The following bawdy material supplied to Warren Fahey by Rob Willis and includes
an informal recording session with members of the original Bushwhackers, and
recorded in the early1950s by John Meredith. John gave a copy of these tapes to
Rob Willis and explained that his card system detailed the recording as
'
Bushwhacker's Practice Tape'. I have refrained from detailing the names of the
various singers because of the sensitive nature of the material. That said, the
Shearer's Lament is definitely the voice of John Meredith and used by
permission.
The second part of the recordings offer (John Meredith/Rob Willis Collection)
with Ebb Wren
Untitled – complete poem
He was boasting of his shearing up at Jimmy Holman's bar
A pale and puny little chap as big guns mostly are
He'd rung some sheds of the larger scale down on the Queensland side
He'd tried the nerves of Hogan who retained a lot of pride
You're a bloody fucking liar, up spoke Hogan straight and blunt,
You louse-bound little bastard, you were never in the front.
And up jumped Jacky Blowhard who reeked of camel dung
Just lobbed in from the wild Monaro where women eat their young
He said, now boys don't quarrel, there's beer here for the crowd
We could sit down peacefully and voice our tallies loud
But Blowhard had no tallies, he had nothing to detail
Simply dreamed of beery revels along the camel trail
But Hogan gave some tallies and some wild and ridgy cuts
Not particular to a pizzle or a half a yard of guts
How he broke up Hungry Lawson's somewhere back in 92
He shore two hundred sheep that day and stuffed a gin or two
When the puny chap broke loose again and tried to get the front
Hogan roared out settle down you weedy little cunt
The shearer mudbank weather gods strike you dead not yet
You couldn't dag a hogget you blasted boss's pet
Then Blowhard begged a hearing with his wild Monaro tales
And a man that comes from them parts where hearing seldom fails
For Sodom and debauchery so keenly was it felt
Each man gathered up his trouser seat and tightened up his belt
Upon his sword it might endure and put the man to route
We don't need any bum babies – we're selling gin and stout
Yarn – Hungry Tyson
Yarn – Murrumbidgee
Tape continues with a series of bush yarns and general yarning
End of tape/
Disc 2
Ebb Wren of Forbes ( 1914 – 1992) – John Meredith/Rob Willis Collection NLA)
Ebb Wren continues
Abdul the bul bul – alternate version
A travelling brothel was brought to a town
Tape continues with Dave Matthias yarns.
|