Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook

Subject: Lyr Add: OUR FATHERS CLEARED THE BUSH (Mick Hughes
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 10:42 PM

all checked & service resumes -

Joy Durst dots here

068 OUR FATHERS CLEARED THE BUSH by Mick Hughes

1. Our fathers cleared the bush boys,
They made them green and lush.
They built the roads on sustenance,
Then marched away to war,
They left their wives and children,
In a rich land that was poor.

verse 1 used as chorus

2. Our children they will grow up
And a different tale they'll tell,
Our children they will grow up
And ring old Freedom's bell.
We'll build a mighty nation
From the Gulf down to the Bight,
We'll build a mighty nation
On equality and right.

3. Our leaders go a-wandering
A strange old tale they'll tell.
Our leaders go a-wandering,
Our lovely land to sell.
Now listen here you Yankees,
Now listen to my tale.
Don't bother coming over,
Our country's not for sale.

4. We're going to turn the northern rivers,
We're going to make them run down south,
We're going to pay the Old Age Pensioners,
Feed every hungry mouth.
We'll build a mighty nation
From shore to shining shore,
We'll grow the barrel clover
On the plains of the Nullarbor.

video - Gary Shearston OUR FATHERS CLEARED THE BUSH: A recent song from Victorian songwriter Mick Hughes. It appeared in "Singabout" - the journal of the Sydney Bush Music Club - in 1962 and has since become widely circulated.
Singabout, 4(4), July 1962

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 09:25 PM

eeek, I checked all my Joy Durst songs - maybe I need to check the remainder again just in case (oops)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 04 May 21 - 06:59 PM

Sandra, it seems I am not the only culprit doubling up. I posted 'Look out below' on 8 October last year.

--Stewie.

Subject: Ly Add: MUDDY OLD YARRA (Clem Parkinson)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 11:17 AM

Joy Durst - dots here

067 MUDDY OLD YARRA by Clem Parkinson

Chorus: The muddy old Yarra rolls on, rolls on,
The muddy old Yarra rolls on;
It's too thick to swim in, and too thin to plough,
So the muddy old Yarra rolls on.

1. When John Batman landed near Hobson's Bay,
He said, "What a wonderful site ...
A village will rise on this spot one day";
So, help me, John Batman was right.

2. Some people insist that our weather is crook,
"It changes too quickly," they say;
But it's really consistent ... just take a look:
We get four seasons here every day.

3. Our beautiful Yarra is so unique,
It has an unusual taste,
For mixed with the garbage from Merri Creek
Are gallons of factory waste.

4. This wonderful river of which I speak,
Is coloured a chocolate brown,
The reason for this isn't hard to seek,
Goodness knows, it just flows upside down.

5. The people in Sydney would love to scoff,
But now they're too busy to sneer.
They sneak down with buckets and cart it off
Cos it sure puts a kick in their beer.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 08:54 AM

Joy Durst

064 LOOK OUT BELOW Charles Thatcher - Aust. Dictionary of Biography

Audio

A young man left his native shores, for trade was bad at home.
To seek his fortune in this land, he crossed the briny foam.
And when he went to Ballarat, it put him in a glow,
To hear the sound of the windlass and the cry, "Look out below!"

Wherever he turned his wandering eyes great wealth he did behold,
And peace and plenty hand in hand, by the magic power of gold.
Quoth he, "As I am young and strong, to the diggings I will go,
For I like the sound of the windlass and the cry, "Look out below!"

Amongst the rest he took his chance, and his luck at first was vile,
But he still resolved to persevere, and at length he made his pile.
So says he, "I'll take my passage and home again I'll go,
And say farewell to the windlass and the cry, 'Look out below!' "

Arrived in London once again, his gold he freely spent.
And into every gaiety and dissipation went.
But pleasure, if prolonged too much, oft causes pain, you know,
And he missed the sound of the windlass and the cry, "Look out below!"

And thus he reasoned with himself: "Oh why did I return?
For the digger's independent life I now begin to yearn.
Here, purse-proud lords the poor do oppress, but there it is not so.
Give me the sound of the windlass and the cry, 'Look out below!' "

So he started for this land once again with a charming little wife.
And he finds there's nothing comes up to a jolly digger's life.
Ask him if he'll go back again, he'll quickly answer, "No",
For he loves the sound of the windlass and the cry, "Look out below!"

Lyr Add: Look Out Below (Charles Thatcher)   One of Charles Thatcher's songs from the goldrush days of the 1850's. Charles Thatcher was an English music hall entertainer during the gold rush period in Victoria. This version was given to John Meredith by Ida Fielding (a friend of Sally Sloane) of Dripstone NSW who got it from her father. The tune is from Sally Sloane and is also used for the ballad 'Peter Clarke'. Sally Sloane was a great old singer who was recorded in the 1950's and 1960's by folklorists searching for Australian songs.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 08:48 AM

Joy Durst dots here

061 - THE JOLLY PUDDLERS by Charles Thatcher - Aust. Dictionary of Biography

Audio

1. They want to stop our puddling, as many of you know,
Contractors say that of our slush there is an overflow,
But if they stop us they'll be sure to injure Bendigo.

Chorus: Drive on my lads, heigho, wash on my lads, heigho,
For who can lead the life that we jolly puddlers do.

2. These blessed road contractors are trying us to crush,
They say that they're impeded by our muddy dirty slush,
They want to make us knock off but they'll find it is no go.

3. Why have our escorts fallen off, the question pray don't shirk,
'Tis because it's been so dry and our machines have had no work,
'Tis puddling not quartz reefing now that keeps up Bendigo.

4. If you crush the puddling interest and stay the puddler's hand,
What becomes of your fine buildings here that on the township stand?
The commerce of this district then would sink down precious low.

5. The winter soon is coming and our dams will then be full,
We'll run the stuff through the machines and then we'll have a pull
And in its pristine glory will shine forth Bendigo.

6. The days of tub and cradle, alas, alas, are past,
An ounce to every tub of course, was far too good to last,
But still we get a crust for now we wash the stuff below.

7. When puddling ceases for all here 'twill be a bitter cup,
Heffernan and Thatcher too may both of them dry up,
And to some other diggings they both will have to go.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 08:44 AM

Joy Durst dots here

060 INGLEWOOD COCKY - trad

1. 'Twas an Inglewood cocky of whom I've been told,
Who died, it is said, on account of the cold,
As he lay on his death-bed and wrestled with Fate,
He called on his children to share the estate.

2. "Let John have the pig and the pet native bear,
The old kangaroo can be Margaret's share,
Let Mike have the possum that comes when he's called,
And Katy the emu although he's gone bald."

3. "To Mary I'm leaving the pink cockatoo,
And that's about all your poor father can do.
There's fish in the creek and there's fowl on the lake,
Let each take as much as they're able to take."

4. "Farewell, my dear children, no more can I leave,
Don't quarrel, or else my poor spirit will grieve.
And if you should marry, and have children to rear,
Remember I nursed you on pumpkin and bear."

play midi

~~~~~~~~
NEW ENGLAND COCKY - trad (An Australian Folk Song A Day)

'Twas a New England Cocky, as late I've been told,
Who died, so 'tis said, on account of the cold.
When dying he called to his children "Come here!
"As I'm dying, I want you my fortune to share.

"Dear children, you know I've toiled early and late,
"I've struggled with Nature, and wrestled with Fate.
"Then all do your best to my fortune repair;
"And to my son John I leave a dear native bear.

"To Mary I give my pet kangaroo,
"May it prove to turn out a great blessing, too;
"To Michael I leave the old cockatoo,
"And to Bridget I'll give her the piebald emu.

"To the others whatever is left I will leave —
"Don't quarrel, or else my poor spirit will grieve;
"There's the fish in the stream, and the fowl on the lake,
"Let each have as much as any may take

"And now, my dear children, no more can I do,
"My fortune I've fairly divided with you,"
And these were the last words his children did hear —
"Don't forget that I reared you on pumpkin and beer."

audio of New England Cocky From Paterson's Old Bush Songs. Several versions can be found, including the Inglewood Cocky, collected by John Manifold.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: JennieG
Date: 04 May 21 - 01:27 AM

No worries, Stewie......better to double up than to miss out on a gem such as this song!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 03 May 21 - 09:06 PM

My apologies, Jennie, for doubling up. I did use the edit/find function to search the thread, but must have misspelled 'treasurer' without noticing.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 06:12 AM

Joy Durst dots here

058 - THE GUM-LEAF MUSICIAN, part of a poem by Len Cox, turned into a song by Joy Durst, tune based on "Lord Franklin"

1. No more his music fills the city street,
His gum-leaf music shrill and strange and sweet;
The children loved his gentle face,
An ancient member of an ancient race.

2. We took away his living and his land
And left him with a gum-leaf in his hand,
But with this leaf, in return for wrong,
He made for us his kindly gift of song.

3. He knew our courtrooms and our prisons well,
He died last week within a prison cell,
But sometimes still, in the bustling throng
We'll hear the haunting echo of his song.

4. We'll see again his gentle, wrinkled face
And catch a vision of a brown-skinned race
Who come with eyes that are warm with pride
To stand at last as brothers by our side.

article by Hugh Anderson about Bill Bull, journal article behind a paywall

mudcat - Aussie Gum Leaf Music
from Bob Bolton - (From Australian TRADITION, vol 1, no. 1, March 1964. Published by Victorian Folk Music Club and the Folk Lore Society of Victoria.) (NOTES) GUMLEAF MUSICIAN: To make this song, Joy Durst used part of a poem, of the same name, by Len Fox and set it to the traditional tune Lord Franklin. It refers to Billie Bull, one of the few remaining Aborigines in Victoria, who died in 1954. He used to play the gumleaf in the streets of Melbourne.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 05:34 AM

Joy Durst - dots here

6 - BULLOCKY-O

video

1. I draw for Speckle's Mill, bullocky-o, bullocky-o,
And it's many a log I drew, bullocky-o.
I draw cedar, beech and pine, and I never get on the wine;
I'm the king of bullock drivers, don't you know, bullocky-o!

2. There's Guinea and Anderson too, bullocky-o, bullocky-o!
And it's many a log they drew, bullocky-o.
I can give them a thousand feet, axe 'em square and never cheat;
I'm the king of bullock drivers, don't you know, bullocky-o!

3. There's Wapples, too: he brags, bullocky-o, bullocky-o,
Of his forty raw-boned stags, bullocky-o.
I can tell you it's no slander when I say I raise their dander,
When they hear the crack of me whip, bullocky-o, bullocky-o!

Repeat 1st verse.

folkstream - dots & history - Collected from Cyril Duncan, Nerang by the Queensland Folklore Society. Published in the Queensland Centenary Pocket Songbook. Cyril Duncan reported that the song was written by his grandfather an early settler on the Nerang river.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 05:29 AM

Joy Durst - dots here

055 BRISBANE LADIES/QUEENSLAND DROVERS/AUGATHELLA STATION (trad)

video - Gary Shearston

Farewell and adieu to you, sweet Brisbane ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you girls of Toowong,
For we've sold all our cattle, and have to be moving,
But we hope we shall see you again before long.

Chorus: We'll rant and we'll roar like true Queensland drovers,
We'll rant and we'll roar as onward we push,
Until we get back to the Augathella station,
For it's flaming dry going through the old Queensland bush.

2. The first camp we make, we shall call it the Quart Pot,
Caboolture, then Kilcoy and Collington's Hut;
We'll pull up at the Stone House, Bob Williamson's paddock,
And early next morning we cross the Blackbutt.

3. Then on to Taromeo and Yarraman Creek, lads,
It's there we shall make our next camp for the day,
Where the water and grass are both plenty and sweet, lads,
And maybe we'll butcher a fat little stray.

4. Then on to Nanango, that hard-bitten township,
Where the out-of-work station-hands sit in the dust,
And the shearers get shorn by old Tim the contractor ...
I wouldn't go there but I flaming well must!

5. The girls of Toomancey they look so entrancing,
Those young bawling heifers are out for their fun!
With the waltz and the polka and all kinds of dancing,
To the racketty old banjo of Bob Anderson.

6. Then fill up your glasses and drink to the lasses;
We'll drink this town dry, then farewell to them all;
And when we've got back to the Augathella station,
We hope you'll come by there and pay us a call.

Written by Saul Mendelsohn, printed as a broadside, repr. Queensland Boomerang, 1891. In most Australian collections; cf. "Spanish Ladies"

also in DT
folkstream - dots & history
Wikipedia - Brisbane Ladies

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 05:19 AM

how could we miss this classic?????
Joy Durst

054 BOTANY BAY - trad, also in DT

1. Farewell to old England for ever,
Farewell to my rum culls as well,
Farewell to the well-known old Bailey,
Where I used for to cut such a swell.

Chorus: Singing Too-ral li-ooral-li ad-dity,
Singing Too-ral li-ooral-li -ay,
Singing Too-ral li-ooral-li ad-dity,
And we're bound for Botany Bay.

2. There's the Captain as is our Commander,
There's the bo'sun and all the ship's crew,
There's the first and second-class passengers,
Knows what we poor convicts go through!

3. 'Taint leaving old England we cares about,
'Taint 'cos we mis-spells what we knows,
But becos all we light-fingered gentry
Hops around with a log on our toes.

4. These seven long years I've been serving now,
And seven long more have to stay,
All for bashing a bloke down our alley
And taking his ticker away.

5. Oh, had I the wings of a turtle-dove!
I'd soar on my pinions so high,
Slap bang to the arms of my Polly love,
And in her sweet presence I'd die.

6. Now, all my young Dookies and Duchesses,
Take warning from what I've to say,
Mind all is your own as you toucheses,
Or you'll find us in Botany Bay.

dots here
video
wikipedia - Botany Bay (song)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 05:04 AM

Joy Durst
028 THE BALLAD OF BEN HALL

1. Come all Australia's sons to me, a hero has been slain,
Butchered by cowards in his sleep, upon the Lachlan plain.
Ah, do not stay your seemly grief, but let the teardrops fall,
Australian hearts will always mourn the fate of bold Ben Hall.

2. He never robbed a needy man, the records sure will show
How staunch and loyal to his mates, how manly to the foe.
No brand of Cain e 'er stamped his brow, no widow's curse can fall;
Only the robber rich men feared the coming of Ben Hall.

3. For ever since the good old days of Turpin and Duval,
The people's friends were outlaws, and so was bold Ben Hall.
Yet savagely they murdered him, those coward bluecoat imps,
Who only found his hiding place from sneaking peelers' pimps.

4. Yes, savagely they murdered him, oh, let your teardrops fall,
For all Australia mourns today her bravest son, Ben Hall.
No more he'll mount his gallant steed to roam the ranges high;
Poor widow's friend in poverty, our bold Ben Hall, goodbye.

no source

video by a member ofthe Victorian Folk Music Club, learnt & posted April 2021

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 05:01 AM

Joy Durst
016   THE OLD KEG OF RUM (trad)

My name is old Jack Palmer, and I once dug for gold,
And the song I'm going to sing you recalls the days of old,
When I'd plenty mates around me, and the talk would fairly hum,
As we all sat together round the old keg of rum.

Chorus: The old keg of rum, the old keg of rum,
As we all sat together round the old keg of rum.

2. There was Bluey Watt, the breaker, and old Tom Hynes,
And little Doyle, the ringer, who now in glory shines,
And many more hard doers, all gone to Kingdom Come,
We were all associated round the old keg of rum.

3. When the shearing time was over in the sheds on the Bree,
We'd raise a keg from somewhere, and we'd all have a spree,
We'd sit and sing together till we got that blind and dumb
That we couldn't find the bung-hole of the old keg of rum.

4. There was some would last the night out, and some would have a snooze,
And some were full of fight, boys, but all were full of booze,
Till often in a scrimmage I have corked it with my thumb,
Just to stop the life from ebbing from the old keg of rum.

5. Well, now my song is ended, I've got to travel on,
Just an old buffer skiting of days dead and gone,
But I hope you youngsters round me will, perhaps in years to come,
Remember Jack Palmer and the old keg of rum.

no source - dots here

folkstream - dots & source Related to 'The Old Bark Hut' this song was printed in Paterson's Old Bush Songs
   
audio- Oz Folk Song a day A version of this song was published in Paterson's Old Bush Songs. This version is from An Anthology of Australian Poetry to 1920 , edited by John Kinsella in 2007

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 04:54 AM

returning to my posts from Joy Durst songbook

013 KOOKABURRA LAUGHED, words & music by Bush Music Club member Stan Wakefield. Published in Singabout, 3(1), Summer 1958 as a recent song.

download dots here

1. Down to the lake came the old black horse,
Down to the lake for a drink,
But the crocodile snapped his jaws and of course
That was the end of the old black horse;
Said the croc, "I'm king in all this land,
For none can my great jaws withstand",
But the Kookaburra laughed at the boastful croc,
And the kookaburra laughed, ha, ha!

2. Down to the lake came the buffalo bull,
Down to the lake for a drink,
And he flipped his horns and the old man croc,
Fell with a thump on the big, hard rock;
Said the bull, "I'm king in all this land,
For none can my great horns withstand",
But the kookaburra laughed at the boastful bull,
And the kookaburra laughed, ha, ha!
3. The bull trod hard on the little brown snake,
And the little brown snake was hurt,
So he bit that bull on the leg so deep
That the buffalo bull went off to sleep;
Said the snake, "I'm king in all this land,
For none my poison bite can stand",
But the kookaburra laughed at the boastful snake,

4. The kookaburra said, as he winked his eye, "Little snake, how I love you!
Although you call yourself a king,
To me you're just a tasty thing."
Then he glided down beside the lake
And swallowed him whole, that little brown snake,
Then the kookaburra laughed, ha, ha, ha, ha,
And the kookaburra laughed, ha, ha!

Included in "Songs of Australia", words and music by Stan Wakefield, edited by John Meredith for the Bush Music Club. Southern Music Publishing, Sydney, 1966. Bush Music Club Series no. 2.

Extracts from Singabout - the early songwriters - Stan Wakefield (1906-1962)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 04:40 AM

it was added 6th Oct by JennieG

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 03 May 21 - 03:36 AM

I had always meant to do an Index to Composers as well, to assist in avoiding this!!
Soon!!

Cheers,
R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: JennieG
Date: 02 May 21 - 11:26 PM

I seem to recall adding 'The Dying Treasurer' some time ago.....perhaps on the occasion of a previous budget?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 02 May 21 - 10:17 PM

With the federal budget imminent, it is perhaps appropriate to revisit this oldie.

DYING TREASURER
(John Dengate/Tune: Dying stockman)

A federal treasurer lay dying
His budget supporting his head
The cabinet stood plausibly lying
As he raised on his elbow and said

Chorus
Wrap me up in my jiggery-pokery
Wrap me round in my legerdemain
Bury me deep in the rhetoric
Right next to the monetary drain

There's booze in the cut-glass decanter
Place the numbers all in a row
And toast more and more unemployment
May the total continue to grow

Chorus

Cut down the consumer price index
Put wages and salaries on ice
Lock up one or two union leaders
To help me attain paradise

Chorus

Oh, had I the flight of a bronze-wing
Instead of a blind silver-tail
I'd fly in the face of all reason
And I'd write my last budget in braille

Chorus or alternative last stanza

Oh, had I the flight of an emu
I'd desperately run round and round
And try to soar into the sunset
And never get up off the ground

From John Dengate's 1982 publication 'My Shout'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 01 May 21 - 10:09 PM

PATSY FAGAN
(Traditional)

I left my home in Ireland ’twas many years ago
I left my home in Ireland where the pigs and praties grow
And since I left old Ireland, it’s always been my plan
To show these Aussie people I’m a decent Irish man

Chorus
‘Hello Patsy Fagan’, you’ll hear the girls all cry
‘Hello Patsy Fagan, you’re the apple of me eye
You’re a decent man from Ireland, there’s no one can deny
You’re a harum scrarum devil-may-care-um decent Irish boy’

I’m working here in Aussie and I’ve got a decent job
Shovelling bricks and mortar and the pay is fifty bob
Oh, I wake up in the morning and I wake up with the lark
And as I’m walking down the street you can hear the girls remark

Chorus

Now if there’s one among you who’d care to marry me
I’ll take you to my little home across the Irish sea
I’ll dress you up in satin and I’ll please you all I can
Just to let these Aussie people know I’m a decent Irish man

Chorus

This is a version of an Irish song that was adopted in Australia.   The lyrics above are as printed in Bill Scott's 'The Second Penguin Australian Songbook'. It is a composite version of one published by the Sydney Bush Music Club in 'A Collector's Song Book' and one collected by Alan Scott. The stanzas are in a different order, but it is basically similar to the version in this YT clip linked below. Bill Scott also collected a 'Glasgow' version from a Cloncurry drover, Bert Stacey.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 09:19 PM

TO THE GULF

To the Gulf! To the Gulf! To Australia's fag-end
Where all kinds of misery walks hand in hand
Where a man is soon done if he's willing to broil
And the strongest soon finds himself under the soil
Where the squatters are rapidly going to pot
And the men are all dying like sheep, of the rot
When I'm tired of existence my steps I will bend
To that fair land of promise, Australia's fag-end

To the Gulf! To the Gulf! To that blissful retreat
Where roguery stalks coolly abroad in the heat
Where a cheque is a cheque if you live till it's got
But the chance is a hundred to one that you'll not
For unless you can live in a swamp like a frog
You may reckon on dying the death of a dog
Then if you're foolish your steps you will bend
To that fair land of promise, Australia's fag-end

To the Gulf! To the Gulf! To the land of the flies
Where each insect tormentor for mastery vies
Which shall plague you the most in the terrible heat
The Gulf is most truly a blissful retreat
Carpentaria! High wages have no charms for me
In an atmosphere pregnant with death on the spree
When I've no other refuge my steps I will bend
To that Gulf full of horrors, Australia's fag-end

Another parody set to the Down in the old front line tune. Russel Ward discovered it in a book called 'Colonial Adventures and Experiences' by George Carrington. It is not included in his 'Penguin Book of Australian Ballads', but it is in Bill Scott's Penguin compilation. Ron Edwards collected it from Frank Pitt and published it in his big book.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 07:52 PM

We're home after a trip Down South, where the autumn colours were lovely and where The One And Only Grandkid is shooting up like a weed.

"Goodbye, Melbourne Town" is not on the O'Leary and Hildebrand CD. Deep in the dark recesses of my brain I can hear it being sung......but by whom, I wonder?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 28 Apr 21 - 10:06 PM

Back in Nov last year, 3 Les Darcy songs were posted to this songbook. Here is an earlier one:

LES DARCY

Way down in Tennessee
There lies poor Les Darcy
His mother's pride and joy
Their Maitland's bonny boy
All I can think of tonight
Is to see Les Darcy fight
How he beats them
Simply eats them
Every Saturday night
And people in galore
Said they never saw
The likes of Les before
Upon the stadium floor
They called him a skater
But he proved to them a fighter
And he gave up hope
When he got that dope
Way down in Tennessee

This is included in Bill Scott's Penguin compilation. It was also collected by Ron Edwards from Pat Murphy in north Queensland and is printed in his big book. Russel Ward published the original words in his 'Penguin Book of Australian Ballads'. Ward believes it was written by 'Percy the Poet' ( real name P.F. Collins) who sold his street ballads in Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s.
Here is Percy's ballad:

THE DEATH OF LES DARCY

In Maitland's cemetery
Lies poor Les Darcy
His mother's pride and joy
Australia's bonny boy
How we long for the night
Just to see Les Darcy fight
How he beat 'em
Simply eat 'em
Every Saturday night

Chorus
There lies young Les Darcy
Who we know was so ill-advised
When the sad news reached us
How the tears stood in our eyes
His one great ambition
Was to fight at the Golden Gate
But the Yanks called him from us
Proved to be the sad hand of fate

The critics by the score
Said they never saw
A lad like him before
Upon the stadium floor
Oh the Yanks thought him a skater
But he proved himself a fighter
So they killed him
Yes, they killed him
In Memphis Tennessee

The belief that Darcy was poisoned by rival fighter was widespread in Australia. There was also a general belief that the Yanks poisoned Phar Lap. Darcy died of pneumonia.

Darcy bio

The tune for the version in Scott's compilation was a popular song of the time. The soldiers of the First AIF also had a parody of the tune which Scott presented alongside the Darcy song.

Down in the old front line
Oh, that won't do for mine
Among the mud and slime
Amidst the slush and grime
All I can think of tonight
Is the parapet so white
Bombs are popping, shells are dropping
No relief in sight
The rum we ought to get
We see no signs of yet
You bet we'll get trench feet
With nothing hot to eat
There's tons of shells to chase us
And no dug-outs to save us
Till we get back, till we get back
Where there's wine and cheer for us

Down in the old front line

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: GerryM
Date: 27 Apr 21 - 10:05 PM

"Me and Cheryl McGraw", Australian parody of "Me and Bobby McGee", already appears in a couple of threads on Mudcat (https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=167067 and https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=20525). It has gone through a lot of folk-processing in its short career, no two sources seem to have the same lyrics. The lyrics below are from The Shonky Songbook, edited by Paul Mortimer and Greg Snook, published 1992.

Me and Cheryl McGraw (to the tune of Me and Bobby McGee)
Lyrics by Lee Williams

I was down and out in Wollongong, waiting for a bus,
Feeling near as daggy as me jeans.
Cheryl thumbed a Holden down, riddled full of rust.
Took us all the way to Narrabeen.

I pulled me didgeridoo out of me Penrith Panthers t-shirt,
Blowin' sad while Cheryl combed her hair.
With them windscreen wipers flappin' time,
I got stuck on the fourteenth line
Of the nineteenth verse to Advance Australia Fair.

Chorus:
'Cos freedom's just another word for being unemployed.
A dollar ain't worth nothing any more.
Feeling good is easy, mate, with a stubby in your hand.
Feeling good is good enough, for sure –
As long as it means feeling Cheryl McGraw.

From the steel mills of Port Kembla to the brilliant Bondi sun,
Cheryl shared me Chiko rolls and pies.
Yes, she stood right beside me, she was sweating like Phar Lap.
Thank Gawd for Aerogard to keep away the flies.

But somewhere near Maroubra, I let her slouch away
With a long-haired hippie poofter from Balmain.
And I'd even trade me Dennis Lillee autographed cricket box
For another night with Cheryl's sister Jane.

Chorus

So Cheryl and her hippie mate got married in North Sydney.
He's a bank clerk, she's a bank clerk, too.
And while he plays pool at the RSL, she watches "Sale of the Century",
'Cos in Pennant Hills there's bugger-all else to do.

And I wonder if she thinks of me as she microwaves her hubby's tea,
And the youngest kid has pooped his pants again.
As she downs another Valium, if she ever wonders what's become
Of me, she'll have to ask her sister Jane.

Chorus

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Apr 21 - 09:14 PM

TO THE NORTH
(Unknown/Tune: 'I'm Afloat')

To the the North! To the North! To the land of the blacks
For hundreds of miles you can keep pushing back
For tucker and water you'll often go short
While humping your drum far away in the North

To the North! To the North! Where the squatters go bung
Greenhide is their mainstay, their crops kurrajong
With scabbies and shin-plasters, they pay all their men
They feed them on pig-weed, sour-thistle, fat-hen

To the North! To the North! The last place God made
The contract unfinished, lost, stolen or strayed
With coolies, black labour and lots of the sort
Ante-up is the gospel they preach in the North

Collected in Mareeba Qld in 1966 by Ron Edwards from the singing of Frank Evans and his brother and sister who had learned it from their uncle, an early overlander. Edwards noted that a diet of pig-weed and sour-thistle would not be relieved by the odd meal of poultry for fat-hen is another plant. It is also known as 'Good King Henry' and used as a substitute for spinach. 'Scabbies' were diseased sheep and 'shin-plasters' promissory notes which would often fall to pieces in the stockman's pocket before he could get to the nearest town and cash them.

The tune is the 1843 song 'Im Afloat', published in England with words by Eliza Cook and music by Henry Russell. It was enormously popular and many parodies were written to the catchy tune.

I'm Afloat

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Apr 21 - 08:43 PM

Sandra, thanks for posting the link to Bob Bolton's thread re 'Bold Tommy Payne'. I was too slack to reproduce the notes in Edwards' big book. It is curious that Scott didn't include or even mention the Garradunga text in his Peguin book.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Apr 21 - 12:21 AM

intro to Bold Tommy Payne- https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=34376

The following is basically from Singabout, Journal of Australian Folksong, Volume. 4, Number 1, 1960, pp 6 & 7, Bush Music Club, Sydney, (with additions and minor corrections from Singabout, Volume. 4, Number 3, 1961, p15).

The author is the indefatigable collector Ron Edwards of Kuranda, North Queensland.

The dangers of mistaking a recent song for a traditional one are very real and Bold Tommy Payne with its references to pig dogs and wild boars is good case in point. Written as recently as 1953, it has already appeared on LP records and in the Queensland Centenary Songbook, under the heading of "traditional" on William Clausen's record and "heard in Garradunga Pub1947" in the songbook.
:
In 1953 Jack Crossland, the author of the song and John Crane (Tom Payne) both canefarmers of Smithfield, N. Q. were out hunting wild pigs which come down from the Kuranda ranges and cause extensive damage in the canefields. Their pig dogs set up a big black and white boar which came charging down the track towards them. Jack set off smartly for the nearest sapling but John was slower and the boar caught him, tusking him in the groin and tearing his clothes about.
:
Later on both men saw the humour of the incident and Jack Crossland wrote a song about the incident, "Bold Johnny Crane" which soon became very popular in the district. When the American singer William Clausen visited Cairns he heard the song and later put it on his record of Australian songs. He changed the name Johnny Crane to Tommy Payne at the request of the Crane family. Originally sung to the tune On Top of Old Smokey it was later. changed to Villikins and his Dinah. Here then is the original: -

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:32 PM

BOLD TOMMY PAYNE
(Jack Crossland)

I'll tell you a story, it's sad but it's true,
Of the wild pigs where I come from and the damage they do.
There once was a farmer called Bold Tommy Payne
Who grew some sweet Pindar and Q.50 cane.

It was late in the evening an old boar he came,
And he started a-dining on Bold Tommy's cane,
So up stepped Bold Tommy, the fire in his eye,
He cursed and he swore that the old boar must die.

He reached for his rifle that stood by the door,
And he called for his pig-dogs, and they came by the score.
Then down to the caneflelds, all dressed for the fray
In waistcoat and trousers, Bold Tom made his way.

As he stood on the headland and gazed all around
He heard the cane cracking, and he heard a strange sound.
As the big boar came charging straight for Bold Tom,
The dogs were all barking and the battle was on!

Up stepped Bold Tommy, six feet in the air,
As he straddled the porker he heard his pants tear,
Well, you should have heard the language and the words of Bold Tom
When he found to his sorrow his trousers were gone.

Now out in old Smithfield where the Pindar it grows,
The folks tell the story and they ought to know;
How up on Black Mountain that old boar resides,
And they say that he's still wearing Bold Tommy's strides!

Lyrics as printed in Edwards' big book and second penguin book of Australian folksongs.

Youtube clip

Bill Berry sang a different set of lyrics:

Click

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:09 PM

Sandra reminded me that this piece of doggerel was posted a few years ago by well-known Aussie folkie, Tony Suttor, who lives in Darwin. Based on 'Bloody Orkney', it supposedly came from a soldier based in Darwin in 1941.

BLOODY DARWIN

The bloody town's a bloody cuss
No bloody trams, no bloody bus
And no one cares for bloody us
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

The bloody roads are bloody bad
The bloody folks are bloody mad
They even say 'you bloody cad'
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

All bloody clouds and bloody rain
All bloody stones, no bloody drains
The council's got no bloody brains
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

And everything's so bloody dear
A bloody bob for bloody beer
And is it good? No bloody fear
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

The bloody 'flicks' are bloody old
The bloody seats are bloody cold
And can't get in for bloody gold
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

The bloody dances make me smile
The bloody band is bloody vile
They only cramp your bloody style
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

No bloody sports, no bloody games
No bloody fun with bloody dames
Won't even give their bloody names
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

Best bloody place is bloody bed
With bloody ice on bloody head
And then they say you're bloody dead
Oh bloody, bloody Darwin

Bloody Orkney

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:41 AM

from The Guardian -

ONLY ONE OF THE TOYS, described on its sheet music as a ‘pathetic soldier song’, was written by Mark Erickson and P. Clay-Bealer only a few months after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Despite its gloomy subject, this 1914 song was surprisingly popular in its day.

lyrics & audio

A soldier was saying “Goodbye” to his wife
He was marching that day to the war
His little son played with a gallant toy brigade
Of brightly painted soldiers on the floor
The boy looked up from his scene of mimic strife
And he said, “Daddy when to war you go,
Will you have a reg’ment too, will you drill it like I do?”
But his father answered “No”

I’m only one of the toys, my boy,
I do what I’m told to do
Perhaps I’ll fall, be forgotten by all
All but your mammy and you
I do my best along with the rest
When I march with the Brave Old Boys
No command is mine, just a number in the line
For I’m only one of the toys

The battle was over and there on the ground
Lay a soldier in pain waiting death
His comrade bent his head just to hear the words he said
That came so slowly with his dying breath
“My dear old pal, you will soon be homeward bound
Tell my wife all that you have heard me say
And remind my little Jim of the words I said to him
On the day I marched away”

I’m only one of the toys, my boy,
I do what I’m told to do 
Perhaps I’ll fall, be forgotten by all 
All but your mammy and you 
I do my best along with the rest 
When I march with the Brave Old Boys 
No command is mine, just a number in the line
For I’m only one of the toys

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:34 AM

from The Guardian article -

SONS OF AUSTRALIA written by prolific English music hall composer Felix McGlennon in 1900, during the Second Boer War.

lyrics & audio

VERSE 1

Sons of Australia
Hear the Mother calling
Calling to her boys who’re
Scattered far and wide
Sons of Australia
Hear those insults galling
She who bore you wants her offspring
Standing by her side
Bred for fighting, built to stay
Never yielding, never knew the way
When they defied our Mother
Threatened with their guns
Did they think that such a grand Old Mother had no sons?

CHORUS
Did they think that England stood alone?
Have they heard how to her side we’ve flown?
Sons of Australia
Strike for your Empire Grand,
Fight as your Mother taught you to,
For the dear old land


VERSE 2

Sons of Australia
Are your pulses thrilling?
Thrilling at the chance to thrash
Your Empire’s foes
Sons of Australia
How your ranks are filling
As you think of Motherland
Your hearts’ blood quicker flows
Pluck and muscle, blood and brain
Born of heroes linked in Empire’s chain
Proud of your grand old birthright
Glorious and free
Mighty Monarch of the Nation’s ruler of the sea

CHORUS
Did they think that England stood alone?
Have they heard how to her side we’ve flown?
Sons of Australia
Strike for your Empire Grand,
Fight as your Mother taught you to,
For the dear old land

VERSE 3 (not included in this recording)

Sons of Australia
Read your Empire’s story
How your Father’s built it
Shall that Empire wane?
Sons of Australia
Ne’ver must fade their glory
Vow what gallant sires have fought for
Their sons will maintain
Heav’n hath willed it
Tis decreed world wide
Rulers we the grand old breed
We who have fought for freedom
Scorning all things base
Must fulfil our destiny
To be the ruling race

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:27 AM

from The Guardian article -

THEY WERE THERE!! THERE!! THERE!! music by Bert Rache, lyrics by Private Harley Cohen of the 4th Battalion AIF, written in the trenches 1916

audio probably preformed by Peter Dawson   They Were There sheet music with words (too small to read)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:16 AM

from the Guardian article -

BOYS OF THE DARDANELLES - the best-known composition by Marsh Little (1880-1958), particularly effective for encouraging recruitment.

lyrics & audio

VERSE 1
Old England needs the men she breeds
There's fighting to be done.
Australians heard, and were prepared,
To help her every son.
From out the bay they sailed away,
Our pride, Australia's own,
And so to-day they're far away
And some in great unknown.

CHORUS
Boys of the Dardanelles,
They faced the shot and the shells,
Down in hist'ry their fame will go,
Our children's children their daring deeds will know
Australian lads in khaki and in blue <
Have shown the World what they can do.
How they fought and fell
The cables daily tell,
Boys of the Dardanelles.

VERSE 2

Neath foreign skies with eager eyes,
Those boys of the Dardanelles,
By the dear old flag with never a lag,
Have fought and served it well.
From scraping keel, with plunging steel,
They quickly got to work.
In khaki kit they did their bit,
And soon were upon the Turk.

CHORUS x 2

VERSE 3 (not on this recording)
When war is o'ver, and home once more,
Come Boys from the Dardanelles,
To them we'll raise our hats in praise,
And we'll hear the stories they'll tell.
It was their lot to get it hot,
Some quite new at the game.
Their gallant dash the foe to smash
Will live on the roll of fame.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 08:12 AM

I thought I might as well post the songs from The Guardian article

AUSTRALIA WILL BE THERE - by Walter Skipper Francis, 1915. The song quotes from Auld Lang Syne in its chorus and is often given its longer title, For Auld Land Syne - Australia Will Be There.

audio

There are lots and lots of arguments
Going on today
As to whether dear old England
Should be brought into the fray
But all right thinking people
Know well we had to fight
For the Kaiser’s funny business
It wants some putting right.
Rally 'round the banner of your country
Take the field with brothers o'er the foam
On land or sea
Wherever you be
Keep your eye on Germany
But England, home and beauty
Have no cause to fear
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
No, no, no, no, no!
Australia will be there
Australia will be there
You have heard about the Emden ship
Cruising all around
She was sinking British merchant men
Where'er they could be found
But one fine morning early
The Sydney hove in sight
She trained her guns upon them
And the German said ‘goodnight’
Rally 'round the banner of your country
Take the field with brothers o'er the foam
On land or sea
Wherever you be
Keep your eye on Germany
But England, home and beauty
Have no cause to fear
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
No, no, no, no, no!
Australia will be there
Australia will be there

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 07:53 AM

just ran across this

THE GHOST by Terry Fielding & Fred Dyer (Fred used to post on Mudcat)

INTRO: There's a tale they tell of a man on a horse.
His cape is blowin' on the breeze.
With fire in his eyes and a burnin' in his heart,
Has to find his killer to be free.
Ay-die-die, die-de-die-die-die,
De-die-die-die-de-die-de-die.

1. Things were lean in ninety-four.
A poor man had to steal to get along,
But he was caught with a loaf of bread.
The law says in the jail you do belong.

CHORUS: The clamp upon the boards from the hooves of his horse
Made a weird and eerie sound.
The villagers knew as one that the ghost was on the run,
Searchin' for the man who cut him down.
Ay-die-die, die-de-die-die-die,
De-die-die-die-de-die-de-die.

2. He broke from jail one stormy night,
And one man saw him get away.
A hundred pound was the price they set,
And one man needed money on that day.

3. The police behind and the bridge ahead,
He only had to cross it to be free.
The wooden bridge was the borderline
And he almost reached the safety of the trees.

4. His killer lay by the riverside,
A loaded pistol in each hand,
And as he rode by on his horse that day,
He heard a bang [pause for gunshot] and then he died.

video

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Apr 21 - 06:01 AM

interesting article with links to 9 songs, with audio/video + some with lyrics

From Eric Bogle to Ziggy Ramo: the Australian music challenging the Anzac legacy 50 years since And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Australian songwriters have continued to poke at otherwise unassailable wartime legends

... Songs like Australia Will Be There (1915) (audio & lyrics), Boys of the Dardanelles (1915) (audio & lyrics), and They Were There! There! There! (1916) (audio only) served an explicit role as propaganda and recruitment tools, often glorifying the sacrifice, mateship and heroism of the young men who enlisted. Some, like the Boer war-era Sons of Australia (lyrics & audio), predate the commonwealth, with a call to patriotism that came firmly couched in the language of empire: (“Sons of Australia / Are your pulses thrilling? / Thrilling at the chance to thrash / Your empire’s foes”).

But not all wartime songwriters viewed Australia’s role in a contest of European imperial powers so sunnily. Mark Erickson and P. Clay-Bealer’s Only One of the Toys (1914) (lyrics & audio) speaks to the futility of the conflict, framing Australian soldiers as the disposable playthings of imperial command: “No command is mine / Just a number in the line / For I’m only one of the toys.”

video - Red Angel Panic : Viet Rock (1971)

Redgum - I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) (Official Video) strangely enough you have to 'Sign in to confirm your age. This video may be inappropriate for some users'.

Cold Chisel - Khe Sanh [Official Lyric Video] (2011)

Lee Kernaghan - Spirit of the Anzacs (Official Music Video)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 10:40 PM

Joy Durst no. 012 THE KELLYS, BYRNE AND HART Bushwhacker broadside no. 13

also in the Digital Tradition with tune The Wearing of the Green John McCormack singing Wearing of the Green.

It was in November, seventy-eight, when the Kelly Gang came down,
Just after shooting Kennedy in famed Euroa town;
Blood horses they were all upon, revolvers in their hand,
They took the township by surprise, and gold was their demand.
Ned Kelly walked into the bank, a cheque all in his hand,
For to have it changed for money, now of Scott he did demand;
And when that he refused him, he looking at him straight
Said, "See here, my name's Ned Kelly, and this here man's my mate."

2. They rode into Jerilderie town at twelve o'clock at night,
Aroused the troopers from their beds and gave them an awful fright;
They took them in their nightshirts, ashamed I am to tell,
They covered them with revolvers and locked them in a cell.
They next acquainted the women-folk that they were going to stay,
And take possession of the camp until the following day.
They fed their horses in the stalls, without the slightest fear,
Then went to rest their weary limbs till daylight did appear.

3. Next morning being Sunday morn, of course they must be good,
They dressed themselves in troopers' clothes, and Ned he chopped some wood,
Now no-one there suspected them, as troopers they did pass,
And Dan, the most religious, took the trooper's wife to Mass.
They spent the day most pleasantly, had plenty of good cheer,
With fried beef steak and onions, tomato sauce and beer;
The ladies in attendance indulged in pleasant talk,
And just to ease the troopers' minds, they took them for a walk.

4. It was when they robbed Euroa bank you said they'd be run down,
But now they've robbed another one that's in Jerilderie town,
That's in Jerilderie town, my boys, and we're here to take their part,
And shout again "Long may they reign ... the Kellys, Byrne and Hart."
As high above the mountains so beautiful and grand,
Our young Australian heroes in bold defiance stand,
In bold defiance stand, my boys, the heroes of today,
So let us stand together boys, and shout again, "Hurray!"

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 10:22 PM

009 FLOW ON SWEET MITTA, words & music composed by Mrs D. Pendergast, coll. by Folk Lore Society of Victoria.

dots here

Flow on, sweet Mitta, so close to my door,
Caressing the willows that grow by your shore,
Reflecting the shadows and dancing with rain,
Those golden leaves passing will ne'er pass again.

2. You come from the mountains of ice, wind and snow,
And cascade down valleys, to green fields below.
It's there that you linger, it's there that you stay,
Sporting with fishes, by night and by day.

3. Oft' when I'm weary, as evening draws nigh,
I sit by my window to watch you flow by,
You haunt and you charm me like the sweet scented air,
hat drifts o'er the mountains, and dwells with me here.

4. You're a soul-soothing river, so deep and so calm,
When storm waters gather, you do me no harm,
Do you flow on for ever, or like man must die,
When my soul is resting, I know you'll pass by.

NLA has sheet music for this song, publ. by Allens Music, 1966

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 10:13 PM

Joy Durst 005 THE COD FISH SHANTY video

Melbourne girls, they have no combs,
Heave away, heave away,
They comb their hair with cod-fish bones,
And we're bound for Australia

Chorus - Heave away, my bully bully boys, heave away, heave away
Heave away, why don't you make a noise,
And we're bound for Australia.

2. Melbourne boys, they have no sleds,
Heave away, heave away,
They slide downhill on cod-fish heads,
And we're bound for Australia.

3. Liza Lee, she promised me,
Heave away, heave away,
When I return she'll marry me,
And we're bound for Australia.

note from Mark Gregory's Union songs
In his notes for this song in Tradition (Oct 1966) Edgar Waters writes "Versions of this shanty are not uncommon in print, but they are mostly to be found in rather recent, popular books for singers. The shanty is found only rarely in the works which are reliable records of collecting from sailors at first hand".

Australian Tradition (aka Tradition) is published by Victorian Folk Music Club.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 10:01 PM

I've also been looking at the Joy Durst Songbook (Victorian Folk Music Club, 1st ed 1970, 2nd 1980, 3rd edition (download ) 2000 - 100 songs with dots, & lots more features!

004 - THE COCKIES OF BUNGAREE   coll from Simon McDonald video

Now all you blokes take my advice and do your daily toil
But don't go out to Bungaree to work in the chocolate soil
For the days they are so long me boys, they'd break your heart in two
And if ever you work for Cocky Bourke, you very soon will know

Chorus
Oh we used to go to bed you know a little bit after dark
The room we used to sleep in it was just like Noah's Ark
There were dogs and cats and mice and cats and pigs and poulteree
But I'll never forget the time we had while down in Bungaree

Oh the first thing Monday morning sure to work we had to go
My noble cocky says to me "Get up you're rather slow"
The moon was shining gloriously and the stars were out you see
And I thought before the sun would rise I'd die in Bungaree

Oh he called me to my supper at half-past eight or nine
He called me to my breakfast before the sun did shine
And after tea was over all with a merry laugh
The old cocky says to me "We'll cut a bit of chaff"

Now when you are chaff cutting boys isn't it a spell
Yes by jove it is says I and it's me that knows it well
For many of those spells with me they disagree
For I hate the jolly night work that they do in Bungaree

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 09:44 PM

Dinky Di is so famous, how could we have missed it?

I've been going through John Thompson's Oz Folk Song of the Day & found a lot of good stuff!

FREMANTLE GAOL by Sandgroper - aka L.G. Montgomery
Moondyne Joe and other Sandgroper Ballads (1969) by L.G. Montgomery

Audio

Now beware all you wayward young fellows,
Take heed of my sorrowful tale;
Transported to Western Australia
For a convict in Fremantle Gaol

Chorus:
Oh my darling she cries every morning
Oh, my darling she cries every day

They told us to build our own prison,
A broad arrow dungeon of stone
With a high prison wall on the hilltop
And a cold narrow cell all alone

It's seven long years I've been taken,
I've been flogged with the chains that I've worn
What hope has a man without freedom
He'll wish that he never was born

There's a convict who struck down his gaoler,
From the quarries of labour he fled;
With the trackers and dogs in his footsteps
And a felon's reward on his head.

Now beware all you wayward young fellows
Take heed of my sorrowful tale
For tomorrow they take me and hang me
From the gallows of Fremantle Gaol.


To the tune of "Tarpaulin Jacket", from "The Wildflower Songsheet of Australian Ballads", printed in WA by Imperial Printing Co Pty Ltd (undated).

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 09:35 PM

THE SONG OF SONGS
(Will Ogilvie)

Let others chant of battle and such wreaths as glory gave
I would rather sing the praises of the dew that dips the daisies
Of the wind that stirs the wattle and the foam that flecks the wave

When others sing the nation and the flag that sweeps the seas
Let them leave me to deliver the old message of the river
And the true interpretation of the wind's voice in the trees

For when the drums are calling men to honour and renown
Turning in their dreamy slumbers they are swayed by softer numbers
Music of a dewdrop falling or a dead leaf drifting down

And when the battle rages and the grey smoke dims the skies
There's a voice that makes them listen till the gathering teardrops glisten
And the love that lit the ages brings the roselight in their eyes

Let others chant of battle and such wreaths as glory gave
I would rather sing the praises of the dew that dips the daisies
Of the wind that stirs the wattle and the foam that flecks the wave

Graham Jenkin put a tune to this Ogilvie poem: page 61 of his 'Songs of the Great Australian Balladists'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 08:52 PM

DINKY DI
(Anon)

He came down to London and straightaway strode
To army headquarters on Horseferry Road
To see all the bludgers who dodge all the strafe
By getting soft jobs on the headquarters staff
Dinky di, dinky di
By getting soft jobs on the headquarters staff

The lousy lance-corporal says, "Pardon me, please
You've mud on your tunic and blood on your sleeve
You look so disgraceful that people will laugh"
Said the lousy lance-corporal on headquarters staff
Dinky di, dinky di
Said the lousy lance-corporal on headquarters staff

The digger just shot him a murderous glance
Says he, "I'm just back from the balls-up in France,
Where bullets are flying, and comforts are few
And brave men are dying for bastards like you!"
Dinky di, dinky di
And brave men are dying for bastards like you!"

"We're shelled on the left and we're shelled on the right
We're bombed all the day and we're bombed all the night
And if something don't happen, and that very soon
Dinky di, dinky di
There'll be nobody left in the bloody platoon!"

The question soon came to the ears of Lord Gort
Who gave the whole matter a great deal of thought
He awarded the digger a VC and two bars
For giving that corporal a kick up the arse
Dinky di, dinky di
For giving that corporal a kick up the arse

This version as printed in John Fahey's 'Great Australian Folk Songs'. Fahey notes that 'verses and variations are endless'. One version has this final stanza:

Now when this war's over and we're out of here
We'll see him in Sydney town begging for beer
He'll ask for a deena to buy a small glass
But all he'll get is a kick in the arse
Dinky di, dinky di
But all he'll get is a kick in the arse

The song is included in Bill Scott's 'Second Peguin Australian Songbook' under the title 'The Digger's Song' with this chorus:

Dinky di, dinky di
For I'm an old digger and can't tell a lie

Danny Spooner recorded it on his 'ard Tack' album without any chorus.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: GerryM
Date: 25 Apr 21 - 05:45 AM

Alan Foster used to post here, as Alan of Australia and as Alan of Oz. Several of his songs can be found scattered around Mudcat: The Wolfhound; It's Not Easy; The Travelling Salesman; Early One Morning; The World's Slowest Swimmer; Seamus and the Lady; How Granny Died. Here's one more. Marg Walters tells me it's based on an actual occurrence, with "Tom" in the song being Tom Hanson, well-known in these parts as a member of The Roaring Forties. The only recording I know of is on a cassette of Alan's, called Cockroaches and Computers.

Cockroach in a Folk Club
Alan Foster

When Tom, the stockman, came to town,
'Twas the hottest night of the year.
And as he sat down in the little folk club,
Pat went out to the bar for some beer.
There were sounds in the air of an Irish ballad,
The Flower of Donegal.
The singer was halfway through her song
When a cockroach appeared on the wall.

Now Tom eyed the roach with a baleful glare,
And wished for his trusty stockwhip.
And not to be daunted, he rose to his feet,
And removed his belt from his hip.
Well, Tom kept his eye on the crawly intruder,
Had that roach in his sights.
He flicked his wrist, and a sound like a shot
Made the singer stop short in her fright.

The cockroach's tail remained on the wall,
Leaving a dark little stain.
The singer remembered the words of the song,
And we all joined in the refrain.
The rest of the cockroach sailed through the air
In a graceful, descending arc,
Just as Patrick emerged through the door with the beer,
And the dog began to bark.
Now, the roach's trajectory took it unerringly
Towards the beer that Pat held,
And he gave a shrill cry and jumped aside
From the place where the roach was propelled.

As Pat jumped aside, a few drops of beer
Fell to the floor in a puddle,
And right in the middle of that pool of beer
The dying cockroach did tumble.
He swam round and round in the amber fluid
As he died from the lethal blow,
And I think of his death in a pool of grog,
And I think, what a great way to go.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 24 Apr 21 - 10:41 PM

Featherston was NZ's largest training camp in WWI. 30 000 men were trained there.

PROMISES TO KEEP
(Brendan Connor)

Rain on the wind
Norwester on the break
Snow-clad distant mountains
Shadows on the lake
Safe haven
Safe haven for young men

You are all gone
And the flags no longer crack amid the cheers
It's been so long
And the memories are dulled by passing years
But here amongst these stony fields
Winter's weary shadow steals
And your voices linger on the breeze

March on march on
March on march on
Promises to keep
But miles to go before you sleep
March on march on

Gallant heroes all good men
Drilled and honed in Featherston
March stoic, ripe and eager for their fate
Brothers, cousins, husbands, sons
Wagons, horses, bugles, drums
Trooping to the summit like a snake

Rain on the wind
Norwester on the break
Snow clad distant mountains
Shadows on the lake
Safe haven
Safe haven for young men

You are all gone
And your tents and wooden barracks stand no more
It's been so long
Each passing day a closing door
But here beneath this sallow sky
Now and ever sanctified
Your voices will linger on the breeze

March on march on
March on march on
Promises to keep
But miles to go before you sleep
March on march
March on march on
March on march on

Audio

The Robert Frost poem that inspired the title:

STOPPING BY THE WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING

Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village though
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake

The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep

On his death bed, Nehru had his copy of Frost's collected verse opened at this poem with the final stanza underlined.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 24 Apr 21 - 10:15 PM

SAPPER'S LULLABY
(Fred Smith)

Up past from the Role 2, and down past the gate, out to the flight line
We stood in the sun, slouch hat and gun as two caskets passed us by

And followed the padre, on to the Herc. And out in to the pale summer sky
We walked back to Poppy’s, and went back to work, with the dust still in our eyes

So soldiers, sing me, your sapper’s lullaby
You give it your all, knowing if you should fall
That all good things must die

These young engineers whose job is to clear the roads that we may pass
Always out front and, when they bear the brunt, man it happens fast

Sapper D Smith had a wife and a son, the apple of his eye
Snowy Morland was just 21, way to young to die

Soldiers, sing me, a sapper’s lullaby
You give it your all, Knowing if you should fall
That all good things must die

So go call your mother, call your old man, on that welfare line
Tell 'em you love 'em, while you still can, cause all good things must die

Soldiers, sing me, a sapper’s lullaby
You give it your all, knowing if you should fall
That all good things must die

Fred explains and sings his song:

Youtube clip

One of Australia's finest war poems by folklorist and poet, John Manifold.

THE TOMB OF JOHN LEARMONTH AIF
(John Manifold)

This is not sorrow, this is work:
I build acairn of words over a silent man,
My friend John Learmonth whom the Germans killed.

There was no word of hero in his plan;
Verse should have been his love and peace his trade
But history turned him to a partisan.

Far from the battle as his bones are laid
Crete will remember him. Remember well,
Mountains of Crete, the Second Field Brigade!

Say Crete, and there is little more to tell
Of muddle tall as treachery, despair
And black defeat resounding like a bell

But bring the magnifying focus near
And in contempt of muddle and defeat
The old heroic virtues still appear.

Australian blood where hot and icy meet
(James Hogg and Lermontov were of his kin)
Lie still and fertilise the fields of Crete.

Schoolboy, I watched his ballading begin:
Billy and bullocky and billabong,
Our properties of childhood, all were in.

I heard the air though not the undersong,
The fierceness and resolve; but all the same
They’re the tradition, and tradition's strong.

Swagman and bushranger die hard, die game,
Die fighting, like that wild colonial boy –
Jack Dowling, says the ballad, was his name.

He also spun his pistol like a toy,
Turned to the hills like wolf or kangaroo,
And faced destruction with a bitter joy.

His freedom gave him nothing else to do
But set his back against his family tree
And fight the better for the fact he knew

He was as good as dead because the sea
Was closed and the air dark and the land lost,
'They'll never capture me alive,' said he.

That's courage chemically pure, uncrossed
With sacrifice or duty or career,
Which counts and pays in ready coin the cost

Of holding course. Armies are not its sphere
Where all's contrived to achieve its counterfeit
It swears with discipline, it's volunteer.

I could as hardly make a moral fit
Around it as around a lightning flash.
There is no moral, that's the point of it,

No moral. But I’m glad of this panache
That sparkles, as from flint, from us and steel,
True to no crown nor presidential sash

Nor flag nor fame. Let others mourn and feel
He died for nothing: nothings have their place.
While thus the kind and civilised conceal

This spring of unsuspected inward grace
And look on death as equals, I am filled
With queer affection for the human race.

-- Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Apr 21 - 09:59 PM

both perfect & it is time to remind our readers of Phyl Lobl's Battle of the Somme posted 19 Sep 20 - 01:32 AM. Presented by Dingo's Breakfast, one of the archival photos is of a very young soldier looking at the camera ...

Her father was 16 when he enlisted & 18 when he was wounded at the Somme. He enlisted again in 1939 & she was 7 when he came home, then he died the following year.

Dingo's Breakfast Oz music and poetry band have recorded some of Jack Sorensen's songs.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 24 Apr 21 - 09:41 PM

Today is Anzac Day in Oz and NZ.

ON EVERY ANZAC DAY
(John Schumann)

Ghosts and memories are loitering still in the corridors of time
There's sorrow, smoke, and stories in the barracks of my mind
I'm with him still in the trenches, I can see his dark, brown eyes
And his courage gave me courage when I was sure we were going to die
I asked him once why he volunteered for that hell-hole far away
To fight for someone else's king and the land they took away
He said, "One invading mob's too many" and then he walked away
And I lost him in the crowds waving flags on the side of the road — like every Anzac Day

From Murray Bridge and Mundrabilla, from Naracoote and Perth
First Australian station hands, shearers, gangers, clerks
And there was no black, there was no white, just a dirty khaki brown
And on our upturned slouch hat brims, we all wore the "Rising Sun"
Soldiers, brothers, all Australians, we had no time for race
When the bullets are whining past your head, you're all just shades of grey
He kept his medals in their box in a drawer — he tucked them well away
But he'd pull them out and put them on and put them back again — on every Anzac Day
Every Anzac, every Anzac, every Anzac Day — on every Anzac Day

Armentieres and Flanders, Tarin Kowt and Salamau-Lae
Amiens and Morotai, Long Tan, Dispersal Bay
Somalia, Crete and Kapyong, Iraq and the Solomons
Paschendaele, Maprik and Tarakan — they were there — the first Australians

And when the show was over and we made it back to Australia's shores
From Pozieres and Herleville Wood, Benghazi and Fremicourt
We drifted back into our lives, and we all tried to hide the scars
Of the tears and fears and terrors that still tracked us down the years
He tried to join the RSL but the bastards wouldn't let him in
They didn't see a soldier, just a first Australian
And I wonder what it was that we fought for and what it was we gave away
There's reconciliation still to come — on every Anzac Day
Every Anzac, every Anzac, every Anzac Day — on every Anzac Day

Coda:
So when the sun sets in the evening, when the dawn lights up the sky
We remember those first Australians, who joined and fought and died
From the missions, bush and station country, towns and Torres Straits
We remember the fighting First Australians — now — and on every Anzac Day
Every Anzac, every Anzac, every Anzac Day — on every Anzac Day, on Every Anzac
Every Anzac, every Anzac, every Anzac Day — on every Anzac Day, on Every Anzac
On every Anzac Day

Youtube clip

We have posted a few poems by Jack Sorensen that have been set to music. This one hasn't been set to music, but it is pertinent to some of the crap occurring today.

TO A FALLEN COMRADE

I hope that I will never see your name
Graven in stone and set in a pubic place
Where one drab day in all the long gay year
Men congregate and speak their platitudes
Saying of you and all the helpless host
Of names which once meant laughter, love and hope
That you were brave and that you freely gave
Your all, that such and such might ever be

I know nor care not whether you were brave
In that dread curtain call of your life's play
You had in you all that I value most
In human kind before they marched you forth
To save, if you did save, the fleeting thing
Flooded with glory light that shone so wan
On you whose glory was your manly heart
You could not be exalted or debased

I will not think of you as when I saw
Your shattered body lying in the sun
Wide vacant eyes fixed on an empty sky
A burlesque in the comely human shape
There is no dignity in violent death
Rather will I remember you as when
On an October day, we climbed the range
And saw our fathers' homesteads in the glen

This 'Late Night Live' program is worth a listen in this context:

Strength of Australia's anti-war sentiment

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Apr 21 - 10:18 PM

Scomo Scares Me by Dale Dengate. tunes - Happy Clappy & Deep in the heart of Texas

Whitney Houston's powerful & soulful version of Jesus loves me
Gene Autry sings deep in the heart of Texas

Scomo scares me this I know
For his actions show me so.
Lumps of coal for brains he bears
Welfare cuts for all health cares.

How good is Scomo,
How good is Scomo
With tax cuts for the wealth, he
Cuts back upon your health.

Scomo scares me this I know
For his actions show me so.
Religious freedom for the few
Who see Hell’s judgment made for you.

How good is Scomo
How good is Scomo
Religious freedom for the few
Who see Hell’s judgment made for you.

Scomo scares me this I know
For his actions show me so.
Climate change he can’t abide
Prays the sun will go and hide

How good is Scomo,
How good is Scomo
Climate change he can’t abide
Prays the sun will go and hide

Scomo scares me this I know
For his actions show me so.
Lack of policy is clear
Drives us folk to drink more beer!

How good is Scomo,
How good is Scomo
Lack of policy is clear.
Drives us folk to drink more beer!
~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been updating my Scomo scares me/… searching for better rhymes. Need that ‘ master of rhymes’ for inspiration?
I wrote them as an addition as Scomo kept doing incompetent things, but being there for the big flashy photo op announcement, but missing in action! I suppose that make them an addendum.
I wrote the Dutton verses several years ago now to sing at Festival by the Sea at Kiama. It was an action song that got everyone involved. (20/04/21)

Scomo scares me this I know
Photo ops he loves to front,
Empty claims he loudly crows,
But actual rollout hard to find.

How good is Scomo, [repeat]
Photo ops he loves to front,
But actual rollout hard to find. [ rhyme?? confront?]

Scomo scares me this I know,
Makes excuses every day,
He wasn’t there, he wasn’t told,
Anyway just blame delay.

How good is Scomo [rep x2]
He wasn’t told,
Makes more excuses to behold
~~~~~~~~~~~

Change of claps and tune … to Deep in the heart of Texas. Audience invited to clap …

He hopes you might
Move to the right
Clap x3
Deep in the heart of taxes

Dutton’s so mean
His acts and schemes
Clap x3
Goes lower than oil in Texas

The poor and Black
Should just go back
Clap x3
Dutton’s like Trump in Texas

Dutton‘s a dope
He cuts off hope
Clap x3
Let’s send him off to Texas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~