The Dear Native Girl
Air.-"Gum-tree Canoe."
Australia, dear land of my childhood, and birth,
I think of you still amidst beauty and mirth;
Your forests, your mountains their charms have for me,
And the dear native girl who will share it with me.
Chorus:
Then give me a hut in my own native land.
Or a tent in the bush with the mountains so grand ;
With the scenes of my childhood contented I'll be,
And the dear native girl who will share it with me.
I love far to roam where the emu does stray,
Where the wild native dog cries aloud for his prey,
Where the kangaroo, wallaroo and wombat so rare
Are found with the scrub turkey and native bear.
How pleasant to rise at the dawn of the day,
And chase the wild horse o'er the hills far away,
Where he'll prance and he'll snort all alone in his
Until he's run down by hearts bold and free.
When winter winds whistle and blast the sweet flowers,
How happy and cheerful we'll then pass the hours
With the friends of our youth in song or in glee,
And the dear native girl who will share it with me.
-"Queenslander."
Notes
This song was first published in the Queenslander 8 September 1894, with the note: (From versions supplied by "Colonial Boy," St. Lawrence, and R.C.H., Cloncurry.)
This version is from the Victorian newspaper the Oakleigh Leader 29 September 1894 p. 7.