Digital Tradition Mirror

Travelling Down the Castlereagh

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!

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