SALTBUSH BILL, J.P., AND OTHER VERSES
By A. B. Paterson
[Andrew Barton (“Banjo”) Paterson, Australian poet & journalist.
1864-1941.]
Author of “The Man from Snowy River, and Other Verses”, “Rio Grande, and
Other Verses”, and “An Outback Marriage”.
Publisher’s Note: Major A. B. Paterson has been on active service in Egypt
for the past eighteen months. The publishers feel it incumbent on them to
say that only a few of the pieces in this volume have been seen by him in
proof; and that he is not responsible for the selection, the arrangement
or the title of “Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses”.
SALTBUSH BILL, J.P., AND OTHER VERSES
Song of the Pen
Song of the Wheat
Brumby’s Run
Saltbush Bill on the Patriarchs
The Reverend Mullineux
The Wisdom of Hafiz
Saltbush Bill, J.P.
The Riders in the Stand
Waltzing Matilda
An Answer to Various Bards
T.Y.S.O.N.
As Long as your Eyes are Blue
Bottle-O!
The Story of Mongrel Grey
Gilhooley’s Estate
The Road to Hogan’s Gap
A Singer of the Bush
“Shouting” for a Camel
The Lost Drink
Mulligan’s Mare
The Matrimonial Stakes
The Mountain Squatter
Pioneers
Santa Claus in the Bush
“In Re a Gentleman, One”
The Melting of the Snow
A Dream of the Melbourne Cup
The Gundaroo Bullock
Lay of the Motor-Car
The Corner Man
When Dacey Rode the Mule
The Mylora Elopement
The Pannikin Poet
Not on It
The Protest
The Scapegoat
An Evening in Dandaloo
A Ballad of Ducks
Tommy Corrigan
The Maori’s Wool
The Angel’s Kiss
Sunrise on the Coast
The Reveille
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About the author:
Andrew Barton Paterson was born on 17 February 1864 at Narambla, New South
Wales. He lived at Illalong station until he was ten, when he went to
Sydney to attend school. He trained as a solicitor (a type of lawyer) but
also contributed some verse to the Sydney “Bulletin” under the pseudonym
of “The Banjo”, taken from the name of a horse. His first book, “The Man
from Snowy River”, was published in 1895, and has sold more copies than
any other book of Australian poetry. He later gave up law to become a
journalist, and went to South Africa to report on the Boer War. When World
War I broke out he sought work as a war correspondent, but failed to get
it. He then went to work driving an ambulance in France, and later became
a Remount Officer with the Australian forces then in Egypt. After
returning to Australia in 1919 he continued as a writer, and died in
Sydney on 5 February 1941.
Paterson’s most famous work is “Waltzing Matilda”, written in 1895, and
now an unofficial anthem of Australia. “The Man from Snowy River” has
since become the inspiration for a well-known movie of the same name, and
even a series on a cable television network. “Clancy of the Overflow” is
similarly well known.
An incomplete Glossary of Australasian and obscure terms:
Billabong: A waterhole that dries up during the dry season.
Billy: A kettle used for camp cooking, especially to boil water for tea.
Box: When referring to plants, it can be any of a number of trees and
shrubs, especially those of genus Buxus or genus Eucalyptus.
Cocky/cockatoo: A small-time farmer.
Coolabah: (more often Coolibah) Eucalyptus microtheca. The leaves of the
Eucalyptus hang sideways, with the narrow edge to the sun, as an
adaptation to drought. Hence they are famous for not providing shade.
Edward Rex: (Rex = King) Edward VII, 1841-1910, King of the United Kingdom
(and therefore nominal head of state in Australia) from 1901 to 1910.
Fi. fa.: fieri facias—a legal paper authorising the seizure of a
debtor’s goods.
Flash: Ostentatious; fake; (obsolete) relating to shady characters.
Gully-raker: A person who musters unbranded cattle (or horses).
Humpy: (Aboriginal) A rough or temporary hut or shelter in the bush,
especially one built from bark, branches, and the like. A gunyah, wurley,
or mia-mia.
Jumbuck: A sheep.
Korero: (Maori) a discussion, meeting, etc.
Leichhardt, Ludwig [1813-1848?]: Prussian-born Australian explorer, his
last expedition (in 1848) never returned.
Matilda: A swag. See “Waltz Matilda”.
Mob: When referring to animals, a group or herd.
Myall: An Aborigine living according to tradition; wild; any of several
types of wattle trees (genus Acacia).
Native bear: A koala.
Overland: (Historical) A route by land, especially for driving stock, and
especially a route from New South Wales to South Australia; to drive stock
by land, especially on this route.
Overlander: One who travels or drives stock overland.
Paddy-melon/paddymelon/pademelon: One of several species of wallabies, of
the genus Thylogalefound.
Pah/Pa: A Maori village.
Pannikin: A small pan; also (colloquial), self-important.
Push: Any group of people sharing something in common; a gang.
Rangatira: (Maori) a lord, chief, boss, etc.
Ringer: When speaking of shearing sheep, the fastest shearer in the group.
Saltbush: Any of a number species of the family Chenopodiaceae, especially
of genus Atriplex and of genus Rhagodia, the latter of which is limited to
Australia and New Zealand. Used as a grazing crop, saltbush can grow in
arid, saline, or alkaline conditions; the region where saltbush grows.
Selector: A free selector, a farmer who selected and settled land by lease
or license from the government.
Shout: To buy a round of drinks.
Squatter: A person who first settled on land without government
permission, and later continued by lease or license, generally to raise
stock; a wealthy rural landowner.
Station: A farm or ranch, especially one devoted to cattle or sheep.
Sturt, Charles [1795-1869]: Indian-born Australian explorer, explored
eastern Australia, his explorations led to the discovery of the river
system in southeastern Australia.
Sundowner: (Historical) A swagman who arrives at a place too late for
work, but looking for food and/or shelter.
Swag: A bundle or roll of bedding and other personal items.
Swagman: A man who travels from place to place looking for work, e.g.
carrying a swag.
Tucker: Food.
Wallaby: One of a number of marsupial species of the genus Wallabia, etc.,
related to the kangaroo, but smaller; (colloquial) “on the wallaby
(track)”, on the move, on the road.
Waltz Matilda: To wander with a swag. “Waltz”, to travel in circles.
Warrigal: Originally the dingo, or native dog of Australia; by
association, anything wild; brumbies (wild horses).
Water-bag/waterbag: A bag for carrying water, usually canvas.
Wattle: Any of a number of shrubs or trees of the genus Acacia, having
off-white or yellow flowers. So named because the branches were used to
weave wattle, a type of construction made of interwoven branches and the
like.
Wombat: Any of several species of burrowing marsupials, family Vombatidae,
which vaguely resemble small bears; (colloquial) an ignorant person.
Yarran: A small tree, Acacia homalophylla, also the bastard myall, A.
glaucescens.
Notes on the text:
“An Answer to Various Bards” appeared 10 Oct. 1892 as one of a series of
poems in the Sydney ‘Bulletin’, debating what life in the bush was like,
or, the city versus the bush (according to the interpretation), primarily
between A. B. Paterson and Henry Lawson [1867-1922], who may have staged
the debate as a way of selling more poems.
Other writers joined the debate, including Edward Dyson [1865-1931], who,
despite Paterson’s remark in this poem, also favoured the bush in at least
one poem. Another noted participant was Will Ogilvie [1869-1963] who was
in Australia during the 1890’s (born in Scotland, returned in 1901, and
was in Iowa, U.S.A, from 1905 to 1907).
Other verses from the debate maybe found in “The Man from Snowy River” by
Paterson and “In the Days When the World was Wide” by Henry Lawson.
The second stanza was mistakenly broken into two equal parts in the
original edition.
“’Shouting’ for a Camel”: A number of camels were brought to Australia,
with their Afghan handlers, in order to have suitable beasts of burden in
the desert regions. There are still wild camels there today. (A similar
scheme was tried in America during the 1800’s, but no camels remain.)
“Lay of the Motor-Car”: To put this poem in perspective, it must be
remembered that this book was published in 1917, and the poem written
earlier. It may be helpful to compare Paterson’s short story, “Three
Elephant Power”, in the book of the same name that was published in the
same year. The plot centres around a speed demon who would drive at
unspeakable speeds, even up to 45 MPH! (About 72 Km/H.)
“The Lost Drink”, “The Matrimonial Stakes”, “Not on It”, “The Scapegoat”,
“The Angel’s Kiss”, and “The Reveille” were all dropped from “Saltbush
Bill” when it was included in Paterson’s “Collected Verse” (first issued
in 1921). No poems were added, though “The Song of the Pen” moved from the
front of the book to the back, and several titles were slightly changed.
No effort has been made to compare the texts.
There was no Table of Contents in the original trench-edition; one was
added.
Omitted from the original are the index (to Paterson’s first 3 books) and
the “frontispiece and vignette by Lionel Lindsay”, the first of which was
set above the lines:
which is a (mis)quote of the fourth stanza of “Brumby’s Run” (should be
“steals along the plain”).