Saltbush Bill, J.P., And Other Verses

By A. B. Paterson

[Andrew Barton (“Banjo”) Paterson, Australian poet & journalist. 1864-1941.]

Author of “The Man from Snowy River, and Other Verses”, “Rio Grande, and Other Verses”, and “An Outback Marriage”.

Publisher's Note: Major A. B. Paterson has been on active service in Egypt for the past eighteen months. The publishers feel it incumbent on them to say that only a few of the pieces in this volume have been seen by him in proof; and that he is not responsible for the selection, the arrangement or the title of “Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses”.

Table of Contents

Song of the Pen Not for the love of women toil we, we of the craft,

Song of the Wheat We have sung the song of the droving days,

Brumby's Run It lies beyond the Western Pines

Saltbush Bill on the Patriarchs Come all you little rouseabouts and climb upon my knee;

The Reverend Mullineux I'd reckon his weight at eight-stun-eight,

The Wisdom of Hafiz My son, if you go to the races to battle with Ikey and Mo,

Saltbush Bill, J.P. Beyond the land where Leichhardt went,

The Riders in the Stand There's some that ride the Robbo style, and bump at every stride;

Waltzing Matilda Oh! there once was a swagman camped in the Billabong,

An Answer to Various Bards Well, I've waited mighty patient while they all came rolling in,

T.Y.S.O.N. Across the Queensland border line

As Long as your Eyes are Blue Wilt thou love me, sweet, when my hair is grey

Bottle-O! I ain't the kind of bloke as takes to any steady job;

The Story of Mongrel Grey This is the story the stockman told,

Gilhooley's Estate Oh, Mr. Gilhooley he turned up his toes,

The Road to Hogan's Gap Now look, you see, it's this way like,

A Singer of the Bush There is waving of grass in the breeze

“Shouting” for a Camel It was over at Coolgardie that a mining speculator,

The Lost Drink I had spent the night in the watch-house--

Mulligan's Mare Oh, Mulligan's bar was the deuce of a place

The Matrimonial Stakes I wooed her with a steeplechase, I won her with a fall,

The Mountain Squatter Here in my mountain home,

Pioneers They came of bold and roving stock that would not fixed abide;

Santa Claus in the Bush It chanced out back at the Christmas time,

“In Re a Gentleman, One” We see it each day in the paper,

The Melting of the Snow There's a sunny Southern land,

A Dream of the Melbourne Cup Bring me a quart of colonial beer

The Gundaroo Bullock Oh, there's some that breeds the Devon that's as solid as a stone,

Lay of the Motor-Car We're away! and the wind whistles shrewd

The Corner Man I dreamed a dream at the midnight deep,

When Dacey Rode the Mule 'Twas to a small, up-country town,

The Mylora Elopement By the winding Wollondilly where the weeping willows weep,

The Pannikin Poet There's nothing here sublime,

Not on It The new chum's polo pony was the smartest pony yet--

The Protest I say 'e ISN'T Remorse!

The Scapegoat We have all of us read how the Israelites fled

An Evening in Dandaloo It was while we held our races--

A Ballad of Ducks The railway rattled and roared and swung

Tommy Corrigan You talk of riders on the flat, of nerve and pluck and pace,

The Maori's Wool Now, this is just a simple tale to tell the reader how

The Angel's Kiss An angel stood beside the bed

Sunrise on the Coast Grey dawn on the sand-hills--the night wind has drifted

The Reveille Trumpets of the Lancer Corps,