Banks of the Waikato

DESCRIPTION: "Hark the dogs are barking, My love I must away... 'Tis many a mile to go To meet my fellow bushmen On the banks of the Waikato." He tells Sally she cannot come with him. He will dream of her while he is away, and he will return when the work is done
AUTHOR: Phil Garland
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry)
KEYWORDS: love separation work
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 90, "Banks of the Waikato" (1 text, 1 modern tune) (p. 52 in the 1972 edition)
RECORDINGS:
Phil Garland, "Banks of the Waikato" (on NZSongYngCntry)
NOTES [178 words]: This looks to me like a New Zealand rewrite of a "Men's Clothing I'll Put On" type of song. Phil Garland wrote at least one other song modifying a traditional type in this way; "Tuapeka Gold" is a "Wild Rover No More" sort of song adapted to New Zealand mining conditions.
The Waikato River is on New Zealand's North Island, flowing into the Tasman Sea; it is the longest river in the entire nation of New Zealand (Gordon McLauchlan, editor-in-chief, New Zealand Encyclopedia, David Bateman Limited, 1984, p. 473).
Because the song refers to "bushmen," and is similar to "The Banks of the Condamine," I always thought that the singer was going hunting by the Waikato. But McLauchlan, p. 578, describes it as a grassy area now used for herding. It does not sound like a place where one would have gone hunting. However, the area was fought over heavily during the "Maori Wars" of the 1860s (McLauchlin, p. 579). So Phil Garland may have meant this to be a song about the men going to the Maori Wars -- though that is rather odd for a man who was generally a liberal. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: Colq052

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