Things is just the same as ever
On the outer Never-Never,
And you look to find the stock of liquor scanty,
But we found things worse than ordin'ry,
And in fact a bit extraordin'ry,
When myself and Bill the Pinker struck the shanty.
"Shanty," says you. "What shanty?"
Why, Mulligan's shanty!
I says "Whisky"; Bill says "Brandy";
But there wasn't either handy,
For the boss was out of liquor in that line.
"Well, I'll try a rum," says Billy.
"Got no rum," he answers, chilly,
"But I'll recommend a decent drop o' tine."
"Tine?" says Bill; "what tine?"
"Why, turpentine!"
"Blow me blue!" says Bill the Pinker,
"Can't yer give us a deep-sinker?
Ain't yer got a cask o' beer behind the screen?"
Bill was getting pretty cranky,
But there wasn't any swankey.
Says the landlord, "Why not try a drop o' sene?"
"Sene?" says Bill; "what sene?"
"Why, kerosene!"
Well, we wouldn't spend a tanner,
But the boss's pleasant manner
All our cursing couldn't easily demolish.
Says he, "Strike me perpendic'lar
But you beggars are partic'lar,
Why, the squatter in the parlor's drinking polish!"
"Polish?" says Bill, "what polish?"
"Why, furniture-polish!"
First published in The Bulletin, 23 April 1898 , and then in the same magazine on 17 May 1933, and 29 January 1980;
and later in
Australian Bush Songs and Ballads edited by Will Lawson, 1944;
Old Ballads from the Bush edited by Bill Scott, 1987; and
An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes, 2002.
Author: William Thomas Goodge (1862-1909) was born in Middlesex, England and arrived in Australia in 1882: he had jumped ship after serving as a ship-steward. He spent the next decade in outback New South Wales working as a journalist and writer of verse before becoming editor and then part-owner of the Orange Leader. He eventually moved to Sydney where he wrote a weekly column for the Sydney Truth. He died in North Sydney in 1909.
Author reference sites: Austlit
See also.
On the outer Never-Never,
And you look to find the stock of liquor scanty,
But we found things worse than ordin'ry,
And in fact a bit extraordin'ry,
When myself and Bill the Pinker struck the shanty.
"Shanty," says you. "What shanty?"
Why, Mulligan's shanty!
I says "Whisky"; Bill says "Brandy";
But there wasn't either handy,
For the boss was out of liquor in that line.
"Well, I'll try a rum," says Billy.
"Got no rum," he answers, chilly,
"But I'll recommend a decent drop o' tine."
"Tine?" says Bill; "what tine?"
"Why, turpentine!"
"Blow me blue!" says Bill the Pinker,
"Can't yer give us a deep-sinker?
Ain't yer got a cask o' beer behind the screen?"
Bill was getting pretty cranky,
But there wasn't any swankey.
Says the landlord, "Why not try a drop o' sene?"
"Sene?" says Bill; "what sene?"
"Why, kerosene!"
Well, we wouldn't spend a tanner,
But the boss's pleasant manner
All our cursing couldn't easily demolish.
Says he, "Strike me perpendic'lar
But you beggars are partic'lar,
Why, the squatter in the parlor's drinking polish!"
"Polish?" says Bill, "what polish?"
"Why, furniture-polish!"
First published in The Bulletin, 23 April 1898 , and then in the same magazine on 17 May 1933, and 29 January 1980;
and later in
Australian Bush Songs and Ballads edited by Will Lawson, 1944;
Old Ballads from the Bush edited by Bill Scott, 1987; and
An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes, 2002.
Author: William Thomas Goodge (1862-1909) was born in Middlesex, England and arrived in Australia in 1882: he had jumped ship after serving as a ship-steward. He spent the next decade in outback New South Wales working as a journalist and writer of verse before becoming editor and then part-owner of the Orange Leader. He eventually moved to Sydney where he wrote a weekly column for the Sydney Truth. He died in North Sydney in 1909.
Author reference sites: Austlit
See also.
