Queensland Drover
There's a trade you all know well
It's bringing cattle over
On every track, to the Gulf and back
Men know the Queensland Drover
Chorus
Pass the billy round, my boys
Don't let the pintpot stand there
For tonight we drink the health
Of every overlander
I come from
the Northern plains
Where the girls and grass are scanty
Where the creeks
run dry or ten foot high
And its either drought or plenty
There
are men from every land
From Spain and France and Flanders
They're a well
mixed pack, both white and black
The Queensland overlanders
When
we've earned a spree in town
We live like pigs in clover
And the whole
damn cheque pours down the neck
Of many a Queensland drover
As I
pass along the roads
The children raise my dander
Shouting 'Mother dear,
take in the clothes
Here comes an overlander
But I'm bound for home
once more
On a prad that's quite a goer
I can find a job with a crawling
mob
On the banks of the Maranoa
Notes
'Queensland Drover' or 'The Overlander' seems to have been collected with three different tunes. This version uses the tune John Manifold learned from his father, who learned in about 1900. The song was printed in Patersons Old Bush Songs.