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Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew

DigiTrad:
WALLABY STEW


In Mudcat MIDIs:
Wallaby Stew


Shimbo Darktree 16 Oct 99 - 11:43 AM
Charley Noble 13 May 01 - 12:55 PM
bbc 13 May 01 - 03:33 PM
Bob Bolton 14 May 01 - 03:14 AM
GUEST,bbc at work 14 May 01 - 11:52 AM
Shields Folk 26 Nov 06 - 11:45 AM
Rowan 27 Nov 06 - 07:16 PM
The Fooles Troupe 27 Nov 06 - 08:57 PM
Charley Noble 27 Nov 06 - 09:12 PM
Rowan 27 Nov 06 - 10:46 PM
Bob Bolton 28 Nov 06 - 05:22 AM
Charley Noble 28 Nov 06 - 09:35 AM
GUEST,Gerry 17 Jan 09 - 05:30 AM
Bob the Postman 17 Jan 09 - 11:24 AM
Bob Bolton 18 Feb 09 - 12:21 AM
Richard Mellish 23 Jun 20 - 05:08 AM
keberoxu 23 Jun 20 - 09:25 PM
JennieG 24 Jun 20 - 12:21 AM
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Subject: Lyr Add: WALLABY STEW
From: Shimbo Darktree
Date: 16 Oct 99 - 11:43 AM

An Australian song from the late 1800s - author unknown

WALLABY STEW
^^^
 
Poor Dad he got five years or more, as everybody knows,
And now he lives in Maitland gaol, broad arrows on his clothes.
He branded old Brown's cleanskins, and he never left a tail,
So I'll relate the family's fate since Dad got put in gaol.
 

So stir the wallaby stew, make soup with the kangaroo's tail,
I'll tell you things is pretty crook since Dad got put in gaol.
 

Our sheep all died a month ago, they all got flamin' fluke.
Our cow got boozed last Christmas by my big brother Luke.
I sold the buggy on me own, the place is up for sale,
That won't be all that's up the spout when Dad gets out of gaol.
 
Our Bess got shook upon some bloke, she's gone we don't know where.
He used to act around the shed, but he ain't acted square.
And Mother's got some shearer cove forever at her tail,
The family will have grown a bit when Dad gets out of gaol.
 
They let Dad out before his time to give us a surprise.
He looked around at all of us, and gently blessed our eyes.
He shook hands with the shearer cove, and said that things seemed stale,
Left him there to shepherd us, and headed back to gaol.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 01 - 12:55 PM

Worth refreshing from time to time.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: bbc
Date: 13 May 01 - 03:33 PM

Thanks, Charley!

bbc


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 May 01 - 03:14 AM

G'day bbc,

That is pretty close to the version, collected by Alan Scott, that I published about 20 years back in Mulga Wire. I will check when I get home.

I was not really bothering with songs about eating (or stealing if it comes to that) various animals ... unless they had a good point for the kids. This skips past quite a lot of Australian songs!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: GUEST,bbc at work
Date: 14 May 01 - 11:52 AM

That's fine, Bob. I won't be able to use them all, anyhow. Just give me whatever suits your fancy.

Thanks,

Barbara


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Shields Folk
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 11:45 AM

Does it taste like chicken?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Rowan
Date: 27 Nov 06 - 07:16 PM

No, Shields, it tastes like wallaby or kangaroo.

Cheers, Rowan


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 06 - 08:57 PM

Or maybe even, if you'll pardon me saying this - Potaroo...

I'm not making this up as I go along, you know...


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Nov 06 - 09:12 PM

Foolestroupe-

Good Lord! Are you trying to educate us?

How anyone could ever butcher and stew some poor little wallaby is hard for me to swallow. We were feeding the little dears, holding hands with them (actually being drgged by them into the bushes so they could avoid the ravenous wild ducks) when we visited the wildlife park in Port Douglas. Their "breakfast with the birds" most certainly did not include wallaby sausage.

But it is a great song!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Rowan
Date: 27 Nov 06 - 10:46 PM

You're a softie, Charley.
Traditionally, such animals (even as large as a Plains Red) were just chucked onto the top of the fire and roasted without gutting or skinning them, unless the skin was wanted for something like a cloak. Even then, most cloaks were made from skins of possums and koalas. Carcases cooked like this are usually ... rare, to say the least.

The sinews from the hind legs were used for bindings for some types of tools and were usually removed before the fire treatment. Stews were introduced by whitefellas, who had pots.

While I don't go after roos to eat, and am quite happy to let the Eastern Greys clutter up my driveway every morning and demolish things I plant, kangaroo meat is healthier than most European-origin quadruped meats.

Cheers, Rowan


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 05:22 AM

G'day Rowan,

OK ... I'll blow Charley's cover! He has happily eaten Red Kangaroo steaks cooked by me ... at JennyO and Jack Halyard's backyard barbecue ... lightly marinated in Aussie red wine and a dask of herbs and spices.

Very nice they were ... very low in fat, nice little trace of 'gamey' tang, tender to eat - as long as you know just how little to cook them!

Regards,

Bob


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 09:35 AM

blush...

Charley Noble, who's been known to dine at the Roâd Kill Café.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 05:30 AM

The lyrics as given in this thread are a little different from those in the DT, and both are a little different from what's in Ron Edwards' Great Australian Folk Songs.

First line of 2nd stanza, Edwards has "Our sheep all died a month ago, of footrot and the fluke," which I think I like better than what's in the DT. The next line in Edwards starts, "Our cow got shot last Christmas day" - can someone tell me what "Our cow got boozed" means?

The line above that goes, "That won't be all that's up the spout when Dad gets out of gaol," in Edwards it's "That won't be all that isn't junked when Dad comes out of gaol." What does that mean, "That won't be all that isn't junked"?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 11:24 AM

I always heard it as "our cow was blued", i. e., the proceeds from the pawning of the cow were wasted on a drunken spree. And "that won't be all that isn't jugged", i. e., either in pawn or pregnant.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 18 Feb 09 - 12:21 AM

G'day Gerry,

"Our cow got boozed" has a few omissions ... it means: "(What I got by selling our cow got boozed [downed, by me, as booze]". The song sets out to represent a family in decline ... in all aspects!

"Junked" is interesting ... I'll see if I can dig out the original collected texts and find out if this is original ... or a bit of creative licence by a revival singer.

Regards,

Bob


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 23 Jun 20 - 05:08 AM

I think it was Severn who sang this in yesterday's Mudcat Singaround, with words more or less as in the DigiTrad. I noticed many differences from the song as I know it so I thought I might as well post my version. I got it from a recording of one of Bert Lloyd's Folksongs of Australia radio programmes but I've made some changes.

Besides a few very small changes, my version swaps the second halves of verses 2 and 3, so that "that ain't all that's up the spout" at the end of verse 2 sets the scene for verse 3 telling of the doings of Bess's young man (who "certainly worked on her") as well as the doings of Mother's shearer cove, both leading to "the family will have grown a bit".

Poor Dad he got five years or more as everybody knows
And now he's stuck in Maitland Jail broad arrows on his clothes
He branded old Brown's clean skins and he never left a tail
Now I'll relate the family's fate since Dad got put in jail

So stir the wallaby stew, make soup of the kangaroo tail,
I'll tell you things is pretty crook since Dad got put in jail.

Our sheep all died last springtime, from footrot and the fluke
Our cow got shot last Christmas by my drunken brother Luke
The buggy's bust, the wheat has smut (rust?) and the place is up for sale
And that ain't all that's up the spout since Dad got put in jail

Our Bess got stuck on some young bloke but he's gone we don't know where
He worked around the shearing shed and he certainly worked on her
And Mother has a shearer cove for ever within hail
The family will have grown a bit since Dad got put in jail

They let Dad out before his time to give us a surprise
He came and took a look around and gently cursed our eyes
He shook hands with the shearer cove and reckoned things looked stale
Then he slowly spat on the old dirt floor and battled back into jail


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jun 20 - 09:25 PM

This does remind me strangely of
"Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport,
Tie Me Kangaroo Down..."


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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wallaby Stew
From: JennieG
Date: 24 Jun 20 - 12:21 AM

Ah......no. We don't sing Rolf Harris songs anymore.


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