Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: GUEST,SB
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 05:41 PM

The late Phil Garland of NZ also sang a song about Cobb & Co.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: rich-joy
Date: 03 Nov 19 - 12:47 AM

This is Lawson's poem "The Lights of Cobb & Co" set to music by Gerry Hallom (he of the lovely tune for "The Outside Track"!) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A4GVj_CZIw

This is the Lionel Long track mentioned earlier, "The Ballad of Cobb & Co" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D81-ojOKSc

This is "Spirit of Cobb & Co" by Dave Reynolds : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAmP7CFMalw

The Cobb & Co ride at Longreach (apparently the last one to go at full tilt!). I remember years ago, riding next to the driver of one in a "Pioneer Village" - possibly in Victoria - and that was alarming enough!!! :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpdJrgaty0M

Cheers!
R-J

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Nov 19 - 12:13 PM

Cob and Co are mentioned once in Will H. Ogilvies poem " How the Fire Queen Crossed the Swamp". It goes "and long Dick cursed an agents eyes for his tonne of extra weight and wistling Jim for Cobb and Co cursed that mails were late".Also Slim Dusty sang about the Cobb and Co Twitch".Slim also recorded " Callaghan Hotel. Norma O'Hara Murphy recorded " How the Fire Queen Crossed the Swamp".

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE ROARING DAYS (Henry Lawson)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 06 Jun 02 - 09:48 AM

G'day yet again,

I was not happy with that set of words above ... these the ones I first learnt:

THE ROARING DAYS
Words: Henry Lawson, 1889 Tune: trad. (arr. Gay Scott)
The night too quickly passes
And we are growing old,
So let us fill our glasses
And toast the Days of Gold:
When finds of wondrous treasure
Set all the South ablaze,
And you and I were faithful mates
All through the roaring days!
All through the roaring days! My Boys,
All through the roaring days!
And you and I were faithful mates,
All through the roaring days!

The rough bush roads re-echoes
The bar-room's noisy din,
As troops of stalwart horsemen
Dismounted at the inn.
And oft the shouted greetings
And hearty clasp of hands
Would tell of sudden meetings
With old friends from other lands.
All through the roaring days ...

Behind six foaming horses,
And lit by flashing lamps,
Old Cobb and Co., in royal state
Went dashing past the camps.
The azure line of ridges,
The bush of darkest green,
The little homes of calico
That dotted all the scene.
All through the roaring days ...
Oh, who would paint a goldfield,
And paint the picture right,
As old adventure saw it
In the early morning light?
The rattle of the cradle,
The clack of windlass-boles,
The flutter of the little flags
Above the golden holes.
All through the roaring days ...

Those golden days are vanished,
And altered is the scene;
The diggings are deserted,
And the camping-grounds are green;
The flaunting flag of progress
Is in the West unfurled,
The mighty bush with iron rails
Is tethered to the world.
All through the roaring days ...
And here is the tune, arranged to fit this 6-line song, in MIDI-text format:

MIDI file: roaringd.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Tempo: 180 (333333 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0720 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0384 0 72 064 0096 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0144 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0288 0 69 064 0072 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 62 080 0576 0 62 064 0144 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0144 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0384 0 72 064 0096 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0144 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 62 080 0288 0 62 064 0072 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 59 080 0192 0 59 064 0048 1 60 080 0576 0 60 064 0144 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0144 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0225 0 72 064 0015 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 76 080 0288 0 76 064 0072 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0144 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 62 080 0288 0 62 064 0072 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 59 080 0192 0 59 064 0048 1 60 080 0576 0 60 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:4/4
Q:1/4=180
K:C
G8|C2C2E2G2|c2c4d2|e2c2c2G2|A6B2|c2c2B2c2|
A2G2E2G2|A3GG2E2|D6D2|C2C2E2G2|c2c4d2|e3cc2G2|
A6B2|c2c2B2c2|A2G2E2C2|D3DC2B,2|C6D2|C2C2E2G2|
c2c2c2d2|e3cc2G2|A6B2|c2c2B2c2|A2G2E2C2|D3DC2B,2|
C19/4||

And this selection of 44 lines is just half of the full poem in Poetical Works of Henry Lawson!:

The Roaring Days
Henry Lawson, 1889

The night too quickly passes
And we are growing old,
So let us fill our glasses
And toast the Days of Gold:
When finds of wondrous treasure
Set all the South ablaze,
And you and I were faithful mates
All through the roaring days!

Then stately ships came sailing
From every harbour's mouth,
And sought the Land of Promise
That beaconed in the South;
The southward steamed their steamers
And swelled their canvas full
To speed the wildest dreamers
E'er borne in vessel's hull.

Their shining Eldorado
Beneath the southern skies
Was day and night for ever
Before their eager eyes.
The brooding bush, awakened,
Was stirred in wild unrest,
And all the year a human stream
Went pouring to the West.

The rough bush roads re-echoes
The bar-room's noisy din,
When troops of stalwart horsemen
Dismounted at the inn.
And oft the hearty greetings
And hearty clasp of hands
Would tell of sudden meetings
Of friends from other lands.

And when the cheery camp-fire
Explored the bush with gleams,
The camping-grounds were crowded
With caravans of teams;
The home the jests were driven,
And good old songs were sung,
And the choruses were given
The strength of heart and lung.

Oft when the camps were dreaming,
And fires began to pale,
Through rugged ranges gleaming
Swept on the Royal Mail.
Behind six foaming horses,
And lit by flashing lamps,
Old Cobb and Co., in royal state
Went dashing past the camps.

Oh, who would paint a goldfield,
And paint the picture right,
As old adventure saw it
In the early morning's light?
The yellow mounds of mullock
With spots of red and white,
The scattered quartz that glistened
Like diamonds in light;

The azure line of ridges,
The bush of darkest green,
The little homes of calico
That dotted all the scene.
The flat straw hats, with ribands,
That old engravings show —
The dress that still reminds us
Of sailors, long ago.

I hear the fall of timber
From distant flats and fells,
The pealing of the anvils
As clear as little bells,
The rattle of the cradle,
The clack of windlass-boles,
The flutter of the crimson flags
Above the golden holes.

Ah, then their hearts were bolder,
And if Dame Fortune frowned
Their swags they'd lightly shoulder
And tramp to other ground.
Oh, they were lion-hearted
Who gave this country birth!
Stout sons, of stoutest fathers born,
From all the lands on earth!

Those golden days are vanished,
And altered is the scene;
The diggings are deserted,
And the camping-grounds are green;
The flaunting flag of progress
Is in the West unfurled,
The mighty bush with iron rails
Is tethered to the world.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ROARING DAYS and CALLAGHAN'S HOTEL
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 05 Jun 02 - 11:40 PM

G'day again,

Alison: 1/ I now have the provenace of the tune and words I posted as a "singers' version" of The Lights of Cobb and Co.. The tune is pretty well based on 'Smoky' Dawson's 1940s tune ... played a bit faster than he did and with a few fancier notes. The extensively revised words are arranged by the late John Meredith with regard to what works in a song versus a poem.

As promised (threatened ...?) above, I have the words for The Roaring Days, which only mentions Cobb and Co. in one line, but a whole is about them! I have not bothered to supply the tune ... until I get clarification from you about final purposes. Anyway, the tune is the well known one from 10,000 Miles Away, used by a number of Australian songs. (BTW: This is one selection from Lawson's words ... but I hear a rather different set in my own mind ... next time, maybe!)

THE ROARING DAYS
(shortened version of) Henry Lawson's 1889 words
Tune: 10,000 Miles Away (... &c)

The night too quickly passes and we are growing old,
So let us fill our glasses and toast the Days of Gold;
When finds of wondrous treasure set all the South ablaze,
And you and I were faithful mates all through the roaring days!

Then stately ships came sailing from every harbour's mouth,
And sought the land of promise that beaconed in the South:
The brooding bush, awakened, was stirred in wild unrest,
And all the year a human stream went pouring to the West.

And when the cheery camp-fire explored the bush with gleams,
The camping-grounds were crowded with caravans of teams;
Then home the jests were driven, and good old songs were sung,
And choruses were given the strength of heart and lung.

Oft when the camps were dreaming, and fires began to pale,
Through rugged ranges gleaming swept on the Royal Mail.
Behind six foaming horses, and lit by flashing lamps,
Old Cobb and Co., in royal state, went dashing past the camps.

O who would paint a goldfield, and paint the picture right,
As we have often seen it in early morning's light;
The yellow mounds of mullock with spots of red and white,
The scattered quartz that glistened like diamonds in light;

But golden days are vanished, and altered is the scene;
The diggings are deserted, the camping-grounds are green;
The flaunting flag of progress is in the West unfurled,
The mighty Bush with iron rails is tethered to the world.

---

And here is one more Lawson poem/song with a mention of Cobb and Co. (this is also in Chris's book and has a tune set by Slim Dusty, in 1964:
Callaghan's Hotel
Words: Henry Lawson, 1914

There's the same old coaching stable that was used by Cobb & Co.,
And the yard the coaches stood in more than sixty years ago;
And the public private parlour, where they serve the passing swell,
Was the shoeing forge and smithy up at Callaghan's Hotel.

There's the same old walls and woodwork that our fathers built to last,
And the same old doors and wainscot and the windows of the past,
And the same old nooks and corners where the Jim-Jams used to dwell;
But the Fantods dance no longer up at Callaghan's Hotel.

There are memories of old days that were red instead of blue,
In the time of 'Dick the Devil' and of other devils too;
But perhaps they went to Heaven and are angels, doing well -
They were always open-hearted up at Callaghan's Hotel.

Then the new chum, broken-hearted, and with boots all broken too,
Got another pair of bluchers, and a quid to see him through;
And the old chum got a bottle, who was down and suffering Hell;
And no tucker-bag went empty out of Callaghan's Hotel.

And I sit and think in sorrow of the nights that I have seen,
When we fought with chairs and bottles for the orange and the green;
For the peace of poor old Ireland, till they rang the breakfast bell -
And the honour of Old England, up at Callaghan's Hotel.

Glossary:
Jim-Jams : Fantods: Assorted manifestations of delerium tremens ... ?
Bluchers: Heavy (German-style) work boots
Tucker Bag: A traveller's food supply

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LIGHTS OF COBB AND CO.
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 08:11 PM

G'day again,

Joe wisely moved my separate Lyric Add for the song back into this thread ... so I probably should move this post back here as well! I'll format up posts for Lawson's "The Roaring Days" ... and, maybe, 1,000 Miles Away (Hurrah for the Roma Railway) when I get a chance.
Just to balance the ledger, this is the full 1897 Henry Lawson version of the poem - all 64 lines. If you compare with the version I posted above, you'll see that, as well as extra lines, there has been a bit of shuffling to make the 48-line version that went into the collected works.

Interestingly, this was not written in Australia ... Lawson wrote it while teaching at the Native School, in Manganaunu, New Zealand. This may explain his 'romantic' view of the local coach line ... and his very reflective last two stanzas ... omitted from the collected works version!

THE LIGHTS OF COBB AND CO.
Version from Bulletin, 11 December 1897 — written Mangamaunu, September 1897

Fire lighted; on the table a meal for sleepy men;
A lantern in the stable; a jingle now and then;
The mail-coach looming darkly by light of moon and star,
The growl of sleepy voices – a candle in the bar;
A stumble in the passage of folk with wits abroad;
A swear-word from a bedroom-the shout of "All aboard!"
"Tchk tchk! Git-up!" "Hold fast, there!" and down the range we go;
Five hundred miles of scattered camps will watch for Cobb and Co.

Old coaching towns already decaying for their sins;
Uncounted "Half-Way Houses", and scores of "Ten-Mile Inns';
The riders from the stations by lonely granite peaks;
The black-boy for the shepherds on sheep and cattle creeks;
The roaring camps of Gulgong, and many a "Digger's Rest";
The diggers on the Lachlan; the huts of Furthest West;
Some twenty thousand exiles who sailed for weal or woe-
The bravest hearts of twenty lands will wait for Cobb and Co.

The morning star has vanished, the frost and fog are gone,
In one of those grand mornings which but on mountains dawn;
A flask of friendly whisky — each other's hopes we share —
And throw our top-coats open to drink the mountain air.
The roads are rare to travel, and life seems all complete;
The grind of wheels on gravel, the trot of horses' feet,
Thle trot, trot, trot and canter, as down the spur we go —
The green sweeps to horizons blue that call for Cobb and Co.

We take a bright girl actress through western dusts and damps,
To bear the home-world message, and sing for sinful camps,
To stir our hearts and break them, wild hearts that hope and ache —
(Ah! when she thinks again of these her own must nearly break!)
Five miles this side the gold-field, a loud, triumphant shout:
Five hundred cheering diggers have snatched the horses out:
With "Auld Lang Syne" in chorus, through roaring camps they go
That cheer for her, and cheer for Home, and cheer for Cobb and Co.

Three lamps above the ridges and gorges dark and deep,
A Rash on sandstone cuttings where sheer the sidings sweep,
A flash on shrouded waggons, on water ghastly white;
Weird bush and scattered remnants of "rushes in the night";
Across the swollen river a flash beyond the ford:
Ride hard to warn the driver! He's drunk or mad, good Lord!
But on the bank to westward a broad and cheerful glow —
A hundred miles shall see tonight the lights of Cobb and Co.!

Swift scramble up the siding where teams climb inch by inch;
Pause, bird-like, on the summit-then breakneck down the pinch;
Past haunted half-way houses – where convicts made the bricks —
Scrub-yards and new bark shanties, we dash with five and six;
By clear, ridge-country rivers, and gaps where tracks run high,
Where waits the lonely horseman, cut clear against the sky;
Through stringy-bark and blue-gum, and box and pine we go;
New camps are stretching 'cross the plains the routes of Cobb and Co.

• – — * — – • – — * — – • – — * — – • – — * — – •

Throw down the reins, old driver — there's no one left to shout;
The ruined inn's survivor must take the horses out.
A poor old coach hereafter! — we're lost to all such things —
No burst of song or laughter shall shake your leathern springs
When creeping in unnoticed by railway sidings drear,
Or left in yards for lumber, decaying with the year —
O who'll think how in those days when distant fields were broad
You raced across the Lachlan Side with twenty five on board.

Not all the ships that sail away since Roaring Days are done —
Not all the boats that steam from port, nor all the trains that run,
Shall take such hopes and loyal hearts – for man shall never know
Such days as when the Royal Mail was run by Cobb and Co.
The "greyhounds" race across the sea, the "special" cleaves the haze,
But these seem dull and slow to me compared with Roaring Days!
The eyes that watched are dim with age, and souls are weak and slow,
The hearts are dust or hardened now that broke for Cobb and Co.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE LIGHTS OF COBB AND CO. (Lawson)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:41 AM

G'day,

In another thread (Lyr Req: Cobb & Co Songs), raised by Alison, I have posted (what I thought was) the full words of the poem by Australia's Henry Lawson The Lights of Cobb and Co.. It turns out that the 48 lines I posted is an edited version from his 1918 collection The Poetical Works of Henry Lawson ... the full 1898 published version was 64 lines!

Anyway, by some 'folk' process, this version has trimmed down to a scant 16 lines ... in a severely revised order! I'm still trying to find out just where this version comes from ... it looks suspiciously like a collected version from someone who has, consciously or unconsciously, selected and re-arranged the poem, refining it down to its absolute essence ... anyway, it won't strain the attention span of modern audiences.

The Lights Of Cobb And Co.
Original poem by Henry Lawson
(These words from BMC LP)

Fire lighted; in the kitchen a meal for hungry men;
A lantern in the stable; a jingle now and then;
Git-up!" Git-up!" "Hold fast, there!" and down the range we go;
Five hundred miles of scattered camps will watch for Cobb and Co.

Old coaching towns already decaying for their sins;
Past haunted "Half-Way Houses", and scores of "Ten-Mile Inns';
Through stringy-bark and blue-gum, and box and pine we go —
A hundred miles shall see tonight the lights of Cobb and Co.!

Far riders from the stations by lonely granite peaks;
The black-boy for the shepherds on sheep and cattle creeks;
Some twenty thousand exiles who sailed for weal or woe-
The bravest hearts of twenty lands will wait for Cobb and Co.

By clear, ridge-country rivers, and gaps where tracks run high,
Where waits the lonely horseman, cut clear against the sky;
'Tchk tchk! Git-up!" "Hold fast, there!" and down the range we go;
Five hundred miles of scattered camps will watch for Cobb and Co.

Here's my transcription of the tune, rendered into Al of Oz's nifty little MIDI to text app:

MIDI file: locc-bmc.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 6/8 36 8
Tempo: 180 (333333 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0480 1 67 080 0225 0 67 064 0015 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0225 0 67 064 0015 1 72 080 0288 0 72 064 0072 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0384 0 67 064 0216 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0225 0 67 064 0015 1 72 080 0288 0 72 064 0072 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0216 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 67 080 0225 0 67 064 0015 1 72 080 0288 0 72 064 0072 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0384 0 69 064 0216 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0225 0 69 064 0015 1 67 080 0113 0 67 064 0007 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0384 0 60 064 0216 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 72 080 0192 0 72 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 72 080 0096 0 72 064 0024 1 69 080 0225 0 69 064 0015 1 67 080 0113 0 67 064 0007 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 65 080 0096 0 65 064 0024 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 60 080 0384 0 60 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:6/8
Q:1/4=180
K:C
G6|G2FE2F|G2c3A|G2FE2F|G5A|G2FE2F|G2c3A|G2AG2E|
D5G|G2FE2F|G2c3c|c2cd2c|A5B|c2cB2c|A2GG2A|
G2FE2D|C5B|c2cB2c|A2GG2A|G2FE2D|C13/4||

Regards,

Bob Bolton

---

Hope you don't mind, Bob. This seems to fit better with the other Cobb & Co. thread, so people can compare without switching back and forth.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:39 AM

G'day

Hrothgar: Definitely Railway ... I must have been keeping bad company!

Alison: I'll see what arises before further postings, but I am about to post the Bush Music Club's 1966/7 version of the song to a Lyric Add thread ... not 'Duke' Tritton's tune after all ... and a very odd little selection of Henry Lawson's words ... but a nice little version!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: alison
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 03:11 AM

to be honest bob I'm not sure... I think its more for academic rather than performing..... I ahve droped her a line and hopefully she'll pop in here and let you know herself....


thanks for the help

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Hrothgar
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 03:05 AM

Hurrah for the Roma railWAY, Bob?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Jun 02 - 12:01 AM

(Er ... Thanks Joeclone - I have enough trouble typing words as fast as I think ... html comes in a poor second!)

G'day Alison,

I take it that your friend is after any songs about, or mentioning, Cobb & Co. ...? There is a mention in another Henry Lawson poem The Roaring Days, which also has acquired a tune and is on the 20 Golden Greats CD (... whereas The Lights of Cobb & Co. is only on Festival's earlier BMC compilation True Blue Songs of the Outback). This one goes to the traditional tune of 1(0),000 Miles Away (Old Palmer Song) or Hurrah for the Roma Railroad ... which also mentions Cobb & Co. in its first line:
"Hurrah for the Roma Railroad, hurrah for Cobb & Co.,"
but doesn't mention them again!

Anyway, what I'm wondering is:"Does your friend want tunes (to sing, or play) or is the need for text for some academic endeavour? I have listened to the version of The Lights of Cobb & Co. on the BMC LP - and there is a variation between the lines that are shown as simple repeats in both printed versions. When I get a spare moment, I will transcribe that version and post the lyrics and tune to a Mudcat Lyric Add thread ... but do you want the other songs and tunes as well?

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 11:21 PM

G'damn... I mean G'day!

I just noticed a scanning error that slipped by me - the 4th line of the 3rd stanza should read:
"And throw our top-coats open to drink the mountain air."

I'm not sure what I made of top-mats ... some sort of rough covering for the low fare-paying passengers stuck atop the coach ... ?

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

(fixed by a Joeclone)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: alison
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 08:53 PM

thanks everyone... I have passed the link to the thread onto my friend

slainte

alison

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LIGHTS OF COBB AND CO. (Henry Lawson)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 08:45 PM

G'day again Alison,

Here are the full Henry Lawson words to The Lights of Cobb and Co. The usual version sung is only about half the length (modern audiences just don't have the stamina of our forebears!). You should be able to borrow a copy of Chris Kempster's book from Alan of Oz ... since he has settings in it ... but I will put it all together and post the working version of the song when I sort out a few queries with the tune.

The tune in Chris's book is taken from the Bush Music Club's 1950s booklet Songs from Lawson ... simply transposed down from F to D to account for modern voices. It is the same tune 'Duke' used for an immigration piece, The Irishman's Song, which had a shorter verse structure. As given for The Lights of Cobb and Co., it has the first 6 lines as a double repeat of the first 2-line phrase, but I'm sure there are some subtle differences in lines 3 & 4. I'll have to listen carefully to the 1967 recording and, possibly, modify the dots before I do a Lyric Add posting.

Anyway, these are the full words ... you can pick out as much as you like ... and the audience will listen to ...

THE LIGHTS OF COBB AND CO.
Henry Lawson

Fire lighted; on the table a meal for sleepy men;
A lantern in the stable; a jingle now and then;
The mail-coach looming darkly by light of moon and star,
The growl of sleepy voices; a candle in the bar;
A stumble in the passage of folk with wits abroad;
A swear-word from a bedroom-the shout of "All aboard!"
'Tchk tchk! Git-up!" "Hold fast, there!" and down the range we go;
Five hundred miles of scattered camps will watch for Cobb and Co.

Old coaching towns already decaying for their sins;
Uncounted "Half-Way Houses", and scores of "Ten-Mile Inns';
The riders from the stations by lonely granite peaks;
The black-boy for the shepherds on sheep and cattle creeks;
The roaring camps of Gulgong, and many a "Digger's Rest";
The diggers on the Lachlan; the huts of Farthest West;
Some twenty thousand exiles who sailed for weal or woe-
The bravest hearts of twenty lands will wait for Cobb and Co.

The morning star has vanished, the frost and fog are gone,
In one of those grand mornings which but on mountains dawn;
A flask of friendly whisky — each other's hopes we share —
And throw our top-coats open to drink the mountain air.
The roads are rare to travel, and life seems all complete;
The grind of wheels on gravel, the trot of horses' feet,
The trot, trot, trot and canter, as down the spur we go —
The green sweeps to horizons blue that call for Cobb and Co.

We take a bright girl actress through western dusts and damps,
To bear the home-world message, and sing for sinful camps,
To stir our hearts and break them, wild hearts that hope and ache —
(Ah! when she thinks again of these her own must nearly break!)
Five miles this side the gold-field, a loud, triumphant shout:
Five hundred cheering diggers have snatched the horses out:
With "Auld Lang Syne" in chorus, through roaring camps they go
That cheer for her, and cheer for Home, and cheer for Cobb and Co.

Three lamps above the ridges and gorges dark and deep,
A Rash on sandstone cuttings where sheer the sidlings sweep,
A flash on shrouded waggons, on water ghastly white;
Weird bush and scattered remnants of "rushes in the night";
Across the swollen river a flash beyond the ford:
Ride hard to warn the driver! He's drunk or mad, good Lord!
But on the bank to westward a broad and cheerful glow-
New camps extend across the plains new routes for Cobb and Co.

Swift scramble up the sidling where teams climb inch by inch;
Pause, bird-like, on the summit-then breakneck down the pinch;
By clear, ridge-country rivers, and gaps where tracks run high,
Where waits the lonely horseman, cut clear against the sky;
Past haunted half-way houses-where convicts made the bricks —
Scrub-yards and new bark shanties, we dash with five and six;
Through stringy-bark and blue-gum, and box and pine we go —
A hundred miles shall see tonight the lights of Cobb and Co.!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 04:39 PM

Gordon Bok recorded "The Stable Lad" on his CD In the Kind Land. I've misplaced the CD so I don't have his liner notes. He said he misheard the words "Cobb & Co." when he learned the song, so he sings "Coven Co", which might give an entirely different twist on things!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Hrothgar
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 08:24 AM

Whoops! Sorry, AnneMC, the "composed" threw me. I usually take that to mean the words and music, unless specifically stated otherwise. Didn't read your post carefully enough.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Hrothgar
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 07:40 AM

Sorry, AnneMC. The Peter Cape supporters have you outnumbered so far.

And it's still a good song, no matter who wrote it!

:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 07:40 AM

G'day Alison,

Henry Lawson's 1897 poem The Lights of Cobb & Co has 2 settings in Chris Kempster's The Songs of Henry Lawson ... a 1940 setting by Country singer 'Smoky' Dawson and a 'traditional' tune collected from shearer/fencer/goldminer/boxer/&c 'Duke' Tritton. That's on p.135 ... 2 pages in front of a 1987 setting of The Sliprail and the Spur by some bloke named Alan Foster!

I've got Duke's version on the 1967 Bush Music Club LP Songs from Henry Lawson ... and, probably, on the Festival re-release CD 20 Golden Greats from the Bush Music Club ...!

I can't see much else that uses the name Cobb & Co in titles (apart from a curse ... on a Cobb & Co station!

I'll think about it for a while ... when I get over this current bout of 'flu.

Regards,

Bob Bolto

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: AnneMC
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 06:10 AM

"When the Cobb and Co ran coaches from the Buller to the Grey" is a refrain in a song composed and sung by New Zealand folk singer Phil Garland (from a poem by Peter Cape). The Buller and the Grey are rivers in the South Island of New Zealand. The song is called "The Stable Lad ", and is described as "a moving love song" on the CD liner notes .It is set on the West Canterbury goldfields in the South Island. It is a track on Phil's latest CD called 'Swag O' Dreams', available from Kiwi Pacific Records International Ltd, PO Box 826,Wellington,New Zealand. They also have a web site you could check out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Stewie
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 05:00 AM

It is an incorrect attribution in the Sorcha's link. The poem is attributed to Peter Cape with music by Phil Garland. See the notes to Garland's 'Colonial Yesterdays' Kiwi LP SLC-137. Evidently, its original title was 'The Stable Boy' and Garland came by it from a collection of Elsie Locke. Great song. Even though it is from NZ, I'm using it in a workshop on strine stuff at the Top Half Festival next weekend.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: rich-joy
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 04:19 AM

Yeah, I remember that Lionel Long rendition too, but I no longer have that record, so I can't check either ... Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cobb & Co songs
From: Hrothgar
Date: 02 Jun 02 - 01:22 AM

I don't think Phil wrote "The Stable Lad." I think it was Peter Cape, but I can't find supporting information for it yet. Have to do some digging. Phil himself said it was Peter Cape when he sang the song over here last year. Bloody good song, though, no matter who wrote it.

Cobb & Co don't seem to get all that many mentions in songs, despite their influence on the mobility of the population. Lawson's "The Lights of Cobb & Co" might have been set to music, and if some illegitimate person hadn't knocked off my copy of Chris Kempster's book I could probably tell you.

The ballad "Frank Gardiner" starts by telling of his "shooting Sergeant Middleton and robbing Mudgee Mail / The pludering of the gold escort, the Carcoar Mail also" but I don't know if they were Cobb & Co coaches.

Graham Jenkin has a setting for "The Coachman's Yarn" by E. J. Brady in "Great Australian Balladists," but again there's nothing to say it might have been a Cobb & Co coach.

Lionel Long sang a song in the 1960's called "Cobb & Co." I think he wrote it, but I,m not sure. Can't find a copy in print.

Subject: Lyr Add: STABLE LAD (Phil Garland)
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jun 02 - 08:48 PM

Found one!!

---

I think the lyrics are worth posting, along with the link.
-Joe Offer-

STABLE LAD Words & Music - Phil Garland © Kiwi Music When Cobb and Co ran coaches from the Buller to the Grey, I went for a livery stable lad in a halt up Westport way. I gave my heart to a red-haired girl and left it where she lay, By the winding Westland highway from the Buller to the Grey. I've got neatsfoot on my fingers and lampblack on my face, I've saddle-soaped the harness and hung each piece in place. But my heart's not in the stable, it's in Charleston far away, As Cobb and Co go rolling by from Buller to the Grey. There's a red-haired girl in Charleston and she's dancing in the bar, But I know she's not like other girls who dance where miners are. I can't forget her eyes and everything they seemed to say, The day I rode with Cobb and Co from Buller to the Grey. There's a schooner down from Murchison, I can hear it in the gorge, I'll have to beat the bellows now and redden up the forge. I'm going to strike that iron so hard, she'll hear it far away, In the roaring European that the road runs by from Grey. Someday I'll be a teamster with the ribbons in my fist, And I'll drive a Cobb and Co express through rain and snow and mist. Drive a four-in-hand to Charleston and no matter what they say, I'll take my girl up on the box and marry her in Grey. There's a graveyard down in Charleston where moss trails from the trees And the Westland wind comes moaning in from off the Tasman Sea. It's there they laid my red-haired girl in a pit of yellow clay, As Cobb and Co went rolling by from the Buller to the Grey.

Subject: Cobb & Co songs
From: alison
Date: 01 Jun 02 - 08:38 PM

a friend of mine is doing a project and wants to know if there are songs about "Cobb & Co", or that just mention "Cobb & Co" somewhere in the lyrics...... and I thought........ this sounds like a job for bob bolton & the mudcatters!!.....
anyone think of any?

slainte

alison