Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook

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: 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: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 21 - 04:40 AM

it was added 6th Oct by JennieG

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 - 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 - 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 - 05:19 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 - 05:29 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 - 05:34 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 08:54 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Lyr Add: A THOUSAND MILES AWAY
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 10:58 PM

Joy Durst dots here

075 A THOUSAND MILES AWAY

1. Hurrah for the Roma railway, hurrah for Cobb & Co!
And oh! for a good fat horse or two to carry me westward-ho!
To carry me westward-ho, my boys, that's where the cattle stray,
On the far Barcoo, where they eat nardoo, a thousand miles away.

Chorus: Then give your horses rein across the open plain,
We'll ship our meat both sound and sweet, nor care what some folks say;
And frozen we'll send home the cattle that now roam
On the far Barcoo and the Flinders too, a thousand miles away.

2. Knee-deep in grass we've got to pass, and the truth I'm bound to tell,
That in three weeks those cattle get as fat as they can swell;
As fat as they can swell, my boys, and a thousand pounds they weigh,
On the far Barcoo, where they eat nardoo, a thousand miles away.

3. No Yankee hide e'er grew outside such beef as we can freeze,
No Yankee pastures grow such beef as we send overseas,
As we send overseas, my boys, in shipments every day,
On the far Barcoo, where they eat nardoo, a thousand miles away.

4. So put me up with a snaffle, and a four or five-inch spur,
And fourteen foot of greenhide whip to chop the flamin' fur;
We'll yard those snuffy cattle in a way that I will swear
Will knock those New South Welshmen back and make them tear their hair!

video Banjo Paterson included this in his Old Bush Songs. It is based on an earlier convict song called "Ten Thousand Miles Away", and uses the same tune, but with new lyrics about pastoral Australia. It has been attributed to C. A. Flower, who was the accountant for the company building the railway line between Mitchell and Roma in Queensland.

2 verses & chorus appeared in The Queenslander, Sat 13 Oct 1894. Page 692 - A THOUSAND MILES AWAY, Supplied by "SPECIALLY JIM," Tambo, AIR—" Ten Thousand Miles Away.".

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BILLY-GOAT OVERLAND (A B Paterson)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 21 - 11:17 PM

Joy Durst dots here

078   THE BILLY-GOAT OVERLAND, by A. B. "Banjo" Paterson

video

Come all ye lads of the droving days, ye gentlemen unafraid,
I'll tell you all of the greatest trip that ever a drover made,
For we rolled our swags, and we packed our bags, and taking our lives in hand,
We started away with a thousand goats, on the billy-goat overland.

There wasn't a fence that'd hold the mob, or keep 'em from their desires;
They skipped along the top of the posts and cake-walked on the wires.
And where the lanes had been stripped of grass and the paddocks were nice and green,
The goats they travelled outside the lanes and we rode in between.

The squatters started to drive them back, but that was no good at all,
Their horses ran for the lick of their lives from the scent that was like a wall:
And never a dog had pluck or gall in front of the mob to stand
And face the charge of a thousand goats on the billy-goat overland.

We found we were hundreds over strength when we counted out the mob;
And they put us in jail for a crowd of thieves that travelled to steal and rob:
For every goat between here and Bourke, when he scented our spicy band,
Had left his home and his work to join in the billy-goat overland.

Subject: Lyr Add: BRYANT'S RANGES (Charles Thatcher)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 07:10 AM

Joy Durst dots here

080 BRYANT'S RANGES Charles Thatcher

1. Oh, what a curious world is this,
So various in its changes:
I'm now alluding to the rush
Down there on Bryant's Ranges;
he diggers are all hastening there,
As fast as they are able,
With tent and pick and puddling tub,
And dish and spade and cradle.

Chorus: Bow, wow, wow,
Tol-de-rol-de ri-de-i-de,
Bow, wow, wow.

2. Golden Square is out of town,
Their tents away, they've collared;
Kang'roo Gully's gone sometime,
And Eagle Hawk has followed.
Dead Horse Flat looks dead indeed,
Their tools away they've carted,
And Ironbark some days ago
With Sydenham Gully started.

3. The White Hills now appear quite blue,
There's few left in that quarter,
Sailor's Gully's short of hands,
But Long Gully is much shorter;
And on Commissioner's Flat as well,
A very striking change is
And all the world is hastening
To the rush on Bryant's Ranges.

4. Sheepshead now has lost its jaw,
So many have departed;
Job's Gully out of patience got,
And with old Tinpot started.
Pegleg's given us leg bail,
And what a deal more strange is,
Old Blatherskyte has paid his debts,
And gone to Bryant's Ranges.

5. Mother Hicks, that sells sly grog,
Went away on Sunday,
Sold right out, and sent back for
A cart load more on Monday;
And Timmy Timkins, who you know,
Lives just about close handy,
Has started with a dray load full
Of whiskey, gin and brandy.

6. When I went to work this blessed day,
On the spot where I'm located,
My driving pick and puddling tub
Had both absquatulated.
I found my cradle gone as well,
Says I, "Confound these changes;
No doubt, my tools are in full work,
Down there on Bryant's Ranges."

7. Well, let those rush away that like,
I'm game to bet a fiver
That I'll not rush and lose the tin
I once did at McIvor;
I'll get good information first,
Before I make my changes,
And if it turns out well, why then ...
Here's off to Bryant's Ranges!

verse 6 - Absquatulated verb (used without object), ab·squat·u·lat·ed, ab·squat·u·lat·ing. Slang. to flee; abscond: The old prospector absquatulated with our picks and shovel.

Subject: Lyr Add: CANE CUTTER'S LAMENT
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 08:33 AM

Joy Durst dots here

081 CANE CUTTER'S LAMENT

Audio

How we suffered grief and pain
On the banks of the Barron cutting cane
We sweated blood we were as black as sin
And the ganger he put the spur right in

The greasy cook with sore-eyed look
And the matter all stuck to his lashes
He damned our souls with his half baked rolls
And he'd poison the snakes with his hashes

The first six weeks so help me Christ
We lived on cheese and half boiled rice
Mouldy bread and cats meat stew
And corn beef that the flies had blew

The cane was bad the cutters were mad
The cook had shit on the liver
And I'll never cut cane for that bastard again
On the banks of the Barron River

So now I'm leaving that lousy place
I'll cut no more for that bugger
He can stand in the mud that's red as blood
And cut his own bloody sugar

Collected by Ron Edwards from Stan Dean (and others) of Cairns, who said it was based on an old hymn. Ron Edwards writes "This ballad is known all along the coast and the second line was altered to fit different areas 'On the Isis', 'On the banks of the Herbert' etc."

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE DEATH OF NED KELLY (John Manifold)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 08:41 AM

Joy Durst dots here

083 ON THE DEATH OF NED KELLY Words & music John Manifold

Video - Bill Berry

1. Ned Kelly fought the rich men in country and in town,
Ned Kelly fought the troopers until they ran him down;
He thought that he had fooled them, for he was hard to find,
But he rode into Glenrowan with the troopers close behind.

2. "Come out of that, Ned Kelly," the head zarucker calls,
"Come out and leave your shelter, or we'll shoot it full of holes,"
"If you'd take me," says Kelly, "that's not the speech to use;
I've lived to spite your order, I'll die the way I choose!"

3. "Come out of that, Ned Kelly, you done a lawless thing;
You robbed and fought the squatters, Ned Kelly, you must swing."
"If those who rob," says Kelly, "are all condemned to die,
You had better hang the squatters, for they've stolen more than I."

4. "You'd best come out, Ned Kelly, you done the Government wrong,
For you held up the coaches that bring the gold along."
"Go tell your boss," says Kelly, "who lets the rich go free,
That your bloody rich man's government will never govern me."

5. They burned the roof above him, they fired the walls about,
And head to foot in armour Ned Kelly stumbled out;
Although his guns were empty he made them turn and flee,
But one came in behind him and shot him in the knee.

6. And so they took Ned Kelly and hanged him in the jail,
For he fought single-handed, although in iron mail,
And no man single-handed can hope to break the bars:
It's a thousand like Ned Kelly who'll hoist the flag of stars.

lyrics In the folk revival this song was often published as a traditional song. Bill Berry tells me Manifold wrote this song when he was 14.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 08:48 AM

Joy Durst dots here

084 THE DOGWOOD ITCH by words & music by Stan Wakefield

1. Once I went stripping wattle-bark, to strip a ton a day,
I planned a trip to Sydney when I got my bumper pay;
I never saw no city lights, nor beer, instead of which,
I was seven weeks a-scratching with the dogwood itch.

Chorus: Oh, the dogwood itch, isn't it a bitch!
You only have to mention it to make me twitch,
For when it's out in flower, you'll be scratching by the hour,
You'll be scratching by the hour with the dogwood itch.

2. Now I can patch a pair of pants or fall the toughest tree,
For I'm a jack of many trades, as bushmen have to be,
I'll rope a steer, or roast a duck with gravy nice and rich,
And the only thing that beats me is the dogwood itch.

3. Now I have shot the buffalo, and trapped the native dog,
And fought me purple elephants when I've been on the grog,
I've sat the station outlaw till he dumped me in the ditch,
And the only thing I'm scared of is the dogwood itch.

First published in Singabout 2(4), May 1958

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 08:56 AM

Joy Durst dots here

088 IT'S ON - Don Henderson, 1963
video

1. A sad story you'll hear if you listen to me,
About two men who could never agree;
What one called white, the other called black,
They'd argue a while, then step out the back ...

Chorus:
And it's on!
All reason and logic are gone!
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right,
It's sad, it's true, but it's on!

2. When it was over they'd come back and then
The argument would become heated again;
Who'd won the last round they couldn't decide,
So one asked the other would he step outside ...

3. They'd been fighting so long they could neither recall
hat in the first place had started it all.
But they keep at it, day in and day out,
Now they're fighting to see what they're fighting about ...

4. Just you imagine if intellectuals
Came to agreement through Queensberry rules!
Could easily be argued that the square root of four
Was fifteen less three plus a smack on the jaw ...

5. And if governments think that it makes better sense
To save on education and spend on defence,
Could easily be argued that on the same grounds
Elections should be ... the best of ten rounds ...

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:20 AM

Joy Durst dots here

090 THE LOVELY LASSES OF INNISFAIL, poem by David Martin, music by Jennifer Mann

1. While yet you are young and sound of health,
For Northern Queensland set your sail,
For the loveliest girls in this Commonwealth
Are all to be found at Innisfail.
Yes, like Queensland sugar, so sweet and brown,
Are the lovely lasses of Innisfail;
I am heart-sick in this southern town:
Oh, when goes the Queensland Mail?

2. There are pretty girls in the West, I know,
And darling ones in this southern state,
But the Queensland girls, with their laugh so low,
In their sunset eyes I have met my fate.
Yes, like Queensland flowers, so lithe and gay,
Are the lovely lasses of Innisfail;
Farewell, my boys, for I'm on my way
Now to catch the Queensland Mail.

3. They walk like queens and like stars they dance,
And their lips are soft and their smiles are deep.
I have loved the girls of Spain and France,
But for all their charms I have lost no sleep.
(Yes,) For lovelier lasses are to be met
By the Johnstone River in Innisfail;
If you find me not, you may take a bet
That I've left on the Queensland Mail.

Meet Jennifer Mann - Singabout 1(3), 1956, p.6 16 years Jenny Mann ... has written tunes for poems by David Martin, Merv Lilley, Mary Gilmore and her father, Jim Mann. Jim Mann is related to working-class leader Thomas Mann.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:27 AM

Joy Durst dots here

094 THE STEEPLECHASE RIDERS, Words: Will H Ogilvie, Tune: Florian Pascal

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

1. We will deck them in cream and in crimson,
In chocolate and tartan and blue,
And speed them away from the barrier,
And trust them to struggle it through.

Chorus (first and last verses):
Oh, the riders, the steeplechase riders,
They carry their lives in their hands.

2. We come with the best of our sportsmen
And the fairest fair girls of the land,
To speed them away from the barrier,
And cheer them in front of the stand.

3. They don't have a fair lady wearing
Their colours of crimson and blue,
But they'll put up their silk for a living,
And ride for a guinea or two.

4. There's a roar from the crowd on the corner,
A shout from the crowd on the Hill,
For the green-and-white hoops have turned over:
A loose horse and a man lying still.

5. But the crimson and black's going strongly,
With the blue leading as they land,
And the horses must strain at the fences,
And the riders hold death in their hands.

6. For the fences are big ones and solid,
They make it top speed from the start,
And the man who rides out over Flemington
Needs more than the average heart.

7. Then here's to the luck of the winner,
And here's better luck to the last,
Here's to their pluck at the timber,
And here's to the Post flying past.

Collected by Arthur & Kath Lumsden from Mrs Belle Brown, who learned the words about 1910.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:30 AM

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

095 THE STOCKMAN'S LAST BED
audio- Oz Folk Song a day

see Ian Turner, Edgar Walters & Wendy Lowenstein in "Tradition" Sept. 1968

1. Be ye stockman or no, to my story give ear,
Alas for poor Jack, no more shall we hear
The crack of his stockwhip, his nag's lively trot,
His clear "Go ahead, boys", his jingling quart pot.

Chorus:
For we laid him where wattles their sweet fragrance shed,
And the tall gum trees shadow the stockman's last bed.

2. While drafting one day, he was horned by a cow,
"Alas!" cried poor Jack, "It's all up with me now!
For I fear I shall never my saddle regain,
Or bound like a wallaby over the plain."

3. His whip, it is silent, his dogs they do mourn,
His horse waits in vain for his master's return,
No friends to bemoan him, unheeded he dies,
Save Australia's dark sons, none knows where he lies.

4. Now, stockman, if ever on some future day,
After wild cattle you happen to stray,
Tread softly the creek-bed where trees make a shade,
For it may be the spot where poor Jack's bones are laid.

From the Queensland Native Companion Songster (1865). Recorded by Burl Ives on his 1958 album, Australian Folk Songs.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:34 AM

Joy Durst dots here

096 THE STRANGER words & tune by John Manifold, based on a Polish air

1. A stranger came into the district last week,
He wasn't a Balt and he wasn't a Greek;
We enquired "Was he Irish?" He answered us, "No",
He came from up North where the pineapples grow.

2. He answered so mannerly, quite at his ease,
Saying neither too much nor too little to please,
He was hardly a stranger by tea-time, although
He came from up North where the pineapples grow.

3. We swapped the old stories of famine and flood
And the crook politicians that suck a man's blood;
We had reckoned they might have been local, but no!
It's the same in the North where the pineapples grow.

4. We tickled his fancy with peaches and cream,
We showed him Polled Angus as sleek as a dream,
He agreed they were 'mighty', but still he must go ...
He was needed up North where the pineapples grow.

5. The moral of this is too plain to be spoke:
The bloke on the land is a sensible bloke
Be he brown as a berry, or black as a crow,
Or just from up North where the pineapples grow.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:47 AM

Joy Durst dots here

097 STRINGYBARK AND GREENHIDE

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

1. I sing of a commodity, it's one that will not fail yer,
I mean the common oddity, the mainstay of Australia;
Gold it is a precious thing, for commerce it increases,
But stringybark and greenhide can beat it all to pieces.

Chorus:
Singybark and greenhide, that will never fail yer,
Stringybark and greenhide, the mainstay of Australia.

2. If you travel on the road and chance to stick in Bargo,
To avoid a bad capsize you must unload your cargo,
For to pull your dray about I do not see the force on,
Take a bit of greenhide and hook another horse on.

3. If you chance to take a dray, and break your leader's traces,
Get a bit of greenhide to mend your broken places;
Greenhide is a useful thing, all that you require,
But stringybark's another thing, when you want a fire.

4. If you want to build a hut to keep out wind and weather,
Stringybark will make it snug and keep it well together;
Greenhide, if it's used by you, will make it all the stronger,
For if you tie it with greenhide it's sure to last the longer.

5. New-chums to this golden land, never dream of failure
While you've got such useful things as these in fair Australia,
For stringybark and greenhide will never, never fail yer,
Stringybark and greenhide is the mainstay of Australia.

Another beauty from Ron Edward's collecting, this time from Jock Dingwall in Cairns, recorded in April, 1965. Ron took these words from an undated Sydney Songster of the mid-19th century.

Recorded with 1890 tenor and 1853 bass Wheatstone concertinas.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 May 21 - 09:51 AM

Joy Durst dots here

098 THREE BLACK CROWS

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

1. Now three black crows sat on a tree,
And they were black as they could be,

Crrrk, crrrk, crrk.

2. Said one black crow unto the other,
"Where shall we dine today, dear brother?"

Crrrk, crrrk, crrrk.

3. "On yonder hill's an old gray mare,
I think, my friends, we shall dine there."

Arrk, arrk, crrrk.

4. They perched upon her high backbone,
And picked her eyes out one by one,

Crrrk, crrrk, crrrk.

5. Said the second black crow unto the other,
"Isn't she a tough old bugger?"

Crrrk, crrrk, crrk.

6. Up came a squatter with his gun,
And shot them all excepting one,

Arrk, ark, crrrk.

7. Now that one black crow got such a fright,
He turned from black right into white,

Crrrk, crrrk, crrrk.

8. Now that is why you'll often see
A white crow sitting on a tree,

Arrk, arrk, ark.

collected by W.Lowenstein from Jack "Speargrass" Guard, of Georgetown, Qld. 1969

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 05 May 21 - 11:04 PM

WHERE THE FRASER RIVER FLOW
(Joe Hill/Tune: Where the Shannon River Flows)

Fellow workers pay attention to what I'm going to mention
For it is the fixed intention of the workers of the world
And I hope you will be ready, true-hearted, brave and steady
To gather 'round the standard where the red flag is unfurled

Now the gunny-sack contractors, they’ve all proved dirty actors
And they're not our benefactors, as everybody knows
And why their mothers reared them or why God ever spared them
Is a question we can’t answer, we the workers of the world

Where the Fraser river flows, each fellow worker knows,
They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our union grows
And we're going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and better pay, boys
And we're going to win the day, boys, where the river Fraser flows

This Joe Hill song was popular with the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World). The above version was collected by John Meredith from the singing of Gladys Scrivener of Erskineville NSW. Meredith published it in ‘Folk Songs of Australia’ with the title ‘Workers of the World’. Alan Musgrove recorded it on his ‘The Bagman’s Gazette’ album and added a chorus using the chorus of ‘River Shannon’ as a model:

Where the dear old Fraser’s flowin’, the workers of the world
Are fighting for the moment when the red flag is unfurled
Though the bosses try to cheat us and cruelly mistreat us
They never will defeat us where the Fraser River flows

Joe Hill’s original lyrics as published in the IWW’s 1912 edition of ‘Little Red Songbook’:

Fellow workers pay attention to what I'm going to mention,
For it is the fixed intention of the Workers of the World.
And I hope you'll all be ready, true-hearted, brave and steady,
To gather 'round our standard when the red flag is unfurled.

Chorus:
Where the Fraser river flows, each fellow worker knows,
They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our union grows.
And we're going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and better pay, boys
And we're going to win the day, boys, where the river Fraser flows.

For these gunny-sack contractors have all been dirty actors,
And they're not our benefactors, each fellow worker knows.
So we've got to stick together in fine or dirty weather,
And we will show no white feather, where the Fraser river flows.

Now the boss the law is stretching, bulls and pimps he's fetching,
And they are a fine collection, as Jesus only knows.
But why their mothers reared them, and why the devil spared them,
Are questions we can't answer, where the Fraser River flows.

Joe Hill wrote the song to aid construction workers laying track for the Canadian Railroad Company in British Columbia who were striking because of low pay, unsanitary living conditions, bad food and hazardous working conditions.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 May 21 - 09:28 AM

don't expect to see a song by Joe Hill in an Oz/NZ songbook!

'Workers of the world' is also one of Joe Hill's songs.

2 tapes in Meredith collection at National Library for Mrs Scrivener's contribution.

Gladys Scrivener sings: Wreck of the Bendigo Mail
Les Darcy
Sandy's fight (Larry Foley)
Banks of the Condamine
Workers of the world
Where the River Frazer flows
God save Ireland
Frank Gardiner
Gladys Scrivener recites: Hunting the Brelong Blacks
=======
Gladys Scrivener sings: The old bark hut
Bold Ben Hall
Bound for Sydney Town
Bold Jack Donahoe
Look out below
Gallant Peter Clarke
When Carbine won the cup
Ye sons of Australia (Ned Kelly)
Where's your licences
Rock-a-bye baby

hmmm, there are some interesting songs there

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 06 May 21 - 09:44 PM

Sandra, as I noted above, 'Workers of the world' is the title that Meredith gave to Gladys Scrivener's rendition of Joe Hill's 'Where the Fraser River Flows' in his 'Folk Songs of Australia' collection.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 May 21 - 06:03 AM

thanks, Stewie, NLA cataloguers recording this tape put the alternate titles on 2 lines, making them look like 2 songs.

YE SONS OF AUSTRALIA (NED KELLY) trad, video - Daniel Kelly

Ye sons of Australia forget not your braves,
Bring the wild forest flowers to strew o’er your graves,
Of the four daring heroes whose race it is run,
And place on their tombs the wild laurels they’ve won.

On the banks of Euroa they made their first rush,
They cleared out at Coppies, then steered through the bush,
Black trackers and troopers soon did them pursue
But cast out their anchor when near them they drew.

The daring Kate Kelly how noble her mien
As she sat on her horse like an Amazon queen,
She rode through the forest revolver at hand,
Regardless of danger, who dare bid her stand.

May the angels protect this young heroine bold
And her name be recorded in letters of gold
Though her brothers were outlaws, she loved them most dear,
And hastened to tell them when danger was near.

But the great God of Mercy who scans all her ways
Commanded grim death to shorten their days,
Straightway to Glenrowan their course did he steer
To slay those bold outlaws and stop their career.

The daring Ned Kelly came forth from the inn,
To wreak his last vengeance he then did begin,
To slaughter the troopers straightway he did go,
And tore up the railway their train to o’erthrow.

But the great God of Mercy, to baulk his intent,
And stop the destruction, a messenger sent,
A person named Curnow, who seemed in great dread,
Cried out to the troopers, ‘There’s danger ahead!’

But Time hath its changes; how dreadful their fate,
They found out their error when it was too late.
The house was surrounded by troopers two-score,
And also expected a great many more.

The daring Ned Kelly, revolver in hand,
Came to the verandah, the troopers he scanned,
Said he ‘You cursed wretches, we do you defy,
We will not surrender, we conquer or die.’

Like the free sons of Ishmael, brought up in the wilds,
Amongst forests and mountains, and rocky defiles
These brave lawless fellows could not be controlled,
And fought ten to one, until dearth we are told.

Next day at Glenrowan, how dreadful the doom,
Of Hart and Dan Kelly shut up in a room,
A trooper named Johnson, set the house all aflame
To burn those bold outlaws, it was a great shame

The daring Kate Kelly came forth from the crowd
And on her poor brother she called out aloud,
‘Come forth my dear brother, and fight while you can’
But a ball had just taken the life of poor Dan.

Next morning our hero came forth from the bush
Encased in strong armour his way did he push.
To gain his bold comrades it was his desire –
The troopers espied him, and soon opened fire.

The bullets bound off him just like a stone wall,
His fiendish appearance soon did them appall.
His legs unprotected a trooper soon found,
And a shot well directed brought him to the ground.

Now he arose captured, and stripped off his mail,
Well guarded by troopers and taken to gaol.
Convicted for murder, it grieved him full sore,
His friends and relations his fate may deplore.

Now, all you young fellows take warning by me,
Beware of bushranging, and bad company,
For like many others you may feel the dart
Which pierced the two Kellys, Joe Byrne, and Steve Hart.

Thanks to Daniel Kelly for supplying the words, thus saving me from typing up the words from the original sources. Daniel included the chords but I couldn't line them up.

Ye Sons of Australia was first published in The Bulletin as part of the series Old Bush Songs, starting 2nd March 1955.
Bushwhacker Broadside no. 15 (originally issued as no. 14)

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 07 May 21 - 08:04 PM

Here's a bit of fun: 'The Song of the Volga Shearers' aka 'Click go the shears'. 1983 precursor of Dustyesky?

Click

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 07 May 21 - 08:40 PM

FOR THE CHILDREN
(John Schumann)

The lady from the paper asked me would I write a song for you
I didn't know you then but now I do
And I'm stuck in this motel room with an empty aching heart
And the miles roll out between us and they're tearing me apart
All I've got are tunes and rhymes - this one's for you

May you always feel the sunshine and take time to taste the rain
May your friends be true and caring and I hope you are the same
And in your fleeting passage, leave a little bit behind
For the children who will follow in your footsteps
Along the sands of time.

I dreamed there was a world for you without the rush of rockets
And the thump of khaki gunships in the sky
But there were rows of eucalyptus and trains for little boys
And tadpoles in a still black creek and playgrounds full of noise
In my vision, fear and greed and anger were the only things to die

May the wind blow gently through your life, may your principles be strong
May you stand up and be counted when they work out right from wrong
May your nights be short and peaceful, may your days be warm and long
May your music be of service, may they pause sometimes and listen to your song

And here's this little voice, reaching down the phone
'Dad you've been away so long, when are you coming home?'

The lady from the paper asked me would I write a song for you
I didn't know you then but now I do
And I'm still in this motel room with an empty aching heart
And the miles roll out between us and they're tearing me apart
All I've got are tunes and rhymes - this one's for you

May your eyes be filled with kindness, may the seeds of wisdom grow
May you seek for truth and beauty and when you find it may you know
May you help feed those who are hungry and comfort those who hurt
May you always fight for justice for all of us who walk upon the earth

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 May 21 - 09:09 PM

We have 625 entries in the first spreadsheet (Aug-Dec20), & the second spreadsheet (01/01/2021-date) has 324 entries!

This means we have entered 969 songs, including a few duplicates. I can only think of 2, but there are probably more, but not many more!

Most of these songs have video/audio links, other have dots or traditional tunes, and a small number just have a reference to an album that does not have an on-line presence.

Onwards & upwards!

sandra

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 May 21 - 08:57 AM

another song from Joy Durst dots here

077 BIG POLL THE GROG SELLER, Words: Charles Thatcher, Tune: John Medex Maddox (Philip the Falconer)

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

1. Big Poll the Grog-seller gets up every day,
And her small rowdy tent sweeps out.
She's turning in plenty of tin, people say,
For she knows what she's about, for she knows what she's about.
Polly's good-looking, and Polly is young,
And Polly's possessed of a smooth oily tongue,
She's an innocent face and a good head of hair,
And a lot of young fellows will often go there,
And they keep dropping in handsome Polly to court,
And she smiles and supplies them with brandy and port,
And the neighbours all say that the whole blessed day
She is grog-selling late and early, she is grog-selling late and early.

2. Two sly-grog detectives have come up from town,
And they both roam about in disguise,
And several retailers of grog are done brown,
And have reason to open their eyes, and have reason to open their eyes.
Of her small rowdy crib they are soon on the scent,
But Polly's prepared when they enter her tent;
They call for some brandy ... "We don't sell it here,
But," says Poll, "I can give you some nice ginger beer,"
And she adds, "Do you see any green in my eye?
To your fine artful dodge and disguise I am fly,
For if Polly you'd nail, you'd have, without fail,
To get up in the morning early, to get up in the morning early."

From Thatcher's Colonial Minstrel (1864), published with the note: A new parody of Philip the Falconer as written and sung by Thatcher at the Shamrock.

The original song was published as part of a Christmas pantomine in 1847.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 May 21 - 09:01 AM

GRAVES OUT WEST, by Will Ogilvie, tune Graham Jenkin

audio- Oz Folk Song a day

If the lonely graves are scattered in that fenceless vast God's Acre,
If no church bells chime across them, and no mourners tread between —
Yet the souls of those sound sleepers go as swiftly to their Maker,
And the ground is just as sacred, and the graves are just as green.

If we chant no solemn dirges to the virtue of their living.
If we sing no hymn words o'er them in the glory of the stars
They can hear a grander music than was ever ours for giving,
God's choristers invisible - the winds in the belars.

If we set them up no marble, it is none the less we love them:
If we carved a million columns would it bring them better rest
If no gentle hands have fashioned snow-white wreaths to lay above them,
God has laid His own wild flowers on the lonely graves out West.

From the Overlander's 1979 album, Tribute to Western Australia. Written by Graham Jenkin.

Words from Will H. Ogilvie's Fair Girls and Gray Horses With Other Verses (1907).

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 08 May 21 - 09:55 PM

BRINDABELLA MORNING
(Mike Hayes)

As the snow falls on the Brindabella Ranges
Watch it sparkle as it catches all the early morning light
Like a string of diamonds up above the tree tops
On your Brindabella morning, lord, it makes a wondrous sight

But it’s not a northern billabong at sundown
Where the brumbies make their way across anthill plains
And you can’t look down and see a thousand buffalo
Wading across the black soil after monsoon rains

And the campfires of the Brinkin tribe don’t glimmer here at night
To let the traveller know he’s not alone
Though your Brindabella morning shines like crystal in the light
It’s not my time, it’s not my place, it’s not home

See the black swans nesting far out on your big lake
See the water as it’s rippled by a tiny breath of breeze
And a sudden flash of colour in the gum break
As your parrots flit like jewels ’neath your soaring mountain trees

But its not a million magpie geese a-rising
Blotting out the sun as they suddenly take wing
From some pool beside the Alligator River
That’s dry until the first rains fall in spring

And I miss those fish crocs barking around sundown
When the air gets thick and those fruit bats start to roam
You might find your piece of heaven on this Brindabella day
But it’s not my time, it’s not my place, it’s not home

Mike Hayes' reflections on leaving the Top End to live in Canberra post-Cyclone Tracy. Mike worked in Darwin for the ABC and he was the first journalist to report on the cyclone.

Click

Mike later became well-known for his radio program 'The Prickle Farm':

Prickle Farm

Mike died in 2003, a few days short of his 59th birthday. Here is a bio published in the 'The Sydney Morning Herald':

Mike Hayes

Unfortunately, there is no clip on YT of Mike performing 'Brindabella Morning'. However, it was recorded by Ralph Harris:

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 09 May 21 - 08:20 PM

Here's a Dylanesque excursion by the lad from Gympie that's not without its charm.

FOLK INSOMNIA
(Darren Hanlon)

There's rumbling in the head again
Inside the head there lived a brain
Inside the brain there lived a dream
That shot 'round like a laser beam
Along nerve endings and synapses
Past the room for memory lapses
Brought about by alcohol
That causes all the cell collapses

Now, that dream's not the only one
I had plenty more when I was young
But I grew up in a big hurry
And then one day I start to worry that
I'm gonna be a goner before I read all the books I wanna
If I plant a tree now it'll be fully grown
Long after I'm just dust and bone and
Now I can't sleep, it's already 3 am
And i'm lying here dividing sheep by the square root of ten

So I gave away my clothes to charity
I turned off my TV for clarity
But some days I still envy those
Walking around wearing my clothes

So i'll just plant a tree i'll never see grow
Put a seed in the ground where no one'll know
Gonna make my plan when the morning breaks
But i'm just don't know how long it'll take

I keep hearing voices and ringing phones
But i'm staring down a highway all alone
With just the company of my stomach rumble
But I feel okay, it makes me humble
Without a load that I must carry
Or a bump in the road to make me tarry
Just a pile of ashes from the miles i've burned and everything i've learned

What have I learned?

Don't walk in front of cars or behind horses
Cats don't drink milk out of flying saucers
Green means go, yellow: go faster
Red means stop - a financial disaster
And don't ever underestimate the fitness of a determined Jehova’s Witness
And don't ever take for granted what grew from every kiss you planted
If a heart can break, then a heart can feel
It's to know that you're alive and real
Not a rattle and bounce in a little white ball
Not a number on a roulette wheel
And hair it turns grey and skin it turns to leather
But the best thing about growing old is we all do it together

So i'll just plant a tree i'll never see grow
Put a seed in the ground where no one'll know
Gonna make my plan when the morning breaks
But i'm just don't know how long it'll take

They say that a love that's shared is a love that's carried
All the way to the church where you'll be married
And it's a long long way down the aisle to altar and you don't have the time to falter
Love will always come and go I hope
But sometimes love goes up in smoke
And you're left there with the greedy ghost
And just when you need them most
Some of your friends have disappeared
And others started acting weird
And you’re left on your bed with an awful feeling
Till you've learned by heart all the cracks in the ceiling
And you think 'Oh god I just related to that awful love song I always hated'
And the past it all becomes distorted like it was broke before you bought it
Remember, you're the one who paid
Pull the pin out of the hand grenade
It's up to you to leave your room
But don't forget to bring your spade

So you can plant a tree you'll never see grow
Put a seed in the ground where no one'll know
Gonna make my plan forever to roam
Gonna feed my nan in the nursing home
Gonna make that plan when the morning breaks
But I just don't know how long it’ll take

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

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

RAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS
(H.Lawson/C.Kempster}

The valley's full of misty cloud
Its tinted beauty drowning
The Eucalypti roar aloud
The mountain fronts are frowning

The mist is hanging like a pall
From many granite ledges
And many a little waterfall
Starts o'er the valley's edges

The sky is of a leaden grey
Save where the north is surly
The driven daylight speeds away
And night comes o'er us early

But, love, the rain will pass full soon
Far sooner than my sorrow
And in a golden afternoon
The sun may set tomorrow

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 10 May 21 - 08:03 PM

COME ALL YOU TONGUERS
(Anon)

Come all you tongues and land-loving lubbers
Here’s a job cutting in and boiling down blubbers
A job for the youngster or old and ailing
The agent will grab any man for shore whaling

Chorus
I am paid in soap and sugar and rum
For cutting in whale and boiling down tongue
The agent’s fee makes my blood so to boil
I’ll push him in a hot pot of oil

Go hang the agent, the company too
They are makin’ a fortune off me and you
No chance of a passage from out of this place
And the price of livin’s a bloomin’ disgrace

Note in ‘Song of a Young Country’, p 9:

Shore-whalers live a gloriously comfortable life compared with the sealers. They were befriended by the Maori people who built homes for them, grew food for them and worked both at whaling, and at cutting in and boiling down the blubber. Most of them married Maori women, swore loyalty to their wives’ people and were honest and hard-working. A strong comradeship sprang up amongst them.

A few shore-whalers, however, became ‘candlelight fishermen’. ‘That means he got to turn out of bed in the mornin’ - he light the candle - if the flame blow out there’s too much wind for him to go - and if it don’t blow out then there ain’t enough - so he go back to bed again’ . Quote from Phil Hamond, Morston, Norfolk. Personal communication to N. Colquhoun.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: GerryM
Date: 11 May 21 - 03:48 AM

FIRES OF '98
John Warner 19/11/92

I stand here and gaze over Strzelecki's Range,
And turn in my heart half a century of change.
Of country made fertile by sweat and the plough,
Endless good grazing for the horse and the cow.
Still I remember the small split slab hut,
The clearing we made in the towering Blackbutt.
The Bluegum and Dogwood, the stands of Tree Fern,
That fell to the axe, that we'd gather and burn.
   
Chorus (after each verse):
   So pardon my tears when I try to relate
   The ashes and dust of the year '98.

At forty years distance, I dread to recall
How massive and close was that Eucalypt wall.
Of how days burned sultry, and rivers ran dry,
And how fear would come with the haze in the sky.
Sunset came early, the colour of rust,
Our throats raw with worry, the smoke and the dust,
And yet, with that nightfall, the dark never came,
Just the dull, lurid menace, the colour of flame.

The tongue has no words for the sound and the sight
Of the savage crownfire that tore up the night.
It melted our glassware, bent iron, split rock,
And it shattered our souls and we wandered in shock.
I remember a church hall, cool water and bread,
The bitter, hard sobs as folk wept for their dead,
The pitiful cries of burned cattle and sheep,
Those memories that still haunt the hills of my sleep.

The forests have gone with their fires and fears,
My Ranges enriched by the changes of years,
Grandchildren ask me of days long ago,
But I hide the bushfires, they don't need to know.
High on the ridges, like monument stones,
Stand single, grey treestumps, a dead forest's bones.
A shudder goes through as I lean on the gate,
And I turn from the pain of the year '98.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

From the album, Pithead in the Fern, Feathers and Wedge FWCD042.
From the liner notes: "An elderly woman remembers the terrible Poowong bushfires of 1898 which resulted in areas of awesome native forest being totally burned out. Europeans often found such forest threatening, and its destruction and subsequent change into fertile farming land (due to the phosphate-rich ashes) was seen as a blessing. However, the fires destroyed the magnificent native woodlands and the range of the Kurnai and other aboriginal peoples. The clash between survival necessity and environmental splendor is again apparent."

Poowong is in the state of Victoria, in southeastern Australia.

I don't know of any recording online. Lyrics copied from Marg Walters' website.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 11 May 21 - 10:14 PM

THE NYNGAN SONG
(Mike Hayes)

My father was the battler of the old school
He never knew a time that wasn’t hard
But he kept his farm and family together
Though hard times always slipped beneath his guard
But it took a lot to cause his faith to waiver
Through a lifetime with its share of toil and pain
This time I think it might have done it
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain

The drought had burned for years across the country
When we left that sad old churchyard on the plain
We knew our mother’s death had really shook him
He just wiped his eyes and went back to work again
And, by God, us children never wanted nothin’
Though the lean years came back time and again
Though I never thought he’d ever lose the battle
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain

As the Bogan’s gone and broken through at Nyngan
The town’s cut off, the whole damn world’s a sea
It was soddenly corpses on the fence line
That finally brought the old bloke to his knees
I think it’s finally done it, finally

Not the dust storms, not the bushfires, not the bankers
Not the falling prices or the rising costs
Never made him just sit out on the verandah
Growing bitter ‘bout the battling years he’d lost
Till now he’s never ever had the time to ponder
If the years of sacrifice had been in vain
And the only thing I ever heard him pray for
Has come and washed his life’s work down the drain
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain

And the only thing I ever heard him pray for
Has come and washed his life’s work down the drain
I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain
No, I never thought I’d hear him curse the rain

Youtube

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: Stewie
Date: 12 May 21 - 08:45 PM

FREEDOM WEST PAPUA
(Joe Geia)

When you get to the Papua coast
Tell all the people who are crying.
Drink the waters from the rivers and the stream
Wipe your tears from your crying
Help West Papua from dying

The land and sea it's a part of you
Don't let anyone just take it
Drink the waters from the rivers and the stream
Stop the Papua from bleeding
I hear west papua a bleeding

Freedom flotilla - they bring our love
A message from me to you
With love from above
Sweet, sweet love from above

No more pain, no more misery
Oppressor man, can't you hear me?
Don't kill me while on bended knee
While I am calling to my father.
Forgive them, lord, they know no other

Children, wives, West Papuan lives
Many of them have been taken
Give us strength, peace and love
Sweet, sweet love for one another
And forgiveness for my brother

Freedom West Papua, we send our love
A message from me to you
With love from above
Sweet, sweet love from above

Oh Yawoh West Papua!
Oh Yawoh West Papua!
Oh Yawoh West Papua!

Freedom West Papua, we send our love
A message from me to you
With love from above
Sweet, sweet love from above

So when you get to the Papua coast
Tell all the people who are crying
Drink the waters from the rivers and the stream
Wipe your tears from your crying
Help West Papua from dying

Freedom West Papua, we send our love
A message from me to you
With love from above
Sweet, sweet love from above
With love from above
Sweet, sweet love from above

Youtube clip

Joe Geia

freedom flotilla West Papua

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 13 May 21 - 02:36 AM

Good one, Stew - so much about the West Papuan struggles against the might of the Indonesian Military was/is never reported in MSM - just like the East Timor Troubles all over again,
where Australia (and in particular the damnable Bollockticians and faceless bureaucrat Suits) let our nearest and impoverished neighbours down in a big way.


I have not posted for a while (Apr20?) - busy in my other Life - but I will try and get in a few more songs before we head to Darwin for the 50th Top Half FF.
Only a month away now and my 1st time back in 17 years!!!

Cheers,
R-J

Subject: RE: Mudcat Australia/NZ Songbook
From: rich-joy
Date: 13 May 21 - 07:03 PM

MR PEABODY IS STILL DESTROYING COMMUNITIES & THE ENVIRONMENT - IN AUSTRALIA TOO
Though the late-and-great John Prine sang in 1971 about the Kentucky town of Paradise, lost by strip mining to Mr Peabody’s infamous coal train, history just keeps repeating itself - and at present, Down Under in NSW :
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/02/im-not-selling-what-happens-when-an-australian-town-is-consumed-by-a-us-coalminer
(may need to cut-and-paste - news links are being tampered with these days ...)
“what happens when an Australian town is consumed by a US coalminer” (the current story of the town of Wollar) 02 May 2021


KILLER BLACK COAL MINES

Bob Campbell

Once I lived in Paradise, now I live in hell
Peabody Coal Mines are chewing my hill
Poor old Ulan’s rolling down a hole
Going down for profit and Killer Black Coal.

   Killer Black Coal Mines growing everywhere
   Killer Black Coal Mines does anybody care
   Killer Black Coal Trains coming round the bend
   Killer Black Coal Trains ripping out again.

Goodbye wombat, grey kangaroo, red-necked wallaby, emu too
Wedge-tailed eagles flapping in despair, gotta eat somewhere, doesn’t know where.

Singleton and Muswellbrook, the kids are dying young
You can taste the lead and sulphur everytime you move your tongue.
Headlights, crash sites, the miners own the road
Big trucks rolling, lungs on overload.

   Shit creek, Cripple Creek, spoil? everywhere
   The mountains are a moonscape, valleys dead and bare.
   Shit creek, Cripple Creek - does anybody care
   That the mountains are a moonscape, valleys dead and bare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNFWT-BGJLw sung here by Bob Campbell, with additional commentary by members of the affected coal communities in the historic Gulgong vicinity.

See more about Bob’s history and longtime musical endeavours AND the stories behind this song, at http://www.fiddlerbob.com/killer-black-coal.html    :

"Killer Black Coal Mines was written by Bob Campbell [c.2011] a local musician of Ulan near Mudgee NSW Australia. Bob's song portrays what is happening in small communities in many parts of the world as the coal mining companies rip apart beautiful valleys and caring communities. Families dreams shattered as land is grabbed from under them. Not everyone though, only some properties are picked out and made large offers. With no options, those left behind with worthless land must also suffer the indignities of noise, air and aesthetic pollution.
In the Ulan, Moolarben, Wilpinjong and Bylong Valleys they all adjoin national parks, so there is obviously many plants and animals threatened and killed. Road kill is astounding when you have this much industry adjoining national parks.”

https://changingtimes.media/2017/09/19/coal-mining-devastates-villages-and-cultural-heritage-in-australias-hunter-valley/
“Coal mining devastates villages and cultural heritage in Australia’s Hunter Valley” 19 Sept 2017

And as in America, so follows Australia :
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/hunter-coal-miners-don-t-have-enough-funds-for-land-rehabilitation-20210505-p57p4b.html
06 May 2021 (may have to cut-and-paste that one; MSM link keeps reverting to a 2007 off-topic article. Hmmmm .....) : “HUNTER COAL MINERS DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FUNDS FOR LAND REHABILITATION”

well well, what a surprise   “Draglines at my heart” indeed ..... :(

R-J