Poem

Bullocky Bill

by Edward Dyson · 1896

From a river siding, the railway town,Or the dull new port there three days down,Forward and back on the up-hill track,With a creak of the jinker, a ringing crack,Slow as a funeral, sure as steam,Bullocky Bill and his old red team.
Ploughing around by the ti-tree scrub,Four wheels down to the creeping hub,Swaying they go, with their heads all low,Bally, and Splodger, and Spot, and Jo.Men in the ranges much esteemBullocky Bill and his old red team.
Worming about where the tall trees spring,Surging ahead when the clay bogs cling;A rattle of lash and of language rashOn the narrow edge of immortal smash.He'd thread a bead or walk a beam,Bullocky Bill with his old red team.
Climbing a ridge where the red stars ride;Straddling down on the other side,With a whistle and grind, and a scramble blind,And a thundering gum-tree slung behind.But they always get there, hill or stream,Bullocky Bill and his old red team.
Engines or stamps for the mines about,Tools for the men who are leading out;Tucker, and boose, and the latest newsBack where the bunyip stirs the ooze.Pioneers with the best we deemBullocky Bill and his old red team.
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-001256
Copy-textRhymes from the Mines and Other Lines (1896), Project Gutenberg Australia; Telelib corroboration; 1896 scan provenance retained as SRC-000136; selected copy-text retained exactly under D-180/D-208
Source recordSRC-000008
Rights determinationRGT-000170
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

How texts and rights are checked →

While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/bullocky-bill

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