Shanty by the Way, The

DESCRIPTION: "It's in a first-rate business section Where four bush-roads cross and meet." The shanty features many sorts of drink, plus company and games. The landlord will happily take a customer's money. The customers spend their entire check and must seek another
AUTHOR: Words: based on "The 'Public' by the Way" by E. J. Overbury
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (publication of the Overbury poem); song collected 1940
KEYWORDS: work drink travel
FOUND IN: New Zealand
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Bailey/Roth-ShantiesByTheWay-NZ, pp. 63-64, "The Shanty by the Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cleveland-NZ-GreatNewZealandSongbook, pp. 29-30, "The Shanty by the Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, pp. 82, 274-275, "(Shanties by the Way)" (2 texts plus additional verses)
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 51, "The Shanty by the Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: J. C. Reid, _A Book of New Zealand_ (Collins National Anthologies), Collins, 1964, pp. 283-284, "The Shanty by the Way" (1 text)
NOTES [116 words]: E. J. Overbury was also responsible for the original words of "The Springtime It Brings on the Shearing (On the Wallaby Track)." Interesting to see the work of an Australian poet end up a folk song in New Zealand.
People from outside those two countries should probably be aware that a shanty was not a true pub; it was "A usually illegal public house on the goldfields," and might also be called a "grog shanty" or a "sly grog shanty" (see Bruce Moore, Gold! Gold! Gold! A Dictionary of the Nineteenth-century Australian Gold Rushes, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 140). Since it was already illegal, it would not be a surprise if a shanty engaged shady activities beyond selling drink. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: BaRo063

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