LIAM'S SURPRISE
PO BOOGIE reporting with a special treat to share.
On our way to the Queensland islands, we passed near a sheep station. Being 'Beardies', Shadow and I went to take a look at the sheep. Before I knew it, he was rounding them up, and as you know, Wheatens ALSO do sheep herding, so several of them joined in for the fun of it.
The funniest one of all was Tyler, who thought that the sheep would respond better if he put on his 'Lion suit' (which he had purchased in Sydney for our next Fancy Dress Party) and scared them all out of their wits! The result was hilarious - sheep and dogs racing everywhere!
Fernando and Scooch seemed to think that the objective of the exercise was to CATCH one! Oh well, I guess you have to expect sailors to be a bit 'at sea' on a sheep station! (Sorry - couldn't resist the pun!)
Here is the picture Keeleigh took!
On our way to the Queensland islands, we passed near a sheep station. Being 'Beardies', Shadow and I went to take a look at the sheep. Before I knew it, he was rounding them up, and as you know, Wheatens ALSO do sheep herding, so several of them joined in for the fun of it.
The funniest one of all was Tyler, who thought that the sheep would respond better if he put on his 'Lion suit' (which he had purchased in Sydney for our next Fancy Dress Party) and scared them all out of their wits! The result was hilarious - sheep and dogs racing everywhere!
Fernando and Scooch seemed to think that the objective of the exercise was to CATCH one! Oh well, I guess you have to expect sailors to be a bit 'at sea' on a sheep station! (Sorry - couldn't resist the pun!)
Here is the picture Keeleigh took!
Liam, being an Aussie, knows all about sheep - and he did a bit of shearing before the war.
Anyway, he found a portable gramaphone and played THIS amazing Aussie song to us! I am including it here, now, for everyone back home to enjoy.
Here are the words, so you can all follow. (I don't know what a lot of the words mean, though!
I'll have to ask Liam!)
It's called CLICK GO THE SHEARS and it has a real catchy beat to it. Good foot-tappin' stuff these Aussie Bush Ballads!
P O Boogie signing off now, from Sunny Queensland.
Anyway, he found a portable gramaphone and played THIS amazing Aussie song to us! I am including it here, now, for everyone back home to enjoy.
Here are the words, so you can all follow. (I don't know what a lot of the words mean, though!
I'll have to ask Liam!)
It's called CLICK GO THE SHEARS and it has a real catchy beat to it. Good foot-tappin' stuff these Aussie Bush Ballads!
P O Boogie signing off now, from Sunny Queensland.
JUST CLICK ON THE ARROW TO PLAY.
CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 8
Copyright - A P - 2010
Click go the Shears
Out on the board the old shearer stands
Grasping his shears in his thin bony hands
Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied "joe"
Glory if he gets her, won't he make the ringer go
Chorus
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow
And he curses the old snagger with the bare-bellied "joe"
In the middle of the floor in his cane-bottomed chair
Sits the boss of the board, with eyes everywhere
He notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen
Paying strict attention that it's taken off clean
Chorus
The colonial-experience man he is there, of course
With his shiny leggin's on, he's just off his horse
He gazes all around him like a real connoisseur
Scented soap and brilliantine and smelling like a whore.
Chorus
The tar-boy is there awaiting in demand
With blackened tar-pot and his tarry little hand
Spies one old sheep with a cut upon its back
Here's what he's been waitin' for it's "Tar here Jack!"
Chorus.
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow
And he curses the old snagger with the bare-bellied "joe"
Out on the board the old shearer stands
Grasping his shears in his thin bony hands
Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied "joe"
Glory if he gets her, won't he make the ringer go
Chorus
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow
And he curses the old snagger with the bare-bellied "joe"
In the middle of the floor in his cane-bottomed chair
Sits the boss of the board, with eyes everywhere
He notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen
Paying strict attention that it's taken off clean
Chorus
The colonial-experience man he is there, of course
With his shiny leggin's on, he's just off his horse
He gazes all around him like a real connoisseur
Scented soap and brilliantine and smelling like a whore.
Chorus
The tar-boy is there awaiting in demand
With blackened tar-pot and his tarry little hand
Spies one old sheep with a cut upon its back
Here's what he's been waitin' for it's "Tar here Jack!"
Chorus.
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow
And he curses the old snagger with the bare-bellied "joe"
Click Goes the Shears
The blades of the device are opposed. The handle joining them serves as a spring and opens the blades again after they have been squeezed together to cut. The motion makes a clicking or snipping noise.
Wide is his Blow
A blow is one sweeping movement of the hand and arm in one cutting swathe through the wool. Some blows are short but the "long blow" goes the length of the sheep's side and back. The shearer in the song is credited with taking a broad swathe as he cuts.
The Ringer Looks Around
The ringer is the acknowledged fastest shearer in the shed, a prestigious position to hold and defend. To "ring the shed", when 12 to 25 men might be shearing, was no mean feat.
Curses the Old Snagger
A snagger is a shearer who rushes and doesn't shear cleanly, leaving tufts or snags of wool on the sheep.
Bare-bellied Yeo (Joe)
Yeo is an English dialect word for ewe, a female sheep. Some sheep have, through genetics or through wool falling out as a result of disease or parasitic problems, bare patches, which of course, don't need shearing. This sheep's belly wool, usually notoriously dense with clover burr and dirt and slow to shear, was missing and hence gave the "old snagger" an advantage.
Explanation of First Verse
Out on the board the old shearer stands,
Grasping his shears in his thin bony hands.
Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied yeo, (joe)
Glory, if he gets her, won't he make the ringer go.
It is clear from the first verse that the old snagger wants to defeat the ringer or at least give him a run for his money. Several shearers select sheep from the same pen, so he hopes to catch the one with the bare bally, which will give him the advantage he needs.
Explanation of Verse 2
In the middle of the board in his cane-bottomed chair
Sits the boss of the board with his eyes everywhere
Notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen
Paying strict attention that it's taken off clean.
Verse 2 is fairly self-explanatory. There is a supervisor, possibly the shed contractor, who oversees the work. "The Board" is the length of shed where the shearers are lined up working. the "screen" is another term for the skirting table, where the finished fleece is thrown and the scrappy bits taken off the edges.
Explanation of Verse 3
The colonial experience-man he is there, of course,
With his shiny leggin's on, just got off his horse,
He casts round his eye like a real connoiseur
Scented soap and brilliantine, and smelling like a whore.
The time this song was written, it is clear that an Australian culture was developing and the English were a source of scorn, particularly the wet-behind-the-ears colonial experience men, jackaroos, who were sometimes the sons of nobility or the wealthy, sent to Australia to learn something about the wool business and trade.
They always appeared out of place in a busy shed with smelly, dirty shearers working hard. This one does nothing useful, justs stands around, trying to impress. His hair is "brilliantined" with a popular hair oil of the day and he is perfumed in a most un-manly way... indeed, smelling like a whore."
Expanation of Verse 4
The tar boy is there, awaiting his demand
With his blackened tar pot in his tarry hand,
Notes one old sheep with a cut upon her back,
Here is what he's waiting for – it's "Tar here, Jack!"
The tar boy (not necessarily young) had the task of watching the shearing and coming when called to assist a shearer who had inadvertently cut a sheep. The standard treatment was to smear Stockholm Tar on the wound. Even when the product was replaced by better antiseptics, the term "tar" stuck.
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MEANING OF THE WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS USED IN THIS BUSH BALLAD.