I Realised I'd Got The Sack (1928)
(By the Man from Jugiong.)
I was working on a station,
Just where, I need not tell ;
In pursusing my vocation,
There were other men as well.
The head serang we all loved well,
Tho' he had a happy knack ;
To glean the ghastly tattler's tale,
That often gets a man the sack.
I had only settled down to work,
When much to my surprise ;
He gave me a job I could not shirk,
It opened up my bustful eyes.
I was promoted without asking,
It all looked well but queer ;
Because the job was everlasting,
Yet it did not last a year.
Being a new hand on the station,
I was much surprised to see ;
But I was only on probation,
For the proof soon came to me.
The crawlers are never at a loss,
Oh spare me the're mighty hot ;
He put the stiff 'un over the boss,
And I received my first shot.
The tattler was cute and cunning,
He loaded up the station gun ;
I knew the shot was coming,
I could hear the bullet hum.
It hit me just as I lit a fag,
It gave me an awful crack ;
The charge was 'roll up your swag,'
And get off on the track.
I jazzed along the pathway home,
And slid into a rut ;
I packed up all my clobber known,
Then cleaned up the dear old hut.
I saddled up my crocodile,
Strapped on my little pack ;
Then I drew my little pile,
And realised I'd got the sack.
Notes
From the New South Wales newspaper The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser Friday 27 January 1928 p. 2.