The ship is in the breakers, lads,
And stormy tempests blow,
And pilot Berry at the wheel
Cries, "Let the painter go."
Charley Duke has got an axe
That gives a Chelsea blow,
And Captain Brag cries, "Dowse the rag,
And "Let the painter go."
Doctor Logie sold his house
The first in Rotten Row
Because he knew the pilot meant
To "Let the painter go."
The Man of Ross, the House's boss,
Who whilome used to blow
About the breese and olive trees,
Cries, "Let the painter go."
"I tried to cut it once before,
With Smith of the big O;
But the Peelers of old Erin raised
Their pot sticks and cried "No"
"But here the traps are tippy chaps,
Who, for a pound or so,
Will blow the candle out while we
"Let the old painter go."
Victorian banks will soon be blanks,
The high estates be low;
We'll take our cue from Kelly's crew,
And "Let the painter go."
GRASSIE.
Notes
From the NSW Newspaper The Border Watch 14 May 1879 p. 3.
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