Works in the Herald 1931
GOLDEN DAYS

Rich gold finds continue to be reported from various parts of the State.

Oh, the rough old tough old mining days -
   The golden days of old -
When the fields were rushed and champagne gushed,
   And they shod their nags with gold;
When they proved a claim and sold the same,
   And went on a wild rampage,
In the mad old bad old sad old days
   We call the golden age.

They lit their pipes with five pound notes, And deemed the folly find; They "did their brass" on "hairy goats;" They filled their hats with wine; They broadcast "slugs" with gestures grand - But, after boast and boom, Came for the digger, and his land, The headache and the gloom.
Then grant we may not seek again To ape old folly's ways, Nor reap again the field of pain They sowed in "golden days," But, neither with a niggard's grasp Nor yet a spendthrift's hand, So use our gold that we may hold The honor of our land.

"Den"
Herald, 19 November 1931, p6

Copyright © Perry Middlemiss 2003