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The Dying Stockman is one of those derivative songs. The original was probably a seafaring song " The Tarpaulin Jacket ” from the 19th Century, or earlier. There is a discussion of that here (Ref.#1)
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The authorship of the words has been attributed to Horace Flower, the brother of Charles Augustus Flower, and first published in 1885 in “The Portland Mirror”. It also appeared in ‘The Queenslander’ in 1894 (Ref.#2) The poem is included in “Banjo” Paterson’s “Old Bush Songs” (1905) (Ref.#3)
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Ref #1 : mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=148910
Ref.#2: trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/20718861
Ref.#3 : gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00070.html#TheDyingStockman
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lyrics

The Dying Stockman (1885)
Words by Horace Flower
Tune – “The Old Stable Jacket”
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[V.1]
A strapping young stockman lay dying
His saddle supporting his head
His two mates around him were crying
As he rose on his elbow and said :

CHORUS
Wrap me up in my stockwhip and blanket
And bury me deep down below
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me
In the shade where the coolibahs grow


[V.2]
Oh had I the flight of a wedgetail
Far over the plains would I fly
Straight to the place of my childhood
And there I would lay down and die

[V.3]
Then cut down a couple of saplings
Place one at my head and my toes
Carve on them cross, stockwhip and saddle
To show there's a stockman below

CHORUS

[V.4]
Hark there's the wail of a dingo
Watchful and weird--I must go
For it tolls the death-knell of the stockman
From the gloom of the scrub down below

[V.5]
There's tea in the battered old billy
Place pannikins out in a row
And we'll drink to our next merry meeting
In the place where all good fellows go

CHORUS

[V.6]
And oft in the shades of the twilight
When the soft winds are whispering low
And the darkening shadows are falling
Sometimes think of the stockman below

CHORUS

=========================

credits

from Drovers, Stockmen and Bullockies, released November 7, 2023
words by Horace Flower
tune Traditional
cello by Natasha Jaffe

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The Queensland Tiger

The Queensland Tiger covers traditional Australian ballads mainly from 19C.: e.g. Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Breaker Morant, Charles Thatcher, etc…. true to the original works.
website : www.thequeenslandtiger.com or Youtube channel : The Queensland Tiger ... more

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