are here : https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4773644/one-mans-mission-to-find-a-missing-plane/ Historical news data and clips from Qld State Archives : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsHrvhOvNMc Some Comments on modern Trek experiences and some Pics : https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/stinson-crash-site-from-christmas-creek- R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 09 Jan 21 - 10:13 PM WE WANT FREEDOM (ABORIGINAL CHARTER OF RIGHTS) (K.Walker [Oodgeroo Noonuccal]/G.Shearston) Chorus: Must we native old Australians In our own land rank as aliens? Banish bans and conquer caste Then we’ll win our own at last We want hope, not racialism Brotherhood, not ostracism Black advance, not white ascendance Make us equals, not dependants We need help, not exploitation We want freedom, not frustration Not control, but self-reliance Independence, not compliance Not rebuff, but education Self-respect, not resignation Chorus Free us from a mean subjection From a bureaucrat protection Let’s forget the old-time slavers Give us fellowship, not favours Encouragement, not prohibitions Homes, not settlements and missions We need love, not overlordship Grip of hand, not whip-hand wardship Opportunity that places White and black on equal basis Chorus You dishearten, not defend us Circumscribe who should befriend us Give us welcome, not aversion Give us choice, not cold coercion Status, not discrimination Human rights, not segregation You the law, like Roman Pontius Make us proud, not colour-conscious Give the deal you still deny us Give goodwill, not bigot bias Chorus Give ambition, not prevention Confidence, not condescension Give incentive, not restriction Give us Christ, not crucifixion Though baptised and blessed and bibled We are still tabooed and libelled You devout salvation-sellers Make us neighbours, not fringe-dwellers Make us mates, not poor relations Citizens, not serfs on stations Chorus Then we'll win our own at last Youtube clip Note by John Baker for Gary Shearston's 1964 album 'Songs of our time': We Want Freedom (the Aboriginal Chater of Rights), as arranged by Gary Shearston, is as new and different as the Yirrkala Aboriginal bark painting petition on reservation rights to the House of Representatives in 1963. The Aboriginal Charter of Rights (retitled 'We Want Freedom'in its song form) was written by Aboriginal poet Kath Walker* and dedicated to the 5th Conference of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders held in Adelaide in 1962. The poem also appears as the dedication piece to Kath Walker's book of verse published in April, 1964, under the title 'We Are Going'. In the music of Gary's arrangement can be seen the modern folk process of weaving together the old and the new as penetrating poetry becomes a moving and powerful song. After writing the chorus, the inspiration for his chant-like cadence in the verses came from the 'Devil Dance' (a song from Yirrkala in Eastern Arnhea Land), collected and recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. The end result of this cross-pollination of poetry and song in the tribal and folk fi elds is an anguished demand for human understanding. [* later known as Oodgeroo Noonuccal] A paper on the poetry of Kath walker: Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 10 Jan 21 - 08:46 PM END OF THE EARTH (Anon/N.Colquhoun reconstructed) The end of the earth is not far from here And it's getting darker year by year The gum's getting smaller and deeper down And never again will I see a town With tiny white houses all in a row And women in aprons to and fro And the bar in the pub down by the sea Where a ship is waiting there to carry me Back to the land from where I come When I was born, where I was young With a ruddy good tingle on my young face And money to jingle all over the place Aye, but then I'd punch the foreman's nose And run to sea for the 'there she blows' And get caught out for the homeward cruise And end up working in moleskin trews And get a little drunk and get a little sore And end up fighting it with the law For what are them bright shop samples for When a man is hungry and a man is poor And's got no work worth working for And's running up north away from the law Aye, a-walking up north like everyone To end up sitting out in the sun At the door of a shack with a hole for a lum A-scraping up clean a hundred-weight of gum Youtube clip 'Hooking' for gum, as it was called, was only the very beginning of the work. The digger pushed a long metal spear into the ground to locate the gum, an experienced man quickly distinguishing between gum, rock or tree root by the feel of the spear in his hand. Since few storekeepers paid any more than pennies for gum in its unclean state, it had to be thoroughly scraped in order to more easily assess its quality. [Note in 'Song of a Young Country p25]. One hundred-weight of the gum takes about ten good hours scrapin'. We shared everything - family, that is. Otherwise I don't know how 'twas to be done. But some men, as I recall, lived on their own. Worked on their own. All that scrapin' just by themselves - for the money - enough to live. [Joseph Smith, Dargaville. Personal communication to N. Colquhoun.] --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 11 Jan 21 - 06:50 PM SOMETHING IN THE PILLIGA Slim Dusty (Pubs, Trucks & Plains album) This story was told to me by a mate - and he was still shakin after 20 years Well that’s what he told me anyway. I was drivin through the Pilliga, getting tired of the road Pulled over for a breather, stretch my legs and check the load It was getting close to sundown; been away near on a week When I pulled into this campsite on the banks of Tooley Creek. Well I walked around the trailer; the bush was pretty still Checkin ropes and kickin tyres and the night air had a chill I was climbin in the cabin when I thought I heard a moan And I got this sudden feeling that I wasn’t on my own. Oh there’s somethin in the Pilliga, I’ve heard old timers say There’s some won’t even camp there; some never go that way And if you listen to their stories, they’ll make yer skin just crawl Some may offer their opinion and some never talk at all. Well I put it down to maybe the wind blowin in the trees Completely disregarding shaky feelings in my knees I was climbin in the camper; 40 winks was all I’d take When I felt the cabin shakin; I was really wide awake. Oh I grabbed the tyre lever out from underneath the seat Hit the lights and threw some roman sandals on my feet I was creepin round the bullbar; out roared this awful sound And my hair was standin straight up; I was frozen to the ground. Hey there’s somethin in the Pilliga, I’ve heard old timers say There’s some won’t even camp there; some never go that way And if you listen to their stories, they’ll make yer skin just crawl Some may offer their opinion and some never talk at all. Then this thing came chargin for me; it was all of 10 feet high With hair all covered over, murder in its devil’s eyes And I must have started screamin like a banshee in full flight For it roared and grunted somethin and then vanished in the night. When finally I woke up I was lyin on the ground In an eerie kind of stillness, nothin moved nor made a sound Both my eyes were big as saucers, still seein in my mind That primeval apparition, red eyes burning into mine. Oh there’s somethin in the Pilliga, I’ve heard it rant and roar And my nerves were shot to pieces rememberin what I saw It was big and it was hairy; its perfume really reeked Yeah there’s somethin in the Pilliga mate, on the banks of Tooley Creek Let it stay there in the Pilliga on the banks of Tooley Creek. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-UjD-m6L9g Something in the Pillaga sung by Slim Dusty If you thought “Bigfoot” and his mates were restricted to North America or to Nepal’s Abominable Snowman/Yeti, think again. These elusive, mystical – but very real – creatures have been sighted, plus heard (and now recorded), all over the planet, since, well – since Forever! Just as there are - or were :( many varieties of particular species of animals, it is believed there were also at least 11 variations of hominins, which “died out” - apart from us – and science is gradually finding skeletal evidence of them. Meanwhile, every country and culture has their stories and legends about still-existing bi-pedal hairy hominoids that “shouldn’t” exist - and with the digital age, we hear more and more about our increasing interactions with them. Australia is no exception – hence the above song! There is barely an area that hasn’t reported one, or multiple, encounters and the Aborigines warned the new settlers about them from the start of colonisation in the late 1700s, reports of which were duly relayed back to England. It appears each Indigenous language group had their own name for them, but today they are generally known across Australia as YOWIES (that’s the very tall ones, there is a smaller mob (shorter than us), called JUNJADEES). As with the USA & Canada’s Sasquatch, there is much activity on YouTube from Yowie investigators, particularly in NSW and QLD, though there appear to be very few songs written about the topic. The Yowie’s National Anthem “We Are Australian” is sung here by The Seekers and in the accompanying slideshow, at 03:17 you can view a World Map which details the different types and names of some 27 x BigFoot types from all over – most illuminating!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Z5QYSfRjE Leeann Flynn wrote in 1999, this Yowie number : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn9vzkRRJy4 and Rowan Blackmore’s 2016 song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21becQK9TFs HERE is some good data from a credible source – Gary Opit has had a weekly wildlife and environment show on Australian radio for over 20 years and much field experience in Papua New Guinea, SE Asia, and Eastern Australia. He reveals some of his many experiences that have made him a Believer : https://www.sasquatchstories.com/yowie-the-aussie-bigfoot Then there’s this amazing 2017 report from the NSW Border Ranges and from a witness with Science creds from here to next Tuesday : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY3nlEMfcnE This is from a clip on Aboriginal Mysteries. The Yowie segment is from 07:11 to 10:15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVXwQ8n_Vcs and here is a description from Aboriginal folklore : “ …. Indigenous Australian lore specifically includes the ability of the Hairy Men to induce states of mind on human beings as well as to appear visible or not, at will…… “ Us not “believing” in them does not change the fact that these extraordinary creatures still exist. If you’re at all interested in this subject, do the research. There’s much to be found. A final musical offering : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyW7cimXPl8 “We Didn’t Find the Yowie” from the Monster Hunters Australia Band (Halloween Special) LoL - I’ll refrain from further comment!! :) R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 12 Jan 21 - 03:25 AM FATHERS OF THIS COLONY Wendy Evans / trad music We left behind our homeland, the land where we were born We sailed on the Parmelia**, around the wicked Horn We had but few possessions; the other folk were grand But we were richer far than they, because we loved the land. In storms we reached our new land, the land that we have tamed The gentry spoke in anger and said someone should be blamed What use were silks and satins then; we blessed our homespun cloth And hardy life that knew the land and braved the tempest wrath. At last the ship offloaded us and cargo we had brought The gentry brought their furniture, and carriages and port Beside their piles of riches, our start in life looked poor But basic needs and stock and seeds, and tools we brought ashore. When given land, we cleared it soon with toil and aching back And sowed the land and prayed for rain and built a simple shack The gentry told their servants to clear acres by the score But we knew what to sow and when, and so our land grew more. We pioneered with heartbreak, because Nature asked for blood We fought with drought and tempest, with fire and with flood We built Western Australia. Will Men recall what’s true That land, Men built this nation, and each day they fight anew. Chorus: It was not gold that built this land, but those who loved the earth Their wisdom and their labour and their patience gave it birth No rich man built this country, save other people’s toil The Fathers of This Colony were those who loved the soil. Another song from the 1979 Bi-Centenary recording project “Bound for Western Australia” by poet, Wendy Evans and musicians, The Settlers (Alan S. Ferguson & Sean Roche). I have not found this track online and just hope that one day, someone will upload the whole excellent LP to the internet. ** WIKI tells us that the Parmelia was an 1825 Quebec-built barque, sold in 1827 to a director of the British East India Company. In 1829, it brought the first settlers and civilian officials to the new Swan River Colony, in what would become Western Australia, sighting the new colony on June 1st (= the beginning of winter). Captain James Stirling, the civil superintendent of the colony, arrived on the HMS Challenger, with HMS Sulphur carrying a detachment of the 63rd Foot Regiment. Stirling assumed the duties of Pilot on the Parmelia, for her grand? entrance into the new colony, and long story short, after a day of bad weather, she ran aground on a sandbank and lost her foreyard, rudder, windlass, spare spars, longboat and skiff, - and was leaking at a rate of 4 inches (10 cm) per hour and then rode out a storm at anchor for three days before finally being brought to a safe anchorage. Passengers were unloaded on June 8th. Perhaps not such an auspicious start to the new British colony!! R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 12 Jan 21 - 07:28 PM THE BALLAD OF FERGIE McCORMICK (Marcus Turner) Now, Fergie McCormick was walking one day When he noticed a building on fire The screams of a woman could plainly be heard Through the flames as they soared ever higher The trembling lady was clutching a baby The building was ten stories high It could plainly be seen that both she and the child Were most certainly doomed for to die Now the firemen were there with their ropes and their ladders And holding a big trampoline Though they tried to enourage the lady to jump She was patently not very keen For the babe was too small to survive such a fall And so she refused to let go What could they do, they were right in the stew As they helplessly gazed from below The up stepped the hero - ‘Tis Fergie McCormick’, he cried ‘Throw your baby to me Fear not I will catch it, from death I shall snatch it And safe in my arms it will be’ Now, the big fullback's arms and his masculine charms Allayed all the young mother's fears She cried, ‘Bless you Fergie!’ Then tossed her child over the edge, as her eyes filled with tears Now, the rest of this story will long be remembered In legend throughout all the land For there, on the ground, as the crowd gathered round The wee babe landed safe in his hands ‘He's rescued the child’, said the crowd, going wild The excitement was plainly too much. As they all stared in wonder, with a swift up-and-under He kicked forty metres for touch Youtube clip The tune is 'The Catalpa'. I first heard the joke some decades ago told in a pub session by Ted Egan. In that telling, the hero was an AFL high flyer by the name of Safe Hands Flanagan who bounced the babe three times and kicked him through a bakery door. The story is also often told with a soccer goalie as hero. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 13 Jan 21 - 07:20 PM LAST TIME I SAW HIM (Bob McNeill) I stayed when all the men had gone To drink to my husband's return Their voices carried to the shore Like the last time I saw him He was in the fields when I was young Nothing but toil in rain and sun And the fertile earth our father sowed Froze to ice in those winters And drove the men out in their boats But he was tall and dark A raven like his father was so strong And in my sons the eyes were brightest As clear and bright as his The only warning was the breeze What chance a small boat in such seas Tossed and turned away Tossed and turned Tossed and turned away from me But he came home today And all the men would say They found him on a beach Where his brothers used to play In waves that tossed and turned I stayed when all the men gone And I prayed my husband would return Their voices carried to the shore The last time I saw him The lyrics are from his website. The stanzas in the YT clip are in a different order. Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 14 Jan 21 - 09:08 PM Here's a YT clip of Hallom's edited version of 'Where dead men lie' referenced by GerryM in a post above on 26 December: Youtube clip Gerry Hallom also took a poem by Banjo Paterson and turned it into a fine song: THE FIRST SURVEYOR (Paterson/Hallom) The opening of the railway line, the governor and all With flags and banners down the street, a banquet and a ball The bands are marching on parade, playing loud and clear And all the town is gathered ‘round to cheer the engineer Chorus The opening of the railway line, they’re raising cheer on cheer The man who brought the railway through, our friend the engineer They cheer his pluck and enterprise, his engineering skill ’Twas my old father who found a way beyond that big red hill Before the engineer was born, he forged a mountain way And it was our first camping ground - just where I live today Chorus Others came across the range and built a township here And then there came the railway line and this young engineer Who rides around in luxury, he’s lauded and he’s praised But after all he only took the trail, the same my old man blazed Chorus The old man’s long been dead and gone without feast or cheer He’s buried by the railway line - I wonder does he hear I wonder can he hear them pass and does he see the sights When whistling shrill the Sydney trains go rolling by at night Chorus It seems they want me to come down, the oldest settler here Present me to the governor and this young engineer But I’ll do without the bands and flags, the speakers waxing free I know who ought to get the cheers and that’s enough for me Chorus Youtube clip The original poem: THE FIRST SURVEYOR "The opening of the railway line! -- the Governor and all! With flags and banners down the street, a banquet and a ball. Hark to 'em at the station now! They're raising cheer on cheer! 'The man who brought the railway through -- our friend the engineer.' They cheer his pluck and enterprise and engineering skill! 'Twas my old husband found the pass behind that big red hill. Before the engineer was born we'd settled with our stock Behind that great big mountain chain, a line of range and rock -- A line that kept us starving there in weary weeks of drought, With ne'er a track across the range to let the cattle out. "'Twas then, with horses starved and weak and scarcely fit to crawl, My husband went to find a way across the rocky wall. He vanished in the wilderness -- God knows where he was gone -- He hunted till his food gave out, but still he battled on. His horses strayed ('twas well they did), they made towards the grass, And down behind that big red hill they found an easy pass. "He followed up and blazed the trees, to show the safest track, Then drew his belt another hole and turned and started back. His horses died -- just one pulled through with nothing much to spare; God bless the beast that brought him home, the old white Arab mare! We drove the cattle through the hills, along the new-found way, And this was our first camping-ground -- just where I live today. "Then others came across the range and built the township here, And then there came the railway line and this young engineer; He drove about with tents and traps, a cook to cook his meals, A bath to wash himself at night, a chain-man at his heels. And that was all the pluck and skill for which he's cheered and praised, For after all he took the track, the same my husband blazed! "My poor old husband, dead and gone with never a feast nor cheer; He's buried by the railway line! -- I wonder can he hear When by the very track he marked, and close to where he's laid, The cattle trains go roaring down the one-in-thirty grade. I wonder does he hear them pass, and can he see the sight When, whistling shrill, the fast express goes flaming by at night. "I think 'twould comfort him to know there's someone left to care; I'll take some things this very night and hold a banquet there -- The hard old fare we've often shared together, him and me, Some damper and a bite of beef, a pannikin of tea: We'll do without the bands and flags, the speeches and the fuss, We know who ought to get the cheers -- and that's enough for us. "What's that? They wish that I'd come down -- the oldest settler here! Present me to the Governor and that young engineer! Well, just you tell his Excellence, and put the thing polite, I'm sorry, but I can't come down -- I'm dining out tonight!" --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 16 Jan 21 - 07:29 PM LULLABY (Tim Minchin) Sleep, little baby, sleep now my love The Milky Way's shining high up above When you grow up, you will learn all that stuff But for now, close your eyes Close your eyes Sleep, little baby, try not to squawk Tomorrow and tomorrow you'll learn how to walk To love and laugh, to make toast and talk But for now, beddy-byes Your blanket's hand-knitted with pure angora wool Your nappy is dry and your tummy is full Of enough antihistamine to chill out a bull Yet still all this gringing What more could you want for? I just cannot guess You constantly complain to me; you should feel blessed There are children in Africa, starving to death And you don't hear them whinging What more can I do to put a stop to This mind-numbing noise you are making? Where is the line between patting and hitting? When is rocking "rocking" and when is it "shaking"? I don't know what else I can do to try to hush you My heart says "I love you", but my brain's thinking "fuck you" And hoping a child trafficker will abduct you At least then I'll get a few hours in bed I've shushed and I've cooed and I've even try to sing "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" in the exact voice of Ringo Now all I have left is to hope that a dingo Will sneak in and rip off your fat bitching head Hush little baby, don't say a word Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird In the hope you get avian flu The nice folk in A&E will take care of you That's it, close your eyes, shhh, not a sound I can barely see your tiny belly moving up and down One thing they don't mention in the parenting books: Your love for them grows, the closer to dead they look Tim Minchin strutting his Lehrer-like humour with half a symphony orchestra: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Jan 21 - 08:47 PM a brilliant song! I loves these comments This song is named "The Waltz of the Baby Murderer" in my playlist think that tim is the only one who could perform this song and not make it increddibly tasteless. Being a member of that orchestra must be the hardest job in the world. How can they not burst laughing?! ...Probably why there's no flute solo.... |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Jan 21 - 07:28 PM Evidently 'Soon may the Wellerman come', which I posted above on 5 October, has goner viral on the Net. Youtube clip Mudcat thread with link to recent article in 'The Guardian': Click --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Stewie Date: 17 Jan 21 - 08:35 PM Here's another song of the sea from the land of the long white cloud. ACROSS THE LINE (Anon) I've traded with the Maoris Brazilians and Chinese I've courted half-caste beauties Beneath the kauri trees I've travelled along with a laugh and a song In the land where they call you mate Around the Horn and home again For that is the sailor's fate I've run aground in many a sound Without a pilot aboard Longboat lowered by lantern light Pushed off and gently oared Rowlock creaking, a thumping swell And a wind that would make you ache Who would sail the seven seas And share a sailor's fate We've sailed away to the northward We've sailed away to the east We've skinned our sail in the teeth of a gale And stood in the calmest seas Eastward round by Dusky Sound And Pegasus through the Strait Port Cooper, Ocean, Tom Kain's Bay For that is the sailor's fate The above is as printed in 'Song of a Young Country' p11. Note by Colquhoun: In the north, the Bay of Islands became busier and busier. Kororareka grew as the world's southernmost port with whitewashed houses lining the shore. However, in the south the sealing industry was dying, for the massive slaughter of seals as they came ashore to calve led to their rapid decrease in numbers. Sailors, moreover, were far less willing to seal. Tales of gangs left to die on the southernmost wind-swept islands spread rapidly. The seaman on the coastal trading vessels carried these stories with them as they sailed 'eastward round by Dusky Sound and Pegasus through the Strait'. Here is a rendition by Phil Garland. It has a chorus and different final stanza: Chorus: Across the Line, the Gulf Stream, I've been in Table Bay Around the Horn and home again, for that is the sailor's way Final stanza: We've sailed away to northward, we've hauled away to east We've trimmed our sail in the teeth of a gale and stood in calmest seas We've set our course by a southern star, by Stewart through the Strait Westward round by Milford Sound for that is the sailor's fate Youtube clip Here is a link to the entry in the NZ folk song site: Click This rendition by Phil Drane is also fine: Youtube clip --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 18 Jan 21 - 03:14 AM Have I missed this essential song somewhere in the thread??!! ALL THE FINE YOUNG MEN Eric Bogle / John Munro They told all the fine young men "Ah, when this war is over, There will be peace and the peace will last forever" In Flanders Fields, at Lone Pine and Bersheeba For king and country, honour and duty The young men fought and cursed and wept and died. They told all the fine young men "Ah, when this war is over, In your country’s grateful heart we will cherish you forever" Tobruk and Alamein, Buna and Kokoda In a world mad with war, like their fathers before The young men fought, cursed and wept and died. For many of those fine young men All the wars are over They found their peace It's the peace that lasts forever When the call comes again, they will not answer They're just forgotten bones lying far from their homes Forgotten as the cause for which they died. Ah Bluey, can you see now why they lied? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgpiQF_ulzM Written in the mid 80s, but taken here from Eric Bogle’s 2010 album “A Few Old Songs for Very New Times” Try also : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNWxVtyE5YI Albin Eriksson of Sweden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RqGnPKjxvI Toein' in the Dark (from South Yorkshire) R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 18 Jan 21 - 07:41 AM THE BROKEN SOLDIER Jim Low Along a dusty, bushland track When we were only kids We came upon a sandstone sphinx And some pyramids On a Sunday outing We couldn’t believe our eyes A little piece of Egypt, Under Australian skies. Fashioned in remembrance Where the wild flowers grow By a broken soldier All those years ago His efforts kept their memory The years could not condemn Those poppy clouded soldiers Who won’t return again. He suffered in the trenches The western front of fears The heavy German shelling Rang loudly in his ears He saw the cost of battle The sacrificial bones Then damaged and disabled Begrudgingly sent home. Did he ever wonder Why he didn’t die And so become a hero In his country’s eyes? © Jim Low LISTEN HERE : http://www.simplyaustralia.net/the-broken-soldier-lyrics/ “The stone works mentioned in this song were crafted by a returned World War One soldier named William Shirley. They are in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park New South Wales.” Read the article Remembering Private Shirley at http://www.simplyaustralia.net/remembering-private-shirley/ Available on the CD "Journey’s End" This whole post was taken from the very excellent “SIMPLY AUSTRALIA” website from Jim & Valda Low – which I had no idea was still going!! http://www.simplyaustralia.net/ R-J |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Jan 21 - 09:39 AM Jim writes great songs, here's my favourite Mr Eternity © Jim Low When I was a child walking down the street I’d see this strange word written, written at my feet Eternity was what it read, I asked my Dad just what it said And it meant forever, and ever and ever Always, always Chorus: And Mr Eternity The man whom we never see In the early light of day With his chalk he’d write away Eternity, Eternity What to a young child could this strange word mean A day, a week, a year, to some it might have seemed Another year to Christmas seemed eternity And a week to Saturday’s pictures was like forever to me The city streets he wrote on no longer seemed the same When Mr Eternity left this life Eternity to claim And when the word in yellow chalk faded from my view I knew a part of childhood had disappeared too And it went forever, and ever and ever Always, always video |
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Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia From: rich-joy Date: 18 Jan 21 - 08:00 PM I loved that, Sandra, Thanks! Jim's article is sadly no longer on the website, but via Arthur Stace's WIKI bio, I found the Wayback Machine's copy : https://web.archive.org/web/20110716135030/http://simplyaustralia.net/article-jkl-eternity.html Not being a Sydneysider, nor an Eastern-Stater, by birth, I had never heard of "Mr Eternity" until talked of in a Judy Small concert in the 80s!! It's such a lovely thing (but which would probably land you in gaol these days :( Cheers, R-J |
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