The Old Friends (1904)
(By 6X8)
There are men who are friends in the summer,
And flit when the winter arrives.
But here's to the friends in all seasons
Who would for a mate risk their lives.
For the old are the best and the straightest
Of friends on life's wallaby tracks :
Staunch when we're faces to faces
And true when we've turned our backs!
We've made many friends in our wanderings
'Cross scrublands and mountains and plains;
And many though, new have been loyal,
Through bad times and troubles and pain.
Yet as slowly the years are passing,
We find it is only too true;
That the old are the dearest and straightest,
However we may love the new.
Let's fill to the brim then our glasses
And joyfully lift them on high, old friends.
And drink a grand toast to the friends--
The friends made in days long gone by.
For the old are the best and the straightest
Of friends on life's wallaby tracks
Staunch when we're faces to faces,
And true when we've turned our backs.
Notes
From the Queensland Newspaper the North Queensland Register Monday 5 September 1904 p. 22 S.