ACROSS THE WESTERN PLAINS I MUST WANDER
NOTE: It was printed in The Bulletin in May 1916. It was also included in the 1926 edition of The Old Bush Songs edited by A. B. Paterson. This was first published in 1905 and by 1924 had gone into its fourth edition.
It's ah ! for my grog, my jolly, jolly grog,
It's ah ! for my beer and tobacco;
I spent all my tin in the shanty drinking gin,
Now across the western plains I must wander.
I'm stiff and stony broke, and I've parted with my moke
And the sky is looking black as thunder,
And the boss of the shanty too, for I haven't a sou --
That's the way you're treated when you're out and under.
Chorus: It's ah! for, etc.
I'm crook in the head, for I haven't been to bed
Since I first touched this shanty with my plunder;
I see centipedes and snakes, and I'm full of aches and shakes,
So I'd better make a push out over yonder.
Chorus: It's ah! for, etc.
I take the Old Man Plain, criss-cross it all again,
Until my eyes the track no longer see;
My beer and brandy brain seeks balmy sleep in vain,
I feel as if I had the Darling Pea.
Chorus: It's ah! for, etc.
Repentance brings reproof, so I sadly "pad the hoof;"
All day I see the mirage of the trees,
But it all will have an end when I reach the river bend,
And listen to the sighing of the breeze.
Chorus: It's ah! for, etc.
Then hang the jolly prog, the hocussed shanty grog,
The beer that's loaded with tobacco;
Grafting humour I am in, and I'll stick the peg right in
And settle once more down to Yakka.
Chorus: It's ah! for, etc.