Times were tough in the early 1890s, and bushmen were finding it hard to get work. This is the subject of "Banjo" Patterson's “A Bushman’s Song” , quite a political poem. First published in 1892, and in later publications like “The Man from Snowy River and other verses” (1895) it is known as "Travelling down the Castlereagh" (from the 1st line). It’s been covered by the likes of The Bushwackers, The Cobbers and Hamish Imlach.
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The first verse describes a stockmen travelling down the Castlereagh looking for work, but he can find none.
In the second verse, we learn he owns a very fine horse, but he doesn't say exactly how he came by it. He decides to wager 20 pounds his horse can beat another, as "a bit of a joke" …. but he's making light of that bet, because 20 pounds in 1891 is worth about $AU 4,000 today.
In the third verse, the bushman goes looking for shearing, but all he finds are sheds full of non-union workers, whom he calls " scab ". Feelings were bitter during the Great Shearers Strike of 1891, which nearly plunged Australia into civil war. Paterson clearly shows he sides with the unions, who were fighting the squatters.
The fourth verse is about the lot of ordinary tenant farmers, and how landlords cruelly exploited them.
When we reach the fifth verse, the bushman decides on the only option left to him : droving
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lyrics
------------------ [ V.1 ] ---------------------
I'm travellin' down the Castlereagh, and I'm a station-hand
I'm handy with the ropin' pole, I'm handy with the brand
And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing an axe all day
But there's no demand for a station-hand along the Castlereagh
[ CHORUS 1 ]
So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt
We've got to make a shift for the stations further out
With the pack-horse runnin' after, for he follows me like a dog
We must strike across the country at the old jig-jog
------------------- [ V.2 ] ---------------------
This old black horse I'm riding, if you notice what's his brand
He wears the crooked R, you see, none better in the land
He takes a lot of beatin', and the other day we tried
For a bit of a joke, with a racing bloke, for £20 a side
[ CHORUS 2 ]
It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt
That I had to make him shift, for the money was nearly out
But he cantered home a winner, with the other one at the flog
He's a red-hot sort to pick up with his old jig-jog
------------------- [ V.3 ] ---------------------
I asked a cove for shearin' once along the Marthaguy
We shear non-union here, says he "I call it scab," says I
I looked along the shearin' floor before I turned to go
There were 8 or 10 non-union men a-shearin' in a row
[ CHORUS 3 ]
It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt
It was time to make a shift with the leprosy about
So I saddled up my horses, and I whistled to my dog
And I left his scabby station at the old jig-jog
------------------- [ V.4 ] ---------------------
I went to Illawarra, where my brother's got a farm
He has to ask the landlord's leave before he lifts an arm
The landlord owns the countryside - man, woman, dog and cat
They haven't the cheek to dare to speak without they touch their hat
[ CHORUS 4 ]
It was shift, boys, shift, for there wasn't the slightest doubt
Their little landlord god and I would soon have fallen out
Was I to touch my hat to him? Was I his bloomin' dog?
So I makes for up the country at the old jig-jog
------------------- [ V.5 ] ---------------------
But it's time that I was movin', I've a mighty way to go
Till I drink artesian water from a thousand feet below
Till I meet the overlanders with the cattle comin' down
And I'll work a while till I make a pile, then have a spree in town
[ CHORUS 1 ]
So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt
We've got to make a shift for the stations further out
With the pack-horse runnin' after, for he follows me like a dog
We must strike across the country at the old jig-jog
============================
credits
from Drovers, Stockmen and Bullockies,
released November 7, 2023
Words : Banjo Paterson,
Tune : Traditional .
Accompanist : Lillian Penner (cello, violin and backing vocals)
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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