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"The Drover's Song"

We were travelling down the "Paroo"
With a mob of fats for Bourke,
From the stoney mulga ridges
Where the drovers never shirk.

We had our date for trucking,
And our stages all mapped out;
When a wire came from Eulo
That knocked our plans about.

The Darling was in flood you see,
Our Trucks were cancelled too;
So we stopped at Yantabulla
To sample Freddie's brew

Fred Wheelhouse is the publican
Out in Yantabulla;
And while you drain your glasses
Fred is there to pull-er.

He bungs it on in Yanta—
The beer it flows free;
No one seems to worry when
The Drovers have a spree.

There are famous men in every sport—.
In cricket we have Grimmett;
In Yantabulla Fred Wheelhouse's
Motto is "Sky's the Limit."

Well, it's time that I was going,
So do not drop a tear;
I'm heading west to make the best
Of Fred Wheelhouse's beer.

—"DROVER BILL."

Notes

From the Bourke NSW newspaper the Western Herald Friday 29 September 1950 p. 11.

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australian traditional songs . . . a selection by mark gregory