I’VE shore at Burrabogie, and I’ve shore at Toganmain, CHORUS
All among the wool, boys,
I’ve shore at big Willandra and I’ve shore at Tilberoo, Chorus: All among the wool, &c.
I’ve pinked ’em with the Wolseleys and I’ve rushed with B-bows, too,
I’ve been whalin’ up the Lachlan, and I’ve dossed on Cooper’s Creek, |
“I’ve pinked ’em with the Wolseleys, and I’ve rushed with B-bows, too.”—Wolseleys and B-bows are respectively machines and hand-shears, and “pinking” means that he had shorn the sheep so closely that the pink skin showed through. “I rung Cudjingie shed and blued it in a week,” i.e., he was the ringer or fastest shearer of the shed, and he dissipated the earnings in a single week’s drunkenness.
“Whalin’ up the Lachlan.”—In the old days there was an army of “sundowners” or professional loafers who walked from station to station, ostensibly to look for work, but without any idea of accepting it. These nomads often followed up and down certain rivers, and would camp for days and fish for cod in the bends of the river. Hence whaling up the Lachlan.
The Old Bush Songs - Contents | Another Fall of Rain