Whips and whips of rhino?

Subject: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Kathryn
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 04:56 PM

In one Australian song there is the line "with whips and whips of rhino...." Does anyone know what that means? Thanks for the help

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Les B
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:03 PM

It seems to me that in southern Africa there is a type of whip made of rhino hide which has a specific Africaaner name -- but darned if I can remember it. Something like "jambok" ?!? Maybe that's what the song is referencing ?

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:06 PM

Sjambok, heavy whip of rhino or hippo hide.

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:46 PM

It's incredible the things you can learn on this site.....

Where else can you get propositioned, insulted and educated all in a few postings?

LTS

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 06:31 PM

copied and pasted:

""Lazy Harry's" is a fine song which can be found in The Bushwackers Australian Song Book. The song is all about a pair of likely lads, shearers to be more exact, with "whips of rhino" ("lots of money" in plain English) setting off on a long tramp to Sydney to spend their hard earned money at the conclusion of the shearing season. After covering some considerable distance, they camp at Lazy Harry's, a rough bush tavern, close to Gundagai. In one week they blued the lot on booze and girls and were therefore compelled to return without having reached Sydney."

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 11:47 PM

G'day all,

Bill D: Lazy Harry's is a fine example of the sort of Australian song that leaves you with a map of half the country (and often a character reading of every boss ... or publican ... along the way). The Bushwacker, for a wonder, haven't mucked this one up but (if I remember correctly) their notes are atrociously inaccurate ... suggesting they consult a bottle more assiduously than a New South Wales map.

I have an extra interest in this one because, in the late 1960s, my Brother Eric, along with folklorist John Meredith (who passed away late February) came across a bloke who claimed to be the son of 'Lazy Harry'. He had never heard of the song, but gave details of the shanty his father operated near the Gundagai goldfields - selling grog obtained through his father's licensed hotel back in Gundagai. I published this material in Mulga Wire some time in the '80s.

There is a related song The Road to Omeo, possibly the source of Lazy Harry's, to much the same tune but telling of a group of roadworkers who have quit a job with a roughneck road contractor and " ... won't go back with Jacksons, on the road to Omeo ...". This contains a number of common phrases and could be of common origin or one is the parent of the other version.

I will look it up and post the words ... maybe before the National Festival, over Easter ... but then again ...

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 09:40 AM

Then there's that dog that did the rude thing in the tucker box nine miles from Gundagai. I wonder if Bob Hope and Bing Crosby ever did a musical movie based on this concept?

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 11:32 AM

...and fortunately, I don't get most of my Aussie songs 'from' the Buswhackers and related ilk..(though some are fun)...I have some wonderful books and a few records which tend toward the authentic rather than the popularized versions. I just popped that quote in to say a bit about the slang for money..

Subject: RE: Whips and whips of rhino?
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 11:58 PM

G'day Bill D,

Actually, the 'Wackers do some quite good (especially upbeat) versions of classics. It's all part of the tapestry. I just get frustrated with their tendency to not let facts stand in the way of background notes. Songs in the Australian tradition were very much about information and it does them no service to muddy the waters.

Maybe I should really vent my spleen on their editors / copywriters / publicists ... but they did go through a deliberately contentious phase where they got mileage out of every thing they said that left scholars and folklorists spluttering!

Regards,

Bob Bolton