Travelling Down the Castlereagh
(Banjo Paterson)
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.
cho: So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt,
That we've got to make a shift to the stations further out,
With the pack-horse runnin' after, for he follows like a dog,
We must strike across the country at the old jig-jog.
2. This old black horse I'm riding - if you'll notice what's his brand,
He wears the crooked R, you see, none better in the land,
He takes a lot of beatin', the other day we tried
For a bit of a joke with a racing bloke, for twenty pound a side.
cho: 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 at the flog -
He's a red-hot sort to pick up, with his old jig-jog.
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 eight or ten non-union men a-shearin' in a row.
cho: 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.
4. I went to Illawarra where me brother's got a farm,
He has to ask the landlord's leave before he lifts his 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!
cho: 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 me hat to him, was I his bloomin' dog?
So I makes for up the country at the old jig-jog.
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,
But I'll work a while, till I make a pile, then have a spree in town.
cho: So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt
We've got to make a shift to the stations further out;
The pack-horse runs behind us, for he follows like a dog,
And we cross a lot of country at the old jig-jog.
Note: A.B. "Banjo" Paterson. Original line 2.4: there were eight or ten
dashed Chinamen.... [hence "leprosy" in chorus] JB
JB
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!