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08 Jan 11 - 11:36 AM (#3069878) Subject: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: GUEST,kirstylaw I've been talking to my granny about a song her mother used to sing her - she can only vaguely remember what its about and would know it if she heard it. I want to find it and sing it to her. It's about someone going away to Australia and it's quite long. It is in English and possibly Scots and there is death in the end - i realise this probably doesn't narrow it down much however I would appreciate any suggestions. Gran will know the song as soon as she hears it. Cheers Kirsty Law |
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08 Jan 11 - 12:26 PM (#3069908) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: oldhippie Possibly "Leaving Nancy O" by Eric Bogle. |
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08 Jan 11 - 04:30 PM (#3070099) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Steve Gardham Eric Bogle as old as someone's great grandmother. Hmmm! |
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08 Jan 11 - 08:34 PM (#3070233) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Commander Crabbe Is this it? BOTANY BAY Farewell to old England forever Farewell to my rum culls as well Farewell to the well known Old Bailey Where I used for to cut such a swell Singing Tooral liooral liaddity Singing Tooral liooral liay Singing Tooral liooral liaddity And we're bound for Botany Bay There's the captain as is our commander There's the bosun and all the ship's crew There's the first and the second class passengers Knows what we poor convicts go through Taint leaving old England we cares about Taint cos we mis-spells what we knows But because all we light fingered gentry Hops around with a log on our toes These seven long years I've been serving now And seven long more have to stay All for bashing a bloke down our alley And taking his ticker away Oh had I the wings of a turtle dove I'd soar on my pinions so high Slap bang to the arms of my Polly love And in her sweet presence I'd die There are many versions of it but you can hear Kate Rusby's version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSh4Sl8TrIs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSh4Sl8TrIs CC |
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08 Jan 11 - 11:49 PM (#3070297) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Beer A request like this I'm sure would be answered if you sent an e-mail to Eric Bogle or maybe even John Williamson. Ad. |
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09 Jan 11 - 01:13 PM (#3070655) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: GUEST,Jim Moran This is perhaps a long shot, because the song isn't that long - but the Irish version of "Wild Colonial Boy" has young Jack roaming to Australia and getting himself killed. There was a wild colonial boy, Jack Duggan was his name He was born and raised in Ireland, in a place called Castlemaine He was his father's only son, his mother's pride and joy And dearly did his parents love the wild colonial boy At the early age of sixteen years, he left his native home And to Australia's sunny shore, he was inclined to roam He robbed the rich, he helped the poor, he shot James MacEvoy A terror to Australia was the wild colonial boy One morning on the prairie, as Jack he rode along A-listening to the mocking bird, a-singing a cheerful song Up stepped a band of troopers: Kelly, Davis and Fitzroy They all set out to capture him, the wild colonial boy Surrender now, Jack Duggan, for you see we're three to one Surrender in the Queen's high name, you are a plundering son Jack drew two pistols from his belt, he proudly waved them high I'll fight, but not surrender, said the wild colonial boy He fired a shot at Kelly, which brought him to the ground And turning round to Davis, he received a fatal wound A bullet pierced his proud young heart, from the pistol of Fitzroy And that was how they captured him, the wild colonial boy |
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09 Jan 11 - 05:08 PM (#3070798) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day kirstylaw, There were a lot of songs ... originating in England, Scotland, Ireland and (probably - ) Wales about people setting off (or being sent off) to Australia (often to "Botany Bay" ... despite the First Fleet taking one quick look at Botany Bay ... and scouting out a much better settlement site around what is now Sydney Harbour). These might be about convicts, 'free-settlers', gold rush hopefuls or military types ... and many (especially the convict and gold rush categories) are laments for their death or death-bed regrets. A full compilation of this theme would end up as a big book! The only way to trace a particular song would be to get a representative line ... or, at least a phrase or two from your Granny, otherwise it leads to the sort of pure guesswork we've seen in the posts above! Regards, Bob |
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09 Jan 11 - 07:09 PM (#3070885) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone hel From: GUEST,kirstylaw cheers bob, I figured that this is probably the case but thought i'd ask on a long shot. I tried to get her to remember a line from the song however she used to hear when she was really very wee, maybe about 6 or 7. Thanks for the information and cheers to all who have responded. I am still going to continue looking. If its any help my granny's family were all from Leiths so that's where this version would have ended up. Would have been in about 1938 or there abouts. Even though it is a long shot, I would still appreciate suggestions :) Kirsty |
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09 Jan 11 - 09:48 PM (#3070982) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day again Kirsty, I was rather afraid that not being able to garner even a good phrase might be the case! Is there any family line that might have an Australian connection? If there were anything like that, it might aim us towards some area of songs ... but, for a pretty young country (as far as we white invaders go ...) we lay claim to a surprisingly large body of song. The final volume of the late Ron Edwards' Index of Australian Folk Songs, admittedly does try to gtaher every identifiable version of every appropriate song - and is fairly open in that definition, but the full printed version (I work with a digital version loaded on my computer and machine-searchable) runs to roughly the same 20+ bound volumes as The Oxford Dictionary (which I also access from my computer-based version!). Being over on this side of the globe ... I'm not too sure what connections might be suggested by your Granny's family all being from Leiths. What are the regional / trade / economic / 'emigration' implications? Regards, Bob |
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09 Jan 11 - 10:37 PM (#3071005) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: freda underhill Kirsty, here's a link to get you started, you may recognise it if you follow the infos here: Australian folk songs good luck freda |
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09 Jan 11 - 11:27 PM (#3071023) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day yet again kirstlaw, The site freda has linked is a good coverage of the Australian end of the c. 1950s and on "Folk Revival". I think we need to make a few educated guesses - particularly whether you granny would have been influenced by what was appearing on radio / record / TV in the ~ '60s and onwards ... or whether we are looking for something much older that had come down in the family. Such a song might have unique links at its UK (?) end ... and might not have caught the ear of the "revival', which, inevitably, was carried on the side currents of commercial music. I'll scan through some of my old sets of Australian-published collections of the popular songs of the late 19th century. If I put up a file of 'first lines' from really old, Australian-themed, "weepies" of that era, there is just a chance that something might trigger a memory! Regards, Bob |
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10 Jan 11 - 01:21 AM (#3071053) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: quokka Hi Kirsty, I'm assuming you have already looked at the well-known songs that people have suggested. I found one that I'd never heard of before in a book 'Folk Songs of Australia' by John Meredith and Hugh Anderson called "The Bright Shades of Blue" We had sailed in a vessel from Britain's cold shore; I was treated unkindly, great chains that I wore. My cares they were many, my joys they were few - I'd left all my joys in those bright shades of blue. Fair land of beauty, Australia so true, How I sigh for those mountains in the bright shades of blue. How well I remember that darkie's old song That we sang round the fire, a once happy throng. We had sailed in a vessel for Britain's brave shore; I was treated with kindness,great jewels I wore. But my cares they were many, my joys they were few - I'd left all my joys in those bright shades of blue. Fair land of beauty, Australia so true, How I sigh for those mountains in the bright shades of blue. Now I'm old and I'm feeble and my locks they are grey, And the nearest and dearest will soon fade away. When I'm dead in my grave all I want you to do Is plant me a gumtree from the bright shades of blue. Fair land of beauty, Australia so true, How I sigh for those mountains in the bright shades of blue. The book says that this was sung by Cyril Ticehurst of Kogarah Bay (no date given) and Sally Sloane (born 1894 in Parkes). Good luck with your search, Regards Quokka |
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10 Jan 11 - 06:27 PM (#3071693) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day yet again Kirsty, My idea of looking through a few reprint albums covering the late 19th century favourites, as published in Australia, didn't really come up with anything distinctly Australian ... so the Australian field-collected body of work is where we need to look. Quokka's suggestion of Bright Shades of Blue is one from John Meredith's work I (... mentally ... ?) noted, before heading off to a Bush Music Club group practice for this weekend's Illawarra Folk Festival. I'm daunted by the prospect of 'mining' the full Ron Edwards Australian Folk Songs Index for 'possibles' ... and I'm thinking of starting with the very large body of locally popular songs of Susan Colley of Durama (outskirts of Bathurst ... administrative area for the Ophir Goldfields ... the first Australian "Gold Rush") ... that I OCR-ed from the BMC's copy of the 1950s typescript. Because that is a single body - and searchable - I should be able to select just the good possibles ... and then reduce that to just: TITLE First verse, first line ... ... First verse, las\st line for each item. With a bit of selection, that might edit down to something small enough to post in this thread! However ... it's not likely to happen until after this weekend's Illawarra Folk Festival!!! Regard(les)s, Bob |
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11 Jan 11 - 12:44 AM (#3071862) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: GUEST,Paul the stockman Might possibly be "Mines of Australia" featuring the death of the "schoolmate" VERSION 1 - Andy Saunders "Man of the Earth" I sailed to the West with a schoolmate of mine And together we shared the hard toil It was hard times at home that caused us to roam No work for the sons of the sod So I bade me old father and mother goodbye, And I said I'll not be long away For ten years have passed fortune's favoured at last And I'm leaving Australia today Well I'm going back To my dear old home That's far away over the sea Right back to the scenes of my childhood Where there'll be a welcome for me Well many a year it has passed away Since I left old England's shore And may God speed the vessel that carries me back To my dear old home once more Well I sailed to the west With a dear pal of mine Each having a share in one claim And taking bad luck as it came with the rest, And working on just the same When a cowardly blow struck my poor pal low, Who struck him I never could tell But the share of his gold placed close to my heart For mother and dear sister Nell (Repeat first verse) note:- Andy definitely sings "sod" and not the rhyming "soil" Kate and Ruth on "Swapping Seasons" CD uses this version but the second verse repeats and then the first verse and they do substitute "soil" for "sod". VERSION 2 - Andy Saunders - Larrikin Sessions It's ten years ago Since I lest my old home In the mines of Australia to toil I bid me old father and mother adieu Saying I shant be long away But ten years have past fortune favoured at last And I'm leaving Australia today Well I'm going back To my dear old home That's far away over the sea Well back to the scenes of my childhood Where there'll there be a welcome for me Well many a year it has passed away Since I left old England's shore And may God speed the vessel that carries me back To my dear old home once more Well I sailed to the west With a dear pal of mine Each having a share in one claim And taking bad luck as it came with the rest, And working on just the same When a cowardly blow struck my poor pal low, Who struck him I never could tell But the share of his gold placed close to my heart For mother and dear sister Nell |
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11 Jan 11 - 07:46 AM (#3072011) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: GUEST,Colin Holt My favourite is by the late great Spike Milligan Orstralia Orstralia – Orstralia We think of you each day Orstralia – Orstralia At work or at play. We think of yew in the morning And in the evening too We even wake up at mid-night So that we can think of you. Orstralia – Orstralia We love you from the heart The kidney, the Liver and the giblets, And every other part. |
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11 Jan 11 - 07:58 AM (#3072018) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Brian May Nice one Colin - typically Spike Milligan (still lamented) |
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11 Jan 11 - 05:25 PM (#3072421) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day Paul the stockman, Mines of Australia is another song very like what Kirstylaw is seeking ... although her Granny may not necessarily have learned her song from an actual Australian connection! I don't remember that particular 'misreading' (sod vs soil) by Andy ... but several similar 'glitches do show up in the early 'Larrikin' recordings. I've always assumed some of these songs were recorded in minimum paid studio time - with a scrawled copy of the words in front of the soloist - and occasionally a misreading slipped through! Chief Larrikin Warren Fahey (Mudcat's "Bodgie") might retain some faint recollection of Larrikin recording sessions he managed ... back then! Regard(les)s, Bob |
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11 Jan 11 - 11:30 PM (#3072647) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Paul the Stockman Hi Bob, Although reportedly collected in Australia, I've often felt that "Mines of Australia" is English in origin. It's a poor fit as an Australian traditional - we Aussies would have to make some biting comment about the "new chum" and we would never have him going back home. Paul |
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12 Jan 11 - 02:51 PM (#3073193) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone hel From: GUEST,kirstylaw Hi everyone - thank you so much for all your help and suggestions. I have finally found the song i was looking for! My granny remembered the first line of the song which is 'In an old Australian homestead' - also the title of the song. It is a song from WWI which als has a version appropriated for WWII. However I have only been able to find a couple of verses to it and my granny remembers it being really quite long. If anyone knows the lyrics I would appreciate it if you could let me know where to find them :) A' the best Kirsty |
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12 Jan 11 - 04:29 PM (#3073261) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: JennieG Sounds to me like "Suvla Bay" - I know there has been at least one thread on this song. It has occasionally been a party piece of mine. Cheers JennieG |
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12 Jan 11 - 11:08 PM (#3073486) Subject: Lyr Add: SUDA BAY From: quokka 1. In an old Australian homestead With the roses round the door, A girl received a letter, Just newly from the war. With her mother's arms around her She gave way to sobs and sighs For when she read that letter, The tears came to her eyes. Chorus: Why do I weep? Why do I sigh? My love's asleep so far away. He played his part that August day And left my heart in Suda Bay.
2. She joined a band of nurses |
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13 Jan 11 - 01:06 AM (#3073517) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Paul the Stockman Suvla Bay - yes, one from the "hillbilly" side. Done by lots of artists but most notably by Buddy Williams - a version that received a lot of radio play in the 1950s. But I have never heard the above World War two version which obviously references the desperate and hopeless Greek Campaign - "Say Crete and there is little more to tell of muddle tall as treachery, despair and black defeat ..." (from "The Tomb of Lt John Learmonth AIF" by John Streeter Manifold). The World War I version refers to Suvla Bay (usually referred to now as Anzac Cove)and also refers to the month of April when the Gallipoli took place. ("in the hell that was Suvla Bay" from "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle) Here's the WWI version SUVLA BAY In an old Australian homestead With the roses 'round the door A girl received a letter 'Twas a message from the war With her mother's arms around her She gave way to so-obs and sighs And as she read this letter The tears came to her eyes Why do I weep, why do I pray My love's asleep so far away He played his part that April day And now he sleeps... on Suvla Bay She joined a band of sisters On the little cross of red To do her noble duty To her lover who now lay dead Many others came to woo her But was sadly turned away As she told them her sad story Of her love on Suvla Bay Why do I weep, why do I pray My love's asleep so far away He played his part that April day And now he sleeps... on Suvla Bay... |
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16 Jan 11 - 03:37 PM (#3075856) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Jim Dixon See also these old threads on the same subject: Lyr Add: Suvla Bay (Suda Bay) – Australian Lyr Req: Suvla Bay Lyr Req: sulva bay? / Suvla Bay / Suda Bay |
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16 Jan 11 - 05:26 PM (#3075917) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: song about australia - can anyone help? From: Bob Bolton G'day kirstylaw, I glad to see that you got the right song (I have been away at the Illawarra Folk Festival, down at Slacky Flat). I was fearing that the song might have been one better known in UK than out here ... and not necessarily recorded by Australian folk lore researchers. However Suda Bay / Suvla Bay are songs well remembered by the generation of my parents ... and passed on down. There are stories of the song being officially banned during the First World War, as being "contrary to public morale"! Presumably, we were supposd to be unaware of the fact that thousands of Allied troops were being killed, or badly wounded, every week! Regards, Bob |