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In 1974 I visited Mrs Susan Colley at the Bathurst Home for the Aged. I was in the Bathurst area and, as it was my custom, I visited the community old folk's home and asked if any of the residents played music or sung old songs. This usually drew a blank but not always and, in this instance, I was presented to Mrs Colley, who had been recorded by Alan Scott many years earlier. I didn't know that Mrs Colley was still alive so it was a wonderful opportunity to revisit a song carrier. Mrs Colley was in her early nineties and the recording session was a real treat for both of us with Mrs Colley regularly introducing her songs and concertina tunes with “I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this opportunity to sing again”. Whilst I recorded several songs that Alan had transcribed I was also given some new material including this charming version of 'One More River to Cross'. It's a great favourite whenever I sing to children so pass it on.
![]() Bob Taylor of Rockhampton sent me endless old ditties and poems as we corresponded for several years. Mr Taylor worked with horses all his life and loved nothing better than a galloping rhyme. Sometimes I would open my mail to find a poem that I simply had to learn and The Drinker was a definite starter. Bob had learnt it some forty years ago and I haven't been able to track it down – maybe a reader can identify this one for me?
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