Mudcat Australia-New Zealand Songbook

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 06 Dec 20 - 08:37 PM

NEW CHUM SHEARER
(Traditional)

Well the new chum toils with heart and soul
Shearing the sheep just to make a roll
Out in the outback, far away
Then off to Sydney for a holiday

And down in the city he's a terrible swell
As he takes a taxi to the Kent Hotel,
The barmaid says, 'Well you look ill
It must have been rough tucker, Bill'

And down in the city he looks a goat
With his Oxford bags and Seymour coat
Spends his money like a fool of course
He's worked for like a bloomin' horse

Then he shouts for everyone round the place
Then it's off to Randwick for the big horse race
Dopes himself on back-ache pills
Talks high tallies and tucker bills

His money's gone, he's sick and sore
And the barmaid's looks aren't kind any more
His erstwhile friends don't give a hoot
It's back to the bush, per what? - the boot!

And back in Bourke where the flies are bad,
He tells of the wonderful times he's had
The winners that he shouldn't have missed
And he skites of the dozens of girls he's kissed

And he stands on the corner scrounging a fag
The shirt tails showing through his Oxford bags
He's pawned that beautiful Seymour coat
He's got no money - oh, what a goat

Got no tucker, got no booze,
The soles are gone from his snake-skin shoes
Camps in the bend, in the wind and rain
Waits for the shearing to start again

So all you blokes with a cheque to spend
Don't go down to the city where you've got no friends
Head for the nearest wayside shack
It ain't so far when you've got to walk back!

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: GUEST,SqueezeMe
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 09:54 AM

Another regular reader of this thread here. Please keep up the good work; this is a wonderful resource.

One or two notable omissions (my humble opinion only). Kevin Baker's "Snowy River Men" has long been a favorite. And maybe something from Broome's Pigram Brothers, perhaps "Saltwater Cowboy".

Or have they already been posted and I've missed them????

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 07:12 PM

Welcome, Guest. Thanks for your feedback; it is appreciated. I posted 2 Pigram Brothers songs above - 'Dry River Bed' and 'Johnny's Shoes'. I'll post your suggestions.

R-J, you'll love this parody of 'Sounds of Silence' if you haven't heard it. Parliament can be fun for a few moments.

West Oz pollie

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 07:54 PM

lost your password SqeezeMe?

I love Kevin's work, but very little is available outside his records & CDs, & Dave de Santi is not aware of anyone still singing his songs. Doesn't mean that folks don't slip in an occasional song in sessions, but ...

I've posted a video of Snowy River men, 29 Aug 20 - 10:04 AM, but not the words. Decades ago BMC published the words not knowing who wrote it & I do have a jpg of them, all I need to do is find it.

I asked Ralph to OCR scan the words of 'One hand's the boss's' (05 Nov 20 - 05:22 AM) & probably could ask him to do so again.

sandra

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 07:59 PM

oops, I didn't check - the words are there with the video.

sandra (blushing)

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 09:05 PM

SqueezeMe, here's your other request:

SALTWATER COWBOY
(Pigram Brothers)

Lend me your body tonight, my bluewater lady
This salty wind is getting to my bones
These lugger sails are moving too slowly
For this saltwater cowboy sailing home
This ol' copper hat is aching my shoulders
These lead-weight boots don't need any spurs
To ride these waves and bare-back mermaids
Ah this saltwater country is my home

Stand back, you shallow water man
Let a deep sea diver through

Selamat tingal, nakula jarndu
Sayonara, slo'n', gallow nyundu
These lugger sails are moving too slowly
For this saltwater cowboy sailing home

Stand back, you shallow water man
Let a deep sea diver through

These lugger sails are moving too slowly
For this saltwater cowboy sailing home
For this saltwater cowboy sailing home
For this saltwater cowboy sailing home

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 09:44 PM

OMG Stewie! I am amazed that the Speaker just let the Hon MLA Templeman keep going to the end!!
Wonder if there was "fallout" for anyone?!

I seem to recall a famous Sth African politician (a great female singer and activist, whose name at present escapes me) was stopped from her attempt at singing in the South African Parliament ....


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: JennieG
Date: 07 Dec 20 - 10:08 PM

Is my memory playing me false, or did Kevin Baker write a song called "Superstar"? About how people used to sing while going about their everyday tasks, but now you have to be - or think you have to be - a superstar, to sing.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 12:34 AM

yes, & I posted it - 29 Aug 20 - 10:52 AM  
 
it's probably my favourite of his songs, or is Aunty Rooney my favourite?

It's the story of a family entertainment in the days before TV where everyone participates "today I'll play the mouth organ my mother let me bring"


I'll type it up later today

sandra

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: JennieG
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 01:20 AM

Thanks, Sandra - jolly good! It's a great song.

Mind you, I remember my mother used to sing around the house and we always wished that she wouldn't.....because she couldn't.....

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 03:59 AM

another oops, I posted Aunty Rooney on 18 Sep 20 - 02:17 AM

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: SqueezeMe
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 07:03 AM

Thanks, Stewie, for posting Saltwater Cowboy; couldn't understand all the words from the recording I have.

I missed the earlier post of Snowy River Men, Sandra. Sorry to have put you to any trouble, and the subtle slap on the wrist re. log-in duly noted :-)

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 07:45 AM

I'm reading a dog book at present, hence this offering!


DOG’S MEETING (aka CANINE CATASTROPHE)

The dogs they held a festival
They came from near and far
And some they came by aeroplane
And some by motor car
Before into the concert hall
They were allowed to look
Each dog had to take off his Boom ba-Boom***
And hang it on a hook
Yes, each dog had to take off his Boom ba-Boom
And hang it on the hook.


Well, when they were all seated there
Each mother, son and sire,
A dirty little yellow dog
Began to holler ´Fire!´
Out they rushed in panic
They didn't stop to look
Each dog he grabbed a Boom ba-Boom
From off the nearest hook
Yes, each dog he grabbed a Boom ba-Boom
From off the nearest hook.


So that's the reason that you’ll see
When walking down the street
Each dog will stop and swap a smell
With every dog he meets
And that's the reason why, me boys
He’ll leave a big fat bone
Just to go and sniff a Boom ba-Boom
To see if it’s his own
Just to go and sniff a Boom ba-Boom
To see if it’s his own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGodoFa0FIU
Canine Catastrophe : The Wild Colonial Boys (lead : Bob McInnes)

John Thompson writes : “A joke old enough to have developed many versions.
Ron Edwards notes that many of both his and John Meredith's informants claim Henry Lawson as the author, however there is no evidence that this is the case.”
Many variants, Many titles, Many tunes. Possibly started life in Scotland, long ago ….. Australian versions often set to “The Lincolnshire Poacher”, as with the Wild Colonial Boys version.

***however you wish to make the 'knock-knock' sound ....


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: GUEST,John Flynn
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 08:25 AM

Another very appreciative regular visitor to this thread. Many many thanks to Sandra, Stewie, Rich-Joy and others for all their many enjoyable contributions. From a Kiwi (and former member of the NZFLS) who has lived in Perth since 1975.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 08:28 AM

Shores of Botany Bay

I'm on me way down to the quay
Where the good ship now does lay
To command a gang of navvies
I was told to engage
But I thought I would stop in for a while
Before I went away
For to take a trip on an emigrant ship
To the shores of Botany Bay.

Ch.
   Farewell to your bricks and mortar
   Farewell to your dirty lime
   Farewell to your gangway and your gang plank
   And to hell with your overtime
   For the good ship “Ragamuffin”
   Is lying at the quay
   For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
   To the shores of Botany Bay.

The best years of our life we spend
At working on the docks
Building mighty wharves and quays
Of earth and ballast rocks
Our pensions keep our lives secure
But I'll not rue the day
When I take a trip on an emigrant ship
To the shores of Botany Bay.

Oh the boss came up this morning
And he said "Why Pat, hello
If you do not mix that mortar quick
Be sure you'll have to go"
Of course he did insult me
I demanded all me pay
And I told him straight I was going to emigrate
To the shores of Botany Bay.

And when I reach Australia
I'll go and look for gold
There's plenty there for the digging of
Or so I have been told
Or maybe I’ll go back to me trade
Eight hundred bricks I'll lay
In an eight hour shift for eight bob pay
On the shores of Botany Bay.


Notes
Collected from Duke Tritton by John Meredith. Tritton learned the song while busking in Sydney early this century. He also wrote the last verse. Second verse is from Therese Radic's Songs of Australian Working Life :
MARK GREGORY http://folkstream.com/080.html

Version here by The Wild Colonial Boys, 1970 (lead, Tony Lavin) starts at 12:20 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOioyIDnQeo


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 09:57 AM

and here's the earliest copy as published in Singabout, Volume 2(3), December 1957

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 06:44 PM

Thanks for the kind words, John. It is great to have feedback from a Kiwi.

R-J, the Speaker of the WA parliament must be very tolerant. The Hon David Templeman has been permitted to amuse the chamber with his ditties on several occasions. Here is another:

Ode to 2020

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 07:36 PM

Alan Mann of Loaded Dog introduced me to the music of C.W. Stoneking several years ago and since then I have added several of his delightful albums to my collection. His style is reminiscent of the great Leon Redbone. I love this whimsical song:

TALKIN' LION BLUES
(C.W. Stoneking)

O-lay-eeeeeee
O-lay-ee-ee-ee
O-de-o-lay-ee-oh-oh
O-da-lay-eee

I was over in Africa minin' for gold
O-ooh, minin' for gold
Come along a big lion, caught me in my hole
O-de-lay-eee, caught me in my hole

The lion said, 'Buddy, you plumb outta luck
O-ooh, you plumb outta luck'
Made a lunge for me, lawd, I had to duck
O-de-lay-eee, I had to duck

I jabbed that lion right clean in the jaw
O-ooh, right clean in the jaw
Picked up his tail, dragged him 'cross the floor
O-de-lay-eee, dragged him 'cross the floor

I chained him up in the back of my truck
O-ooh, in the back of my truck
Said, 'what's that you had to say about luck?
O-de-lay-eee, that you said about luck'

The first place I took him was ten miles away
O-ooh, ten miles away
Told the people, 'Listen what this lion can say
O-de-lay-eee, what this lion can say'

The lion looked round, he started to cry
O-ooh, he started to cry
Said, 'this man punched me and he blackened my eye
O-da-lay-eee, and he blackened my eye'

The people got angry, they started to shout
O-da-lay-ee-ee-ee-eee
Lion said, 'That's what I was talkin' about'
O-de-lay-eee, oh-oh, lawd, lawd

They hauled me up the courthouse stairs
O-ooh, up the courthouse stairs
The judge was a monkey in an old wicker chair
O-de-lay-eee, in an old wicker chair

The monkey said, 'Guilty', and the people all cheered
O-ooh, and the people all cheered
He slammed his gavel, said, 'twenty five years'
O-da-lay-eee, said 'twenty five years'

I'm in Africa wearin' a ball and chain
O-de-lay-ee, a ball and chain
I'll never mess with a talkin' lion again
O-ooh, a talkin' lion again

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 08:42 PM

OLD TI

CH:
Old TI, my beautiful home,
That's the place where I was born;
The sun and the moon that shine,
Make me long for home,
Old TI, my beautiful home.

TI, my beautiful home,
TI, my home sweet home.
Darling, won't you take me,
Where the sun is sinking, farewell.

Why are you looking so sad, my dear,
Why are you feeling so blue?
I'm thinking of someone so far away,
In that beautiful place called TI.

Take me across the sea,
Over the deep blue sea,
Darling, won't you take me,
Back to my home TI.

When at the break of dawn,
Your dear face I cannot see,
You will always think,
Always think of me.

Up above the clouds,
Your dear face I cannot see,
But in your memories dear,
Never, never say goodbye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj1LDel24PI           JESSIE LLOYD version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYPShjofjI           TED EGAN version


“Another from the Joy Durst Memorial Australian Song Collection (1980 edition), published by the Victorian Folk Music Club. Published with the following note: Popularised by Joy Durst. From Thursday Islanders at Cairns, Queensland.
TI is the popular name for Thursday Island, the administrative centre of the Torres Strait Islands which lie off the Northern tip of Queensland.   The islands have been part of Australia since their annexation by Queensland in 1879. The indigenous population are Melanesian islanders.” Lyrics and Notes taken from John Thompson’s “Oz Folksong a Day”blog: http://ozfolksongaday.blogspot.com/2011/11/old-ti.html

Documentary : Islands of the Torres Straits, 1989 (This Land Australia series by TED EGAN) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Ih37aPrNM

“Are You From TI?” is another popular Island song (Seaman Dan version ) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY23WrKbMCU


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 11:09 PM

I think we may have around 495 song lyrics so far (most with recording links) - wadyarekun Sandra?!    Well Done Us, in any case :)

Of course, there is NOTHING stopping ANYONE from posting Oz-Kiwi songs here ........... (she says hopefully)

I'm working on a couple more before my mini workbreak (except I'd rather do this than all the houseshite threatening to bury me! :)

R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Dec 20 - 11:52 PM

The Volunteers: a ballad

(Words only; no tune indicated)


Source:

"THE VOLUNTEERS, A BALLAD",
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (8 April 1804), 3

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article626124



When menac'd with civil commotion and noise
Shall Britons inactively slumber?
Then away to the field, the bright musket to poise,
With courage, regardless of number.

With patriot firmness the laws we'll maintain;
With spirit and vigor we'll brave the campaign;
Our women and children relinquish their fears,
And trust to the prowess of bold Volunteers.

Should France, in her fondness for places abroad
E'er honor our Coast with a visit,
Before on the soil many moments they've trod
They'll find our politeness exquisite.

With a Marseillois dirge, or a Carmagnel dance
To the music of musquetry let them advance
But dreadful the musars will be to their ears
Struck up by the phalanx of firm Volunteers.

Should sordid Mynheer foreign conquest pursue,
And fly from his DAMS to assist us,
Our RED COATS, supporting the Volunteer BLUE,
With good hearts and flints cannot fail us.

No jarring contention those hearts shall divide,
But Britain's blest Genius o'er Britons preside
And the Foes of our MONARCH retreating in tears
Shall fly from the ardour of bold Volunteers.


just found here : https://www.sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony/chronicle1801-1810.php


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 12:13 AM

"MURTOCH DELANY'S DESCRIPTION OF THE RACES"

ANONYMOUS (songwriter) : To the tune "Ballynamony-ora" [Ballinamona ora]

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (20 October 1810), 3

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article628109


Don't you know I from Hawkesbury came to behold
Your Races, that seem'd to delight young and old,
Where each rode a-foot, if not blest with a horse
And cantered away to the place called the Course
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
A tight little horse-race for me.

Och! then what a noise open'd up to my view,
About young Paddywhack, and old Bryanboroo,
But sacrilege surely it was at the least,
That Paddy's dear name should belong to a beast.
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
Ah! no such vile nick names for me.

There were Gentlemen mounted so fine and so gay,
And ladies that look'd like a star at noon-day;
When I see the dear creatures I grieve that I'm poor,
Since Beauty's the planet we all must adore.
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
A smart little damsel for me.

Six jokers on horseback were standing stock still,
Like as many dragoons that were learning to drill,
Till losing their wits, sure, they all at one time
Gallopped off at full speed, without reason or rhyme.
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
Ah! no such diversion for me.

In no time at all sure they twirl'd round about,
And met cheek by jowl at the place they set out
Then faster and faster they went - I protest,
To see which could manage to break his neck best.
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
Their necks they may crack all for me.

But think what the devil myself could possess; -
One said would I lay, and I thought I'd say yes!
Then because I just lost and had nothing to pay,
Why I raced by myself, and so gallopped away;
Sing Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora, Ballynamony-ora,
No kicking nor whipping for me!

More info at : https://www.sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony/chronicle1801-1810.php


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 02:28 AM

THE ALBURY RAM

Numerous tunes - numerous choruses - numerous verses - even numerous towns titles   They abound for the British (and American) folksong “The Derby Ram” and from which song, Australia’s version comes!!!

SO MANY versions of that darn song on YT – whodathunkit??!! (even Archie Fisher has a version : Crikey! :)

The MainlyNorfolk website has LOTS of info on the song/s : https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thederbyram.html


The song [version 1] features in John Lahey’s Great Australian Folk Songs with 8 verses - and a tune arranged by P. Evans.
This is the version that the prolific Raymond Crooke uses : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FavKdhHtz-g&t=4s


I was also after the version I knew, from The Twiliters’ 1965 recording of “The Albury Ram” – but their version has not yet been uploaded to YT, that I can find.
However, from memory, their tune is a slower version of this A.L.Lloyd one [version 2] : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qiy9qcc3nJc


The Albury Ram (Victorian Folk Music Club’s collection) [version 1]


As I was going to Albury along the other day,
I saw the finest sheep, sir, was ever fed on hay.

Singing blow you winds to morning, blow you winds, hi-ho!
Blow away the morning dew, blow boys, blow.

The sheep he had four feet, sir, upon which he used to stand,
And every one of them, sir, it covered an acre of land.

The sheep he had two horns, sir, they grew so mighty wide,
They're going to build a bridge with them from Albury to Clyde.

The sheep he had a tail, sir, it grew so mighty long,
'Twas used to build a telegraph from Sydney to Geelong

The wool upon his belly, it bore him off the ground,
'Twas sold in Melbourne the other day for a hundred thousand pounds.

The wool upon his back, sir, it grew so mighty high,
The eagles built their nest there, for I heard the young ones cry.

A hundred gallons of oil, sir, were boiled out of his bones,
Took all the girls in Albury to drag away his frame.

The man who owned this sheep sir, he must have been mighty rich,
And the man who made this song up was a lying son-of-a-gun.



Dalby Ram - A.L.Lloyd [version 2]

As I was going to Dalby all on a market day
I met the biggest ram my boys that ever was fed on hay
And indeed my lads it's true my lads I never was known to lie
And if you'd been in Dalby you'd seen him the same as I

The wool on this ram's belly well it grew into the ground
Cut off and sent to the Sydney sales it fetched a thousand pound
The wool on this ram's back my boys grew so very high
The eagles came and built their nests and I heard the young 'uns cry

The horns on this ram's head they reached up to the moon
A little boy went up in January and he didn't get back till June
And indeed my lads it's true my lads I never was known to lie
And if you'd been in Dalby you'd seen him the same as I

The man that fed this ram my boys he fed him twice a day
And every time he opened his mouth he swallowed a bale of lucerne hay
The man that watered this ram my boys watered him twice a day
And every time he opened his mouth he drunk the river dry

Now this old ram he had a tail that reached right down to hell
And every time he waggled it he rung the fireman's bell
And indeed my lads it's true my lads I never was known to lie
And if you'd been in Dalby you'd seen him the same as I

The butcher that stuck this ram my boys was up to knees in blood
And the little boy who held the bowl was carried away by the flood
Took all the boys in Dalby to roll away his bones
Took all the girls in Dalby to roll away his stone the crows

Now the man that fattened this ram my boys he must have been very rich
And the man who sung this song must be a lying son of a .... so he is
Well now my song is ended I've got no more to say
So give us another pint of beer and we'll all of us go away


Believe what you will.

R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 02:49 AM

Stewie has posted some songs by Charles Thatcher [ Charles R. Thatcher (Charles Robert), 1831-1878 ] and so here is :

"Thatcher's Colonial Minstrel: A new collection of songs by the inimitable Thatcher." from Otago University Research Heritage program.
"Thatcher's Colonial Songs: Forming a complete comic history of the early diggings, 1864"

"Song Lyrics (descriptions and parodies) by Charles R. Thatcher about Melbourne, and Victoria, Australia. Cover shows the price is sixpence. The songster was published and printed by Charlwood and Son in Bourke Street, Melbourne, while the retailer is given as Cole's Book Arcade in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Music is not provided, but a note regarding what tune the song should be sung to is given at the start of the lyric.
Also includes 'The Victoria Songster: Containing new and original colonial songs together with a choice selection of the most popular songs of the day', published by Charlwood and Son, 1860. [37 pages are missing between p 109- 145]"

Download here : http://otago.ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/10641
(145pp - it took me a while though, on a rural connection)


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 07:02 PM

TALKING DOG
(Peter Cape)

Young cow cocky sitting on a log
Sharpening his axe, talking to his dog
Tells his dog he's sick of baching all his life
Dog answers back and says, 'Better get a wife'

Chorus
For with the ducks in the duck pond
Porkers in the pen
You no sooner finish milking
Than you've started off again

He hitches up the buggy, drives down to the hall
Lots of lovely crows there, lined against the wall
Says to his dog, 'Leave the choice to you'
The dog cuts out a good one, says 'She'll do'

For the ...

Got to get a licence, got to get a ring
Got to see the parson, get the choir to sing:
Great day coming, down the church at three
'Who gives this woman?' and the dog says "Me'

Not the ...

This young cow cocky still hasn't got it right
The dog talks all the daytime, missus talks at night
Going to leave them to it, take another lease
Get up in the tea-tree, get a bit of peace

From the ...

If you want a moral (though I dunno why you should)
Talking to your dog won't do you any good
But if you must be talking, just keep it sweet and nice
Here's a tip from me, mates, don't take his advice

Or the ducks in the duckpond
Porkers in the pen
They'll keep you going at it
When they get you back again

Or you'll have ...

I couldn't find a recording of this on the Net. The tune is printed in 'An Ordinary Joker' p64.
Martin Curtis recorded it on his 'Gin and Raspberry' album. ABC file available on this page:

Click

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 07:27 PM

Gerry posted a link to a recording of Peter Cape's 'Talking Dog' to R-J's thread about dogs. There are minor variations to Cape's original. I searched YT but somehow missed the recording. by Graham Wilson.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 07:31 PM

Oops, I'm not doing too well. It was John Flynn who posted the link. My apologies, John.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 04:31 AM

speaking of the famous Ram as were doing,

The Ram of Darby, perhaps the earliest version of this song family collected in Australia, or maybe just the earliest version published in Oz in Singabout 1(4), Spring 1956

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 08:02 AM

Great to see that version of The Darby Ram, Sandra -
I didn't find that one, but it is the variant that Jeff Corfield referenced for the chune of John Dengate's "The Bicentennial Song" - which I posted it back on Dec 3rd!!
Funny how the cogs of the Universe can align for us, LoL!

Cheers, R-J   :)

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 09:48 AM

I'm currently working on a blog about the 1960 Banjo Paterson Festival at Orange (NSW) & was tracing the songs sung there, 4 years after the Bush Music Club was established & less than 10 years after people started looking for traditional Australian songs to counter the increasing Americanisation of our culture.

It will appear here Bush Music Club blog, I'm just waiting for some info from a foundation member & another who joined within the first few months about 2 songs with alternate titles.

sandra

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 08:13 PM

DOWN IN THE BRUNNER MINE
(Anon)

They work in the heat and the coal black dust
Sticks to the skin like a burn'd pie crust
We curse each day that the miner must
Go down in the Brunner mine

Down at the face of the the Brunner mine
Two hundred feet by the survey line
There's never a sign of sun and sky
Down in the Brunner mine

The miner's breath comes short and hot
He's using all the breath he's got
Whether it's good for his lungs or not
Down in the Brunner mine

A sound that'll creep through the miner's soul
Is the shake and rattle and down she'll roll
A hundred feet of rubble and coal
Down in the Brunner mine

A cave-in'll give us a shut down day
But that'll never make a miner gay
For the trembling earth speaks Judgment Day
Down in the Brunner mine

Youtube clip

Note in 'Song of a Young Country':

New Zealand's worst mining disaster occurred at the Brunner Mine in Westland on the morning of 26 March 1896 when an explosion at the coalface rocketed through the whole mine and killed every man, a total of 67. The accident left 186 children fatherless and 14 other aged and invalid persons without a bread winner.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 08:56 PM

THE DYING FETTLER

A strapping young fettler lay dying
With a shovel supporting his head
The ganger and crew round him crying
As he let go his pick-handle and said:

Ch.
Wrap me up in a tent or a fly, boys
And bury me deep down below
Where the trolleys and trains won’t molest me
To show there’s a navvy below.

There’s tea in the old battered billy-can
Place the dogs spikes out in a row
And we’ll spike to the next merry meeting
To show there’s a navvy below.

Hark, there’s the wail of a trolley
Far, far away it seems
It sounds like the inspector is coming
And hopes to see us all here.

So back to your shovels, my boy-lads
And bend your backs with a will
For this inspector has no time of judgement
But there is a navvy below.


“The Dying Fettler” was collected at Lappa Junction, N.Q., August 21, 1966. It will be readily recognised as a parody on “The Dying Stockman”.
It was sung by Vic Leonard, who in turn had learned it from Frank Stock of Koorboora, a now extinct mining centre.”
Ron Edwards, To the North – Pt 5 of The Overlander Songbook, 1966

The town of Koorboora (east of Herberton), was in an area of Tin and Wolfram (Tungsten) mining, extant from the late 1800s to maybe 1930s.   A Fettler (in this song), is someone who repairs or maintains a Railway.

***[Horace Flower, 1st published, Portland Mirror, 1885].

“The Dying Stockman”*** has collected a fair few parodies and the tune (and its variations) is, I think, very well-known, but I have included two links. One to Dave de Hugard’s singing : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxZ5EARLsQ8

And one, from a more classical voice. I am not normally drawn - at all - to the use of this type of singing style in folk music, but, I suspect that is probably a Baby Boomer penchant!!   
This chap, as well as being a singer and writer, is a geologist and Australia does a pretty good line in Singing Geologists!!
So here is Robert Pyper : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INCf9_YXFYA

I might post his own song about gold mining in 1930s Meekatharra, sometime soon.


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 10:01 PM

On 20 August, I posted lyrics to Lawson's 'Down the River', but no sound links. Since then, I have found a couple of renditions:

Loaded Dog

Gerry Hallon

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 03:31 AM

speaking of Dogs ......

THE KELPIE

Lyrics, Bill Robertson / Music, Lyndon Kris

To build this country, the new Promised Land
The Kelpie was there; it gave us a hand
Mustering the High Country in hail and the rain
Or in the Outback on a dry dusty plain.

Without any wages, working daylight to dark
T’was in the back country they made their mark
Mustering sheep and cattle, and horses too
The Kelpie dogs did what we couldn’t do.

        He moved to the left, he moved to the right
        He backed them on through until they took flight
        He drove from behind and ran to the lead
        Turned them around and slowed them to feed
        : This Kelpie Dog is one heck of a breed! [spoken]

The sun pounded down, they’d stopped to rest
This Kelpie dog was still giving his best
He’s tough as a Dingo, never complains
Some say they’re related, well, that’s no shame.

The Kelpie doesn’t mind, they’ll go anywhere
When the going gets tough, they just don’t care
They’re the best b…? this world’s ever seen
The Kelpie dogs, yeah, they’re a working machine.

        He moved to the left, he moved to the right
        He backed them on through until they took flight
        He drove from behind and ran to the lead
        Turned them around and slowed them to feed
        : This Kelpie Dog is one heck of a breed! [spoken]

Crossing rivers so deep and wide – they move stock to the other side
The edge of the banks so terribly steep – a difficult place for a large mob of sheep
Pushing forward and paniced with fright – all bunched up – what a terrible sight
Some went down in the mud and the glue – He never lost one to the old Barcoo.***

Relentless and tough, endearing to all
They respond in a flash to their master’s call
They came from mixed cultures, just like we all do
Now the genes of Australia run through their veins too.

With the passing of time, we’ve been remiss
We forgot to thank Kelpie for doing all this
When our need was greatest, they gave us a hand
To build a nation, a new prosperous land.

Spoken :
Thanks Kelpie – you did it : what we couldn’t do
YOU LITTLE BEAUTY!


Sung by Ian Sandercoe :   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFSehjkFNHw

From the 2012 documentary “KELPIE THE LEGEND”    https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kelpiethelegend (trailer + watch or buy)

***The Barcoo is a river in SW Qld rising in the Warrego Range and eventually joining Cooper’s Creek. All are mentioned in Australian folksongs and stories.
Barcoo Rot, Barcoo Fever were maladies also mentioned, but are apparently rarely experienced these days, probably due to better quality food and safer water.
Interestingly, a Barcoo Dog is a noise-making device for herding sheep when dogs are unavailable. It’s made of wire and bottle tops and was first recorded in 1936.


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: DaveJohnson
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 06:24 AM

Here's one that I thought deserved a tune and chorus. There are very few bullocky songs and yet these men were the mainstay of early colonial transport.

Bill the Bullocky
In an article called Gundagai's Dog by JG Castleton written in 1938 he says these words were sighted on a matchbox holder and dated 1859.
In “Songs of Australia” it is set to an Irish rebel tune and given a rollicking chorus to rollick by myself.

As I came down through Conroy's Gap, I heard a maiden cry,
"There goes old Bill the Bullocky, he's bound for Gundagai!'

Chorus
With a heave on the yoke and a heave on the chains
And the crack of the whip again and again.

'A better bullock-driver never cracked more honest crust;
A kinder-hearted driver never dragged a whip through dust.'

With Spark and Charlie in the lead and on the pole old Ball,
Who bent his back, nor cared a damn if the others pulled at all.

His team got bogged at Five-Mile Creek; Bill lashed and cried and swore,
'If Nobby don't haul us out of this I'll speak to him no more!'

So Nobby strained, and broke the yoke, and poked out Baldy's eye,
And the dog sat on the tucker-box five miles from Gundagai.

Come all you bullock-drivers, and listen to my rhyme,
And if ever you go a-carrying, don't bind yourselves to time.

For I'm on the Sydney Road, my boys, my fortune for to try,
And I'm loaded for a storekeeper, in the town of Gundagai.

Song file with abc and pdf links

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 06:57 AM

good to see you here, Dave, I look froward to lots more songs from your songbook

sandra

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 07:55 AM

Thanks Dave! - that post was well-timed, coz :

NINE MILES FROM GUNDAGAI

I'm used to punching bullock teams across the hills and plains
I've teamed outback these forty years in blazing droughts and rains
I've lived a heap of troubles down without a flamin’ lie
But I can’t forget what happened [to] me nine miles from Gundagai

T’was getting dark, the team got bogged, the axel snapped in two
I lost me matches and me pipe - ah what was I to do
The rains came on t’was bitter cold and hungry too was I
And the dog sat in the tucker box nine miles from Gundagai

Some blokes I know have stacks of luck, no matter how they fall
But there was I - lord luvva duck - no flamin’ luck at all
I couldn't make a pot of tea nor get me trousers dry
And the dog sat in the tucker box nine miles from Gundagai

I can forgive the bloomin’ team, I can forgive the rain
I can forgive the dark and cold and go through it again
I can forgive my rotten luck but hang me till I die
I can’t forgive that bloody dog nine miles from Gundagai

But that's all dead and past and gone; I've sold the team for meat
And where I got the bullocks bogged now there is an asphalt street
The dog, ah well, he took a bait and reckoned he would die
So I buried him in that tucker box nine miles from Gundagai


”In Australian Tradition Jan 1967 John Meredith wrote a piece entitled 'Along the Road to Gundagai -      but how many miles?'. In it he explores the origins of this song and its relatives. He is of the opinion that it derives from 'Bullocky Bill' which was printed in the Gundagai Times in 1857. Meredith writes "Over thirty of our old bush songs and ballads are about Gundagai - the struggles of her people and the troubles and fun that the bullockies and the shearers had there in the second half of the last century". He dates 'Nine Miles from Gundagai' from the 1880's. As Meredith points out the song could hardly have lived so long if the dog had merely sat in the tucker box. Whatever the case, it's the dog that has a memorial outside Gundagai. Gundagai journalist and poet Jack Moses published a collection of his poems in 1938. Both the collection and first poem are called 'Nine Miles from Gundagai' but only last verse matches any of the song.”
Thanks to MARK GREGORY’s great site for lyrics and notes : http://folkstream.com/064.html

Jack Moses (1860 - 1945) a travelling wine salesman and poet, had his poem published Jan1924 in Nth Qld Register. Read here : http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/poetry/nine_miles_from_gundagai.html

The 1880 poem by Bowyang Yorke (aka reporter Tom Kinnaine), can be read here along with further explanations - and stories of the iconic statue in Gundagai : https://janedogs.com/dog-on-the-tuckerbox/

Listen to : The Wild Colonial Boys (Jacko Kevans, lead) from 23:15 at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOioyIDnQeo&t=913s


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 09:19 AM

It is now the 12th, Down Under.
As today is a bit of a special memorial day for me, and as Stewie has previously posted some Mike McClellan, I am unashamedly posting my favourite!

THE ONE I LOVE

- Mike McClellan -

I don't care for dancing and I'm not much at talk
At least it’s never been that way
I know it's not easy to understand my ways
When there's so much that I oughta say

When I'm standing right before you, I feel like the fool
Blinded by the light in his eyes
No, and love’s light steals the dark night in his soul

    And the one I love she shines like silver
    The one I love she glows like moonlight
    The one I love is warm like sunshine
    The one I love

    Yes, the one I love she shines like silver
    The one I love she glows like moonlight
    The one I love is warm like sunshine
    The one I love

I don't care for parties and I like the quiet life
And I've never felt at ease within a crowd
I've never found it easy to live the way I do
Sometimes the song’s the only time I think out loud

When I'm standing right before you, I feel like the fool
Who never finds the right words to say
No, and his chance goes with the last dance of the night

And the one I love she shines like silver
The one I love she glows like moonlight
The one I love is warm like sunshine
The one I love

Yes the one I love she shines like silver
The one I love she glows like moonlight
The one I love is warm like sunshine
The One I Love


Listen to Mike here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcJwkXeiFrk


“(celebrating) Another Grey Day” was one of my faves too, great guitar and bluesy feel…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UO8FTphM1k


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 08:35 PM

Good one, Dave. Like Sandra, I look forward to more. Here is a Kiwi bullocky song from one their finest songwriters.

BULLOCKY
(Peter Cape)

Dat ol' brindle bullock wi t'e white wall eye
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree
He'll lead t'is team til t'e day he die
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree

Swing t'at maul and drive t'em dogs
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree
Chris' keep t'e tailers from a rollin' log
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree

Whitey an' Teufel is hardly broke
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree
Can't pull together in a double yoke
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree

Lancewood pole an' a nine-foot lash
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree
Whip t'rough the air but never touch flesh
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree

Some men got stones set up for the names
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree
But a good strainer post tells a bullocky's fame
Maul and wedges and a tot'ra tree

As noted in 'An Ordinary Joker', the song attempts to capture the accents of Bohemian/Dalmatian bush workers of North Auckland.

Chris' [Christ] tailers [timber workers]
Double yoke [pulling harness for bullocks]
Dogs [spikes which hold railway lines on sleepers]
Maul [wooden hammer] wedges [v-shaped steel wood-splitters]
Lancewood [small native tree]
Some men got stones [headstones on graves]
Strainer post [main post on a fence]
Whitey [bullock's name] Teufel [devil] is hardly broke [broken in - trained]
Tot'ra [totara tree]

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 08:45 PM

Thanks to GerryM for alerting me to this song, over in the “Aussie-Kiwi Horses and Dogs” thread.
The lyrics and Eric's notes are taken from one of the two Mudcat threads on the song.

AS IF HE KNOWS

Eric Bogle

It's as if he knows
He's standing close to me
His breath warm on my sleeve
His head hung low
It's as if he knows
What the dawn will bring
The end of everything
For my old Banjo
And all along the picket lines beneath the desert sky
The light horsemen move amongst their mates to say one last goodbye
And the horses stand so quietly
Row on silent row
It's as if they know

Time after time
We rode through shot and shell
We rode in and out of Hell
On their strong backs
Time after time
They brought us safely through
By their swift sure hooves
And their brave hearts
Tomorrow we will form up ranks and march down to the quay
And sail back to our loved ones in that dear land across the sea
While our loyal and true companions
Who asked so little and gave so much
Will lie dead in the dust

For the orders came
No horses to return
We were to abandon them
To be slaves
After all we'd shared
And all that we'd been through
A nation's gratitude
Was a dusty grave
For we can't leave them to the people here, we'd rather see them dead
So each man will take his best mate's horse with a bullet through the head
For the people here are like their land
Wild and cruel and hard
So Banjo, here's your reward

It's as if he knows
He's standing close to me
His breath warm upon my sleeve
His head hung low
It's as if he knows.


these are Eric's notes from the CD, Colour of Dreams :

During WWI, Australia shipped about 53,000 horses overseas to serve in the various theatres of that war. Of that number, only one returned to Australia at the end of the war, and it was, of course, a General's favourite mount. The rest, or at least the survivors of that original 53,000, were not allowed to return home mainly because of quarantine restrictions, it was feared they could spread anthreax and similar diseases throughout Australia's cattle industry. So the ANZACS were ordered to get rid of what horses they had left. In the European theatre of war many of the horses were sold or given to French and Belgian farmers and peasants and such like. But in Palestine the Light Horsemen refused to either give or sell their horses to the local Arab population, as they thought that the Arabs in general treated their animals with dreadful cruelty. Mind you, I can't think of anything more cruel than subjecting innocent horses to the horrors of modern warfare, but I guess those were the prevailing attitudes of the times. So, rather than leave their horses to a lifetime of slavery, as they saw it, the Light Horsemen shot them. Each man shot his best mate's horse, and that was that. I wrote this song after reading an Anzac Day newspaper artivle about an old veteran Light Horsemen called Elijah Conn, who was talking about his horse, Banjo, and how his best mate shot Banjo just before they marched off to the ship that was waiting to take them home to Australia. Even after 70 years, Elijah's eyes filled with tears when talking about it. This song is for Elijah and Banjo. Sorry to take up so much of your time with this little story, but it's one that deserves to be heard I think.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXXWFbPjgmc
This version of Eric’s heart-rending song is by Peter Pratt and has a slideshow with many interesting images. If you read through the YT Comments (which I tend to do!), and also the posts on the 2 x Mudcat threads concerning this song, you’ll see that as with everything, there was more to the story, and other points of view, complicating this history. There were something like 1.5 million riding horses, mules, donkeys, draft horses et al, used by the allied forces for the Empire – hard to get one’s head around the implications of that figure!   One poster points to the possible influence on Eric of Banjo Paterson’s “The Last Parade”, writing about the same situation in the Second Boer War.

PETER PRATT, the "smooth western crooner” ….. is from a family of wheat farmers in southern New South Wales and a lover of the western country song. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Smoky Dawson are his musical hero's….. A former drover, ringer and rouseabout, this wool classer lives and works in regional Australia. His love of this land’s heritage is also evident in his involvement with the Australian Heritage Light Horse Troop…..

See Also : http://www.lighthorse.org.au/poetry-and-song/


R-J
[My Great Uncle, Bill Youd of Collie, left Albany, WA with the first wave of soldiers - as a Blacksmith with the Australian Light Horse. Thankfully he returned, but spent the rest of his working life quietly, keeping to himself and raising Poultry.]

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 10:33 PM

THE EAGLE AND THE ISLANDERS


Way out on the ocean, blue Pacific sea
Lay some coral islands
Once were free
Gentle people lived there by lagoon and restless palm
Open hearts and easy smiles
Knew no harm

No long distance liners ever came to call
Once a year, a freighter
If at all
They never knew of Hitler or the world at war outside
Nagasaki, Hiroshima
Or how many, many died

As always in a battle, only the leaders choose
It’s the innocent who suffer
And who really lose
And, for these lovely islands, misfortune cast the die
As spoils of war they fell
Under the Eagle’s eye

But the Eagle was not contented with her victory hour
She coveted, at any cost
The greatest power
So she built another weapon that was bigger than before
Even though she had already
Won the war

And to these hapless islands, the Eagle brought her bomb
And she built an iron tower
To explode it from
And as the wind blew steady, and as the sea shone gold
The sun it burst in unison
A hundredfold

The frightened island people did not understand
That they were all a part
Of the Eagle’s plan
They saw the ashes falling and they thought that it was snow
And they watched their children play
Among its deadly glow

From Paul Metsers 'Fifth Quarter'. Sleeve note:

After the end of the 2nd World War, the Marshall Islands, a remote chain of coral atolls in the north-west Pacific, were part of the territory designated to be held in trust by the United States, presumably until the political climate in the area was considered to have stabilised. By 1954, the USA had developed the largest atomic bomb to date and had decided to use the northern part of this entrusted area as a test site.

On the day set for the test, weather reports advised that the prevailing winds would carry fallout to the inhabited island of Rongelap, in the southern part of the Marshall chain. In spite of this, it was nevertheless decided to continue with the explosion. Meteorologists, present at the time and interviewed later, were among the many who concluded that the Rongelap people were deliberately exposed to determine the effects of fallout on humans.

After the explosion, the ash of the molten coral from the test site rained down on Rongelap for three days and the islanders, who had received no prior warning, soon began to suffer the effects of radiation poisoning and burns. This lamentable state of affairs continued to plague the islanders and for the next thirty years they suffered on their ruined land while their parliamentary representative, Jeton Anjain, tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to elicit aid and compensation from the Americans, who generously built a supermarket on the island and sold the people tinned (uncontaminated) food.

Finally, Anjain turned to Greenpeace and it is a shaft of light in the dark tunnel of the ruthlessness of powerful governments that the last act of Greenpeace’s flagship, the “Rainbow Warrior”, before she was bombed in New Zealand by the French security service,
was to transport these diseased and suffering islanders to a new home, the island of Mejato, some 120 miles away.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 11:05 PM

A song originally recorded by the Muttonbirds was re-recorded and released to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the 'Rainbow Warrior'.

ANCHOR ME
(Don McGlashan)

Full fathom five
Someday I'll lie
Singing songs that come
From dead men's tongues
Anchor me, anchor me

As the compass turns
And the glass it falls
Where the storm clouds roll
And the gulls they call
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me

Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me

Let the salt spray lash
The shivering skin
Where the green waves crash
And the whirlpools spin
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me

Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me

Where the banshees cry
And the bells they sound
When you lift me high
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
When you pull me down

Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me

Youtube clip

NZ Herald article

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 12:41 AM

TRACTOR PIONEERS

Peter Pratt (Australian 'Western' singer)


Dedicated to the Tractor Pioneers, like Peter’s father, Charles Roy Pratt (1915-2008), whose farming life covered the passing of the Horse era into Tractors.
A good song and an interesting slideshow, which covers farming in the NSW districts between Moree and Narrabri, and some further south around Junee (just north of Wagga).


By the fire Mother knits while in his chair the old man sits
Staring at the quiet dancing flames
He recalls the block of land from the bush he cleared by hand
To realise his dream of growing grain.

Old hands that know the feel of an iron steering wheel
On a frosty night beneath the winter stars
He can smell the fresh-turned soil, kerosine, the hot sump oil
Fond memories of those tractor days gone by.

    Ch.
    He was a Tractor Pioneer
    Saw the passing of an era as the horse teams disappeared
    And it changed the farming scene of yesteryear
    Oh he was a Tractor Pioneer.

Those tired bones now pain from years in wind and rain
As an army coat hung damp across his back
Through summer harvest heat, sitting on a cast-iron seat
As the wheat dust settled on his grease-stained hat.

We’ve come so far since then, it’s hard to comprehend
So many memories graze the old man’s mind
These simple quaint machines, once the essence of his dreams
Now slowly fade into another time.

    Chorus ….

So by the fire Mother knits while in his chair the old man sits
And remembers those good 1950s years
And he still can hear the sound of a Bulldog*** working ground
And the rocks as they resound against the shears.

    They were the Tractor Pioneers
    Saw the passing of an era as the horse teams disappeared
    And it changed the farming scene of yesteryear
    Yes, they were the Tractor Pioneers.


*** presumably the KL Bulldog from Victoria, based on the German Lanz Bulldog tractor : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanz_Bulldog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML_L0B0Sv4o    : starting a 1951 KL Bulldog (after heatup!) ‘crook gudgeon’ but! :)    Loads of fun.


And here is Peter singing his celebration of his father’s life : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvT_RSVS3X4&t=8s


R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 12:57 AM

FWIW, by my rough calcs, I reckon we've posted 510 songs so far :)

So many more to go (only I really should go and werk for a while :(

Over to the rest of "Youse Mob" :)

R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 08:51 PM

For R-J's dog and horse theme.

McKENZIE'S GHOST
(Kath Tait)

I've mustered from Southland, through Central and North
In that rough barren country of tussock and gorse
And I've listened to songs that the old shearers tell
And passed them along with me own tales as well

Chorus
McKenzie, McKenzie was that you I saw
Roaming them backhills just up from Benmore
With 50 odd sheep and a good shepherd's dog
Was it your ghost in the morning fog?

They tell of McKenzie, sheep stealer they say
He stole squatters' sheep and he drove them away
With one strong eyed dog who hypnotised sheep
To a far distant land where no white man had been

Some say you were criminal, some say a good man
Put down by the law and your dog it was damned
They took you to prison but you set yourself free
Then they took you again, your dog hung from a tree

Them high country gales that blow through the night
Where the musterers camp in the fire's dim light
They often bring sounds way off in the dark
Like a lone shepherd's whistle and a lone sheepdog's bark

Youtube clip

My father was an engineer on the Benmore Dam," says Kath, "and I had learnt about James McKenzie at school. I was reluctantly dragged away from the Mackenzie Country to Auckland at the age of 14, and lived in Auckland for the next 20 years. The McKenzie song was the first song I ever wrote, at the age of 17, after reading James McNeish's book The McKenzie Affair."

Phil Garland recorded it on his 'Swag of Dreams' album with an introductory verse of his own:

When evening shadows lengthen and starry skies grow bright
You rest beside your campfire, keeping warm on chilly nights
You might hear a distant whistle or a far-off wailer go
Then see a highland shepherd with a phantom mob of sheep
In an eerie silence passing so walking in their sleep
At their heels closely followed by a silent collie dog
His master's true companion before they vanish in the fog
Perhaps this ghostly vision will send shivers down your spine
While you watch this cavalcade forever tramping onwards
Down the corridors of time

Youtube clip

Phil's note:
The legend of James McKenzie displays a remarkable durability ... In 1855, McKenzie, an illiterate Scots drover, was accused of stealing 1000 sheep and hiding them in the hitherto unexplored inland basin which would later bear his name. Along with his remarkable dog 'Friday', reputed to be half dingo, half collie, he discovered and explored a huge spectacular hidden plain, surrounded on all sides by high snowy mountains. Upon capture, he was thrown into Lyttleton Gaol where the harsh conditions nearly drove him insane. His farcical trial has been described as one of the most glaring miscarriages of in NZ history. Although public opinion of the day called for him to be hanged, he was eventually pardoned some nine months later and quickly disappeared from view. Subsequently myth and legend would have us believe his loyal dog was shot, while McKenzie is believed to have returned to Australia and settled down in Queensland. The exploits of McKenzie and his dog have become so romanticised over the years that they are now firmly entrenched in NZ folklore. The vast inland plain that he discovered was given his name, MacKenzie Country (despite the different spelling). The striking bronze statue of a shepherd's dog erected in recent times at Tepako (in tribute to the legion of faithful border collies that have long mustered the vast high country runs) has also assumed something of the McKenzie legend, often acquiring (incorrectly) the popular mantle of McKenzie's dog.

Phil also recorded and put music to a poem by Joe Charles, 'McKenzie and His Dog'. You can listen to it here:

Youtube clip

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 09:22 PM

Another song of the McKenzie legend.

THE OLD MACKENZIE TRAIL
(Bob Edwards)

There's a story that you're bound to hear
if you're down Otago way
About an outlaw and the dog that bought him fame
Of an ancient Maori trail
To a grassy mountain vale
In the rugged land that bears Mackenzie's name

And the station riders say
When Aurob'ralis play
And the stars that form the Southern Cross are shining high and pale
You may F see a phantom collie
Drive a ghostly mob of sheep
Through the mists along the old Mackenzie Trail

When the campfires are a blazin'
And the drovin' men are lazin'
All fired with Hokonui mountain grog
There's a story in the makin'
Wth perhaps a little bacon
As they weave their legends round Mackenzie's dog

Now Mackenzie so the story goes
Rode the ranges on a steer
Preselecting squatters' sheep then when he'd done
He would tell his collie pup
To go back and round them up
And to punch them homeward to his mountain run

Then the troopers took the trail
Swore to bring this Scot to jail
And recover all the mossy faces too
And they captured him at last
In a rugged mountain pass
And he went before the judge in Timaru

There was no sign of repentance
When Mackenzie heard his sentence
But the last words rang from him a broken cry
He defied the law and told them
That no prison bars could hold him
When the judge condemned his faithful dog to die.

That was years ago but the records show
That Mackenzie kept his word
On the evening of a cold and wintry day
When he rolled the dice with fate
How the troopers fired too late
Though they wounded him Mackenzie got away

Now there are city folks who swear
That Mackenzie and his dog
Were nothing more than thievin' scoundrels wrapped in hair and hide
But along the mountain stations
Where the campfires burn at night
You can hear oldtimers speak their names with pride.

There's a story that you're bound to hear
If you're down Otago way
When the night winds through the mountain passes wail
They will tell you tat's Mackenzie
Whistling home his collie dog
Through the mists along the old Mackenzie's trail

You can hear a shortened version here:

Youtube clip

The above lyrics are from the NZ folk song site. The page also gives links to a traditional song and historical material re McKenzie.

Click

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 14 Dec 20 - 06:29 PM

Interesting to recall this song and this time in Australian history and its comparison to now!!
(and no wonder the current conservative govt is again trying to stomp on the Union movement once and for all :)

THE PIG-IRON SONG

Clem Parkinson, 1964

Listen here : http://unionsong.com/u150.html

Did you ever stop to wonder why the fellows on the job
Refer to Robert Menzies by the nickname Pig-Iron Bob?
It's a fascinating tale though it happened long ago
It's a part of our tradition every worker ought to know

Chorus
We wouldn't load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan
Despite intimidation we refused to lift the ban
With democracy at stake the struggle must be won
We had to beat the menace of the fascist Rising Sun

It was 1937 and aggressive Japanese
Attacked the Chinese people tried to bring them to their knees
Poorly armed and ill equipped the peasants bravely fought
While Australian water siders rallied round to lend support

Attorney General Menzies said the ship would have to sail
"If the men refuse to load it we will throw them into jail"
But our unity was strong - we were solid to a man
And we wouldn't load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan

For the Judas politicians we would pay a heavy price
The jungles of New Guinea saw a costly sacrifice
There's a lesson to be learned that we've got to understand
Peace can only be secured when the people lend a hand.


Notes below and lyrics, from Mark Gregory’s excellent website : http://unionsong.com/u150.html

“In his biography of wharfies leader, Ted Roach - "From Pig Iron Hero to Long Bay Gaol" Denis Kevans describes how Ted Roach consciously used the Eureka Oath at marches and rallies, before and during the famous "Dalfram" Pig Iron dispute, in November, 1938, in Port Kembla, NSW.
Ted Roach, who was the Secretary of Kembla Branch, and later, Federal Assistant General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation, told Denis Kevans:
"I got hold of the Eureka Oath from a Lloyd Ross pamphlet. The wharfies, en masse, took the oath, and through the Trades and Labour Council, and at as many mass meetings as possible, we had the oath recited and sworn."
Ted said that taking the Eureka Oath "went over big, a big lift, it was very lifting".
During the 11 weeks Dalfram dispute, Attorney General in the United Australia Party government, Mr. Robert Gordon Menzies, gazetted "The Transport Workers Act". He did this to break the spirit of the wharfies, who were locked out over their refusal to load pig iron onto the "Dalfram", part of a 300,000 ton BHP pig iron contract with "aggressor nation", Japan.
The TWA also known as the "Dog Licence Act", or the "Dog Collar Act" allowed for the dismissal of the wharfie work force, and their replacement by untrained, non-union workers, each of whom needed only to purchase a licence for one shilling to work on the wharves.
Ted Roach, a step ahead of the authorities, arranged for "Bunny" Griffiths to go and buy the only TWA licence bought in Port Kembla. Ted Roach then publicly burnt the licence, outside the Customs House. Ted Roach told Denis Kevans that he burnt the licence as a conscious re-enactment of the miners' burning their licences at Eureka.
Many thanks to Denis Kevans for permission to add this information.”

EUREKA’s history was recalled in Sandra’s 30Nov song post above and JennieG’s song post of 03Dec and my two link posts of 03 Dec.

R-J

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Stewie
Date: 14 Dec 20 - 08:02 PM

THE GIFT OF LIFE
(Phil Garland)

So long Kevin Kiwi, your life was not in vain
You are our country's emblem so your memory will remain
When I heard your mates were dying, it was so hard to believe
What can we do to help prevent a huge catastrophe

Chorus
Pass the hat around amongst family and friends
It's time to work together before this story ends
Every contribution helps our little spotted mate
The gift of life is something we can all appreciate

The kiwi is a special bird - although he cannot fly
The sporting logo he inspires is truly flying high.
Kevin needs protection, it's time to make a stand
We must learn to play our part and lend a helping hand

The bush is almost silent where Kevin once roamed free
How will our kids identify a bird they've never seen
Possums, stoats and weasels may seem cute and small
Send them back where they belong, we don't want them here at all

Wake up New Zealand before it gets too late
If we want to save our kiwis, we must learn to shut the gate
Keep your family pets inside. don't ever let them roam
If we want Kevin to survive, then training starts at home

Youtube clip

This is from Phil's 1998 album 'A Sense of Place'. Since that time there has been some success in protecting the kiwi with 2 of the 5 species downlisted from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Dec 20 - 02:26 AM

now all we need is a koala song, cos our icon is heading for extinction. NSW koala bill dumped after Liberal MP Catherine Cusack crosses floor but trees are still being cut down & housing estates are still being planned for koala land.

found a good one - an old one!

Koala Koala by John Williamson, found on JW's Family Album, 1990, Audio

Koala Koala - we love you
But we chop down your home
And you run
Koala, Koala - where do you go
When we take your gum tree away

Please don't run on the road
And please don't cry
Help is on its way
We're gonna learn what makes you die
Gonna send in some money today

You can't dig a hole
Or live in a roof
Or hang from a big, fig tree
If I plant you a special Eucalypt
Will you come and live with me

Koalas they used to be everywhere
What a paradise it could be
A walk in the bush could be heaven
Bring the dreamtime back to me

Yeah, we're going to learn what makes you die
Gonna send in some money today

Subject: RE: Rise Up Mudcat Songbook - Australia
From: rich-joy
Date: 15 Dec 20 - 03:13 AM

Sad indeed, Sandra.
I've just been reading of the horrendous "Marsupials Destruction Act" from 1855 in Qld, amended 1885 and included not just the introduced feral pigs, red fox, hares, but dingoes (of course) PLUS kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, rat kangaroos, bandicoots, koalas, wedge-tail eagles ......
HALF A MILLION KOALAS were destroyed in Queensland alone, in 1927!!!!! Easy to do, yes, but how the hell were they harming anything??!!
We sing songs lustily about the Sheep Industry, but why not Laments about the war waged against Australia's native creatures???
And The War drags on ..... sigh .....


Stewie's song post on Dec12th re the Marshall Islands atomic tests by the US, has an alarming update here in this ABC (Aust) news clip from 2017 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA

I am at present preparing some songs for a post about Britain's Atomic testing in Australia in the 50s and 60s, esp at Maralinga, Emu Fields, Christmas Island, Monte Bello Islands .............


On that cheery little note, I think I might go and have a beer.
Cheers,
R-J