Cirrus

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Notes

The Bulletin attributes this verse to C. E. Bowler and others, while the Australian Treasury of Popular Verse attributes it to George Moran. It seems likely that the verse has its origins as a bushmen's song and that it has been retold and adapted over the years.
Ron Edwards states that 'Two claims to authorship have been made for this song, one through the Bulletin in 1885, which nominated a George Moran as author, and another ... from an unmarked newspaper cutting which makes the claim for the surveyor, Thomas Townsend. There are indications that this cutting is from The Queenslander of about 1895'. The Overlander Songbook p. 107.
The State Library of New South Wales includes a handwritten copy of this poem, notated as follows: 'Written by two Miss Grey's [sic] daughters of Col. Grey at Lake [indec.] in 1846. A parody on the "Last Whistle" then a favourite song.' (Source: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stockmans-last-bed-parody-popular-song-last-whistle-written-two-daughters-colonel-grey-1846-p1. Sighted: 29/07/2024)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Notes:

Minor textual variations appear in texts

Appears in:

y A Century of Australian Song Douglas Sladen (editor), London : Walter Scott Publishers , 1888 Z475202 1888 anthology poetry London : Walter Scott Publishers , 1888
(
1888
)
pg. 543-545
Appears in:

y The Australian Town and Country Journal vol. 67 no. 1765 2 December 1903 Z636952 1903 newspaper issue 1903
(
1903
)
pg. 43
Appears in:

y Old Bush Songs : Composed and Sung in the Bushranging, Digging and Overlanding Days A. B. Paterson (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1905 Z59487 1905 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1905
(
1905
)
Appears in:

y The North Queensland Register 3 December 1923 Z1125671 1923 newspaper issue 1923
(
1923
)
pg. 13 Section: On the Track
Appears in:

y The North Queensland Register 24 December 1923 Z1125675 1923 newspaper issue 1923
(
1923
)
pg. 27 Section: On the Track
Appears in:

y The North Queensland Register 18 February 1924 Z1435823 1924 newspaper issue 1924
(
1924
)
pg. 18 Section: On the Track
Appears in:

y The North Queensland Register 12 May 1924 Z1435894 1924 newspaper issue 1924
(
1924
)
pg. 10 Section: On the Track
Appears in:

y The Bulletin vol. 47 no. 2421 8 July 1926 Z636954 1926 periodical issue 1926
(
1926
)
pg. 3
Note: Published under the name C. E. Bowler and Others.
Appears in:

y The North Queensland Register 23 January 1937 Z1140168 1937 newspaper issue 1937
(
1937
)
pg. 61 Section: On the Track
Appears in:

y Australian Bush Songs and Ballads Will Lawson (editor), Sydney : Frank Johnson , 1944 Z331491 1944 anthology poetry Sydney : Frank Johnson , 1944
(
1944
)
pg. 93-94
Note: With first line: 'Whether stockman or not,'
Appears in:

y The Penguin Australian Song Book J. S. Manifold , Ringwood : Penguin , 1964 Z406059 1964 anthology poetry Ringwood : Penguin , 1964
(
1964
)
pg. 84-86
Note: With two alternative musical scores.
Appears in:

y Folk Songs of Australia and the Men and Women Who Sang Them John Meredith (editor), Hugh Anderson (editor), Sydney : Ure Smith , 1967 Z456559 1967 anthology poetry criticism biography interview Sydney : Ure Smith , 1967
(
1967
)
pg. 46
Appears in:

y The Overlander Songbook Ronald George Edwards (editor), Ronald George Edwards (illustrator), Ferntree Gully : Rams Skull Press , 1956 Z856165 1956 anthology poetry prose Adelaide : Rigby Publishers , 1971
(
1971
)
pg. 108
Appears in:

y Complete Book of Australian Folk Lore Bill Scott , Sydney : Ure Smith , 1976 Z206758 1976 anthology poetry short story prose Sydney : Ure Smith , 1976
(
1976
)
pg. 196-197
Appears in:

y Old Bush Songs and Rhymes of Colonial Times Douglas Stewart (editor), Nancy Keesing (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1957 Z389570 1957 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1976
(
1976
)
pg. 144-145
Appears in:

y A Treasury of Colonial Poetry Milsons Point : Currawong , 1982 Z363730 1982 anthology poetry Milsons Point : Currawong , 1982
(
1982
)
pg. 297
Appears in:

y A Collection of Australian Bush Verse Castle Hill : Peter Antill-Rose , 1989 Z91384 1989 anthology poetry Castle Hill : Peter Antill-Rose , 1989
(
1989
)
pg. 23
Appears in:

y An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse Jim Haynes (editor), Sydney : ABC Books , 2002 Z985597 2002 anthology poetry Sydney : ABC Books , 2002
(
2002
)
pg. 65-66
Note: Published under the name George Moran.