When first this rum old world began to suffer for its sins
The tyrant, and the rebel rose, and they, we know, were twins.
The rebel was more numerous, and he and greed were foes;
And so, to keep him in his place, the "hired assassin" rose.
Thus, when the first foundation stone of mammon's tower was laid,
The wealthy idlers organised the "lay-'em-out" brigade.
Where'er the man of noble mind, but lacking gold or "birth,"
With indignation eloquent attacked the wrongs of earth,
Where'er he left his place and urged the children of the soil
To claim a fairer portion of the harvest of their toil,
As like as not his fiery flood of eloquence was stayed
And he was perforated by the "lay-'em-out" brigade.
But in the land we love to call the region of the dawn
I do not think the "shoot-'em-downs" had better try it on.
They tried it once in years gone by 'way down in Ballarat,
And shot some early patriots down-but we'll remember that.
The monument where diggers fought and died in their stockade
Reminds us still of what we owe the "lay-'em-out" brigade.
The thing might do in Europe, where rebellious peasants lie
With dead eyes staring up into the chilly northern sky.
They're used to that in Europe-but the Southern rouseabout
Has not been educated up to being stiffened out.
Our drama's just begun, and when the after-part is played
The Queensland shearers won't forget the "lay-'em-out" brigade.
--HENRY LAWSON.
A much longer version of this poem was first published in The Truth in 1894Notes From the Sydney Newspaper The Workers' Weekly 8 Dec 1936 Page 2.
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