y separately published work icon A Treasury of Bush Verse anthology   poetry   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1991... 1991 A Treasury of Bush Verse
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Contents

* Contents derived from the North Ryde, Ryde - Gladesville - Hunters Hill area, Northwest Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,:Angus and Robertson , 1991 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
My Countryi"The love of field and coppice,", Dorothea Mackellar , single work poetry (p. 1-2)
Botany Bay I Botany Bayi"Farewell to old England for ever,", single work poetry (p. 3-4)
The Wild Colonial Boyi"'Tis of a wild Colonial boy, Jack Doolan was his name", single work poetry

'The Wild Colonial Boy' is a traditional Irish/Australian ballad of which there are many different versions. It has been argued that the original version was really about Jack Donahoe (variously spelled Donahoo or Donahue), an Irish transport who arrived at Sydney Cove in 1825, and was subsequently convicted of highway robbery and sentenced to death. He escaped and waged a guerrilla war against the wealthy for more than two years in the country around Sydney. On September 1st 1830 he was ambushed by a police party near Cambelltown and shot dead, his companions Webber and Warmsley escaping into the bush. This version was eventually outlawed as seditious so the name of the protagonist changed.

The resulting Irish version is about a young emigrant, named Jack Duggan, who left the town of Castlemaine, County Kerry, Ireland, for Australia in the 1800s. According to the song (and in keeping with the true story of Jack Donahoe), he spent his time there 'robbing from the rich to feed the poor'. In the song, the protagonist is fatally wounded in an ambush when his heart is pierced by the bullet of Fitzroy.

The Australian version has Jack Doolan (or sometimes Jack Dowling) as the protagonist, and here Castlemaine refers to the Australian town in Victoria. In both versions variation in the wording and language occurs across different sources.

In his Old Bush Songs, Banjo Patterson wrote: "it will be noticed that the same chorus is sung to both 'The Wild Colonial Boy' and 'Bold Jack Donahoo'. Several versions of both songs were sent in, but the same chorus was always made to do duty for both songs." This chorus, included in some (not all) Australian versions is as follows:


Come, all my hearties,

we'll roam the mountains high,

Together we will plunder,

together we will die.

We'll wander over valleys,

and gallop over plains,

And we'll scorn to live in

slavery, bound down with iron chains.

 (p. 4-5)
The Overlanderi"There's a trade you all know well -", single work poetry (p. 6-8)
The Banks of the Condaminei"Oh, hark the dogs are barking, love,", single work poetry (p. 9-10)
Stringy Bark and Green Hidei"I sing of a commodity, it's one that will not fail yer,", George Chanson , single work poetry (p. 10-11)
The Old Bullock Drayi"Oh! the shearing is all over, and the wool is coming down,", single work poetry (p. 12-13)
Click Go the Shears : An Australian Balladi"Out on the board the old shearer stands", single work poetry (p. 14-15)
Flash Jack from Gundagaii"I've shore at Burrabogie, and I've shore at Toganmain,", Anonymous (fl. 1905) , single work poetry (p. 16-17)
Down Where the Coolibahs Growi"A strapping young stockman lay dying,", Horace A. Flower , single work poetry (p. 18-19)
A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Foresti"Not a bird disturbs the air,", Charles Harpur , single work poetry (p. 19-20)
Note: With first line: Not a bird distubs the air.
The Sick Stock-Rider The Sick Stockrideri"Hold hard, Ned! lift me down once more, and lay me in the shade,", Adam Lindsay Gordon , single work poetry (p. 21-24)
Finis Exoptatusi"Question not, but live and labour", Adam Lindsay Gordon , extract poetry (p. 24)
Note: Extract untitled in this source.
Where the Dead Men Liei"Out on the wastes of the Never Never-", Barcroft Boake , single work poetry
A poem about the many man - settlers - who perished in the Australian outback, with allusions to the landscape itself as a possible cause of these deaths. 
 (p. 25-27)
The Women of the Westi"They left the vine-wreathed cottage and the mansion on the hill,", George Essex Evans , single work poetry (p. 27-28)
The Last of His Tribei"He crouches, and buries his face on his knees,", Henry Kendall , single work poetry (p. 29-30)
The Cattle Huntersi"While the morning light beams on the fern-matted streams,", Henry Kendall , single work poetry (p. 31)
Bell-Birdsi"By channels of coolness the echoes are calling,", Henry Kendall , single work poetry (p. 32-33)
A Bushman's Songi"I'm travellin' down the Castlereagh, and I'm a station hand,", A. B. Paterson , single work poetry (p. 33-35)
Waltzing Matilda : Carrying a Swagi"Oh! there once was a swagman camped in the billabong,", A. B. Paterson , single work poetry (p. 35-36)
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