In Defence of the Bush by Banjo Paterson So you’re back from up the country, Mister Townsman, where you went, And you’re cursing all the business in a bitter discontent; Well, we grieve to disappoint you, and it makes us sad to hear That it wasn’t cool and shady — and there wasn’t plenty beer, […]
The Billy Can – a swagmans friend
08/02/2025 By Leave a Comment
The Quart-Pot and Billy-Can No utensil is so generally used in the bush as the billy-can; none is more widely distributed, none better known in Australia. It is cheap, light, useful, and a burden to no man. It goes with every traveller, it figures in comedy and tragedy and has been the repository of the […]
Whispers of the Outback – a verse
01/02/2025 By Leave a Comment
Whispers of the Outback The red earth hums a song of old, A tale of heat, of sun, and gold. Where kangaroos in silence leap, And ancient secrets softly creep. The wind it carries, warm and dry, A whisper from the endless sky. Through gum trees tall and desert wide, The Outback waits, the land, […]
The Suicide – by B.E.
25/01/2025 By 2 Comments
The Sun -Kalgoorlie – 3 April 1904, page 6 ALLEN Frederick ‘Fred’ Howard- of Tampa, who, some weeks ago, committed suicide by hanging. This verse was written by his mate at the Champion Mine, Kookynie and submitted to ‘The Sun’. THE SUICIDE Before shuffling off this mortal coil. Before being covered with the soil, Just […]
A Bush Christmas – by C J Dennis
22/12/2024 By 1 Comment
The sun burns hotly thro’ the gums As down the road old Rogan comes The hatter from the lonely hut Beside the track to Woollybutt. He likes to spend his Christmas with us here. He says a man gets sort of strange Living alone without a change, Gets sort of settled in his way; And […]
